What do you do? is a question that makes a lot of folks bristle. What do you do all day? isn't much better. What do you do at 3 o'clock? There's a question that's specific enough to answer. Write a page about what tends to happen in your waking day right about the time the clock strikes three. Most days. Or many days. Or often. Somewhat regularly. More than twice, … [Read more...] about At Three
Self
How Do You Beat the Heat?
That depends on where the heat might be coming from. Does the heat from the sun or the air temperature get to you sometimes? Or environmental heat from your workplace or home? Perhaps your body itself has a tendency to make too much heat. What kinds of heat can come from emotions and mental activity? Think about what might heat you up too much, but don't write about … [Read more...] about How Do You Beat the Heat?
Oh the Difficulties!
One certainty in our unavoidable relationships with non-living things: when they are difficult, we are the ones who end up doing all the work. Write about a difficult relationship that you have with something that is not alive. A physical object, perhaps. Something mechanical? An ugly-but-comfortable couch? Some intractable piece of technology? The weather? You can … [Read more...] about Oh the Difficulties!
Listen!
Drawing is writing. When you draw, your thoughts move with the tip of the pen as the ink flows onto the page. Drawing uses a different part of your mind than talking does. Drawing without talking can improve your ability to listen. Try it! Set up your page by marking off a very small space for writing. Just enough room for a sentence or two. Then fill the rest of the … [Read more...] about Listen!
Temporary and Permanent
Begin by drawing a shape in the middle of the page. It will be your illustration space. You can make it circle, a square, an amorphous blob, whatever size you like. The draw two lines running from opposite sides of the shape to the edge of the page so that your page is roughly divided in half. On one side of the page, write about what's unlikely to change in your … [Read more...] about Temporary and Permanent