The Famed 1,000 Words

A thousand words a day is a fantastic goal. I read Carolyn See's Making a Literary Life about three years ago for a writing workshop. When I need a little push, it's always nice to turn to her book. One of her chapters deals with keeing writing to yourself, to write and write until you become comfortable writing and don't feel the need to share until your comfortable with it.

I don't know if anyone else experiences this, but when I write I do tend to hide my work. It's maternal to protect your young and since I don't have children or even a pet, I'm guarded of my story. I'm also a little superstitious that if I talk too much about my plot and characters I'll talk myself out of writing them. Sounds strange? I think it happens more times than not.

Since I'm fearful I'll talk myself out of writing, please understand if I don't talk about my plot and story. Maybe as things progress I'll feel more adventurous about sharing.

Thinking about See's novel has made me nostalgic for the writing groups of college. There are all kinds of writing prompts I've tried over the years. Here's one I'm making up now from my computer as I watch Twitchy, our resident acrobat squirrel from my window. He's a feisty thing, twitching his tail (hence his name) and flipping all Matrix style across the back fence.

The prompt: Your standing in your backyard, the back fence leans ever-so-slightly onto your property. The oak tree your neighbor planted too close, the one your neighbor promises to cut but never does weighs on your mutual fence, warping the wood. The tooth-like leaves fall onto your geraniums, and the leaves smoother their roots. You look up at your neighbor's back window, the two-story that looks down and into your yard. The curtains open. A first. What do you see?

Happy writing!