What a lovely tribute from a member of the Write Your Life Story Workshop.  Try your own writing with the opening line.  The first exercise was "We start here" followed by the opposite thought:

"We stop here..."   Add your writing to comments or sent to info@WriteYourLifeStory.org 

WEDNESDAY MORNING WRITING


I stop here.
It’s a place to share the words,
hear the talent
and move the pen quietly
over the lined pages.


I love the unique way each writer speaks his or her story
and it feels safe to tell mine.


Our teacher is special, an encourager.
Each person has enriched my life.


I stop here each Wednesday with anticipation
and wonder what the future will reveal
in regard to all the words laid lovingly in boxes,
in notebooks and on tiny scraps of paper.


One day perhaps, a book will bear
my name and make a difference.


I stop here with hope.


Shirley Ann Dormish
2/11/09

www.WriteYourLifeStory.org

We start here.
So sit down and get started in on that looming yet inviting gathering of writing clouds.
You can pull things from the air, if you like.
You can also weave in the special things you are intrigued with in nature.

You are welcome to write for 15 minutes or a whole day, breaking only for food, coffee, water and bathroom trips.
You are welcome in your finest clothes, or your comfy pajamas.
Your most angry self, your envious, hateful self, your loving self your transcended self are all welcome at this writing space.

And so, have a seat and have a seat and have a seat for your many selves you wish to spill onto paper.
There is always forgiveness given.
Even my shaking hands and cloudy memory and neurons’ miss-firings are all forgiven.

It is a place for you to become whole, to see the whole of your life
or the missing pieces or the oh-so-very rich pieces.

They are welcome to show their shiny hopefulness,
or your tender, scratched places,
and your priceless hope and tears.

by Dana Bennett
5 Feb 2009
 Soup Kitchen Evening Writing Gathering

My last email announcement asked folks to send me writing for a suggested start line.  Here is an intense response. 
Try this opening line yourself      "Stop me the next time I..."       and email me at info@WriteYourLifeStory.org     or www.AnneRandolph.com   

Mike McNern from Colorado Springs wrote  from  Subject: Re: Try Kitchen Table Writing opening lines

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Stop me the next time I ...
 
reach for the pen.  My arms are leaden and I struggle like an animal to move, and reach for a pen one last time. I try to think back, how did I get this way.
 
I sit in my tiny cage, the smell of rust and stale urine make my nose want to close up tightly against the onslaught. I reach for the pen hidden under the lid of of the smooth industrial toilet. Hidden from the prying fingers of the screws taunting me, trying to wrench the pen out of my hand, if I let them find it.
 
I remove the pen from it's secret place, hidden among all that remains of an unspeakable, wasted life. I feel compelled to write down a litany of my sins, real and imagined on the only paper afforded me. Rolled neatly, but too thin for writing, the toilet paper rips as I write upon it feverishly. My imagination spills out onto the paper. Are these my sins, or that leering pedofile down the hall. I write feverishly and tell the worst thoughts I have ever thought.
 
The screws have seen me. The paper tastes terrible. Maybe I can flush the paper. There is too much paper to swallow. If I could only get it into the toilet. I shoot, it falls short. I'm no Michael Jordan. The screws read my work. They laugh at me, as I lay beaten on the concrete floor. "It isn't real", I scream.
 
I sit before the judge. Everyone looks at me. My lawyer, that young pencil-neck right out of school is writing. I move like a cat and wrench the pen from his soft hands. I must write. The screws drag me out of court.
 
I lay on the cot. Waiting. I must write. I run my fingers around the inside of the toilet. No pen there anymore. I write with my soiled fingers on the wall, but I don't get very far. The screws return. "It's time", they say. I am roughly lead by the shoulders down the hall. A door opens and I am shoved like a rabid dog onto the rough hewn chair. They strap my arms to the chair, I can't move. The screws talk, but I can't hear them. I want to write. I writhe in the chair," I want a pen!" The screws yell at me, but I don't know what they're saying. Finally I hear "Any last words?". I scream "I want a pen!". Ten thousand volts short circuit  my muse. ZZZZZZZZZZZ.

What a great comment from one writer to another.  See Barbara's entry below under A MESSAGE FOR THE NEW YEAR!

Barbara, what an incredible legacy you are giving to your grandchildren. It is a wisdom they can inherit from you now. What comfort in the last line, that they will always have the help of their family.
Taryn    www.WriteYourLifeStory.org  Writer

                                                I AM BORN

I AM BORN, I AM BORN, I AM BORN, I AM BORN

I AM BORN TO BE WILD
I AM BORN TO BE FREE
I AM BORN TO BE ELECTRIC
I AM BORN TO LEARN
I AM BORN TO SEE
I AM BORN TO LIVE LIFE FULLY
I AM BORN FROM THE EARTH
I AM BORN TO THE SKY
I AM BORN TO LOVE
I AM BORN TO DISAGREE
I AM BORN TO LAUGH
I AM BORN TO CRY
I AM BORN TO TEACH
I AM BORN TO CARE
I AM BORN TO HEAL
I AM BORN TO CREATE
I AM BORN TO TAKE RISK
I AM BORN TO TRAVEL
I AM BORN TO ENJOY MY HOME
I AM BORN TO COOK
I AM BORN TO CLEAN
I AM BORN TO READ
I AM BORN TO WRITE
I AM BORN TO PLAY
I AM BORN TO RUN
I AM BORN TO SKIP
I AM BORN TO FALL
I AM BORN TO SHOP
I AM BORN TO EXERCISE
I AM BORN TO COMPETE
I AM BORN TO WIN
I AM BORN TO LOSE
I AM BORN TO BE HUMBLE
I AM BORN TO BE GENEROUS
I AM BORN TO DRINK WINE
I AM BORN TO GROW GRAPES
I AM BORN TO HARVEST GRAPES
I AM BORN TO BUILD HOMES
I AM BORN TO LOVE ARCHITECTURE
I AM BORN TO LOVE THE MOUNTAINS
I AM BORN TO LOVE THE SEA
I AM BORN TO LOVE THE LAKES
I AM BORN TO UNDERSTAND
I AM BORN TO BE HEARD
I AM BORN TO EXPERIENCE
I AM BORN TO SLEEP
I AM BORN TO MATE
I AM BORN TO GET MARRIED
I AM BORN TO GET DIVORCED
I AM BORN TO LIVE AS ONE
I AM BORN TO LIVE AS TWO
I AM BORN TO LOVE ALL ANIMALS
I AM BORN TO BE A FRIEND
I AM BORN TO BE A SISTER
I AM BORN TO BE A DAUGHTER
I AM BORN TO BE A GRANDDAUGHTER
I AM BORN TO BE A COUSIN
I AM BORN TO BE AN AUNT
I AM BORN TO BE A NIECE
I AM BORN TO BE A DOG AND CAT MOTHER
I AM BORN TO BE A WIFE
I AM BORN TO CHANGE
I AM BORN TO GET OLDER
I AM BORN TO REFLECT
I AM BORN TO DISCREET
I AM BORN TO TEAR AWAY
I AM BORN TO FLY
I AM BORN TO DIE
I AM BORN TO BE REBORN



SASHEELA
Write Your Life Story class member
January 27, 2009

This writing was inspired by a passage from Carolyn Jennings wonderful poem about writing, "Invocation."  Take this line and begin writing and see where it goes.  Email me your results or post in comments.  Anne    info@WriteYourLifeStory.org

Let them Nibble at the Tips of My Fingers -Jean Caggiano  September 14, 2008


Let them nibble at the tips of my fingers, all of those unspoken, fearful thoughts, desires, and secrets that fill my heart and I yearn to share but stop myself, often abruptly, as I clench, glancing furtively over my shoulder, not yet sure that it is safe to do so. Let them nibble at the tips of my fingers as I sit composed, resplendent on my muted green-gold couch with the Mexican red and green throw pillows atop my heating pad, drinking in its warmth as rays of sunlight glance across the room. I sign, contented, sip the delicious coffee Tony has brewed, each day a mix of different roasted beans-vanilla and Carmel this morning- as I sink into myself. Usually thoughts come first of the past, warm and happy, and I smile as I remember John as a toddler, throwing stones beside me into the creek behind our house, laughing gleefully. Then I think of my father, gone almost two years now but still beside me as I remember the sheer delight of speeding down the ski slope after him, able even at an early age to almost keep up with him. I drift as I read a little, do a little of my Jin Shin, acupressure work on myself and then often I dissolve into tears as sad thoughts engulf me, usually as my hour of repose comes to an end, as it often takes me that long to sink into stillness, to trust that" yes, I won't disintegrate, there there will be something to access, something to connect with when the daily frenzy and security of constant motion is put to rest. " It's safe now, at last, to feel my feelings, to let them surface, uncensored, and even to write them if I so choose, so I let them nibble at the tips of my fingers.

"Yesterday afternoon with the Parker Writer's Group was wonderful.  Whether you have four people or forty people in your class - you get it done with ease!  I know each in attendance left the library inspired and anxious to "make writing my first task" daily.  I know I did!"    Barbara Goldy  www.WriteYourLifeStory.org class participant

This is wonderful advice for all of us for writing, for living.  Thank you for sharing this New Year message.  Anne

Dear Precious Grandchildren,
 
A new year begins, I write goals and by looking at them frequently I achieve the things that are important to me.  I hope you have each written goals for yourself as your parents did every New Year’s Eve when they were young.  One of this year’s goals for me is to write you often during the year.   I was trying to think of advice I could give each of you and decided that the best advice would be for me to speak to the little girl Barbara who turned out to be your grandmother.  Picturing myself as a child I write……

•    You are lucky, little girl - there are so many loving people in your life.
•    You will have fun, learn life’s lessons and enjoy good health, a loving family, and good friends in your lifetime.
•    Meet lots of people – go to parties, classes, volunteer – these people will support you, teach you, become your friend and make you laugh your life long.
•    Don’t be afraid of the unknown – for it is there your happiness lies.  Make decisions for yourself – don’t follow others.   
•    Take chances – failure is an event, not a person.  You’ll be surprised at the success you will have by just saying to yourself and others “I’ll try that!”
•    Be strong in everything you do, but allow your softness to help you care for others.  Forgive others quickly, because there will be times when you need forgiveness yourself.  Avoid anger as it gets you nowhere and takes you away from the NOW.
•    Always have daydreams – no matter what your age.  There are a million dreams for everyone and they are often exactly what happens.  Dreams help you make good decisions.  Visualize yourself succeeding.
•    Don’t worry what others have – no one will ever have all you have.
•    Try to stay in the NOW – don’t live in the past or think only of the future.
•    It is not the things you own, but who you are that is important.  Make certain you have personal power, not power of position.
•    Celebrate everything – make traditions, cherish even the smallest moments.
•    Treat everyone with dignity – appreciate the people who influence your life’s path.  They are teachers, parents, friends - and the person you least expect who will make that difference.  
•    Work hard, play hard.  Make a difference.  
•    Never lose your sense of humor – and always – laugh at yourself.
•    Don’t be afraid to move away from home or across the county – the opportunities for you and your family are huge.
•    What will matter most in your life is your integrity, compassion and courage.  Be principled and a role model.
•    You get your looks from God – what you do with them will make you beautiful.
•    Thank God often for the life you have been given.  Enjoy your life – you are blessed.
•    And above all, live it up and write it down.

Some of you will understand every word of this letter…others will need a few years.  But know that whatever you need in life there is a parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, or cousin who will help.  That is the greatest of gifts.

Love you,  Grandma Goldy

Barbara Goldy, January 2009
www.WriteYourLifeStory.org

 
  “Write first always!”  Henry Miller

Try these start lines to ignite your writing.  Begin with one of these openers.  
Enjoy!  Ignore, or create your own!
The Trick:  Repeat the start line until ideas starts churning.

Write whatever comes out of  your pen.
Allow yourself to say anything, from your "grocery list" to "I’m darn made at ..."

Write 10 minutes or three pages.  If you get stuck, repeat the start line. 

One writer surprised at his reaction to his writing exclaimed, “It’s the pen’s fault!”
Try timed writing.   Set a timer for at least 15 minutes, 20 minutes, 45 minutes.
When the buzzer goes off, give myself a few minutes to complete your work. 
With timed writing, your body adjusts to the time, giving you a natural beginning, middle and end. 
Tell yourself to “wrap up” and your body will cap your time with a great closing line.  Let the pen lead!  

1.    Begin with these Opening Lines:
                    “If it wasn’t for...” 
                   “If only...” 
                   “What I really mean is...”

2.    Try writing by subjects:  My Grandmother,  Wind,  My Most Embracing Moment.

3.    Read what you wrote aloud.  Mark the images that moved you.

4.    Write everyday and watch your material grow! 

For comments click blog.WriteYourLifeStory.org info@AnneRandolph.com.

After work as director of two opera companies and the Colorado Symphony, Anne Randolph
writes full time and leads Soup Kitchen Writing and www.WriteYourLifeStory.org workshops in
Denver and at conferences including the Screenwriters Conference in Santa Fe. “Soup Kitchen
Writing helps writers find the courage and craft to create!”  Her workbook, Soup Kitchen
Writing: An Easy Guide to Kitchen Table Writing available at www.AnneRandolph.com  
www.SoupKitchenWriting.com  303-758-3426

You know, this economy and all the change is really making me alive and aware...

now we are trying to figure out how to live well...

and the writing has been the most clarity I have ever gotten

about who I am,

things I love, and things I've just settled for..

 I am full of life and optimism.  

Why not take tap dancing

and write your life story,

get the "stuff" sorted and packed away.  

Time to repack for the next chapter...

 

Writing has given me insight to my own timelines,

characters, motivations and endings. 

I am the writer of my own story. 

Carolyn Fineran

www.WriteYourLifeStory.org