What Does "Manhattan" Say To You?

Photo by: Clément Bardot  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

      Today I want to try something a bit different.  This will mostly require your help.  I'll explain my plan and let you take it from there if you're willing to do so.

        What I'm referring to is a future project here at Tossing It Out.  Bear with me--I assure you that there is some semblance of method to my madness all to be revealed at a later date.  The success of the outcome of this project will depend to some extent on your response to what I'm asking.  If there is no or not enough response from my readers then I'll be on my own.   Either way this project will happen with or without you.

          It's simple really.   Or complex if you'd like to go in that direction.  It's free form.  Or structured if that is what you prefer.  It's now--or it's later if you need some time to think.  We've got some time.  This project will occur in a few months, but I hope to get most of my input before then so I can organize everything properly.

          Are you ready?  Here it is:

What comes to your mind when you hear the word "Manhattan"?

           It's a word like a magic breath.  For some it invokes a place or even a history.  Or is it more than that to you?  Maybe it's something rather than someplace.  I want to hear your story about "Manhattan".  Perhaps you can write a story with "Manhattan" as the theme.  Or write a poem--Manhattan is a poetic sounding word don't you think?  Simply give me your impression of the word as a vision appears in your mind inspired by that word.

          Leave your thoughts in the comment section if they aren't too long.  Write a post on your own blog and send me the link to it.  If you've already done a Manhattan themed post sometime in the past then send me the link to that.  Write me a guest post that I can use when my project begins to appear.


           I'll use anything you provide me in the comment section or that you send me otherwise.  Once I have all comments and other contributions assembled, they will appear on Tossing It Out as a special event series over many days and I will link to your blog or use other links that you'd like me to use.   You can consider my request to be a prompt to be used for a writing exercise, a challenge, or an opportunity to get your blog link and name out to a wider audience.

           So send me something if you'd like.  My email can be found in the "Post a Comment" disclaimer section below.  Or leave your comment with your word association based on "Manhattan".   If you even just leave me a sentence in reference to "Manhattan", I'll turn it into a complete post and give you credit for it.   I want to hear about "Manhattan".   Tell me something, anything and you will have a future spot in my special project.

            Daft--perhaps.  I may have to make this up as I go.   Hope you'll make this easier for me by providing me inspiration from your mind.



           

It's Your Story So Tell It Like a Story

          If you ask me, writer's block is just an excuse that is the same as saying, "I'm too damn lazy to write anything right now."  I don't have any problem with a writer not feeling like writing, but I do think we should cough up the truth if we are not writing.  If your life depended on coming up with something don't you think you could?

          Okay, so you're at a standstill with your current work in progress or you have an idea for a story but don't know how to start.  You're having trouble forcing yourself to write.   Well, then force yourself to write something else.  Forget about trying to make something up.   Write about you.  Write the story of your life.  Surely you know that story.

          When faced with the concept of writing memoir some people might balk with the claim that their life is not interesting or they haven't done anything special.  So what the heck, write about it anyway.  I'm not talking about mundane journal entries or Daytimer schedule planner entries; I'm talking about you telling what you did today, or yesterday, or once upon a time on that special day of your life.  Make it creative.  Turn it into a tale.

          Maybe you just went to the grocery store today, bought some groceries, and came home.  Come on--think!  There's so much more to this story.   How did you get there?   What did you see on your way?  What was playing on the radio?  Did someone else go with you?  What did you talk about?  What kind of car do you drive and how's it running anyway?

           Now you're getting somewhere.   What store did you go to?  Did you see any particularly interesting people?  Who did you see there and what did they look like?   What was on sale?  How much did things cost?   What did you buy?   How did you pay for it?   How are your finances?   Will you have enough to get through the month?

           "Bor-r-r-ing!"  You may say.  Make it interesting--you're the writer.  Throw in adjectives and adverbs, metaphors and similes, or whatever else you can grab out of your writer's trick bag.  Add some humor, inject some action, or elicit pathos.   Paint a vivid picture that the reader can see, hear, and sense in every way.  Sometimes everyday experience can be the most interesting because we can all relate to it.

            Think about the stand-up comic's routine.  What makes it all so funny is that we can usually picture it because we've been there.   Next time you're listening to a comedy routine focus on why it's funny.  A great deal of the humor comes from the presentation, but familiar story content makes us nod our heads with the realization that we get it--yeah, we've been in that same situation and know exactly what the comic is talking about.

          Or what about that friend or co-worker who always holds our attention with a riveting story.  Why? Again, presentation is a big part of it, but our ability to connect to what is being said makes a big difference in keeping us interested.   Conversely, think about the person who tells the dull boring story.   Maybe we can also relate to that person's story, but do we care?  The way the story is told can be a big snooze-a-rama without presentational pizzazz tossed into the mix.

         Try it out.  Next time you're bemoaning that you've got writer's block, stop what you're doing and tell your life story.  Not necessarily your whole life story, but maybe what you've done since you woke up that morning or what you did before going to bed the previous night.  It might end up being a better story that the one you wanted to write in the first place.

          Instead of using the esoteric term of writer's block or the artsy complaint of lacking inspiration, just tell it like it is.  I'm too damn lazy to write, too distracted to write, or I just plain don't want to write whatever crap I'm supposed to be writing.   Hmm--maybe you can write a story about why you feel that way.  And please make it an interesting story.

           What's your opinion of writer's block?  Have you ever tried stand-up comedy?   Do you find it easy to write about your life?

            On Wednesday my special guest will be Karen Walker who will be visiting Tossing It Out as part of her Following the Whispers blog book tour.  Karen's someone who can tell about writing a memoir and she'll be here to give us a few tips on the Do's and Don'ts of memoir writing.

         

    ..  

Practical Prompts

              The above photo shows four of the many boxes I have stored in the closet in my writing office.  There are many boxes in this closet, and in the office there are additional files of materials that I have accumulated over the years--mostly for the purpose of providing inspiration for my writing or as a record of things that I have written.

              There is probably little of any real monetary value stored in this room, but there is a wealth of ideas and thought provoking information to be found here.  News clippings and magazine articles, photos, scribbled thoughts, odd objects, and items of personal memories are all parts of my treasure.  Whatever I have kept because it somehow made me think of something to write, I have filed in a special place or tossed into a box or a drawer to be filed away at a later time. 

            The way I see it is that in my lifetime there is no way I could ever possibly run out of writing prompts.  If I find myself saying that I cannot think of anything to write about, what I really should be admitting is that I'm too lazy or not motivated to write at this moment.  Everything is a potential prompt for writing.  You just have to use your imagination and ask some questions.

            Let me try a little exercise to illustrate how prompts are everywhere.  I'm at my desk and look to my left where I see a burgundy stapler.  Reaching over to pick it up, I realize it is a heavy metal stapler that could potentially kill somebody--there's a murder mystery here.   I look at the bottom and see it was made by the Bates General Binding Corporation.   I wonder what else they make and what is the history of this company?  Who designed the stapler, how is it made, and who made the decision to use the burgundy color.  This company is in Northbrook, Illinois.  What's it like there?  What is the history of this city?  The stapler was manufactured in Taiwan.  What is the factory like?  Who are some of the workers who handled this stapler while it was being manufactured and what are their lives like?

Potentially deadly stapler with a  long and complex history.

         These questions and contemplations could go on and on--I think you get the idea.   You could write an entire book about this stapler or come up with countless articles and stories about it.  And that was just the first thing I saw on my desk.   As cluttered as my desk tends to be, I potentially have a lifetime of writing at arms reach.

          Writing prompt exercises are fine, but where do those come from?  They come from another writer's imagination, that's where.  What are you doing to stretch your own imagination?   Look around you, pick common things up and examine them in detail.   Think about them and ask questions.  There are stories in everything, in everyplace, and in everybody.   It's up to the writer to make those stories come to life in an interesting way.
          
          The Blogging from A to Z April Challenge often elicits comments like, "I don't know if I can think of that many ideas for a whole month".    This is why it's a Challenge!   It's impossible to run out of ideas, though it's not inconceivable to run out of steam.  Last year I began to get a bit weary at the midway point of the challenge.  When I reached the letter "n" I decided that I could think of nothing to write about.  That's when the light bulb came on in my head.  I wrote a bit of flash fiction called "Nothing" that was rather well-received and this recharged my motivation.

          If writer's block is causing you to stumble, stop and take a breather.  Think.  Ponder.   Ask questions about why you are experiencing this barrier to progress.   Take a walk, listen to music, watch a movie, or talk to a child.  And if you need to do some exercises with writing prompts then let me suggest going for the practical prompts that are right there in your life.  What you write about is an extension of who you are.  Why shouldn't the writing exercises you do be a part of who you are as well. 

           How do you overcome writer's block?   Do you sometimes use prompts as writing exercise?   What are some of your favorite prompts?




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