An Exercise to Set Your Writer's Voice Free

I've encouraged you to do freewrite exercises many times. Many times because they are worth your time and effort. The poster today gives you one reason to do the freewrite exercise--to set your writer's voice free. 

The exercise is quite simple. Pick up a book, open it, close your eyes and point to a page. Whatever word your finger lands on is your prompt word.  Set a timer for 10 minutes. Write the word, then let your fingers go as fast as you can writing whatever comes into your mind. It need no be a story; it can be a jumble of different sentences that have no relation to one another. Or, it can morph into a vignette, or slice of life piece. It's whatever comes from the recesses of your mind. 

It's possible that what you write ends up being pure drivel, or it can be something that has real merit, something you can build on. 

You're going into parts of your mind you don't always use by making this a no-holds-barred exercise. Opening closed doors in your subconscious can help you with future writing. 

If you don't want to use the 'pick a word blindly from a book' method, here is a list of word prompts. Choose one today and freewrite for 10 minutes. Don't stop and ponder. Just keep writing. Try another tomorrow and the next day. Most of all, have fun with this one.

• sky
• field
• dynamite
• sorrow
• fun
• carousel
• train
• elongated
• misery
• flower
• storm

Yet Another Contest!

It seems that every time I turn around, there is another writing contest to enter. Some appeal, while others don't. So, what's the criteria for selecting the ones I enter? The fee charged by some is so exorbitant that I pass right by. I'm not about to send my submission along with $25 in a contest where the odds are pretty slim. $2 or $5 I might consider, but there are plenty of contests that charge no entry fee. Even the $5 fee adds up if you enter a lot of contests. You have to determine if you're willing to risk it. Some of us are gamblers and others are not.

Another draw to a contest is the type of story they are looking for. One notice I received last week asked for family stories in which there had to be at least two generations included. It also could be no more than 750 words. There is no entry fee and the three prizes are quite nice-$500, $350 and $150. Family stories are my specialty, so I took a closer look at the guidelines and I began to work on a story about my mother and dad's wedding. They eloped and were married secretly for several weeks. I'd heard the story many times at our kitchen table, so many that I felt I could do it justice in the retelling.

Surely, you all have family stories that might qualify for this contest. Take a look at the Intergeneration website contest guidelines. Submission deadline is August 15, 2011. Nothing to lose and everything to gain.