One of the most common comments I get when I bring up being a writer is, "I wish I could write. I never know where to start." It is true. A blank page can be an intimidating prospect even for those of us who write all the time. But it doesn't have to be. Not when we let go of what our expectations are of what *should* end up on the page and start the work of just putting *something* on to it.
Nothing has been more valuable in my writing career and journey than free writing - writing just for the sake of getting words on paper. Nothing more, nothing less. Some days it's a list of all of the things I should be doing instead of writing. Other days I find myself writing deep and true about hard things. It's really a toss up of what comes out., but that's the important part - that it comes out.
November has some great writing initiatives from National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) to National Blog Post Month (NaBloPoMo) - - but with my schedule I found the thought of tackling a full novel or even pushing anything out on the interwebs would be too much.
So, I created a calendar that I could reasonably accomplish - a couch to 5K if you will for writing...starting with day 1 (today) of just writing for 10 minutes. As the month goes on, I've included some prompts and some 'stretch days' but for the most part this is about honing the practice of showing up. Not for output or end goal, but for the sake of writing.
With that in mind, *Spark the newsletter was born. For the month of November - a writing prompt, inspiration or encouragement gets dropped in your inbox daily. After November the pace will back off, but the same goodness will still remain.
As the month goes on, I hope to share some of the community stories and seeds that come from this project here and on our Facebook page. After all, we all have stories to tell.
Subscribe to *Spark below.
