How to Develop your Writing Steps

[left]PROSPECTING: Writer's Gold
I've been keeping a small notebook every year since I was 13. They started out as diaries, and I recall I even created my own code so my little sister, brother and parents (ok, even nosy friends) wouldn't know what I'd written if ever I accidentally left my notebook out in the open. Gradually, I got really good at hiding my notebook (and getting really bad at deciphering my coded entries because the scraps of paper where I wrote my decryption codes had the tendency to disappear), and although I wanted to write every day on those pages, I didn't have time. But what was important to me was that I wrote in my notebook, even if it was only a sentence or a paragraph, and even if the thoughts I put in there were incomplete and incomprehensible. Now, I'm in my 21st year of keeping a notebook. And each time I read a page from one of my old notebooks, it always gives me fresh ideas to write about. In a way, my old notebooks are my gold mines. If I look hard enough between the pages, there might be something there to help me start off a story, a poem or an essay. Prospecting doesn't only apply to miners looking for gold. Prospecting applies to us writers, because stories don't just come out of thin air -- they're mostly the products of our experiences and memories. As writers, we 'prospect' for a good story idea. And one place to do our prospecting is in our own notebooks. Rafed, today, you will start your own gold mine. It doesn't matter if you do it on your computer, or on paper. If you prefer to create your gold mine in your computer, create a special folder and type and save your ideas separately using Notepad. If you're the pen and notebook type, then a small, cheap notebook will do. Don't get hung up on how smooth the paper is or how thick your notebook is. If you can write on it, then it doesn't matter if it's recycled paper or high quality paper. Beginning today, separate from your Daily Writes activities, spend no more than 3 minutes each day writing down your thoughts in your gold mine. You can do this every morning as soon as you wake up, or before you check your e-mail. What will you write in your gold mine? Anything that comes to mind during those 3 full minutes. In a few days, you'll discover you can begin prospecting for your writer's gold, while adding to your gold mine on a regular basis. Have fun creating your gold mine, Rafed!
Tomorrow: Reflections

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