I wondered what would happen if people wrote for five minutes a day for five consecutive days, free-flow style. I wondered what would happen if people understood and used the power of just dumping their thoughts on the page without attachment, without editing, without worrying about grammar or content or style.
It was an experiment we carried out using live streaming as the context and writing prompts coupled with free flow writing, otherwise known as brain dumping, as the content.
It was an experiment that had a huge impact on the people who showed up and wrote either in community or who showed up individually.
After the success of our first five consecutive day session, I decided to gather on Wednesdays as well. I called this experience “Bonus Wednesdays” and we added Scope Trains after our 3 pm and 8 pm sessions so that people who chose to could share their writing immediately after the words were written.
It was scary and exhilarating. It was dynamic and life changing.
Our September session begins on Monday, September 19 AND our bonus Wednesdays are continuing throughout September. Live streams will meet on Periscope at 6 am, 3 pm and 8 pm. We will add Facebook live broadcasts as well, with times to be established.
To always stay informed and up-to-date with #5for5BrainDump subscribe here now. You will receive updates and reminders for #5for5BrainDump activities. We will never share your information with any other parties.
“I try to stretch my own envelope, to write what I’m afraid to write.”
Alicia Suskin Ostriker
My friend Laura called me Sunday night.
“Oh, something happened tonight. I don’t know what to do with it,” she told me. “All I know is I feel like absolute garbage and I have managed to become paralyzed. I can’t think, I can’t move, I have a bunch of tasks to take care of before I go to bed but all I can do is obsess about what happened.”
Like me, Laura is a writer. Like me, she sometimes hesitates to use the most significant weapons in her arsenal to combat the unhappiness and dread she was feeling.
She had forgotten she could pick up her pen and put it to the page and begin the process of feeling better. All it takes is moving the pencil, tapping on the keyboard, letting the ink drip off the end of the pen and things move from stagnant to doing something.
It took me a long time to have the courage to write about my son’s autism. While we were going through the transition period from not knowing he was on the spectrum to accepting the reality of what that meant and how to embrace his uniqueness fully, I filled notebooks with stream of consciousness writing.
I didn’t feel comfortable talking about it with friends and I had a difficult time finding other parents with children who had autism so I forged my feeling better, my healing, through writing what felt endless about my process.
I didn’t blog the process endlessly, I free wrote. I didn’t write a single poem about it as it was happening, I free wrote. I wrote stream of consciousness style so that my feelings, my emotions, my heart and my spirit would continue to flow without the restrictions of fear and self-consciousness engulfing me.
Laura and I talked a bit more about her “what happened”: she went to an event and came face-to-face with a man who had hurt her badly fifteen-years in the past. She had not seen him in eleven years and now they were sitting with a group of people who had no context of their history and both of them sat there, together in that group, for two hours. When Laura left, there was no further content.
She felt drenched in unfinished business.
She called me last night to let me know how much writing allowed her space to roam about her thoughts without concern of anyone else’s judgment. That judgment, she realized, included her own self judgment and lack of compassion.
Writing helped her begin to feel better.
What are you afraid to write about? What are you afraid to speak aloud?
To begin your process of feeling better, begin a list of subjects you haven’t yet given yourself permission to talk about either on paper or to someone else or perhaps even to yourself.
Take out a notebook or open a document and simply move your pencil or pen, move your fingers along the keyboard. I guarantee once you begin, you will also start to feel better.
Mary Shelley wrote, “The beginning is always today.”
Sarah Dresser wrote, “Like a blinking cursor on an empty page, it was just the first thing. The beginning of the beginning. But at least it was done.”
Remember Alicia Stuskin Ostriker’s words that started these thoughts? “I try to stretch my own envelope, to write what I’m afraid to write.”
Start with asking yourself the question: “What am I afraid to write?”
Begin to love the question into a life now facing your healing by living the question and making the beginnings of your list, starting with “I am afraid to write….”
You’ve got this.
You will feel better.
And now, you write. Now you begin. Now you’ll start to feel better.
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Julie Jordan Scott inspires people to experience artistic rebirth via her programs, playshops, books, performances and simply being herself out in the world. She is a writer, creative life coach, speaker, performance poet, Mommy-extraordinaire and mixed-media artist whose Writing Camps and Writing Playgrounds permanently transform people's creative lives. Watch for the announcement of new programs coming in Fall, 2016 and beyond.
To contact Julie to schedule a Writing or Creative Life Coaching Session, call or text her at 661.444.2735.
Check out the links below to follow her on a bunch of different social media channels, especially if you find the idea of a Word-Love Party bus particularly enticing.
Please stay in touch: Follow me on Twitter: and on Periscope for writing prompt, tips and inspiration daily created to ignite your artistic rebirth.
I do not create professional, polished videos on studio in front of green screens with lots of special effects. I create videos in-the-moment, primarily early in the day, preferably with interesting backdrops that appear because they'll invite your curiosity to awaken.
My primary intention is to provide interesting, engaging content that will move your writing and creativity forward from where it is so that you will become more of who you are meant to become as a writer and creative person.
I have often been called a midwife to writers, to actors and to other creatives. Join me in this video and consider what wants to be borne through you?
When I sit down in front of my camera - yes, usually my phone - my intention is to help bring to life whatever is inside you, ready to be birthed. This could be a creative project, the flicker of an idea, a story.
I will remind you now, the world is waiting to read your words.
Over the next couple days I will expand upon some of what I talked about in this video. Come back, visit and enter into the conversation with me.
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Julie Jordan Scott inspires people to experience artistic rebirth via her programs, playshops, books, performances and simply being herself out in the world. She is a writer, creative life coach, speaker, performance poet, Mommy-extraordinaire and mixed-media artist whose Writing Camps and Writing Playgrounds permanently transform people's creative lives. Watch for the announcement of new programs coming in Spring, 2015 and beyond.
To contact Julie to schedule a Writing or Creative Life Coaching Session, call or text her at 661.444.2735.
Check out the links below to follow her on a bunch of different social media channels, especially if you find the idea of a Word-Love Party bus particularly enticing.
This morning I sat down to write my morning pages and since I am doing something called the Sacred Writing Challenge with Sofia Wren I decided to take a couple snaps, too, and then I decided to go for it with a video and that's when my friend, Alice, decided to play.
She is showing up more and more in my photos and videos, strutting her tail and the ears and all her stuff throughout my photo and video streams.A quick ditty on bringing what you want to feel to life.
None the less, she helps with today's writing tip about.... bringing more "aliveness" to your writing.
I look forward to hearing how this simple tale (tail!) or tip brings you greater satisfaction as a writer.
PS - Did you notice the independent bookstore mug there on the table with me? I need to collect more mugs from more independent bookstores - perhaps I should make that into a goal!
Julie Jordan Scott inspires people to experience artistic rebirth via her programs, playshops, books, performances and simply being herself out in the world. She is a writer, creative life coach, speaker, performance poet, Mommy-extraordinaire and mixed-media artist whose Writing Camps and Writing Playgrounds permanently transform people's creative lives. Watch for the announcement of new programs coming in Spring, 2015 and beyond.
To contact Julie to schedule a Writing or Creative Life Coaching Session, call or text her at 661.444.2735.
Check out the links below to follow her on a bunch of different social media channels, especially if you find the idea of a Word-Love Party bus particularly enticing.
I have been writing prompts for a variety of creative uses for fifteen years now, ever since I started facilitating my first writing programs back in 2000. Today in this video, inspired by the Thoughts on Thursday Link Up at JVKom Chronicles, I do a quicky - share of how to create a never ending stream of writing prompts using whatever reading material you have on hand.
Watch here as I create more of these prompt/how-to vlogs for you so that you may both be inspired to write and inspired to start creating your own personalized writing prompts as well.
I forgot to say THOUGHTS ON THURSDAY on the video but considering my record breaking four minutes of sleep last night, I think I did pretty darned well, don't you? I hope you will link up if you have a vlog post to share OR come back next week at JVKom.com and link then.
Please share any writing you create and/or any ways you might use this prompt creation to make your blog and social media life more engaging.
I'm grateful you are here -
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Julie Jordan Scott inspires people to experience artistic rebirth via her programs, playshops, books, performances and simply being herself out in the world. She is a writer, creative life coach, speaker, performance poet, Mommy-extraordinaire and mixed-media artist whose Writing Camps and Writing Playgrounds permanently transform people's creative lives. Watch for the announcement of new programs coming in Spring, 2015 and beyond.
To contact Julie to schedule a Writing or Creative Life Coaching Session, call or text her at 661.444.2735.
Check out the links below to follow her on a bunch of different social media channels, especially if you find the idea of a Word-Love Party bus particularly enticing.
Be inspired by Literary Grannies in January: Writing Prompts, quotes and more to get your writing flow moving with ease.
Why be inspired by literary grannies?
These are the women who wrote before us, many are still active writers. Some are famous, some are little known to today’s literary scene.
I am a lifelong quote collector. When I noticed the low percentage of women’s voices in quote sources I started intentionally looking for women’s quotes to add to my collections. It has become something of a passion as has my passion for women writers. Each day in January you will read a quote and several different methods of prompting from list-making to sentence starters to questions to encourage deeper thought and reflection.
You may either subscribe to the blog posts via email (there is a subscription link in the left hand column) or follow along on the Writing Camp with JJS Facebook Page or on Twitter.
Why are Literary Grannies important to you?
In 2012 I started featuring Literary Grannies in my A to Z Blog Challenges and now, I decided to write specific prompts inspired by Literary Grannies for the same reason I started in the first place: to allow all writers to glean from the rich writing heritage from women, to hear women’s voices alongside men’s voices, to give a more balanced approach to inspiration.
Like always, I am open to the surprises which are bound to find me along the way.
This series (now a part of the Ultimate Blog Challenge) is also serving as a bridge to my new blog which will be unveiled in the middle of the month. In past blog challenges I have offered prompts under the "Let Your Words Flow" name. The Inspiration from Literary Grannies serve as a subset of that series.
I welcome your comments, your questions and your quote contributions. Please share the prompts with your writing buddies and friends!
In fact, as you read books written by women in 2015, take note of inspiring quotes. I would love to add them to my collection and may even write a prompt from them.
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Julie Jordan Scott is a writer, creative life coach, speaker, performance poet, Mommy and mixed-media artist whose Writing Camps and Writing Playgrounds permanently transform people's creative lives. Watch for the announcement of new programs coming Winter 2015 and beyond.
Check out the links below to follow her on a bunch of different social media channels, especially if you find the idea of a Word-Love Party bus particularly enticing.
Monday, with all your imperfections, welcome. You are in good company with your cracks and mottled not-quite-matching-all-the-time colors. Not one of us is perfect.
There are times each of us - when we are honest - begin days and weeks feeling like nothing is going to work out, that we are doomed and sometimes, once in a while, we find ourselves consumed with doubt. Fearful we will live the famous words of Henry David Thoreau, “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.”
Here is where the good news comes in: we are all capable of choosing to see Monday for the good it brings. We can begin to write our songs and then sing the first note.
Monday brings us a brand new canvas to paint upon.
It brings us a new calendar page: tear off the old and start anew!
Monday brings us an opportunity to step into our light - an expression I take from working on the stage. “Find your light!” (or else the audience can’t see you!) For some of us (and I speak from experience) this may take longer than we ever hoped. It isn’t the timetable that matters, it is the fact you find it that matters.
Monday morning, in all your imperfections, welcome. May what we create together be a blessing to the world.
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Julie Jordan Scott is a writer, creative life coach, speaker, performance poet, Mommy-extraordinaire and mixed-media artist whose Writing Camps and Writing Playgrounds permanently transform people's creative lives. Watch for the announcement of new programs coming Fall and Winter, 2015 and beyond.
Check out the links below to follow her on a bunch of different social media channels, especially if you find the idea of a Word-Love Party bus particularly enticing.
Use the image above as a visual prompt. Use the whole image or just scoop up an element within it: pencil, sunset, notebook, weeds. Ready? Write!
Welcome to Let Your Words Flow: a Daily Quote, Prompt and Image for your Creative Inspiration.
If this is your first visit, you will want to visit our Let Your Words Flow Guide so that you will receive the most value from the life changing content you find here.
Now - on with today's inspiration:
Quote:
“I have forced myself to begin writing when I've been utterly exhausted, when I've felt my soul as thin as a playing card…and somehow the activity of writing changes everything.”
― Joyce Carol Oates
Questions:
What creative activity do you attempt when you are exhausted to the point of your soul being “as thin as a playing card”?
What is your standard response to life when you are tired?
What is your standard response to life when you are cranky?
What might happen if you did something completely contrary to your norm?
What would the activity of writing (blogging) change for you?
Lists:
Make a list of 5 – 10 blog posts, poems, essays, scripts, etc you want to write that may fall in the category of “changing everything.”
Make a list of 2 – 5 specific creative activities to engage in the next time your soul feels as thin as a playing card.
Make a list of 2 – 5 people you can contact when your soul feels “as thin as a playing card” and be in contact with them to see if they are willing to come alongside you as accountability/creativity partners.
Traditional writing prompts:
I’ve always thought when I force myself to begin, I……
The last time I wrote (blogged) when I was utterly exhausted, I….
The next time I write, I hope I can…..
If I approached creativity when I’m tired differently, I would…..
hank you for your reading & participation in Let Your Words Flow! Please come back as we offer new prompts to spice up your blogging, writing and creative thinking every day!
Julie Jordan Scott is a writer, creative life coach, speaker, performance poet, Mommy and mixed-media artist. Her word-love themed art will be for sale at a First Friday in Downtown Bakersfield. Check out the links below to follow her on a bunch of different social media channels, especially if you find the idea of a Word-Love Party bus particularly enticing.
+ 3 Tips to Get You Started in Writing Stories as a Way to Practice Your Writing Skills
Stories swirl around us all, constantly, as surely as the air we breathe and the water we drink.
I hear it far too often: "There are no more stories to tell."
I disagree strongly. It reminds me of saying "There are no more trees to sit under."
Stories swirl around you all the time.
Today in the most unlikely place - the line waiting for a bank teller on a Saturday morning - I was acutely aware of stories in the both the faces and the feet of people waiting alongside me. Right in front of me, I saw a story in the back of the gentleman who had a coffee can in his hands.
He hugged it to his chest most of the time.
I wondered "What is in that can?" and "What brings him to the bank with his can
What stories do you see?
hugged to his chest?" and "Who else knows he is here?"
Moments like these provide bountiful fodder for the creative among us. They are like our muse dialing us in, seeing if we are awake and alive enough to take note and then checking to see if we are inspired enough to actually create something from the experience.
I could leap to what seem to me to be obvious conclusions, but I prefer to think of the surprising.
As a writer, I like to think of a variety of points of view.
When I get home from the bank, I jot some notes. "What does the Folger's can say to me about him?" followed by "What are some of the interactions I have had in my life because of coffee - either a coffee can or just a cup of coffee with a stranger?"
"What might he be thinking about the Folgers coffee can as he waits in the line? Why does he hug it to his chest?"
I also wrote related yet not related notes:
Consider being stuck and going "too slowly" and making meaning where none necessarily belongs.
Believe it or not, I have another idea for an essay I am choosing to save for another piece of writing. This morning, I stood on a long line waiting. Other people behind me, beside me and in front of me were complaining about the situation.
The muse was waiting for them to play, just like she is waiting for you all the time, especially in those unexpected places like lines or doctor's offices or while sitting at your local coffee shop.
Stories swirl around you all the time. All you have to do is scoop one of them up and begin to create.
3 Tips to Get You Started in Writing Stories as a Way to Practice Your Writing Skills
1. Look around every day and "scoop up" a story you randomly see. Don't concern yourself with how that particular story relates to your life or a particular piece you are writing, just become a story magnet.
2. Take a few photos. Ask yourself questions about what might be happening in the stories you see. You can be creative, you can be ridiculous, you can practice being a strict photojournalist. The only rule - if you could call it that - is to stretch your story telling and story writing skills.
3. Zoom in on any part of the scene. I focused in these photos on the Folger's coffee can. Write three to five sentences you associate with what you want to focus on in your story. You might simply want to sharpen your skills in description and have no desire to write a story. This is an excellent idea.
Dare: Try this technique for the next three days. There are benefits to this practice you will discover that will come delightful surprises. I can't wait to read that part of your story!
Julie Jordan Scott is a writer, creative life coach, speaker, performance poet, Mommy and mixed-media artist. Her word-love themed art will be for sale at a First Friday soon, when it is warmer than it was in December!, in Downtown Bakersfield. Check out the links below to follow her on a bunch of different social media channels, especially if you find the idea of a Word-Love Party bus particularly enticing.
Welcome to Let Your Words Flow: a Daily Quote, Prompt and Image for your Creative Inspiration.
If this is your first visit, you will want to visit our Let Your Words Flow Guide so that you will receive the most value from the life changing content you find here.
Now - on with today's inspiration:
Quote:
"Writing is really just a matter of writing a lot, writing consistently and having faith that you'll continue to get better and better."
Laura Kasischke
Questions:
How consistent are you with your writing?
On a scale of 1 to 10, how is your faith that you'll continue to get better and better as a writer?
How willing are you to set aside time to simply write for writing's sake?
Lists
Make a list of 5 to 10 stories you would like to save/write/keep for the sake of telling to loved ones (or others.)
Make a list of 2 to 5 people you would like to talk to and share stories with each week.
Bonus: call those friends and invite them over for coffee, tea, dessert or perhaps a glass of wine. Tell stories to each other and finally, write them down.
Traditional writing prompts:
What I really want to write is....
What I think people want me to write is....
What stops me from writing is...
What inspires me to write is....
Thank you for your reading & participation in Let Your Words Flow! Please come back as we offer new prompts to spice up your blogging, writing and creative thinking every day!
Julie Jordan Scott is a writer, creative life coach, speaker, performance poet, Mommy and mixed-media artist. Her word-love themed art will be for sale at a First Friday soon, when it is warmer than it was in December!, in Downtown Bakersfield. Check out the links below to follow her on a bunch of different social media channels, especially if you find the idea of a Word-Love Party bus particularly enticing.
661.444.2735. 
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