The Writing Reader
From the monthly archives: July 2012
That’s right. The World Championship of Public Speaking is just a couple weeks away. I have been speaking 4 or 5 times a week for the last two months to prepare my speeches for the semifinal and final rounds. I am now exhausted! I’m taking the next 2 weeks off to rest, finalize my speeches, and make final preparations before heading to Orlando. Watch my personal blog for news about the contest results!
The story is an old one. Old as dirt, shit, blood, sleep, fire. Old before anyone set voice to it, set pen to it, aimed wanderers’ tongues and toes toward its reconnaissance. It digs deep, sinks its roots deep, drinks deep. It goes back and back and back.
You say you know it already. True, the stage, set by now, seems familiar. The archetypes are all in attendance. Girl, mother, basket, greenwood, cape. Yes, yes. But do you know the story? -Nicole Kornher-Stace, The Promise (free to read online at Lightspeed Magazine)
Writing Prompt: Write a modern retelling of a familiar fairy tale.
Journaling Prompt: Write about Little Red Riding Hood and what the story means to you.
Art Prompt: Little Red Riding Hood
Nonfiction / Speech Writing Prompt: Create a fairy tale from a news story.
Photo Credit: martinak15 on Flickr
bemuse v. [with obj.] (usually as adj. bemused) puzzle, confuse, or bewilder: her bemused expression | he was bemused by what was happening.
Writing Prompt: Write a story, scene, or poem using the word of the week.
Journaling Prompt: Write about things that bemuse you.
Art Prompt: Bemuse
Nonfiction / Speech Writing Prompt: Write about a situation that bemuses you.
Photo Credit: stev.ie on Flickr
I had never spoken with Mrs. Pickett, but I knew the smile she wore. It said I was a funny little boy with some silly ideas that she could easily set straight. I was afraid she was right. -Will Shetterly, Dogland
Writing Prompt: Use the prompt to create a character sketch. Who is the funny little boy and what are his silly ideas?
Journaling Prompt: Write about a teacher you had who set you straight on some silly ideas.
Art Prompt: Funny Little Boy
Photo Credit: specialoperations on Flickr
From the corporate boardroom to the kitchen table, important decisions are often made in collaboration. But are two — or three or five — heads better than one? Not always, according to new research from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. “People who make judgments by working with someone else are more confident in those judgments. As a result they take less input from other people” — and this myopia wipes out any advantage a pair may have over an individual, says psychologist Julia A. Minson, who conducted the study with Jennifer S. Mueller. “The collaborative process itself is the problem.” -Science Daily
Writing Prompt: Write a scene where collaboration leads your protagonist into a dangerous decision.
Journaling Prompt: Write about a time at work or in a volunteer position where collaboration led to a decision that wasn’t optimal.
Art Prompt: Collaboration
Nonfiction / Speech Writing Prompt: Write about your experiences with collaborative decision making. Do you agree or disagree with the research cited above.
Photo Credit: National Assembly For Wales / Cynulliad Cymru on Flickr
We do not believe in the reality of Olympus, so the ancient Greek gods live on in us as symptoms. We no longer have thunderbolts of Zeus, we have headaches. We no longer have the arrows of Eros we have angina pains. We no longer have the ecstasy of Dionysus, we have addictive behavior. Even though we no longer recognize the gods we experience their powerful forces.-Carl Jung
Writing Prompt: Write about a character with a symptom caused by the spirit of a Greek god.
Journaling Prompt: Write about a time when you felt like the victim of the wrath of a Greek god.
Art Prompt: Greek god
Photo Credit: Eddi van W. on Flickr
Our studies suggest that more positive attitudes toward greed and the pursuit of self-interest among upper-class individuals, in part, drive their tendencies toward increased unethical behavior,” said lead researcher Paul Piff of UC Berkeley.
The research revealed that relative to the lower class, upper-class individuals are more likely to break the law while driving, more likely to exhibit unethical decision-making tendencies, more likely to take valued goods from others, more likely to lie in a negotiation, more likely to cheat to increase their chances of winning a prize and more likely to endorse unethical behavior at work.
“The relative privilege and security enjoyed by upper-class individuals give rise to independence from others and a prioritization of the self and one’s own welfare over the welfare of others–what we call ‘greed,’” explained Piff, whose research was funded in part by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.
“This is likely to cause someone to be more inclined to break the rules in his or her favor, or to perceive themselves as, in a sense, being ‘above the law,’” he said and therefore become more prone to committing unethical behavior. -Science Daily
Writing Prompt: Write a story, scene or poem about entitlement in an upper class protagonist.
Journaling Prompt: Write about a time when you were affected by someone who felt entitled.
Art Prompt: Greed
Nonfiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Write about the problem of entitlement in today’s culture.
Photo Credit: erix! on Flickr
Welcome to the Carnival of Creativity for July 22, 2012. All links will open in a new tab or window, so feel free to click through and leave some love in the comments. Once you close that window, you’ll be right back here for more linky goodness.
Sharing Our Work
Eula McLeod presents Signs posted at View from the Wine Press.
Writing Quote of the Week
The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug. ~ Mark Twain
Writing Tips and Prompts
Esther Inglis-Arkell presents How to Convince People You Have Psychic Powers posted at io9. Maybe one of your characters needs to know this.
Joanna Penn presents Traditional Publishing vs. Self-Publishing: Either or Both posted at Live Write Thrive.
Robert Lee Brewer presents Best Blogs for Writers to Read posted at My Name is not Bob.
Chrys Fey presents Creating Mood posted at Write with Fey.
Journal Writing
Michael Hyatt presents The 7 Benefits of Keeping a Daily Journal posted at Intentional Leadership.
The Business of Creativity
Leonie Dawson presents 9 Steps to Getting Paid for Your Gifts posted at Leonie Dawson.
Crafts
Melissa presents Craft Group posted at Making the most of………...
That’s all for this week. Be sure to submit your article for next week’s Carnival of Creativity by Friday at midnight!
Addendum: Carnivals will be on break through August. They will resume in September.
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I believe that the most important thing about writing is to HAVE FUN! You can worry about things like commas, point of view, tenses, etc., later. Right now, just start writing!
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