Today we've got a joyous start followed by relaxing-melty moments and dreamy sequences. Let's see what your brain puts forth as you scoop under your awareness. Here's hoping for awesome, awkward nuggets hiding in the mysteries of the subconscious.

Today's song: "High Above the Water" by Kathryn Bostic

Other links:

A take on "Beard After Hours" - the episode of Ted Lasso I raved about: https://www.vulture.com/article/ted-lasso-recap-season-2-episode-9-beard-after-hours.html

Happy dreaming!

Today we get back to some of my favorite kinds of writing exercises, a prompt style from Natalie Goldberg, where you have your prompt and you write from it, but as you lose the thread of a thought or want to push yourself deeper into your thoughts, you repeat the prompt and write again, and again and again. The focus of the writing today is all hovering around themes of love and relationships it feels like. That's what comes from writing after going on a walk with a friend who's a dating coach!

Today's song: "For Now" by Kina Grannis - https://open.spotify.com/track/0c99BUd87HQfzgUUQqRyds?si=fdd9aa14461e431c

Other links:

Kimberley Healey, dating coach: https://www.instagram.com/hijomitmoi/

"A better way to talk about love" TED Talk by Mandy Len Catron: https://youtu.be/zMWYQRKuc5M

A talk about Sula by Toni Morrison from The Carter G. Woodson Institute for African American and African Studies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vzw61BfnE6M 

Happy writing!

Today was a silly episode. I was in an odd mood: both firm about what I wanted to work on and scattered in thought. How can one be both focused and all over the map? A mix of tiredness and excitement rolled together, perhaps? The main thrust of the session was looking at what drives us, what drives our characters, and then also the driver itself—the narrator. I got a lot of inspiration about types of narrators (character, omniscient, and ambiguous) from Mario Vargas Llosa's book Letter to a Young Novelist. From there came a narration challenge. And so, what do a scared human, a blue turtle, and a comfy couch have in common? Listen to find out! Thanks for rolling with me today!

Today's song: "Bird in the Thyme" by Tiny Ruins

Link to the playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0U16u8aKdIrHoFugoWzRec?si=f0bb493e873e4936

Other links:

Letters to a Young Novelist by Mario Vargas Llosa, translated by Natasha Wimmer: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780312421724 

Neil Gaiman's Masterclass: https://www.masterclass.com/classes/neil-gaiman-teaches-the-art-of-storytelling

Neil Gaiman's A Calendar of Tales: https://soundcloud.com/a-calendar-of-tales/sets/a-calendar-of-tales

The list of prompts from A Calendar of Tales on SFSignal.com: https://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2013/08/short-fiction-friday-neil-gaimans-a-calendar-of-tales/

Thanks for writing with me today!

Well, howdy do! Today's focus was all about shifting perspectives and working through feeling stagnant. I'm reading Mary Oliver's collection of short essays, called "Long Life," and am enjoying hearing her voice, the thoughts behind the thoughts, giving insight into her beautiful poetry and pristine way of viewing the world. We take inspiration from her as we mine and define new ways of viewing things.

Today's song: "The Secret Kissing of the Sun and Moon" by Hang Massive

Link to the playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0U16u8aKdIrHoFugoWzRec?si=41c9a1bf3c8845c6

Other links:

Mary Oliver's "Long Life" ~ a write up from Brainpickings.org: https://www.brainpickings.org/2015/02/20/mary-oliver-long-life-habit/

Hello! I've been recording the podcast for awhile now but am only just sharing with friends, so it feels like a new start in a way. Welcome to the newbs! Today we journey into words and phrases we use a lot, things from the past week that have stuck with us, and putting our writing muscles to the test by writing a bad mystery. Today's session is a little longer than usual - potentially due to nerves, but also because I do a bit of a longer look at one of the exercises including how I approached the prompt. Without furthery ado, let's get to it!

Here's the link to the song prompt playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0U16u8aKdIrHoFugoWzRec?si=e79a12050ca9419b

Other links:

Neil Gaiman's Masterclass: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vy9b-L7uKqk

Annie Dillard's The Writing Life: https://www.brainpickings.org/2013/08/09/annie-dillard-on-writing/

Thank you for writing today!

I zoomed through this one, didn't I? Feel free to take longer with any of my suggested prompt times if you like. Also, for anyone who is desperately curious, it was a Great Blue Heron I was seeing. And, the black and white bird who I got excited about is likely a Black Turnstone. Alas, not a loon. That was wishful thinking.

A note about the song at the end "Already Forgiven" by Basia Bulat: I attempted to use something that I thought was going to be super fancy - including an actual song track from Spotify - but I just found out that not only will it just be premium Spotify users who will hear the full track (with basic Spotify users hearing a short preview), but it also won't appear on my episode list on other podcast platforms. So, I'm re-releasing this episode without the song attached. Do go look it up though! As I wrote in the description for the now Spotify-only episode, it doesn't hurt to try something new, but I think I'll stick to my usual format of sharing songs from the Just Write for introverts inspiration playlist. Thanks for bearing with me!

Link to the playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0U16u8aKdIrHoFugoWzRec?si=dac0945a79d54e8b

Other links...

Sitka Center for Art and Ecology: https://www.sitkacenter.org

Great Blue Heron: https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/great-blue-heron

eTown: https://www.etown.org

Basia Bulat: https://basiabulat.com

Thank you for writing together today!

There wasn't really a theme to this episode, but escape was mentioned a lot! Escape room, escape as a prompt, escaping on vacation. I recorded this the morning I was leaving for a few day trip to the ocean, and I'm so glad I did. This session brought up a lot of feels: happy feels and sad ones. A full spectrum of the smiles and the tears.

Here's today's song: "Rupturing" by Emily Jane White

Link to playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0U16u8aKdIrHoFugoWzRec?si=88bc2a71fd834fd8

I feel a little vulnerable in today's episode. Not exactly sure why! Here's the poem that I read aloud for the poem inspiration prompt if you wanted to read it rather than just hear me say it.

Conrad Aiken (1889–1973)

The Ego (January 1953)

Ego! Ego! Burning blind

Here's the link to it on Poetry Foundation. 

Today's song is "Smaller Than My Mother" by Overcoats. Here's the Spotify playlist link: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0U16u8aKdIrHoFugoWzRec?si=89a9685114d24d01

Thanks for writing with me today!

Can I just say, Annie Dillard blows me away. I'm really enjoying her book The Writing Life. (It was another lucky used book store find. Thank you, The Book Exchange!)

"The line of words fingers your own heart. It invades arteries, and enters the heart on a flood of breath; it presses the moving rims of this valves; it palpates the dark muscle strong as horses, feeling for something, it knows not what. A queer picture beds in the muscle like a worm encysted--some film of feeling, some song forgotten, a scene in a dark bedroom, a corner of the woodlot, a terrible dining room, that exalting sidewalk; these fragments are heavy with meaning. The line of words peels them back, dissects them out. Will the bared tissue burn? Do you want to expose these scenes to the light? You may locate them and leave them, or poke the spot hard till the sore bleeds on your finger, and write with that blood. If the sore spot is not fatal, if it does not grow and block something, you can use its power for many years, until the heart resorbs it."

Gorgeous. 

Note: We didn't have a song today. We did a meditative breathing exercise.

Links...

Annie Dillard: http://www.anniedillard.com/books-annie-dillard.html

It's a new year! I tried to do a second 10-day challenge last year... It took me six months to do 10 episodes. First derailment at the start of the pandemic was the anniversary of my father's death (three years hit hard). The turmoil and pain and necessary work of fighting for and supporting the civil rights of Black, Indigenous, Asian, and Transgender people brought forth much thinking, learning, and helping implement antiracist efforts in systems where I could effect change. Then tragedy ravaged the valley where I live. The Almeda Fire brought unfathomable destruction, and life turned on its head. That was swiftly followed by an unexpectedly large work load, followed by the holidays, and time essentially having no meaning, which brings us to now. 2021. Season two. Let's get writing.

Here's the Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0U16u8aKdIrHoFugoWzRec?si=bd9a1957b5b54490