Today, I’m stealing the title of this post from the wonderfully talented Neil Gaiman. He’s another favorite of mine, and let’s be honest-most writers are more thieves than magicians. We steal lines from conversations we’ve overheard, ideas from half remembered stories, and character inspiration from the habits of people we observe every day. But (and this is the important part, the amateur magic), good writers transform their thievery into inspiration. We ask ourselves, “What if…?”

What if, when he kicked his girlfriend out of the car in the middle of the night, she was barefoot? (Who is he? Who is she? What were they doing in the car before he kicked her out? Where are they? The story takes on a different tone if they’re in Miami, or in Vermont in the dead of winter.) What if the gate at the top of the stairs was unlatched? What if she came home early? What if the guy you share a cubicle wall with, the one with 18 different striped no wrinkle shirts is…go on, please, and finish that sentence. (…getting a divorce, a closet knitter, a dog enthusiast, joining the Peace Corps, in love with the girl one cubicle over. All of the above?)

As writers, we find a way to create something new, and in doing so, we hope to create something deeply recognizable. The truth, and not the truth, all at once.

Neil Gaiman writes, “Mirrors are wonderful things. They appear to tell the truth, to reflect life back at us; but set a mirror correctly and it will lie so convincingly you’ll believe that something has vanished into thin air, that a box filled with doves and flags and spiders is actually empty, that people hidden in the wings or the pit are floating ghosts upon the stage. Angle it right and a mirror becomes a magic casement; it can show you anything you imagine and maybe a few things you can’t.

(The smoke blurs the edges of things.)

Stories are, in one way or another, mirrors. We use them to explain to ourselves how the world works or how it doesn’t work. Like mirrors, stories prepare us for the day to come. They distract us from the things in the darkness.”

If you’ve been watching the news this weekend, there’s been plenty of darkness to go around and no need to imagine it: the world working, the world not working. On a day like today, is it possible for a distraction from the darkness, or a way to prepare for the day to come? Tell us. Pick your angle, truth or mirage, and get to writing.

Today’s Prompt: Two Truths and a Lie.

Further Inspiration: “But where there’s a monster there’s a miracle.”   -Ogden Nash, Dragons Are Too Seldom

John D. MacDonald was an American author who wrote many excellent novels and short stories. If you don’t know who he is, consider looking him up. Stephen King (who I truly hope you know) considers MacDonald a master of the writing craft. MacDonald is perhaps best known for his crime and suspense novels, and his honest knight-errant character, private investigator Travis McGee.

Asked to write an introduction to Stephen King’s collection of short stories, ‘Night Shift’, MacDonald wrote one of the most concise and enlightening essays I’ve ever read about the practice of writing.

MacDonald wrote, “I am often given the big smiling handshake at parties (which I avoid attending whenever possible) by someone who then, with an air of gleeful conspiracy, will say,

“You know, I’ve always wanted to write.”

I used to try to be polite.

These days I reply with the same jubilant excitement: “You know, I’ve always wanted to be a brain surgeon.”

They look puzzled. It doesn’t matter. There are a lot of puzzled people wandering around lately.

If you want to write, you write.

The only way to learn to write is by writing. And that would not be a useful approach to brain surgery.”

On the subject of writing, MacDonald continued, “Because that is the way it is done. Because there is no other way to do it. Not one other way.

Compulsive diligence is almost enough. But not quite. You have to have a taste for words. Gluttony. You have to want to roll in them. You have to read millions of them written by other people.

You read everything with grinding envy or a weary contempt.

You save the most contempt for the people who conceal ineptitude with long words, Germanic sentence structure, obtrusive symbols, and no sense of story, pace, or character.

Then you have to start knowing yourself so well that you begin to know other people. A piece of us is in every person we can ever meet.

Okay, then. Stupendous diligence, plus word-love, plus empathy, and out of that can come, painfully, some objectivity.

Never total objectivity.”

Both the essay by MacDonald, and the collection of short stories by Stephen King are well worth a read. But what I want to revisit is what MacDonald covers in the first few lines of his essay.

If you’re here, if you’ve found us, you want to write. Many people want to write. A few take the time to scribble down their thoughts in a notebook, or open a file on their computer for scraps of ideas. Some save articles from the internet-something that peaked their attention, something that made them think, “This. This would make a great start for a story.”

You’re a writer. You know how it goes. You get the spark. But then….nothing. Or, then…a few lines. A few chapters. A sense that the writing on the page somehow doesn’t measure up to the idea you had in mind.

What MacDonald says is absolutely true. If you want to write, you write. But he also speaks to the importance of practice, of “compulsive diligence” and “stupendous diligence”. Diligence, defined as: careful and persistent work or effort.

The practice of writing takes time, work and effort. Perhaps the “easiest” part (like squeezing blood from a stone, yes?) is getting started. So, pick a prompt. Write. Submit. Or burn it. But write, and keep writing, until you find what you’re looking for.

Today’s Prompt: The girl in 329.

Further Inspiration: Stephen King wrote ‘Carrie’ on a makeshift desk between a washer and a dryer. If you want to write, you write. Anywhere.

There are thousands of books, blogs and articles devoted to this idea: why do we write? Why is it important to tell stories, to create?

Joan Didion, American author and literary journalist, once wrote:

“All I knew then was what I couldn’t do. All I knew then was what I wasn’t, and it took me some years to discover what I was.

Which was a writer.
By which I mean not a “good” writer or a “bad” writer but simply a writer, a person whose most absorbed and passionate hours are spent arranging words on pieces of paper. Had my credentials been in order I would never have become a writer. Had I been blessed with even limited access to my own mind there would have been no reason to write. I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear.”

(For the full essay: http://genius.com/Joan-didion-why-i-write-annotated)

Today’s Writing Prompt: Perfect strangers.

Further Inspiration? It doesn’t matter if you’re published or not. It doesn’t matter if you share your writing with one person or many. If your “most absorbed and passionate hours” are spent writing, then you’re a writer.

Welcome! We’re glad you found us.

Our Inspiration: Wordsmiths put pen to paper as they write from prompts and share their work aloud in a no-pressure atmosphere.

At a distance from us here in Narragansett, RI? Can’t make a meeting? That’s okay. We’ll post our prompts weekly, and would welcome your responses.

Wondering how to complete a prompt? Find a place to write. It doesn’t have to be quiet. You don’t have to be alone. It can be quiet, and you might write alone. But don’t worry, those aren’t requirements. The only requirements are these: Take a moment to clear your mind. Read the prompt. Set a timer for 20 minutes, and write. Write without editing much or at all. Write without listening to the voice in your head that says that what you’re writing isn’t any good. The goal is simply to get words on the page. As writers, we sometimes make a lot of excuses. We edit ourselves out of good ideas, or we feel that conditions must be ideal before we can write. Maybe your prompt response is mostly useless, but you can salvage one perfect sentence. Maybe you create a character that you find yourself wondering about later. Maybe you don’t write more than a few words. It doesn’t matter. The idea is to get writing, and to get in the practice of writing. And maybe, someday very soon, the timer will begin and you will be able to write something that you really, really like.

What is a writing prompt? According to Google, “A writing prompt is simply a topic around which you start jotting down ideas. The prompt could be a single word, a short phrase, a complete paragraph or even a picture, with the idea being to give you something to focus upon as you write.”

The best writing prompts can be anything. A line of poetry. A phrase you hear in a song. An insult. A photograph. An odd juxtaposition of words. A dream. A memory. Dialogue from a conversation you’re blatantly eavesdropping on. (We know. Generally speaking, you’re not supposed to end on a preposition. But you can definitely end with a proposition…that sounds promising.)

From http://www.dailywritingtips.com:

Here are four good reasons for writing to prompts :

1. Sometimes it’s hard to start writing when faced with a blank page. Focusing on an unrelated prompt for a while helps get the creative juices flowing. If you write for just ten minutes on a prompt, you should then find it easier to return to the piece you intended to write. You may also find that if you stop trying to think so hard about what you wanted to write and switch you attention to the prompt instead, the words and ideas for your original piece start to come to you after all.
2. The things you write in response to a prompt may also end up as worthwhile material in their own right. The prompt may give you ideas from which a complete story grows or you may get fresh ideas for another piece you are already working on. It’s often surprising how much material you come up with once you start.
3. Writing to a prompt regularly helps to get you into the habit of writing. This can act as a sort of exercise regime, helping to build up your “muscles” so that you start to find it easier and easier to write for longer and longer.
4. Prompts can be a great way to get involved in a writing community. Sometimes writing groups offer a prompt for everyone to write about, with the intention being for everyone to come up with something they can then share. This can be a source of great encouragement, although knowing that others will read what you have written can also inhibit your creativity.

Today’s Writing Prompt: When the cows come home.

Further Inspiration? Andy Weir. Now 43, the author originally published ‘The Martian’ as a free serial on his website. Upon readers’  request, Mr. Weir self-published his material on Amazon, where it became a best-seller and was purchased by a publishing company. Matt Damon is rumored to be an Oscar contender in the movie, in theaters now.