BUSTED! Is that you, over there, tweeting? How the Joy of Creating Everywhere May.... Make You Laugh for Years to Come
It all happened rather suddenly.
I pumped gas. I choked on my tears. I had an a-ha. I wanted
to write about it, right away.
I tweeted "To tweet or not to tweet? For now that oddly comforting feeling of awareness will wait for an essay, a line of poetry, a scene."
I moved my car from the gas pumps into the parking area and
started to take notes. I decided to write in third person – it was me but
instead I became “she”.
My tears turned into small smiles as my finger floated
across the screen, swyping words into my color note program on my smart phone.
A text popped in, “Is that you?”
I looked up and saw a friend pumping gas and texting.
“In the blue car?”
I laughed and responded, explained what I was doing. I was busted, caught, sighted
Actual text conversation... unedited for your enjoyment (and chuckles!)
and outed for
writing poetry in a gas station parking lot. There it sat on the throne of now and forever embedded into our relationship.
Even this morning – the day after - it makes me smile. I am sure the smiles and
the texts and the notes will transform themselves into a story we will tell and
retell when we find ourselves in a group of artsy friends.
When I finished swyping my notes, I didn’t move my car
immediately. I sat there and let contentment wash over me. My thoughts rained
on my overheated heart as I thought about this place I call home.
It is not someplace I chose. It is not someplace I want to
stay. But when someone I know catches me writing poetry in a gas station
parking lot and is kind enough to not interrupt my creative process and to save
the laughs for later?
This reminds me it is a perfectly fine place to stay for
now.
Where a flash mob of folks spend five minutes all writing on the same topic and then share ‘em at LisaJoBaker.com.
Words from my five minutes on....LOOK
Look –
I remember when I saw the newer version of
the Parent Trap and my favorite moment in the entire movie is how the Dad looked
at his first wife (the twin’s Mom) when he was in a romantic clutch with his
much younger fiancé.
I said to myself, “I want someone to look
at me like that.”
I could stop this blog post right here and
say, “My son looks at me similarly, with pure love in his eyes,” or I could
say, “It is not in the way someone looks at me it is in the way I look at them
that counts.”
That isn’t entirely authentic, though,
because…well, it is THAT look I am talking about, not just a lackadaisical, “Hey
how’s it going you’re looking great and mighty convenient” kind of look.
I remember talking to a friend, Adam, several months back about how my vision of God
is like a dear, encouraging friend helping me to fly a kite. He is running
alongside me, coaching me and up the kite goes.
This would be miraculous because, top
secret confession, I have never in all my years been able to get a kite to fly
on my own, even with a human side coaching me.
Adam reflected back to me about some of
those things I have accomplished being LIKE flying that kite to God. That He is
my kite flying buddy is a metaphor for other things I have managed to maneuver and
if you talk to the average Jane I have done a lot that I would have thought was
impossible.
Adam said God would look at me like that…
Well, Adam didn’t know my fascination was
actually how Dennis Quaid looked at his movie first wife, but I knew exactly
what he meant when he said that about my kite flying God.
1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking. 2. Link back here and invite others to join in. 3. And
then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the
person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments.
Seriously. That is, like, the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this
community..
Julie Jordan Scott
has been a Life & Creativity Coach, Writer, Facilitator
and Teleclass Leader since 1999. She is also an award
winning Actor, Director, Artist and Mother
Extraordinaire. She was twice the StoryTelling Slam
champion in Bakersfield. She leads Writing Camp with JJS &
this Summer will be traveling throughout the US to bring
this unique, fun filled creative experience to the people
wherever she finds the passion & the interest.
Did you enjoyed this essay? Receive emails directly to
your inbox for Free from Julie Jordan Scott via the
Daily Passion Activator. One inspirational
essay and poem (almost) every week day. Subscribe
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I never knew my cell phone would become such an important part of my life. I thought I would be texting and searching the internet, catching up on facebook and twitter and other fun, playful aps, but I didn't realize it would actually help me with so many of my writing adventures.
Here are ten ways you may use your cell phone as I do for writing purposes. Try one of these you don't currently use and please comment to share either a new way we may all use our phones OR let us know how you experiment with these ten ways to use your smart phone.
10 Ways to Use Your Phone to Write Articles, Top 10 Lists, How-to's, Poetry and More
Listen to conversation being spoken around you. Eavesdrop to capture rich/true dialogue
Take photos, especially those surprise images to write about later. Once you set the intention to be surprised visually, your eyes will begin to see more and more intriguing sights.
Collect "jots" of writing in three words or less... what you see, hear, smell, taste, touch, feel emotionally
Use your timer: Do timed stream of consciousness writing at any time in any space. Do timed writing with your notebook while on a hike. Do timed writing on your laptop sitting in a coffee shop. Do timed writing directly into your smart phone.
Keep a one sentence journal. At the end of the day, write a one sentence summary of either the entire day or whatever stand out event happened, even if it is “The intersection at Stockdale and California was more annoying than infomercials as I drove through it fourteen times today.”
Haiku everywhere and then tweet what you write from your smart phone. You may want to make one day a week your haiku day or make it a practice to see the normal differently – such as writing the dawn every day for a week or month.
In your calendar note times (and set alarms!) for sunrises, sunsets or other "time attached" subjects. For example, an older slightly battered truck rolls by my house at about 6:40 a.m. daily. I consciously make a point to be out there so I can wave as I take notes. This truck and its driver has become a rich part of my writing life and we have never officially met.
Take notes when people think you are texting. I recently did this at a birthday party where I didn’t know anyone. Since people are used to texting, in some circles this isn’t seen as rude. Be careful to not be totally oblivious to social nuances. Interaction at the party itself will also give you gems you can capture as you sit in your car before leaving or on the bus on the way home after the party is over.
9. Create writing prompts from what you see. There is never, ever, ever “nothing to write about.” Look around as you live. Examples: “The waitress with the very red lipstick reminds me of…” and write, using your timer, for at least five minutes stream of consciousness style. “The fallen tree on the side of the road made me feel…”. “The old man waiting at the bus stop looked….” Or “I wonder where the old man at the bus stop is going? It could be…. Or… or… and why isn’t someone from his family driving him?”
10. Write how-to articles. What technology do you suppose I used to write this one?
Julie Jordan Scott has been a Life & Creativity Coach, Writer, Facilitator and Teleclass Leader since 1999. She is also an award winning Actor, Director, Artist and Mother Extraordinaire. She was twice the StoryTelling Slam champion in Bakersfield. She leads Writing Camp with JJS & this Summer will be traveling throughout the US to bring this unique, fun filled creative experience to the people wherever she finds the passion & the interest.
Did you enjoyed this essay? Receive emails directly to your inbox for Free from Julie Jordan Scott via the Daily Passion Activator. One inspirational essay and poem (almost) every week day. Subscribe here now -
Sometimes when I start writing I begin with a bit of quote collecting for inspiration. Today as I was working to squeeze the most oomph from one "writing period" of two hours, I realized I could use this practice as a completely separate blog post. My topic: LUCKY -
I started to only feature women's quotes but then decided I didn't want to be exclusive so I added some quotes from men as well. Normally quote compilations are roughly 80% or more male, so here we are 70% female, 30% male.
“Life is not easy. We all have problems-even tragedies-to deal with, and luck has nothing to do with it. Bad luck is only the superstitious excuse for those who don't have the wit to deal with the problems of life. ” ― Joan Lowery Nixon
“Listen Harry, your'e not a BAD person. You're a very good person, that, bad things happen to.” ― J.K. Rowling
“That is life, isn’t it? Fate. Luck. Chance. A long series of what-if’s that lead from one moment to the next, time never pausing for you to catch your breath, to make sense of the cards that have been handed to you. And all you can do is play your cards and hope for the best, because in the end, it all comes back to those three basics. Fate. Luck. Chance.” ― Kelseyleigh Reber
My idea is this: the artist is extremely lucky who is presented with the worst possible ordeal which will not actually kill him. At that point, he's in business: Beethoven's deafness, Goya's deafness, Milton's blindness, that kind of thing.” – John Berryman
“Sometimes not getting what you want is a brilliant stroke of luck.” ― Lori Myers
“Learn to recognize good luck when it's waving at you, hoping to get your attention.” ― Sally Koslow
“Luck is not as random as you think. Before that lottery ticket won the jackpot, someone had to buy it.” ― Vera Nazarian,
“Here's the thing about luck...you don't know if it's good or bad until you have some perspective.” - Alice Hoffman
“Some luck lies in not getting what you thought you wanted but getting what you have, which once you have it you may be smart enough to see is what you would have wanted had you known. ” Garrison Keiller
Here's what you can do besides just read this and forget it in five minutes. Take the quotes which speak to you the most and open a blank document. Make it into a writing prompt for a future blog post, essay, poem, or email to a friend. Use what you've discovered here and you may just become more lucky as a consequence.
Julie Jordan Scott has been a Life & Creativity Coach, Writer, Facilitator and Teleclass Leader since 1999. She is also an award winning Actor, Director, Artist and Mother Extraordinaire. She was twice the StoryTelling Slam champion in Bakersfield. She leads Writing Camp with JJS & this Summer will be traveling throughout the US to bring this unique, fun filled creative experience to the people wherever she finds the passion & the interest.
Did you enjoyed this essay? Receive emails directly to your inbox for Free from Julie Jordan Scott via the Daily Passion Activator. One inspirational essay and poem (almost) every week day. Subscribe here now -
I am not sure how I got started promoting the concept of maintaining an “Unpolished Gem” file. I can’t even remember when I started one myself. I do know it pops up when I teach bloggers and writers how to keep an unending flow of content coming into their blogs, guest posts, essays, articles and poetry.
I do remember when I started writing as a way to make a living: I built my life coaching business by writing articles and having them republished (back then primarily in ezines) so since that time I have had essays, how-to’s, top tens and almost anything else you can imaging published both on the internet and also in magazines, compilations, ebooks and ecourses.
The blood flowing through all of this is… The Unpolished Gem: little snips and nuggets of writing I started and didn’t necessarily use right away but I knew it was worth returning to – maybe – someday. Sometimes people hesitate to start a file, thinking it will be too overwhelming but part of the point of an Unpolished Gem file is it takes pressure off.
How? Well, it tells you “if you don’t have the juice, passion or desire to finish this right away, you don’t have to! If you are blocked half way through or even just have a title, you may tuck it into your unpolished gems file and move along to whatever else is on your agenda.
Your unpolished gem file also reminds you the truth of content: you will never run out of material. Certainly other people have written articles similar to this one. Maybe you have read a few. The difference is I have not yet squeezed out all the goodness from this topic. You reading this today is a fine example of that.
When you are blocked, you have multiple choices of where to go to write next. Just pick an unfinished one and write a sentence. If anything else comes, yes! If after one additional sentence you’re done, then you’re done for now. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Cliché and true.
How do you start an Unpolished Gem File? I am very simple with mine. I make a folder I call “UPGs”. Within my UPG folder are subfolders for both the month they were written and the topic it falls under. This particular essay (should it remain unfinished for a bit) will go in July2012 and Writing-Editing and maybe Writing-Inspiration.
Perhaps you are thinking, “This is all well and good, Julie, but I don’t have any writing I haven’t used on my blog.”
This makes me raise an eyebrow. Really?
Perhaps it is time to look at all the writing you do as possible future content. I am going to share seven places to look. Choose one place and glean – or collect – nuggets to write from later – every day this week. I guarantee if you try this, by the end of the week you will have more than enough content for your blog for a month or more.
Gold nugget paragraphs in emails, blog comments or facebook messages. When do people tell you, “Oh, that was so helpful!” or “Oh, please tell me more about…” these are hints that you should write that content. So do it. Copy, paste and just like that: an unpolished gem!
Tweets that get responses and interaction from people. Diamond Nugget: Anyone who has been using twitter for a while knows some tweets naturally attract conversation and questions. Look for patterns via your unpolished gems. Copy and paste the tweet that has garnished the most attention this week. Write an additional 140 characters. Tweet it and UPG it. This is repurposing at its finest.
Top 10 lists that seem to ask you for more details (especially if they have gotten lots of comments on your blog).Opal Nugget I started an ezine more than ten years ago based on this idea. At the time I thought I was writing a book. I still may be. But in the meantime, this fed my entire business! Look at any Top 10 lists you created (don’t have any? Create some! This right here is a Top 7 list: same concept, different number.) Choose one (or more) of the tips and put it into an UPG…
If you keep a journal (a diary, a “notebook” as I call mine) I am willing to bet there are sections without that are pure Ruby Nuggets. Take some time daily for a week to crack open journals from at least six months ago with a yellow highlighter and sticky notes in your hand. Highlight your best sentences, phrases and paragraphs. Mark the page with a sticky note. In the back of the journal, write a table of contents which may go something like this: “Item 1: Writing Gratitude Item 2: Forgiveness Item 3: Ending Procrastination Item 4: Befriending Block.” This is sooooo easy! Don’t make it harder than it is. Please.
Revisit Sections of earlier writings that call you “come back, come back!” Pluck, glean and write. You know that blog post from last September? The one about? Revisit it and just like with the journal, see what has stood the test of time. Revise the blog post accordingly. Maybe there is a Top 10 list waiting to be born or a poem or a How-to. You won’t know unless you glean, write and revise. Perfect Silver Nugget!
Emerald Nuggets from Stream of Consciousness Writing Exercises: This actually assumes you spend times when you write with NO purpose at all. Just to write. Well, if you don’t, I urge you to start. I write from quotes, from memes I find online and from images, works of art and even photos I take. Without thinking, just write and write and write. Time your writing and keep it to fifteen minutes at the maximum. What I find is I can get a lot written in 15 minutes and even though I originally sat down to write about Virginia Woolf’s Room of Her Own, I end up writing about an experience in a restaurant in Pueblo, Colorado that was waiting for me to listen. Take those “waiting” pieces of writing & morph into something publishable.
Finally, scoop up a handful of Garnet Nuggets from conversations that won’t stop replaying in your head. In my case, these conversations are sometimes actually overheard conversations I wrote into my cell phone note taker. I have written a lot of “overheard poetry” but this also helps the fiction and memoir writer in creating and recreating dialogue. Because I did this yesterday, I can’t get the image of the two men at the table across from me at Jack in the Box out of my head. I know they are there to write about, so when I am done with this, I’m going to set my timer and just write… and see how the Garnet Nugget mixes with the Emerald Nugget so I can hit blogging and writing paydirt!
The bottom line is creating places where you have work-in-progress helps raise your confidence and simply enjoy your writing more. Isn’t that why you started to blog in the first place? Maybe it was to build your business, but I am willing to bet a big part of it was to find and stretch your voice more deeply and widely out into the world.
So today, start your Unpolished Gem file and put some writing nuggets inside.
Julie Jordan Scott has been a Life & Creativity Coach, Writer, Facilitator and Teleclass Leader since 1999. She is also an award winning Actor, Director, Artist and Mother Extraordinaire. She was twice the StoryTelling Slam champion in Bakersfield. She leads Writing Camp with JJS & this Summer will be traveling throughout the US to bring this unique, fun filled creative experience to the people wherever she finds the passion & the interest.
Did you enjoyed this essay? Receive emails directly to your inbox for Free from Julie Jordan Scott via the Daily Passion Activator. One inspirational essay and poem (almost) every week day. Subscribe here now -
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