Today’s forward nudge** for writers
Monthly Archives: May 2021
Stuck for writing topics? Visit Quora.
Okay, so here I sit and there is a dog on the floor beside me who is morally (possibly even biologically) opposed to humans using technology when he’s nearby. In other words, he’s smarter than most humans, including me.
Despite the canine objections…seeing as how I’m well into retirement, I was struck with this thought: At what age does a man become a codger?
So I clicked over to Quora. Lots of ideas and discussion [and ads, but I’m sure you’re as adept as I am at looking past that stuff.]
Then, in the right column ‘Are you a geezer, codger, or coot?‘ caught my eye.
Seemed like a fun little etymology exercise.
And it set off my idea machine [ten ideas ideally on a single topic] exercise for the day:
Find ten writing topics from this page on Quora.
1. When did I become a codger?
2. Does my dog think I’m a codger? [An interview]
And I came across, this guy on Quora, who fed me all kinds of topics—
He says he still believes in ‘silly little things like:
3, “Life is simply a never ending series of decisions.”
4. “We are in control of our destiny, although politicians think they are.”
And my favorite…
5. “Worry is the most egregious mistreatment of imagination that there is.”
This person is also shooting to live to 112 1/2—a source of multiple topics…
6. “What if I knew I’d live that long? How would I live my life right now?”
7. “Do I want to live that long?”
8. “If I knew the exact date, or even month, of my passing, how would I treat those last few months?”
And circling back to the original ‘When did I become a codger?’…
9. Would there be a new classification/label for someone who’s hanging around at 112?
10. Where would I be warehoused at that age?
11. Would I still have a dog at that age?
12. When should we decide to NOT have a dog? [i.e. don’t want to leave him ownerless/homeless if I should pass—or— don’t want to be so feeble that I can’t take good care of him]
So these are thoughts that might have entered my mind as I celebrated World Baking Day yesterday. Instead, I focused on chocolate chip-peanut butter-cranberry cookies and a fresh loaf of Italian cheese bear bread.
Other stuff I’m doing:
retiredguys.net
and more Goodwill Words Project letters.
Curation Corner: Make your writing fit and trim.
I ran across this post from vappingo.com (a valuable new find) that’s all about ridding your work of ‘flabby words and expressions’.
Exact Title: 164 PHRASES AND WORDS YOU SHOULD NEVER USE IN AN ESSAY—AND THE POWERFUL ALTERNATIVES YOU SHOULD
I like the ‘powerful alternatives’ part…
A few examples:
— Use ‘will differ’ instead of ‘will be different’.
— Use ’emphasize’ instead of ‘point out’.
–Use ‘Start by’ instead of ‘The first step is to…’
While I don’t write essays, a quick scan of the list awakened me to lazy expressions I’ve used in my posts and letters.
Note: After reviewing the post, I’m now paranoid about every word I’m writing. Probably a good idea to NOT check out this post…
before your first drafts.
There are 17 more pages of Vappingo posts here.
Curation Corner: Are you a writer who’s stuck? Try freewalking.
Hey, it works for Jessica Lourey!
I’ve enjoyed seven of her Mira James Mysteries (set in Battle Lake, Minnesota–population 927) books, so I looked up Jessica Lourey on Amazon and voilà!
Check out her May 2, 2021 Freewalking post.
Some excerpts:
“Every time I finish these emotionally honest books, I free a piece of Little Jessie…” (herself)
“The Pretender will be my twenty-first novel, so you’d think I’d have things figured out by now, and I do when it comes to the mechanics of it. My experience, though, has been that writing’s always hard, and my fears grow to fit the space I give them.”
“So when I say I have something that works despite, know that I’m not just blowing smoke. I’m coming at you from the trenches.
Here it is, my miracle cure for don’t-writis: freewalking.”
Here also is Jess’s TedX Rapid City talk: Use Fiction to Rewrite Your Life
Hope you enjoy and learn a little something!
Curation for Writers: Become an Idea Machine
I ran across this photo and it immediately revived my appreciation for Become An Idea Machine by Claudia Azula Altucher and James Altucher.
A few quotes from the book’s foreword by James:
“…idea generation, of the good kind, the kind that helps you AND OTHERS, which is the type you will exercise in this book, is worth ten times that, or more.”
“You can’t trust the old style of thinking anymore…You have to come up with a new way of thinking, a new way of having ideas…we can train it (the mind) to work for us, and to move us in the direction of a life of fulfillment. One day at a time.”
“The way is this: Come up with ten ideas a day.
That’s it.”
“Coming up with ten ideas a day is like exercise. And exercise makes the idea muscle grow stronger.”
***
NOTE: The Kindle version is 99 cents. Yes, 99 cents! For a 251-page ebook with lots of…you guessed it, IDEAS!
The link to the book is an affiliate link. If you happen to buy the book through that link, it doesn’t NOT affect the price, but it does give me a small commission, which I’ll be using to buy my small island in the Caribbean…or the yacht I’ll need to get to that island…or my therapist who’s exhausted himself trying to dispel my daily delusions.
An all-over-the-map potpourri of topics
Word Inventions 