Talk with BillZ

WRITING PROMPT: What is your own Olympic talent?

billz — 2008-08-25T10:23:42-05:00

In watching athletes from around the world compete for gold medals at the recent Olympic Games in China, it made me also think about other ways in which people can excel and demonstrate their talents.
Some of us, of course, have tremendous physical talents which can be applied in sports. But there are also other ways of demonstrating what is special in each of us. Some individuals have wonderful talent in relating to and interacting with other people -- their personalities are warm and engaging. Some people have a great sense of humor and know how to make people laugh and smile. Some people never give up no matter how hard the challenge and keep trying their best until they accomplish their goal, whether it's learning a new language or understanding a math problem -- they refuse to allow defeat in their lives. Other people are gifted dancers and musicians, and they deserve gold medals, too. Still others are gifted artists who write or draw or dance or act with great talent.

So now the big question -- what is your own special talent that sets you apart from others and which gives you a tremendous sense of pride about yourself? Yes, you have a talent, and now you need to think about what it is. Please share your gift with us.

WRITING PROMPT: Rewrite Your Parents' Lives

billz — 2008-08-19T12:45:50-05:00

What if we could rewrite the life stories of our parents or of those we love?
That is exactly what Nobel Prize-winning writer Doris Lessing has done in her new book about her parents, Alfred and Emily.
This is a book of two parts. The first half is a work of fiction about the lives she wished her parents did have, a life filled with happiness and fulfillment. The second part is the real version in which she explores the unhappy lives of her parents as she actually knew them.
What Lessing has done is what many of us often think of when we imagine what if such and such happened instead of what really did happen. Doesn't each of us at times try to imagine our life in a different way? Who wants, for example, to accept a sad or bad story when what we really want to have is a happy, wonderful story -- even if it's one we have to make up?
The wonderful thing about being a writer is that you can use your imagination to create different worlds from what you know. If you're feeling unhappy in real life, for examle, you might want to create a world in which you feel happy. If you are poor, you might want to imagine a story in which the characters are rich.
So, for this writing prompt, you have permission to change a story about your parents or yourself into something entirely different, the complete opposite if you wish. There is no one to stop you from creating the story that you really wanted to hear and read.
Please share your writings with us.

WRITING PROMPT: Write What Is In Your Heart

billz — 2008-08-07T09:43:54-05:00

In the poem, ‘’Theme for English B’’ by Langston Hughes, an English instructor tells the students, ‘’Go home and write a page tonight, And let that page come out of you – Then, it will be true.’’ The teacher is asking the students to write honestly to show what they are thinking or feeling.

Now, it's your turn to home and write a page about what is in your heart as you sit down with pen and paper. Maybe, you write about something that’s on your mind, a problem you have to solve. Maybe you write about a new experience you just had which you are trying to understand. Maybe, your writing is about a person you have recently met who has changed your life or had an effect on you. Maybe you write about what made you happy or sad that particular day. Maybe you write about a funny moment you experienced, or a joke you heard, or a conversation that you overheard.

Or, if you're from another country, maybe you think back to the time before you came to the United States. Write about what your life was like during the last year of your life in your homeland. Was it a good time? A hard time for you and your family? A sad time? A joyous time? Share with me something about your life in your homeland so that I can learn more about you and your country. What was your life like before you came here?

WRITING PROMPT: The Home Where You Were Raised

billz — 2008-07-01T11:50:26-05:00

No matter how old we become, each of us always thinks back to the time when we were little and the place where we were raised. So many rich memories -- some happy, some very sad -- are tied to our childhood homes and the people we lived with. Often, at the beginning of a new term, I will read with my students some of the short chapters from Sandra Cisneros' ''The House on Mango Street,'' a novel of a young girl growing up in the Latino section of Chicago because it captures childhood so well. Often, when I get a new class of students, the idea of writing about early homes is a wonderful way for each of us to talk about the things that were important to us as children and for us to get to learn more about each other. So here is today's prompt:

DESCRIBE THE HOME WHERE YOU LIVED AS A CHILD
Write a good description so that we can see where you live

Where was your first home? (Give city or province and country)
Was your home big or small?
Was it crowded or spacious?
Where did you sleep?
Can you remember the smells?
Can you remember the sounds you heard in your home and the sounds outside your door or window?
What did you see from your window or door?
Can you remember the food you ate as a child?
Who lived in your home? Describe the people.
Was it quiet or noisy?
Were you happy or sad in that home?
Were there pictures on the wall?
What colors were the walls?
Were there plants or animals in your home?
What was the floor like?
What was your favorite space or room?
What were your favorite possessions as a child?
Did you sleep in your own bed or with someone else?
Were there books or music in your home? If so, what kind?
Who lived in the home next to yours?

Think of your five senses to describe your childhood home – smell, taste, touch, sight, sounds.
I am sure you can still today remember the smells.
If you wish, you are also welcome to draw a scene from your home.

Please share your home memories with us.

WRITING PROMPT: A Day In Your Life

billz — 2008-06-17T09:32:09-05:00

Three children in three different parts of the world wake up one morning, each expecting the day to be like all the others. For one, in Mexico, this will turn into the most important day of her life; for another, in China, the day will be the happiest she will ever experience in her life, and for the third, in Chicago, this will become his saddest one. Write one of the children's diaries for the day.

Please share your diaries with us.

WRITING PROMPT: A Chat Room Conversation

billz — 2008-06-16T12:29:51-05:00

You make friends with someone in a chat room on the Internet. You don't want to meet this person, just to maintain a computer friendship with them. You prefer that they remain mysterious. What would a typical E-mail chat with your mysterious friend be like?
Please share your writing with us.

WRITING PROMPT: Escape to Freedom

billz — 2008-05-08T17:25:12-05:00

You are a six-year-old Pakistani boy sold into servitude by his family to labor 14 hours a day in a carpet factory. Your enslavement will help settle a $16 family debt. You spend the next six years chained to a rug loom, working 12-hour days for pennies. Then comes the day when you escape to freedom -- here's what happens:

Send in your writing and we'll post your responses.

WRITING PROMPT: A Story Written in Desperation

billz — 2008-05-02T16:59:50-05:00

Tony Morrison, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literaure, relates that there was a time in her life when she felt she ''had nothing left but my imagination.'' She began writing fiction, and in desperation one day to complete a piece of writing to take to a writers' workshop, she dashed off ''a little story about a black girl who wanted blue eyes.'' That was the genesis of her first book, ''The Bluest Eye.''

Now, what is the story you dash off in desperation and frustration? Share with us the opening words or your story.

WRITING PROMPT: The Perfect Home

billz — 2008-04-14T09:55:52-05:00

Throughout our lives we always harbor a vision of the perfect home. Even when we are grown we remember the vision we conjured up as children of the ideal house. What is your dream house? Describe its looks, atmosphere, surroundings. Equally important, describe what life would be like in it.

Please share your vision with us.

WRITING PROMPT: Words to Someone Lost to Us

billz — 2008-04-07T11:03:53-05:00

You are given the chance to talk to someone whom you have lost and who was very important in your life. They may have loved you or done something very special for you. Possibly they caused you pain and heartache. What are the things you would say to that person now?

You are welcome to share your writing with us -- with your permission, we will post what you send.

A Writer's Dream Seed Responses

billz — 2008-04-07T10:56:16-05:00

Maartje sent in her responses to several Dream Seeds question writer prompts to help people express what they hope will bloom from the seeds they plant -- Dream Seeds are people's hopes for the future:

This is a dream seed for something I wish to accomplish in my life. What I want to accomplish is to:
Be the best I can be in fulfilling my purpose while living in joy and abundance and helping others to do the same.

This is a dream seed to grow smiles. When it flowers, I will present it to: The World.

This is a dream seed to cure ills. I will use the petals of its flower for: Children with cancer or other life-threatening diseases.

Its stem for: Donation to the medical world of research.

Its roots for: Growing more of those seeds.

I plant this dream seed for someone I love. Here is what I hope will blossom from the seed: Exactly what the other would have wanted or needed.

A dream seed I plant in memory of the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. (This seed can be an action or thought or deed you perform; write what it is). And here is what I hope will flourish: The manifestation of the well-known, beautiful dream of him.

Readers, you are welcome to send in your Dream Seed responses, too.

WRITING PROMPT: How Did She Survive?

billz — 2008-03-25T09:03:05-05:00

A 15 year-old girl is forced to leave her homeland because of ethnic hatred and arrives in New York. Her family has lost everything and must start from scratch. Three years later she graduates from high school and has a chance for a college scholarship which will educate her and allow her to earn a good living that will help her parents (her father works as a porter).
On her scholarship application she writes about how she transformed personal bitterness into determination. She begins this way: ''A man's soul is harder than a rock.''

Help her finish her application:

(This prompt is from a new book I am writing to help people find their writer's voice. I welcome your comments and your writing. Please share with us.)

WRITING PROMPT: What Kept Him Alive?

billz — 2008-03-22T10:18:32-05:00

A man is buried to his neck at the bottom of a 15-foot hole as a result of a construction accident. He is not seriously hurt in the initial collapse of earth that surrounds him. But every time his lungs expand, then contract, more dirt fills in around him, tightening around his stocky frame ''like a slowly coiling boa constrictor,'' a newspaper reports. It is a race against time, but after eight hours the rescuers lift him to satefy although he is nearly buried alive three times during the emotionally wrenching effort.

Afterward, you interview the man and ask him what was going on in his mind all the while. You want to know what kept him going. This is what he answers:

(This prompt is from a new book I am writing to help people find their writer's voice. I welcome your comments on the prompt above -- does it take you to a new place in your writing? Share with us.)

WRITING PROMPT: Your Personal Treasure

billz — 2008-03-16T11:35:42-05:00

What is your most valuable treasure? Why is it so?

You are welcome to share your writing with us.

(From A Book of Questions by Bill Zimmerman)

WRITING PROMPT: Naming A Star, Making A Wish

billz — 2008-03-15T10:36:39-05:00

Someone who loves you dearly has bought you a faraway star. It is yours to name, and yours to wish on. The wish will come true, too. What do you call your own star? What is your special wish?
Please share your thoughts with us.

(Question taken from Idea Catcher for Kids: An Inspiring Journal for Young Writers by Bill Zimmerman)