Why Before How

how a post-partum exercise class made me a more dedicated writer

Happy Friday, Writers.

I’m back, as promised, with a little Something for the Weekend.

First, a story, then some prompts:

Why Before How

His chubby little hands reached out for mine and I raced up the grassy slope to scoop up my little boy and whirl him around. He’d never been in any danger. He just wanted his mum. So I ran.

This was the image I kept in my head, throughout the series of exercise classes I attended after I had my second kid. I wasn’t there to ‘get my figure back’

I was there because I wanted to be the kind of mum who could run to my kids if they needed me — or wanted me, or simply if I wanted to.

Every time I was tempted to stop leaping around like a fool in font of the mirrors, and catch my breath, I’d conjure up that vision and ask myself if I would keep going, if I was running to save one of my kids.

Knowing WHY I was doing a hard thing made it easier to live through the slog of the ‘how’.

As a writer it can be hard to sustain the long-term effort required to achieve the writing life you want.

Getting clear on why you are doing it, makes all the difference.

You’re not doing it ‘to become a best-seller’ (the writing equivalent of, ‘to get my figure back’ – something other people seem to care about more than we do…).

You’re doing it because you want to. Because it makes you happier. And that’s a good enough reason to put in the effort.

If you can, spend some time this weekend thinking about why you want to write that project you’re working on/avoiding.

  • What does it really mean to you?
  • What will finishing it do for you, in your deepest self?

Once you have the ‘why’, you’ll find it much easier to do the reps you need to do, to reach that goal.

Writing Prompts

Need some inspiration to jumpstart your writing? Here are a few more Story Sparks I shared in January:

(Each dose of inspiration is around 1 minute long and captioned)

To follow along with all the prompts, click here.

I’ll be back in your inbox next week. If you have questions or fears, or are stuck on anything to do with your writing, let me know. in the comments I’ll do my best to address your question in an upcoming missive.

Keep writing,

Julie

P. S. Those little kids I was training to chase? They’re just about to turn 20 and 22. Now I’m exercising for myself, because that long-ago class taught me that I was stronger than I knew…a feeling I want to hang onto! Likewise, it’s OK to pursue your writing to make someone else proud of you. But, stick with it, and you’ll soon find you’re writing to make you proud of yourself!

Of Pachyderms & Prompts

When I surveyed the StoryADay community the message was clear: you’d like a little something for the weekend, to inspire you and remind you to write. So let’s get started.

First, a letter from me-in-January-2025, then some writing prompts.

Elephant In The Room

Writers tend to be a pretty progressive lot.

Our self-imposed job is to think about why people are the way they are. This leads to us having compassion for other creatures and for our environment, and it often leads to an urge to improve our institutions and communities.

This is a tough time for the compassionate.

The loudest voices are, once again, telling us that we’re kidding ourselves, that we’re fools, that we’re being taken advantage of.

But we’re not. (You know that, and you’re not wrong).
And we are not the minority.

Those of us who can, must keep, as cheerfully as possible, reminding everyone of those things.

StoryADay is my sliver of the Writing-sphere and it is resolutely a place where people are welcomed with respect, encouragement, acceptance, and a loving kick in the pants when they’re not living up to their own (sometimes secret) expectations for themselves.

The only thing I will not tolerate is intolerance.

Still here?

OK. I have some more words for you.

Fiction is not about escapism.

I mean, it can be, but mostly creative writing is the spoonful of sugar that helps the truth go down.

The truth of what it is to be human.

The truth of the horrors we see, and the heroes that fight them.

The truth that it is possible to create–and live in–better worlds.

I know you might feel pulled away to pay attention to the news, but remember: your creative writing matters (fiction, or creative non-fiction). Your writing is a lifeline to yourself and others who are drowning in a sea of headlines and clickbait. It’s a respite from the (sometimes brilliant) non-fiction we all consume, daily.

People need a break. Let’s give it to them.

Let’s make good trouble with our writing, as Sen. John Lewis advocated.

And llegitimis non carborundum*, as British intelligence used to say, during the Second World War.

On that note, here are some Story Sparks for you:

Writing Prompts

I’ve been amusing myself by posting Story Sparks as Shorts/Reels this month. Here are the first 7:

I’ve also posted some from my old stomping grounds in Scotland. To see them all (including one with a castle), click here.

I’ll be back next week. If you have questions or fears, or are stuck on anything to do with your writing, or are ready to join me at the writing barricades, leave a comment. I’ll do my best to address your question in an upcoming missive.

Keep writing,

Julie

P. S. *Illigitimis non carborundum is mock-Latin for ‘Don’t let the bastards grind you down’! Words to live by…

Want to receive this missive by email everyweek? Sign up here

Writing Prompt: Weather Happens

A 0:00:47-long dose of inspiration


Our characters don’t exist in a vacuum (well, except for the occasional sci-fi character shoved out of an airlock…and they don’t tend to exist for very long). Today’s prompt encourages you to think about the weather and how it might affect your characters’ plans.

The Writing Shell Game

Every time I’m in a city I see a man drawing passersby into a shell game.

He’ll have a tiny card table set up. three folded cards on top, or three tiny cups, and he’s shuffling them around, talking fast, and convincing someone to play ‘guess where the ball is now’.

It’s deceptively simple: just follow the ball, and win some money.

We all think we can do that. But the secret is that we are playing a different game from the operator of the con. We expect him to play fair. He knows that the game is to cheat. We only find the ball when he wants us to.

I’m always astonished that there is anyone left in the world who thinks they can win at a shell game.

Pick a Method, Any Method

The writing world is rife with shell games. Someone promising us the perfect system for drafting, for revising, for getting published…but the truth is, they are not promising a system that will work for us, only what worked once or twice for them.

Continue reading “The Writing Shell Game”