EXERCISE: Where did your box go?

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Original Posting: Fri, 24 Nov 2000 04:24:26 -0500

Here's the stimulation...

There are programs to collect and send Christmas boxes to various parts of the world.

Consider one (or more) such boxes, having been carefully packed (what did you decide was in the box?) and sent on their way.

Now follow them out into the broad world, and arriving at...

What happens there?  How do these boxes fit into the lives of those at the far end?  Show us that scene!

What about the ripples of those tiny boxes of cheer?

Go ahead, let your hopes and dreams take a ride in a Christmas box for the season...

Interested in such a program?  Go to <http://www.samaritanspurse.org> and follow the links to Operation Christmas Child... then pack up your dreams in a box!

EXERCISE: Writing As a Lifelong Skill (1)

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Original Posting: Tue, 23 Jan 2001 12:40:28 -0500

Let's take a look at some thoughts from Writing As a Lifelong Skill by Sanford Kaye, ISBN 0-534-22218-8

Up to Now: Your Writing History

(Page 13) "Actually, what we mean by 'writing' is not so easily pinned down....  Does writing require an audience?... What accounts for the personal drive to record life in visible, lasting marks on a page, whether or not anyone else ever sees them?  To settle on your own definition you will probably need to sort out the different functions of writing as you have experienced them in your own work and in your reading."

So, for a first stab at the historical venue that is you, what is your definition of writing?  What does it mean to you?  What does it do for you?

Go ahead, think about it!

(Fair warning -- I'm going to send a series of these little exercises, all based on this book.  Let me know if you enjoy them, okay?)

"There are no whole truths; all truths are half-truths. It is trying to treat them as whole truths that plays the devil." Alfred North Whitehead

EXERCISE: Writing As a Lifelong Skill (2)

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

original posting: Thu, 25 Jan 2001 12:08:00 -0500

Let's take a look at some thoughts from Writing As a Lifelong Skill by Sanford Kaye, ISBN 0-534-22218-8

Up to Now: Your Writing History

(Page 13) Continuing, "Then try to put into words your attitude toward writing.  For some people writing is an act of futility, while for others it plays a crucial role in personal development...."

And for the next slice, write down your attitude toward writing.  What do you feel about writing?  What do you feel while writing?  How are your emotions tied to your writing?

Definition, attitude,...