Inspiration: Writing Prompt

I join a group of writers and movers every Wednesday morning, thanks to my friend Julie B. Hughes of “Run to Write.” She hosts six-week sessions three times a year and some special daily summer sessions. We run or walk for 30 minutes, grab a coffee, and start writing.

Although I am a published author of my book, “Under the Rose-Colored Hat,” with stories in three Chicken Soup for the Soul books, and wrote the “Ask the Entrepreneurs” column in the Post Standard for eleven years, I still get stuck writing sometimes. This group inspires me to begin penning! Even when I miss a session, Julie sends writing prompts to get us going. After we start, we can continue writing on the prompt subject or write our projects, books, articles, etc.

I wanted to share last week’s prompt with you so you can try it and see how easy it is to start writing. Set your timer to 5 minutes. Last week’s prompt was, “Write about the origin of your name. One sentence has to be false.” My writing response was:

According to Wikipedia, my name, Tracy, was popular in 1964 among the top 100 names for American girls between 1960 and 1984. Tracy came from a surname. It has been used as a masculine name in the United States since the 19th century. My first-grade teacher, Mrs. Stubbs, had a son named Tracy. I was confused about my name’s masculine indications when I first heard her mention his name. I asked my mom how her and my dad chose my name and she said because they were movie fans it came from the movie Dick Tracy. I guess I wasn’t too far off the male-focused nature of my name.

This Wednesday, Wisdom inspires you to start writing more often if you haven’t. If you need inspiration, walk or run for 30 minutes, then start compiling your thoughts. Try writing for five minutes about the origin of your name. Then, carry on from there. If you get the bug to keep moving and writing, drop in at one of Julie’s Wednesday morning events until mid-June for $20.

If you need even more motivation to run, write, or move this summer, think about taking a cool glass of lemonade outside and sitting under a tall tree, lakeside, patio, or park bench, and make it a weekly routine. You’ll amaze yourself by summer’s end.