Our most creative and original writing is often spontaneous and intuitive. Responding to writing prompts within a limited time frame can help you to write without over-thinking. This is why I offer fifteen minute writing prompts in workshops and classes.
Writing to Heal
We are the stories we tell ourselves. Image by Sabine Van Erp The stories we live become the stories we tell, and the stories we tell become the stories we live. What stories do you tell yourself? Are they reinforcing beliefs that no longer serve you? Writing can help us to heal by transforming the … Continue reading Writing to Heal
Winter Writing Offer
10% discount on content editing or coaching serviceswith sign up by Friday, January 17th Are you looking for encouragement and inspiration for an essay or story idea that you want to manifest?Is there a project you've been working on that feels stalled?Do you have a draft waiting for expert review and insightful feedback? I recently … Continue reading Winter Writing Offer
Why not use a cliché?
Even if an expression is true –when it has been overused, it loses impact. Clichés lose value over time because they lack commitment to circumstance. They do not make distinctive or memorable contributions to story or character development – often they can feel like short cuts. Avoid clichés by offering specific, detailed phrasing: Instead of: … Continue reading Why not use a cliché?
do you see what you believe?
Perception is everything. illusion - noun - implies a false ascribing of reality based on what one sees or imagines. Merriam-Webster Can we choose how we perceive? A friend once said to me "I've decided that each morning when I wake up I'm going to believe that all that happens is for the best." I … Continue reading do you see what you believe?
Love Stories
"You will search for me in another person, I promise." Deidré Wallace A good love story requires the writer to have a degree of insight that the characters must struggle (and perhaps fail) to achieve. Writing Prompt: In 100 words, write a story in which the main character realizes the person they are about to marry … Continue reading Love Stories
Writing to Heal
Why do I Write? Because happiness is complicated. Advice about achieving well-being is all around us - from tidying up our closets to eliminating processed foods from our diet. But for some of us, a commitment to practicing happiness may not be enough, if deep down we don't believe happiness is possible. Our … Continue reading Writing to Heal
Writing Memoir, Truth or Fact
Memoir is our experience of what happened. It offers ways to discover and organize meaning, to understand, and reconcile –even recover from – something or someone in our past. Because memory is subjective, it can be tenuous, conditional, and error-prone. There will be events and conversations that we only vaguely recollect. This can require that we synthesize a coherent narrative from … Continue reading Writing Memoir, Truth or Fact
Write Now
We create the stories we live by, and live by the stories we create. We can’t change the past, but we can transform its influence on us with creative writing. It turns out, writing can have side effects. Happiness is complicated. Write to heal. Find out more at http://www.ellenszabo.com
Thanksgiving Camper
Not everyone loves the holidays, or Disney World, or campers. In 300 words or less, write the story of a family's resolve to make the trip to Disney World for Thanksgiving in a VW camper. Begin with: "We don't need cell phones or tablets to have a good time together. Somehow we all muddled through before … Continue reading Thanksgiving Camper
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