We’re Moving!

 

   

{photo: 123rentahome.com}

 

WriteLikeCRAZY is packing up and moving to a new home!  

Because my goal is to focus on writing and teaching fiction, I decided to merge my two blogs into one powerhouse of information and inspiration!  

What will change:   

• WriteLikeCRAZY blog will still be here so you can find archived prompts, tips and links like before
• Writers Inspired will be home to how-to tips on the craft of writing and submitting your fiction work, for both young adult and adult writers
• Writers Inspired will occasionally host published authors through interviews or guest posts on the writing, organizing and publishing processes, plus awesome Book Giveaways!!
• Writers Inspired will also offer games, exercises and prompts for young adult writers (and their teachers!!) to use
• Writers Inspired will be like an online writers group where you can read and share helpful topics, like:  unique ways to find ideas, dealing with procrastination, the latest in writing contests and new markets, tools and resources for fiction writers, tips on tracking submissions and all aspects of the fiction writing craft.
• Writers Inspired will have one page for young writers with links, prompts and advice PLUS one page for teachers with lesson plan ideas, games to energize the class and notes on what I’ve learned as a Creative Writing Teacher
• Writers Inspired will also have a list of events for young writers and teachers in the DuPage County (IL) area

What you need to do:  

• Go to Writers Inspired
• Click “Follow”
• Be surprised by the updates you get in your email inbox or Google Reader every time a new post appears
• Leave lots of comments! This new blog is for you – the readers-and I want to provide content that you’re interested in reading: )
• Send your friends and teachers!

So, thank you to my current and future followers! Now, let’s get on the ROAD!!!  

5 Prompt Friday

Here we go again…

1. Jimmy yelped when the person in the photo winked up at him.
2. The sound of someone rummaging through the garbage can outside
3. Milwaukee was the next exit.
4. Sitting in the first car of a new roller coaster.
5. Rachel picked at the scab on her knee trying not to hear her parents screaming in the next room.

Share with us! (your own writing prompts or snippets of what you wrote!)

Rollin’ Rollin’ Rollin’

{photo: commons.wikimedia.org}

Try this little game for unlimited story ideas:

Grab a pair of dice

Roll em

Create stories based on the numbers that are showing.

So, if you roll:

1 = a boy wearing a cast

2 = angry crowd around a flagpole

3 = spilled coffee on the carpet

4 = litter blowing in the street

5 = an obnoxious cell phone ringtone

6 = the first bite of a warm brownie topped with ice cream

So, with two dice you’ll get twice the numbers and you can combine two of the above: like if you roll a 3 and a 5 then start a story or poem or essay using  spilled coffee on the carpet and an obnoxious cell phone ringtone. Or think up 6 more prompts if you roll numbers 7-12.

Think of the possibilities!

5 Prompt Friday

Weary as I post this. ..my day job is kicking my butt! So, “5″ is our theme for prompts today:

Write about:

• 5 finger discount
• 5-day work week (or school week)
• giving a high-five
• Jackson Pollock’s abstract art “No. 5″ (pictured here)
• Memory from age 5

Share your pompts or your product of these prompts.

Till next week, catch ya on the flip side.

Winner of book giveaway…

…is  TRACY!  Congrats, Tracy! I’ve sent you an email requesting your shipping address to receive your free copy of ARIES RISING.

Thanks to all who posted comments and to Bonnie Hearn Hill for guest posting.

5 Prompt Friday!

Git your writin’ stick and git goin’!

Writing Prompts to move you and your pen:

1. The moment you notice spring has arrived.
2. A strange little boy is seen wandering the neighborhood and then, watching your house at night.
3. “You’ve just won one million ______________!”
4. Melody never even wanted to join marching band.
5. Quirky traits of a new teacher.

Add your own! Share your story ideas! Have a great writing weekend!

Addictions

Sometimes, “addictions” can be a good thing. Like when you’re addicted to BOOKS!

Check out this wicked blog I discovered: Addicted 2 Novels. The blog’s creator, Lena, LOVES books but, better for you and me, LOVES to give books AWAY!

Contests to win Teen novels are ongoing. See you there : )

P.S. Speaking of teen novels, check out my interview with Bonnie Hearn Hill and enter to win a copy of Aries Rising

Macaroni Monday

 

{photo courtesy of kinderteacher.com}

Remember the macaroni art from your younger days? Your home room teacher, or maybe art teacher would pass out bowls of uncooked elbow noodles or fusilli or mostaccioli to paint and paste in a unique design? Or perhaps you’d string the noodles on colorful yarn to make necklaces and bracelets which were then regifted to Mom or Grandma.

Well, today’s writing prompt has to do with Macaroni:

You have two options – either Write a Memory about a Macaroni Art Project you completed (describe the textures, the colors and the finished piece of art and who you gave it to and what their reaction was)

OR …

Write about a funny time you either cooked or ate macaroni (we all know someone who laughed until a slimy wet noodle came out of their nose!) Ew! Gross! I know, but give us the gory details.

Feel free to post some of your writing here! We’d all like to read it…

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

{image courtesy of Mrs Derek's Fourth Grade Class Blog}

To celebrate the author/poet/illustrator  get out your Dutter and Dutter, cake cutters, play your Drum-tummied Snumm and your Hinkle-Horn Honkers! The Time-Telling Fish and Great Birthday Bird would like to recite a Birthday Poem! (a smooshing snooshing of absurd words and images. Enjoy!)

Silly sally, dilly dally

All the day long

With striped legging-ly

Tiptoeing-y

Across the pages of bloom

 

A sniff, a snaff

A purple butterfly bath

Bubbles float up and

pop   *     pop  *     pop

Suds fizz down – plop

                                  plop

                                        plop

 

And Silly Sally dallies on…

 

~ Mary Jo Campbell

 

What kinds of characters and worlds can you create today to honor the Sultan of Silly, Dr. Seuss?

 

5 Prompt Friday!

Hey – remember these?  I’ve been off my game lately – the “other” world sucking the energy outta me (ya, know: day job, traipsing my boys across the city, surviving this brutal Midwest winter)

So, without further ado..

Get ready to Write Like CRAZY! See where these prompts, quotes and images take you…

1. The rickety limbs of a winter tree
2. Stepping in dog poop
3. Citrus scent of a tangerine
4. “Did you hear what happened to Miss Simmons?”
5. Finding the wrong color hair in your brush

Share your ideas with us!