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From Susan Wittig Albert, bestselling author of STARTING POINTS:
"As a writer and a writing teacher, I am often asked a very simple one: What prompts you to write? But just because the question is simple, doesn't mean it's easy to answer!
What prompts me to write is the same thing that prompts every writer. It's the creative spirit that lives within all humans, urging us to tell a story, craft an essay, write a play or a poem. Or, if we work in other media, to paint a picture, produce a film, choreograph a dance, compose a piece of music, design a building, sculpt a statue. It often seems as if humans' creative urgencies are boundless, doesn't it?
But as a teacher of writing - and a writer myself - I know that our creative spirits can often use a little bit of prompting. We need a nudge to get started, to get the ideas flowing, to ignite that creative spark we know is there. And so, for many years, I offered a series of weekly prompts to writers who belong to the Story Circle Network, the women's lifewriting organization I founded in 1997. The series, still on-going, is called "Women's Wise Words." It is based on the wonderful words of women who have been there and done that and are willing to share their hard-earned wisdom with the rest of us.
Now, Story Circle and I would like to share these "starting points" with you, in this collection of fifty-two of my favorite quotations from wise women, accompanied by some of my own thoughts inspired by those wise words, and some questions for you - enough rich material to keep you going for at least five writing sessions. Each of the weekly quotations gives you a starting point from which to write, encourages you to range freely from that starting point, and urges you to write every day, even if only for a few minutes. I invite you to read the words carefully, take them to heart, explore them--and write. Write eagerly, write joyfully, write fearlessly. Write to try out new ideas, imagine new things. Write to learn the truth. Write to be real. And as you do, count yourself among the wise women.
These are your words, too.
"As a writer and a writing teacher, I am often asked a very simple one: What prompts you to write? But just because the question is simple, doesn't mean it's easy to answer!
What prompts me to write is the same thing that prompts every writer. It's the creative spirit that lives within all humans, urging us to tell a story, craft an essay, write a play or a poem. Or, if we work in other media, to paint a picture, produce a film, choreograph a dance, compose a piece of music, design a building, sculpt a statue. It often seems as if humans' creative urgencies are boundless, doesn't it?
But as a teacher of writing - and a writer myself - I know that our creative spirits can often use a little bit of prompting. We need a nudge to get started, to get the ideas flowing, to ignite that creative spark we know is there. And so, for many years, I offered a series of weekly prompts to writers who belong to the Story Circle Network, the women's lifewriting organization I founded in 1997. The series, still on-going, is called "Women's Wise Words." It is based on the wonderful words of women who have been there and done that and are willing to share their hard-earned wisdom with the rest of us.
Now, Story Circle and I would like to share these "starting points" with you, in this collection of fifty-two of my favorite quotations from wise women, accompanied by some of my own thoughts inspired by those wise words, and some questions for you - enough rich material to keep you going for at least five writing sessions. Each of the weekly quotations gives you a starting point from which to write, encourages you to range freely from that starting point, and urges you to write every day, even if only for a few minutes. I invite you to read the words carefully, take them to heart, explore them--and write. Write eagerly, write joyfully, write fearlessly. Write to try out new ideas, imagine new things. Write to learn the truth. Write to be real. And as you do, count yourself among the wise women.
These are your words, too.
Used availability for Susan Wittig Albert's Starting Points