In order to teach writing effectively, teachers must be writers themselves. They must experience the same uncertainty of starting a new draft and then struggling to revise. As they learn to move past the fear of failure, they discover the nervous rush and exhilaration of sharing work with an audience, just as their students do. Only by engaging in the real work of writing can teachers become part of the writing community they dream of creating for their students.
Kate Messner’s new book, 59 Reasons to Write, shows teachers and librarians who teach writing how to be stronger role models for their students.
“Writing for my students provided me with appropriate mentor texts to share,” she writes. “Writing with my students made me a mentor and a far better teacher.”
59 Reasons to Write grew out of Messner’s popular online summer writing camp, Teachers Write. Throughout the book she offers mini-lessons, writing prompts, and bursts of inspiration designed to get you writing every day, whether on your own or as part of a group. Dozens of guest authors also share their writing processes and secrets, from brainstorming ideas and organizing research to developing characters and getting unstuck from writer’s block.
59 Reasons to Write is for anyone who has always wanted to write but never managed to get into the habit. Daily warm-ups will help you flex your writing muscles and energize your teaching. As Messner shares, “One of the greatest gifts of writing is the way it nudges us to look more closely not only at the world but also at ourselves.”
Tag: Prompts
Journal: 365+ writing prompts, ideas and quotes to cultivate joy (Volume 1)
Journal: 365+ Writing Prompts, Ideas and Quotes to Cultivate Joy and Well-being offers close to 400 prompts alongside thoughtful or whimsical quotations as well as two bonus appendices of folk wisdom for writers, and writers on writing.
A detailed introduction explains the benefits and value of journaling along with suggestions for daily writing practices.
Many of the ideas in this book would be welcome as dinner table discussion material along with family sharing of gratitude, brags, desires and even vulnerabilities (just like in a journal).
Journal: 365+ Writing Prompts, is part of the kindle matchbook campaign. When you get the paperback first as a gift for a friend (or yourself), you can then get the kindle version for free.
Set down your memories, experiences, gratitude, goals and achievements.
Use your private journal time for your “brain dump.” Scan and sweep your mind and don’t forget to appreciate all the good around you. Vent your anger, exult in your accomplishments, savor your blessings. Write poetry, short stories, or letters to your younger or older self.
Journal-keeping has a way of making things happen. It’s a processing plant for projects in the future and challenges and annoyances from the past. Get the words in your heart out. Find clarity. Prioritize goals.
If you absolutely insist you can even get digital and password-protected, but then you’ll miss the fun of doodling, adding arrows and mind maps along with the romantic pen and paper connection.
Begin this book any day of the year. Each day, read a quote and a new prompt and get comfortable with your few minutes of sweet private time away from the world. Journal in bed first thing in the morning, at the end of the day, or with your 4 pm tea break. Make it a new habit that becomes your gift to yourself. (You can skip a day now and then. No one’s taking attendance.)
Find additional strength and support by finding a trusted journal-reading partner or non-judgmental, small, intimate group with whom to share your writing. This could be a soul mastery group which could meet once a week or by Skype or however you develop it.
Of course you can journal with only your simple blank notebook, but this book will give you a real push to sustain your writing along with some novel ideas for releasing that inner junk that’s been looking for a way out.
Go ahead, crack open that notebook and pick up that beloved pen you got as a present. Choose your favorite location and preferred time. WRITE one day at a time until you’ve found a new loving introspective behavior.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Judy Shafarman has been a teacher and workshop facilitator for many years in several countries. She has a B.A. in English and M.A. in education. Contact Judy@judyshafarman.net with your ideas and letters about your journal practice. Judy is also the compiler of 2 other distinct books for journal-writers: My book of Appreciation and My book of Grief and Loss
Write Starts: Prompts, Quotes, and Exercises to Jumpstart Your Creativity
Even dedicated and experienced writers need what author and writing coach Hal Zina Bennett provides: a fresh, fun, surefire place to start. In this handy resource, practiced and aspiring writers alike will find inspiration and initiative in the form of prompts for brief writing exercises, story prompts that set forth dramatic arcs for more lengthy works, readings with exercises that reflect on the art and craft of writing, and quotes from famous authors on the inner processes of successful work. Write Starts facilitates creativity like the perfect seat at a favorite café or a peaceful room of one’s own. What’s more, it puts you in the congenial company of a wise and expert coach.
Kicking In the Wall: A Year of Writing Exercises, Prompts, and Quotes to Help You Break Through Your Blocks and Reach Your Writing Goals
I would go as far as I could and hit a wall,” said musician and memoirist Patti Smith. In response, playwright Sam Shepard advised, When you hit a wall, just kick it in.” Writing teacher Barbara Abercrombie’s powerful writing prompts give us just the push we need to do it. Like a workout with a top trainer, her exercises warm up, stretch, and build creative muscle.
Kicking In the Wall includes quotes from famous writers to accompany the exercises, as well as real-world examples of completed exercises by the author’s students in the UCLA Extension Writer’s Program. Though Abercrombie says readers need only commit to five minutes per exercise, she writes, I’ve seen novels, memoirs, and many essays get started in those five minutes, and a lot ended up being published.” Her playful method is essential fuel for writers trying to get off the starting block, persevere through challenges, and cross their personal creativity finish lines.
Mixed Media Storytelling Workbook: Art Journaling Inspiration, Words and Prompts
So, What’s Your Story?
You know you’ve got one! And Mixed Media Storytelling Workbook: Art Journaling Inspiration, Words and Prompts is here to help you tell it and turn it into a personal and meaningful work of art. No matter where you are in your journey, this art journaling workbook is the perfect companion.
With twenty techniques, projects and words of wisdom from some of our best-selling authors, it is easier than ever to find the inspiration you need. Plus, you’ll have plenty of space for adding photos, collages and more in the 75+ lightly textured pages here, in your book. So what are you waiting for? Document your story for yourself, or the world!
Inside this Workbook: Dozens of tips, prompts and techniques to help you create your story. Advice and encouragement from eight of our favorite authors. More than eighty pages for you to tell your tale in the most artful way possible–your way! Contributors include: Traci Bautista, author of Collage Unleashed and Doodles Unleashed. Randi Feuerhelm-Watts, author of Wide Open. The Journal Fodder Junkies (Eric M. Scott and David R. Modler), authors of Journal Fodder 365 and The Journal Junkies Workshop. Liz Lamoreux, author of Inner Excavation. Quinn McDonald, author of Raw Art Journaling. Diana Trout, author of Journal Spilling. Violette, author of Journal Bliss. We all have a story to tell. Isn’t it time you told yours?
The Sketchbook Challenge: Techniques, Prompts, and Inspiration for Achieving Your Creative Goals
Have you ever bought a new sketchbook, opened to the first page, and thought, “Now what do I do?” Sue Bleiweiss and the talented minds behind The Sketchbook Challenge are here to help.
Imagine a supportive community of artists sharing the innermost pages of their sketchbooks and offering you tips and techniques for overcoming creative blocks. That’s what The Sketchbook Challenge is all about, and the popular blog of the same name has already inspired thousands. Inside this book, you’ll find:
· Themes that will motivate you to start your sketchbook—and, more important, keep at it
· Tutorials spotlighting such mixed-media techniques as thread sketching, painted papers for collage, digital printing, and much more
· Strategies to get off the sketchbook page and start creating inspired art—whether you’re into painting, collage, fiber art, or beyond.
· In-depth profiles of artists who have taken the Sketchbook Challenge and used it as a launching pad for their own meaningful artwork
Zentangle Untangled: Inspiration and Prompts for Meditative Drawing
Unwind, Tangle and Relax!
In Zentangle Untangled, Kass Hall introduces you to the fun and relaxing “doodling” process of Zentangle©–an engaging art form that uses repetitive patterns to create striking works of art that anyone can achieve regardless of age or artistic ability.
Following an explanation of the Zentangle© process, inside you will find 12 step-by-step demonstrations showing you how to create enticing tangle patterns, followed by several examples of how to add eye-popping color to your pieces, as well as fun ways to use tangles in your art journals. Captivating pieces from Kass and a slew of other artists will further satisfy your craving for inspiration!
Inside you will find: 12 step-by-step demonstrations of tangle patterns to make getting started easy! Different ways to introduce color, a variety of art materials, photography, and much more to your pieces. How to take your pen-and-ink tangles to the next step by enhancing them digitally!