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Cause-and-effect thinking is critical to human survival, Legare said. So it’s natural for people to find logic in supernatural rituals that emphasize repetition and procedural steps. If doing something once has some effect, then repeating it must have a greater effect. For example, if a mechanic says he inspected something five times, the frequency of his actions leads the customer to overestimate the effectiveness of his work. -Science Daily
Fiction Writing Prompt: Create a ritual for your character to use and then write a scene about it. Focus on the internal monologue.
Journaling Prompt: What rituals do you use?
Art Prompt: Supernatural Ritual
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Write about the psychology of ritual. Include stories about the rituals used by famous people.
Photo Credit: rodolfoaraiza.com on Flickr
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reliquary: A container to hold or display religious relics.
Fiction Writing Prompt: Write a story, poem or haiku using the word “reliquary.”
Journaling Prompt: Write about an object you own that has religious or spiritual significance for you. Where do you keep it?
Art Prompt: Reliquary
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Write about a specific reliquary and its history.
Photo Credit: Dolmang on Flickr
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benediction n. [mass noun] the utterance of a blessing, especially at the end of a religious service. (Benediction) (in the Roman Catholic Church) a service in which the congregation is blessed with the sacrament. [count noun] a prayer asking for divine blessing. the state of being blessed. late Middle English: via Old French from Latin benedictio(n-), from benedicere ‘wish well, bless’, from bene ‘well’ + dicere ‘say’.
Fiction Writing Prompt: Write a scene that includes a benediction.
Journaling Prompt: Write about an experience you have had receiving a benediction or blessing.
Art Prompt: Benediction
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Giving blessings is a lost art in today’s modern world. How would you bring back the art of blessing in your life?
Photo Credit: ‘|’||’| ‘|’[]||{ on Flickr
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I can only conjure up one god cult that believed the universe would cease to exist if its singing ever stopped. All of its members perished in an avalanche thousands of years back, of course. The universe, to my knowledge, has not. -Maggie Clark, Saying the Names (free to read online)
Writing Prompt: Write a character sketch for someone who belongs to a cult. What does he or she believe? Why?
Journaling Prompt: Write about the strangest thing you’ve ever heard someone claim as truth.
Art Prompt: Song of the Universe
Photo Credit: waywuwei on Flickr
Send to KindleSend to KindleWelcome to the Carnival of Creativity for May 6, 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.
Responses to Writing Reader Prompts
Melanie Marttila presents Why Spoilers are Good for Writers posted at Writerly Goodness. Written in response to Prompt #134 Spoilers.
The Creative Mindset
Angela Ackerman presents The Positive Side of Rejection posted at Live, Write, Thrive.
Resources/Tools
Jason Boog presents YouTube Time Machine for Book Research posted at Media Bistro.
Sharing Our Work
Eula McLeod presents Chickens Live Longer posted at View from the Winepress.
Liz Shaw presents I Talk, It Types posted at Liz Andra Shaw.
Writing Quote of the Week
Poetry is boned with ideas, nerved and blooded with emotions, all held together by the delicate, tough skin of words. – Paul Engle
Writing Tips and Prompts
Chrys Fey presents Movies as Writing Inspiration posted at Write with Fey.
Sarah Goslee presents World Building with Real Worlds posted at Science in my Fiction.
Amber Lee Starfire presents A Week’s Worth of Journaling Prompts: Uncertainty posted at Writing Through Life.
Jennifer Derrick presents Journaling for a Frugal, More Productive Life posted at Saving Advice.
Michael presents Wedding Thank You Note Etiquette posted at Thank You Notes.
Creativity Boosts
Michael Nobbs presents The Creative Magic of a Daily Ritual posted at Writing Our Way Home.
Podcasts
James Artimus Owen joins the Writing Excuses podcasters to discuss Discovering Your Voice.
The Business of Creativity
Ali Luke presents Eight Powerful Ways to Build a Loyal Readership for Your Blog posted at Cat’s Eye Writer.
Spam of the Week
The wiring is different, so that would have to be changed too, along with a different relay, tho not sure about the relay.. . The wiring is part of a larger harness, so I doubt they could install it after it’s made.
That’s all for this week. Be sure to submit your article for next week’s Carnival of Creativity by Friday at midnight!
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It was commonly held in all the ancient magical books that there were four elements of magic: Air and Water, Earth and Fire. But centuries of study had revealed to Nicholas that there were, in fact, five elemental forces of magic. The fifth force was the magic of Time, the greatest of all magics. -Michael Scott, The Alchemyst (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel)
Writing Prompt: Create a scene in which time functions as an element of magic for your character.
Journaling Prompt: How has time worked magic in your life?
Art Prompt: Time
Nonfiction / Speech Writing Prompt: Write about the magic of time.
Photo Credit: gadl on Flickr
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Create whatever this visual prompt inspires in you!
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Photo by L.C.Nøttaasen on Flickr.
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We may joke about OCD, but we all have little ritualistic behaviors that we may not even be aware of doing. Why do we do them?
Almost every human and animal activity can be divided into three parts, Prof. Eilam explains — “preparatory,” “functional,” and “confirmatory.” The functional aspect is defined by the specific actions that must occur in order to complete a task. But the preparatory and confirmatory actions, dubbed “head” and “tail” actions by the researchers, are not strictly required in order to get the job done. We complete them both before and after the central task, but they are not necessarily related to it. Individuals complete different head and tail activities for every task.
During the course of their study, Prof. Eilam and his fellow researchers watched and analyzed videotapes of people completing common tasks, such as putting on a shirt, locking a car, or making coffee, as well as basketball players completing a free-throw. In the case of basketball players, explains Prof. Eilam, all they actually need to do to complete their action is throw the ball. So why the preceding ritualistic behavior, such as bouncing the ball precisely six times?
“The routine they perform in the moments before shooting the ball is a method to focus their full concentration and control their actions.” Prof. Eilam says. It’s also an essential part of sports psychology. If players feel that completing their repetitive actions will enhance their performance, they tend to be more successful. This could include anything from locker room antics to LeBron James’ infamous pre-game chalk toss. -Science Daily
Writing Prompt: Write a scene with a character using a ritualistic behavior they believe will help them be successful.
Journaling Prompt: What little habits do you use as rituals?
Art Prompt: Ritual
Photo Credit: Mr. T in DC on Flickr
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Here is a different take on PTSD with an interesting idea for how to heal the wound.
‘My colleagues and I suspect that the greatest lasting harm is from moral injury,’ says Litz, director of the Mental Health Core of the Massachusetts Veterans Epidemiological Research and Information Center. He and six colleagues published an article on the topic in the December 2009 Clinical Psychological Review, in which they define moral injury as a wound that can occur when troops participate in, witness or fall victim to actions that transgress their most deeply held moral beliefs.
While the severity of this kind of wound differs from person to person, moral injury can lead to deep despair.
‘They have lost their sense that virtue is even possible,’ Shay says. ‘It corrodes the soul.’…
‘In traditional cultures, warriors always came back to tell their stories, to give witness and to do healing ceremonies in front of the entire community,’ Tick says. ‘The community witnessed the stories, felt the emotions, carried the burdens with their warriors and transferred responsibility for actions from the warriors to the community.’ -Miller-McCune
Writing Prompt: Create a ritual to help your character heal from a moral injury.
Journaling Prompt: How do you heal your soul when you’ve sustained a moral injury.
Art Prompt: Healing
Nonfiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Write about how our society deals with wounded souls
Photo Credit: The US Army on Flickr
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ablution n. (usually ablutions) FORMAL or HUMOROUS an act of washing oneself: the women performed their ablutions.
Writing Prompt: Create a ritual or habit for your character that involves ablution.
Journaling Prompt: What is your morning routine? How long have you been following that routine? What happens when it’s interrupted?
Art Prompt: Ablutions
Photo Credit: Perfecto Insecto on Flickr
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