Announcing Free Fall Fridays

Welcome to Free Fall Fridays, in which you follow a prompt, take the leap, and write one page. (And, yes, you can do this!)

I mentioned last week that Betsy Devany and I were going to provide prompts.  Well, we are ready to start.  It is easy for life to get in the way of your writing, so we were hoping to provide a little inspiration.  Since it is only one page, there is no reason why you can’t visit every Friday, spend 20 or 30 minutes and write something.  It doesn’t even have to be good.  Heck, Richard Peck says when he is done a first draft, he goes back and throws out the whole first chapter and rewrites it to go with the end of the book. 

No one will see it, unless you send it in to us, but it will help build your writing skills.  Just like with anything, creativity breeds creativity.  Everyone of my books came from one sentence that floated around in my head, until I wrote it down.  I had no idea where it was going until I wrote the first page, then I figured out the plot and started.  At the Fall Rewriter’s Retreat I always give everyone a prompt and it is amazing the stories that come out of that.  So you have nothing to lose by trying and you’ll be building the creative side of your brain.

Betsy and I are not promising to post a first page every week, since we do not know how many people will send us something, but I would love to share some of the results and hopefully give our opinions on why a first page is working or not.  So please feel free to share your work with us.   If we don’t have a first page to post with the prompt on Friday, we will post a tip with the prompt.

Here is what Betsy wrote for you:

Rather than fear prompts, welcome them. They can and will lead you to uncovered potential and the promise of a new beginning. Push yourself. Face your fears and, by all means, have fun. Laugh. Cry. Enjoy the process. You never know where it may lead you.

Think of a dancer, who, day after day, painstakingly places their body in the proper positions until the body remembers on its own. This takes years of practice and patience and maintaining a positive attitude, all to build muscle memory. We, as writers, must follow suit. In stretching ourselves to write in unfamiliar territory, we exercise our muscles.

Kathy and I have chosen Fridays for our weekly prompts as that is the end of a week: the time when some of us look back and bemoan the fact that we have not written a single sentence in the past five days. Set this thought aside, and give yourself twenty minutes of uninterrupted writing. Allow the prompt to open your mind, and then plunge onto the page. Once your pen is on the paper, keep it moving. Write something. Anything.

We would love to hear how you are doing in this challenge, and whether there are specific types of prompts that you enjoy most. Please comment on my blog http://betsydevany.wordpress.com/2010/10/22/freefall-frida…ach-to-prompts/  , where I will have additional thoughts on the weekly prompt. (This week I will share my approach to writing from a prompt.)

Now find a quiet place, put aside your critical voice, and set a timer for twenty minutes. Good luck! And remember, have fun!

Prompt # 1 – Study the photos. Now write one page starting with the words: _____ was halfway up the stairs when_____ turned around and _________.

Betsy and I look forward to hearing and reading your successes.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy