\Daily Post/ TOP 10 BLOG POSTS in 2014

We have spent a week without the internet, I wrote this post a while ago and have only just been able to post it! Enjoy the TOP 10 POSTS for 2014 in AWF.

Daily Post Challenge

December – the season for Countdowns, I love a list (who doesn’t), I have spent a year writing and recycling TO DO lists. In having a quick surf around the WP READER, I spotted this blog post over in the Daily Post (which I haven’t joined in with ages) so I thought I would treat you all to a TOP 10 of our most POPULAR posts this year!

TOP 10 – Most POPULAR Posts

10) Silf Gives Self – Margaret Silf Seminar

9) The Quiet Compere (21/3/14)

8) August is Hotting Up – Despite the Rain!

7) Goal Setting 2014 – Read This BEFORE You Set Any! (Advice)

6) Book Launch: The Year I Loved England By Antony Owens & Joseph Horgan

5) Diverse Dancers Exhibition – Najma Hush – Performance Event

4) 52 Meet and Perform for the Stratford Poetry Festival

3) The Early Bird May Catch a Worm but the Night Owl Finds Opportunities

2) Writing Short Stories – Tips on Narrative Structure & The Writing Process

1) Writing Short Stories – Tips on Planning and Structure

Writing 101: Day 5 – Be Brief

Writing 101

Day 5: Be Brief

You discover a letter on a path that affects you deeply. Today, write about this encounter.

And your twist? Be as succinct as possible.

You stumble upon a random letter on the path. You read it. It affects you deeply,

and you wish it could be returned to the person to which it’s addressed.

Write a story about this encounter.

 

Today’s twist: Approach this post in as few words as possible.

 

None of us will ever know the whole story in other words. We can only collect a bag full of shards that each seem perfect.

— From 100 Word Story‘s About page

 

Brevity is the goal of this task, although “brief” can mean five words or five-hundred words.

You might write a fifty-word story, as writer Vincent Mars publishes on his blog, Boy in the Hat.

Or you might tell your tale in precisely one-hundred words, like the folks at 100 Word Story – an approach that forces you to question every word.

For writers who tend to write more, a longer word count may be considered concise, too. At Brevity, writers publish nonfiction of seven-hundred-fifty words or less: there is space to develop a piece, yet a focus on succinctness.

For inspiration, browse two fifty-word stories — on the silence between a husband and wife, or a story on time and a missed connection – or these one-hundred words by H. Edwards to see how others write clever concise tales.

 

 

The letter was full of gratitude, personal, exposing. Only the eyes it was meant for should have read it.

I tried to make out the smudged address, I wondered about posting it back in the box,

but thought the postman had dropped it to save himself that job. The stamps were franked, it had been sent from Yorkshire.

I didn’t know how to pretend, how to erase what I had seen, scan the memory and press delete. It wasn’t that easy and now my fingerprints were all over it too.

 

 

I have had a few formatting issues with this post.

 

 

Writing 101: Day 4 – The Serial Killer

Write about a loss: something (or someone) that was part of your life, and isn’t any more.

This doesn’t need to be a depressing exercise; you can write about that time you lost the three-legged race at a picnic. What’s important is reflecting on this experience and what it meant for you — how it felt, why it happened, and what changed because of it.

Today’s twist: Make today’s post the first in a three-post series.

Our blogs are often made of standalone posts, but using them to take readers on longer journeys is an immersive experience for them — and you. It allows you to think bigger and go deeper into an idea, while using a hook that keeps readers coming back.

A series can take many forms:

• Recurring features of the same type of post, like The Stakes’ Game of Thrones recaps or Chronicles of an Anglo-Swiss’ responses to daily prompts.
• Posts on the same topic, where each builds on the last, like Literature and Libations’ multi-part posts on becoming a beer writer.
• Fiction, where each post gives readers the next chapter or a new story, like the work at Flashes in the Pan and 300 Stories.

We also have advice that might help. If you decide to go serial, we’ve got days scheduled for parts two and three, so don’t worry about writing everything now or having to shoehorn the other posts in.

A Loss:

I have lost so many things, I could write some dark material from this prompt. My mind immediately heads to people I have lost first, then things, of which I have lost many pinnacle material items, then parts of myself – I have lost along the way, battles I have lost, people I have lost who are still very much in the world, pets I have lost, beliefs I have lost, lessons I have discarded.

I am trying to gain material from joining Writing 101 – the main focus is writing practice – a daily dose and beyond that a hope of up-cycling something, even if it’s the odd sentence or idea. This is my reason for trying to stay positive, that and it is better material for you to read than all the things I have survived, I am sure.

When I was thirteen I started to write to people all over the world through a pen pal scheme. I loved receiving letters and getting to know people in other countries. A few of us are still in touch which means the world to me and some I have since used the internet to search for. Enjoying the irony of meeting back up online (now we have pretty much killed the postal service, if it wasn’t for ebay/ Amazon orders) – I have always been unsuccessful in finding them, many were girls and probably have different surnames by now.

I remember the first time I lost a penfriend though, because we were still very much in communication and suddenly the letters stopped coming. This worried me, Melinda lived in the Philippines and I had no way of knowing if she was okay. We had grown up together and we were turning 17, maybe she had got tired of writing, but knowing her as I did- I know she would have sent a card to tell me she didn’t want to keep writing letters anymore.

I have never been able to trace her and the letters just stopped. Nothing. I don’t know why it happened. Perhaps her college studies had taken all her time. I think about her often and the different culture she was brought up in.

I lost interest in writing letters for a while, Melinda was one of the first and she was no longer sending me mail. I then realised that as far as other pen pals were concerned, I had now disappeared too, so I started writing letters again.

I still enjoy writing letters and fortunately have a few friends in this Country and others who like to write back. The joy of having things in the post which aren’t bills or statements is a wonderful thing.

 

 

Catching Up with My Blogging Assignments: Day 3 Commit to a Writing Practice

It has been a busy week and I haven’t been online to post my assignments. Thank goodness there are no weekend assignments so I can catch up!

DAY 3: Commit to a Writing Practice

Write about the three most important songs in your life — what do they mean to you?

Today, try free writing. To begin, empty your mind onto the page. Don’t censor yourself; don’t think. Just let go. Let the emotions or memories connected to your three songs carry you.

 

Today’s twist: You’ll commit to a writing practice. The frequency and the amount of time you choose to spend today — and moving forward — are up to you, but we recommend a minimum of fifteen uninterrupted minutes per day.

The basic unit of writing practice is the timed exercise.

– Natalie Goldberg

 

There have been many times when music has carried me through painful parts of my life. Powerful medium that it is. But I don’t really want to write about negative points in my life today some I am choosing music from other times.

When I was a teenager I stopped listening to popular music as the charts were filled by bad pop, I was interested in the 60s (the whole culture of the time) I started getting interested in my first hero, John Lennon. My parents had always had vinyl records, my dad had a lot of The Beatles.

The three important songs are;

The Doors – Crystal Ship

The Beatles – Hey Jude

Bob Marley – Redemption Song

 

The Doors – I have been a Doors fan since I was a teen, this is my favourite Doors song, there are numerous times I have listened to it when I have been in need. The familiarity of a song which can take me right back to a previous time in my life, with ease. Music I can always get lost in.

When I had finished my A-Levels I went to camp in France with other similar aged people. There was a beer tent where we all met in the evening, there were multi-languages, young people from all over Europe and beyond. This song was played by the guitarists and everyone sang along (to the chorus at least) despite language barriers – it was a moment of unity. Powerful. I loved the fact that it was The Beatles bringing us together, especially a generation who never knew them.

Bob Marley – got me down from the Eiffel Tower, now this may sound trivial – but when I first climbed up it, I had no idea I suffered from vertigo – it took two good friends and the whole of the song repeated many times over to get to the bottom of those metal (see the world through) steps. It took hours. We were performing street theatre in Paris at the time, the rest of the college group had to wait for ages for me to come down. The thought of this memory, still makes me feel sick.

 

Author Natalie Goldberg says to “burn through to first thoughts, to that place where energy is unobstructed by social politeness or the internal censor.” Here are some of her rules of free writing practice from Writing Down the Bones, which we recommend you keep in mind:

• Keep your hand moving. (Don’t pause to reread the line you’ve just written. That’s stalling and trying to get control of what you’re saying.)
• Don’t cross out. (That is editing as you write. Even if you write something you didn’t mean to write, leave it.)
• Don’t worry about spelling, punctuation, grammar. (Don’t even care about staying within the margins and lines on the page.)
• Lose control.
• Don’t think. Don’t get logical.
• Go for the jugular. (If something comes up in your writing that is scary or naked, dive right into it. It probably has lots of energy.)

Jorge Luis Borges said: “Writing is nothing more than a guided dream.” So, what are you waiting for? Get writing. Fifteen minutes. Go. And then, do it again tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after.

I am committing to a 10 minute free write a day as I have a diary full of writing that I am currently working on and know that I can stick to 10 minutes, whereas 15 seems unobtainable, on the days when I have time I will write until 15 minutes passes.

Daily Prompt- Give Me 5

I missed yesterday’s daily prompt as I was busy at writing events but when I saw this prompt, I had to give it ago.

Daily Prompt: Bookworms

Grab the nearest book. Open it and go to the tenth word. Do a Google Image Search of the word. Write about what the image brings to mind.

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/09/14/daily-prompt-bookworm/

Five

I typed it into google and just looked at the screen of links I could see on the first page without scrolling. There were the obvious ones – Channel 5, and FIVE the band –

and then this caught my eye…

Five Ways to Well-being – New Economics Foundation

 The new economics foundation is an independent think-and-do tank that inspires and demonstrates real economic well-being.

Five ways to well-being, and other tales

June 25, 2010 // By: Sam Thompson

In Five Ways to Well-being, we reviewed the empirical evidence collected by Foresight from hundreds of research studies across the world. The outcome is a set of five different kinds of daily activity that, according to the latest and best evidence available, promote well-being and help to buffer against mental health difficulties.

Connect With the people around you. With family, friends, colleagues and neighbours. At home, work, school or in your local community. Think of these as the cornerstones of your life and invest time in developing them. building these connections will support and enrich you every day.

Be active Go for a walk or run. Step outside. Cycle. Play a game. Garden. Dance. Exercising makes you feel good. Most importantly, discover a physical activity you enjoy and one that suits your level of mobility and fitness.

Take notice Be curious. Catch sight of the beautiful. Remark on the unusual. Notice the changing seasons. Savour the moment, whether you are walking to work, eating lunch or talking to friends. Be aware of the world around you and what you are feeling. Reflecting on your experiences will help you appreciate what matters to you.

Keep learning Try something new. Rediscover an old interest. Sign up for that course. Take on a different responsibility at work. Fix a bike. Learn to play an instrument or how to cook your favourite food. Set a challenge you will enjoy achieving. Learning new things will make you more confident as well as being fun.

Give Do something nice for a friend, or a stranger. Thanks someone. Smile. Volunteer your time. Join a community group. Look out as well as in. Seeing yourself, and your happiness, linked to the wider community can be incredibly rewarding and creates connections with the people around you.

For me Five – I thought of my family of 5 members, five fingers, hands, 5 Star (yes, I am that old!) And here’s something for you all to enjoy!

Daily Post – My Favourite Toy…

Daily Prompt: Toy Story

What was your favorite plaything as a child? Do you see any connection between your life now, and your favorite childhood toy?

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/category/daily-prompts/

Was a Tiny Tears Doll.

I sold for 50p at a car boot! Doh! Should have sold online for a lot more.

She was called  Kerry and I had her when I was about 5, I had all the accessories and loved her like a real baby.

My mum sent her away when I was 7 to get some outfits custom made for my birthday surprise, she didn’t think this charming idea through – I was distraught over my lost baby for months! I even remember the reunion with brand new outfits was peppered with tears – mine not hers.

That was my favourite toy.

1

Daily Post – Thank You

How not to make this sound like an Oscar or Blog award acceptance speech…

Daily Prompt: Thank You

The internet is full of rants. Help tip the balance: today, simply be thankful for something (or someone).

I should thank my mum, without whom I would not exist.

I could thank my grandparents and great aunty for being truly wise and inspirational figures in my life.

I should thank Mr G for putting up with me through thick and thin.

I could thank divine spirits for steering me back onto the path of creativity.

I could thank Amazon for cheap books that have made the past fortnight of waiting for post, a delight!

I should thank God that I am born in a country of freedom with all my basic needs met and taken for granted.

I could thank the stars for shining, or the rain for watering the allotment so that I don’t have to.

But…

I am going to be a stereo-typical cliché and thank you lot!

Thanks for following this new chapter of my life, thanks for reading my posts, for letting me know that you are out there. Thanks for taking the time to comment or criticise to help me improve or for connecting with my spirit. Thanks for the emails and encouragement. Thanks for the Blog Award nominations and the re-blogs. Thanks for finding us here in the massive wilderness of Blogland. Thanks for sticking around.

Thanks for everything you do, it means the world to me.

When I started blogging January 2013, I had no idea where this would go or what I would discover. So many wonderful opportunities and fantastic creative minds. I am truly grateful and filled with happiness when I see that something I have posted has touched someone out there.

So to you all, for being utterly fabulous. I thank YOU!

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/09/11/daily-prompt-thanks/

Daily Post – Six Words, One Dream

Daily Prompt: Six of One, Half a Dozen of the Other

Write a six-word story about what you think the future holds for you, and then expand on it in a post.

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/09/10/daily-prompt-six/

 

 

Great success, motherhood, riches and serenity.

 

I have dreams, we all have dreams, I am pulling mine into focus, jumping right into them and steering them towards ‘reality’. What I mean is that dull reminder that I am a creative being that I have ignored for over a decade is becoming a beating drum, loud. My own heartbeat perhaps. I have been somewhere that reminded me – life is too short.

 

We are put here on the Earth to be who we can be, potentially. You have to listen to those guiding voices at sometime. (I hope I don’t sound too crazy) I mean that nagging inside when you know you should be someplace else, doing something else.

GREAT SUCCESS refers to just that. Me following my inner voice, being guided by my creative spirit to spread my wings and fly, no… soar towards my greatest dreams and make them a living reality.

Which I will and in doing so I will be successful. A success. And if my dreams come to fruition in the way I have dreamt them, a GREAT success.

 

MOTHERHOOD, couldn’t be plainer, do I really need to expand? It is a place I have always thought of. Something I have always wanted. Cannot imagine leaving the planet without a little part of me existing inside someone else. We have talked about it for years, now we live under the same roof… it is in my future.

 

RICHES – Now in my wildest vision of my future this does literally mean money. But I needn’t dream millionaire, I just want enough. A comfortable sum. If my great success pays off, there will be plenty. I also mean riches as in a life that I dreamt being a life I now lead.

Riches of family, treasures that are not things and treasure that is things but priceless things. Each other. A unit. A new life.

 

SERENITY – is the feeling I hope to achieve at the end of all of this, if I gain all I imagine I want I will feel total, whole. Complete. At ease, at peace, serene.

A good place to be ready to dream more…

 

Daily Prompt – Excitement

Daily Prompt: The Excitement Never Ends

by michelle w. on September 8, 2013

Tell us about the last thing you got excited about — butterflies-in-the-stomach, giggling, can’t-wait excited. 

 Last year an old college friend of mine decided to open a FB group and organise a reunion of our performing arts class. It took a year to organise it as 2 friends got married last year and some of us now live all around the world.

By the time the day came 7 of us met for lunch back in our college County. Isabelle (who is expecting her first) only popped in so there are just 6 of us on this photo.

We had not seen each other for about 20 years, all of us have stayed in contact with some people who have joined the group, but none of us have stayed as a whole group – as is life!

I CANNOT REMEMBER A TIME WHEN I HAVE BEEN THIS EXCITED! It was of course nerve wracking but we all got on as if we had not skipped a day of each other’s lives. It was such a great lunch!

When we had got over how old this made us all!

It’s true what they say about friends for life – as a thirty-something, I realise that sometimes you meet people who turn out to be bit part players, this lot – they are main cast and crew!

🙂

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/09/08/daily-prompt-excitement/

Daily Prompts September 6th Regrets

Daily Prompt: Regrets, I’ve Had a Few

What’s your biggest regret? How would your life have been different if you’d made another decision?

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/category/daily-prompts/

I have worked hard over the years learning that regretting is a waste of energy – once the time has passed, the opportunity has gone. If you chose to walk away not towards, then live with that decision in freedom.

This means that I have only vague shadowy regrets buried somewhere deep inside.

I think the one that I regret the most is not travelling. When I graduated university, I had a partner and chose to live with him and get a job to pay the rent instead of using the money I had to buy a round the world ticket.

I knew if I went it would change me, and him and our relationship and at 21, I thought I was too young to cope with this cause and effect.

I managed a compromise – a short trip around Europe and have since managed to travel to many other places on my wish list. Of course I have known many people who bought their tickets and changed their lives and none of them regret their decision to travel.

Ironically the relationship only lasted a few years after graduation but it was my first long term (7 years) relationship, and I don’t regret that any more than the decision not to travel.

A regret is a waste of a decision. There are always reasons and lessons to learn whichever path you choose.

I am certainly VERY HAPPY with my life now – and maybe this is not the life I would lead if I had made the decision to buy my round the world ticket.