FLOW

Dear Brave Writers - I want to remind you that Brave Space is a place for creativity; it's not just a place where we get stuff done. Getting stuff done sounds like work, and that might be what happens at Brave Space, but it is not my intention to bring us all together and crack a whip. 

I try to show you how to start at the top of the hill, give you a bicycle and a little push, and set you to writing with the rush of the wind in your hair! Wheeeee! 

I want you to think of your writing as a grand, unstoppable possible. Yes, a novel! Why not? And yes, a story, a play, a poem. Yes, and - just like with improv. I want you to use the prompts as a way to get out of your own way. 

The prompt tricks the brain which is used to working hard, buckling down, pushing uphill. Instead of all that hard work, the prompt says just focus on responding to this. The prompt can be the booster rocket that sets you off into orbit so that you can allow inspiration to flow through you. Access the greater consciousness that we all are so that you can write wisely, more articulately than we all are in regular life. That's called flow. 

You can set an intention to get into your writing project, and you can allow any part of any of the prompts take you into your project through any door you choose. You might go in through a character exercise or a theme or a line from a poem or an exploration of a particular aspect of craft or a sensory prompt. I try to set up several "doors" in each prompt for you to travel through to get to where you need to go. You will naturally be attracted to something that will help you even as it fools you into thinking you are just playing a game. 

You can flow in Brave Space. NEW TIME - MONDAYS at 3pm Eastern. 

Let me know if you want to join me! 

Emma

PS Give it a try! Set a timer for 3 minutes. Pick a noun, a gerund verb and adjective at random, or from a page of a phrase in a book that inspires you, or try: home, packing, frantic and write as fast as you can whatever comes based on those words for 3 minutes as a way to move into your own writing. The idea is to keep your hand in motion the whole 3 minutes repeating the words if necessary until you find the impulse to move forward with the next word. Noticing and allowing your impulse is a habit to cultivate.