Humpday Help - Journals

Ugh...Wednesday almost slipped past without me noticing. This year I'm constantly asking, "What day is it?"

I am wondering tho... how many of you have started a journal this year. Are you documenting your thoughts as you make your way through this crazy time?

I started, but it lasted for a whole five days. Over the years, I've kept many journals. This year is a perfect year to document, but my mind is more focused on work and muddling through daily life.

Hmm.... maybe I should start a journal as my New Year's Resolution. Now, that's a thought!

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If you are thinking of starting a journal, here's a few ideas to get the mind kick started. 

*Remember something that made you so scared you thought you were going to faint dead away. 

*Remember something that made you laugh uncontrollably. 

*Think about your most embarrassing moment.. come on, I know you have one. 

 Just sit down, close your eyes. Think back to the days of childhood and sift through memories and you'll find a treasure chest of things to write about. Think about what you were wearing, how you felt, what you thought or said. Your words will reflect emotion and you will find yourself writing with freedom and fluidity. It's really not hard. Give it a try. I'm sure you'll have a story to tell.

Humpday Help - Plot Bunnies

For the next several weeks, Humpday Help will attempt to explain Plot Bunnies. First of all, a Plot Bunny is an idea for a story that gnaws at the brain until written.

Some well known plot bunnies that have been positively identified. There are various breeds, thousands of them, and many aren't even tied to writing. Inventors and scientists have their own breeds of plot bunnies that lead them to discoveries where A leads to B which jumps to G or even Z.

Here are a few Plot Bunnies that commonly plague writers.

The Lop-eared Sitting Around Talking Shorthair

Physical Characteristics: Lop ears, short brown/grey flecked fur

How to identify his presence: When your characters inevitably come to a point where the plot simply won't advance, so they sit on a couch/the ground/ a golf cart/ a pirate ship and start talking about nothing in particular. Some couple thousand words later, a plot bunny pops up, grins, and heads off! It can always be discovered in this kind of plot stall, and it's known for waiting until the last possible moment (the moment when you are about to throw your laptop across the table) to come and create a diversion.

The Mystery Plot Bunny

Physical Characteristics: Black, short hair with small, pointed ears.

How to identify his presence: This bunny is attracted to plots which aren't usually intended to have any mystery. The bad guys are known, the goal is visible, but suddenly the Mystery Plot Bunny appears and there's a piece of information lacking, a lost object, or an unknown baddie that needs to be discovered and stopped.

This bunny is known to complicate plots far more than they need to be. Usually can be made happy with a missing item, but sometimes demands the more involved mysteries.

Killer bunny

Physical Characteristics: Small, white, red eyes

How to identify his presence: Not unlike the much-feared Monty Python variety, this little white bunny looks harmless as you're writing along, and then up close, abruptly kills off a character you weren't expecting to kill - at least, you didn't intend for it to go right THEN! In its wake, it leave behind a host of new plot opportunities... as well as some definite Closed Paths.

Mojo Monday

Many writers will challenge themselves by looking at a photo and writing a poem or a short story inspired by the photo. Such an excersise is a great way to break writer's block. Here is a photo and the poem it inspired when during one of my mental blocks.

Watching and waiting.
I remain silent, without response.
Listening to the universe.

Watching and waiting.
Mystical and sensual.
A moment cannot be defined.

Watching and waiting.
A cosmic wave.
An energy released.

Watching and waiting.
A shiver runs through my whole body.
I'm profoundly moved.

Watching waiting.
Spontaneous combustion.
A master of body and mind emerges.

Watching and waiting.
A vision of pleasure.
Harmony of ecstasy and spirituality.

Watching and waiting.
The senses of the sacred are aroused.
Come to me.

Watching and waiting.
Beyond the physical plane.
I will protect you.

Watching and waiting.