OVERCOME WRITER'S BLOCK: Practical Daily Writing Practice with tips to start & keep writing

1. OVERCOME WRITER'S BLOCK: Welcome & Introduction: Class is for anyone who would love to start writing straightaway. Hi, my name is Samantha, and I'm a storyteller. I love telling stories as a child, but as I grew older, somewhere along my journey, I stopped. And then as an adult, I found that I wanted to start writing again. I had all these ideas and visions, and then when I sat down and a piece of paper, nothing came out. So I enrolled in a creative writing class, and there I was introduced to writing with prompts. We would start every class with a four minute writing warm up exercise. The teacher would give us some prompts, and then we'd write 4 minutes, and that is what we are going to do in this class. I was amazed at the results. Suddenly, thoughts and feelings started coming out onto the page, and it helped me get into the flow again. From there, I was able to turn my ideas into projects poetry, short story, adapted them for theater and film and also write non fiction. This helped me enjoy the protest a lot more. It also helped me connect to myself and what was going on inside and bringing it out there. And that's something that I'm really passionate about. We are all unique and we've all had different experiences, and we've all got different things to say. And whether we be sharing our voice with ourselves, our local community or more publicly, it is all required in this world. So whether you have never written before and you like to use this journey to generate material and get going, or whether you already have a habit and you like to use this as a walmark or to get back in the flow again, grab something to write with, and let's get started. 2. CLASS PROJECT: How to stay consistent with your writing : Project for this class is to write for seven days in a row with the writing prompts provided in each lesson and to track your progress. I made it a habit tracker for you, which you can download from the project and resources tab. As you know, when we're building any skill, it is so helpful to do that thing on a regular basis. It helps us get into the flow of it. It helps it become easier and more enjoyable. The more that we do it, the more that we want to do it. Tracking our progress as we go along helps us keep inspired. The comedian Jerry Seinfeld dedicated himself to writing a joke day. And he put Calendar up on his wall, and he put a red X every time that he wrote the joke. And over time, he saw all those Xs build up and he would say to himself, Don't break the chain. And that is what you're going to do in this class. Don't break the chain. Of course, if you do, don't beat yourself up about it. Just do it the next day. And once you have written for seven days, upload your habit tracker to the project gallery, and I look forward to celebrating you. Also a couple of questions on there, which are really for you to reflect on how you found the process and to evaluate it so that you can choose what you would like to do next, your creative life after all. So it's really important that you do what is best for to write with for this creative writing from journey, you might want to have a dedicated notebook or if you prefer to write digitally, of course, do that. Or some people like to record themselves on video or speak into a recording device. If you'd like to do the journey like that, go for it. Whatever works for you, we'll talk about that more in the next lesson, and I will see you there. 3. HOW TO WRITE WITH PROMPTS TO START WRITING, KEEP WRITING & MANAGE YOUR MATERIAL: You jump into writing, let's have a quick discussion about how to get the most at this class and the most at writing prompts. Each day on each lesson, press play, and then two writing prompts will come up. Choose one, whichever one you're most drawn to. Then I will set the timer. A bell will sound and the screen will change. At that point, forget about the time and just start writing. Write consecutively for 4 minutes. The bell will sound again at the end, and the screen will change, too. Go with the stream of consciousness. Whatever first comes to mind and not what you think you should be writing, but what is truly coming from you. Whatever thought comes out, write that. Then the next thought and then the next thought and carry on from there. You may find that you write on one theme for the full 4 minutes or you may find that you start writing down one track, and then it leads you onto another idea, and you write down that, and then you may go off on tangents. Whatever happens, it is all good and it is the way that it's wanting to be expressed. There'll be different types of prompts. You may come across the sentence stem, which then you'll continue writing from there or quotes or questions. You can write from a fictional place or you can write from a real place, tell true stories. Again, whatever comes to you, rather than trying to make stuff go with what is coming down and get that onto the piece of paper. If at any point you feel like you're stuck and you don't know what to write next, just write I am writing, I am writing, I am writing until you pick up the flow again. What I find fascinating about writing with prompts is you can have a room full of people all the same prompt and they come up with completely different things. When I was an in person class, this is what would happen. We'd have the same prompt and yet people would come up completely different things, this is a wonderful exercise to build our point of view which is beneficial when we're writing. That's what is going to be the most engaging for other people to read and listen to because you're a unique person. Use this writing prompt journey to get that out and connect to it. And what comes out may be fictional, it may be real memories, whatever it is, go with it. It also may change from day to day, and you can use this journey as an experimentation to see what comes out. Remember, the prompt is just a prompt. It's there to spark an idea. And go on from there. Let's do an example. Say we take the quote, double double toil and trouble. For one person, it may make them think of Shakespeare. And then they may have a memory of when they're at school learning Shakespeare. And then perhaps something happened in that classroom. Nothing to do with Shakespeare at all, but it just made them think of that, then they start writing about that memory. For someone else, it may make them think of witches and then they may start writing about witches. For someone else, it may make them think of rhyming, and then they start talking about poetry and there's something to do with poetry. For someone else, it may make them think of we're not meant to say the name of that play. And then it may make them think of people not being allowed to say what they want to say, and they might have an opinion on that. For someone else, it may make them go into a fictional fantasy world of the double double toil and trouble, maybe something bubbles up in their imagination there. Whatever it is, go with it and have fun. After you have finished the 4 minutes of writing, take a couple of breath, sent to yourself, and read over what you've written. Now, really here, be kind to yourself. Remember, this was just a four minute exercise to get stuff out onto the page. And with that in mind, don't edit at all when you're going along and writing. Keep going. When you read over it, be curious about what's come up. Remember, it doesn't matter what's come up. You just got stuff out on the page. We've just been curious here. And if anything stands out to you, a shiny object, then you can take that and record it and perhaps work on it at another time. The way I like to do it is I'll have a notebook and pen, and I'll do the writing prompts in that way. And then anything stands out to me and I go, Oh, I'd like to sure that further. I have a document on my laptop and I record it in there so it can go back to it at another time. Now, remember, you can write in whatever way you like. You can use a notebook. You can use a laptop, you can use computer. If you like to record yourself on a voice recorder or film yourself in a video, you can go with it in that way. When you finish writing, do also center yourself back. We can go into these imaginary worlds or into memories. And so it's important to bring ourselves back to this reality. Different ways to do this, do whatever works for you, but some ideas are to perhaps do some breathing exercises, focus on our breath. Also, we can focus on different objects in the room. To remember where we are, ask ourselves a question, where am I? The answer to that is I'm here. And when you're writing, if anything, overwhelming comes up for you, any uncomfortable, challenging thoughts or feelings, do take full responsibility of your well being and do what you need to do to soothe yourself and also get help if you do need it. Share it with a trusted person or organization. Overall, be curious throughout this journey. Have fun with it, enjoy it. Take this as an opportunity to explore what's going on in here and bring it out onto the page. And perhaps from there, you never know you might start working on something else. Each day, remember to mark off your day on the habit tracker. This will keep you inspired to keep going. And at the end, do an evaluation. How did it go? And what would you like to work on next? If anything, download your daily habit tracker now if you haven't done so already. You have something to write with, and let's jump straight into 4. CHARACTER: An exercise to develop character: Welcome to day one of this creative writing prompt journey. Here are your prompts for today. Take a note of prompt number one and number two and then choose whichever one you would like to write about. Prop number one, write about a person who after many years of trying finally achieves their New Year's resolution. Who are they? What is the resolution? How did they do it? And what happened along the way? Or an unexpected visitor is at the front door. Who are they? And why? Are they there? It's now time to choose your prompt. 5. OBJECTS: Prompts to expand the material world in your writing: Welcome to day two of this creative writing prompt journey. Here are your prompts for today. Prompt number one, write about something that is lost. Or From number two, what is the best gift that you have ever received? Why was it important to you? It's now time to choose your 6. AUTOBIOGRAPHY OR FANTASY: Notice which prompt you're drawn to today & write from there: We are at day three of this creative writing prompt journey. Welcome. Here are your prompts for today. Number one, note down three significant events in your life. Choose one and write about it. Or number two, write about a magical creature who helps someone. It's now time to choose your prompt. 7. MEMORY: Tap into the past to get writing from lived experience or an imagined object: Come to Day four of this creative writing prompt, Jenny. Here are your prompts for today. Prompt one, a broken vase or prompt two. Write about a memorable holiday. Who was there? Where did you go? What happened? Write about any significant events? Use all of your senses when you are discussing this holiday. It's now time to choose your prompt. 8. SENSES: Engage your senses to add layers to your writing: Welcome to day five of this creative writing prompt journey. Let's do some writing. And here are your prompts for today. Prompt number one, describe a room or the environment that you are currently in using all of your senses. Or, I've got something to tell you. She said as she clasped the warm cup of tea in her hand. It's now time for you to choose your prompt. 9. INSPIRATION: Draw on either inspiration from another's writer through a quote or from a true event: Welcome to day six of this creative writing prompt Journey. Here are your prompts for today. Number one is a quote. All the world is made of faith and trust and pixie dust. That's from P D Pan by J Barry. Or prompt number two is write about a challenge that you or someone you know has overcome. It's now time to choose your prompt. 10. ENDINGS & BEGINNINGS: Prompts to write an ending or to consider a fresh start: We are at day seven of this creative writing prompt journey. The last day of this stretch of writing. Well done for coming here today, and let's do some writing. Here are your prompts. Prompt number one, write about two people saying goodbye. What is their relationship to one another? Where are they? Why are they saying goodbye? Or prompt number two. Write about one thing you would love to do within the next seven months. Go into detail. It's now time for you to choose your prompts prompt number one or prom number two. Congratulations on completing day seven of this creative writing prompt journey and the full seven days. This is a brilliant achievement, and I'm so glad that you came here and showed up and did this. And now I'll see you in the next video for the next steps. And let's take a look at how you would like to continue your writing journey. 11. CELEBRATION & NEXT CHAPTER: Turning your writing into a project : Congratulations on completing this class. It's a real achievement, and I'm proud of you. How did it go? Let us know. And upload your seven day habit tracker now to the Project Gallery, and I look forward to celebrating you. And if you've discovered something that you'd like to explore further, then check out my Skillshare class. It helps you set up your next creative project. After you've uploaded your habit tracker, please do leave an honest review. Helps me improve this class and future classes for you. Also, let me know the main thing that this class helped you with the review section, and I look forward to hearing from you. Remember, we are all there's something important to say, and the world needs as many voices expressing themselves as possible. As that be to ourselves, our local community or more publicly. Thank you for taking this class. We like to stay in contact, join my newsletter, and I wish you all the best on the next chapter of your journey.