Writing 101, Day Eleven: Update your readers over a cup of coffee

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Writing 101, Day Eleven: Update your readers over a cup of coffee

No matter what type of blog you have, it’s sometimes necessary to post updates: from project news to personal messages about what’s going on in your life. One creative approach to an update post is a “virtual coffee date,” as seen on Kate Goes Global, which is like catching up with an old friend over a cup of coffee.

In her post, Kate begins each paragraph with If we were having coffee right now… and then adds a detail. You can share any details you’d like and include as many as you want, as long as you begin each with If we were having coffee right now… (or a variation of this phrase, as seen on Girl with the Red Hair).

It’s a simple idea, but offers a bit more structure to your post — and is a lot more fun. So today, write an update post in the form of a virtual coffee date.

If this post isn’t fitting for your blog or not your style, here’s your alternative: use a coffee shop as your inspiration.

Set your poem or short story in a cafe:
Not a fan of coffee shops? Tell us about a place or type of setting where you like to meet and socialize with friends or loved ones.
Love or hate coffee? Tell us why.

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“I like coffee because it gives me the illusion that I might be awake” Lewis Black

Writing 101, Day Eleven: Update your readers over a cup of coffee

Monday, Paris
An outside Cafe
On Champs Elysées

Watching the passersby
With spirits held up high
No hurries, no sighs
Life still moving along
People carrying on
The worries almost gone

Enjoying my cup of coffee
This time I chose a latte
“When in France,
Do as the French do”
And a croissant with toffee
To complete the story

Just another day
On my stay
In the city of Paris

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Related posts:
There is always time for Coffee (Repost for Writing 101)

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Friday, the 13th

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In honour of the month of November and Friday the 13th
Free flow poetry mix
&
Writing 101, Day Ten

Find a spot where you can sit and observe for at least 20 minutes: a bench at a park, shopping mall, or museum; from inside your car in a parking lot; or even a place close to home, like your front porch. Ideally, it’s a location where you can watch action and interaction in a setting (between people, wildlife, weather, etc.).

FRI-13TH

“Happy Friday the 13th. Satan texted me saying watch my back…With a winky face.”

friday 13th 3

Friday, the 13th

The tale told below
Was it based on a true story?
Or just pure fiction?

That, my dear reader
Is for the writer to know
And for you to enjoy!
As I arrived in the office, the place seemed more quiet than usual. At least this early in the morning. Sitting in my seat, pondering, where everyone else were.

office

No emails, no calls
No contacts at all
Had I mistaken?
Or too early awoken?
Was this a wrong day?
A Saturday, a Sunday?

Thinking about it, the traffic had been oddly light.
Even though it had been early morning time.

After a few hours of waiting in solitude, people I had never seen, entered the room.
Talking in strange languages, sounding like a record been played back the wrong way.
I was observing them. They did not seem to notice me.

office-2

Passing me by
Wondering why
Seemed like a dream
So unreal did it seem

I tried to greet one of them. I kept repeating
Hello, hello, HELLO!

But unnoticed
Even by the closest
Visitor did I go

Getting irritated, I did no longer hesitate.
Jumped in front of the nearest stranger.
I did not feel I was in any danger.
Waved my arms and shouted.
Like a mad person undoubted
.
But nothing, no nothing stirred the strangers.
As if I wasn’t even there…

Maybe, just maybe
I had turned invisible
Or maybe,
It was all, just a dream

After all
It was Friday the 13th!

Friday 13th

Writing 101, Day Ten: Let the scene write itself

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Writing 101, Day Ten: Let the scene write itself

Find a spot where you can sit and observe for at least 20 minutes: a bench at a park, shopping mall, or museum; from inside your car in a parking lot; or even a place close to home, like your front porch. Ideally, it’s a location where you can watch action and interaction in a setting (between people, wildlife, weather, etc.).

You can write your post “on location,” on your laptop or your phone, so the details are fresh in your mind. Or, you can take notes first in a notebook, then draft the scene later at home. If you’re not sure which direction to go, here are some ideas:

Write a poem based on what you see, like this sonnet on plastic and pollution by Malcolm Guite.

Create a short story with dialogue based on exchanges you overhear between two people.
Draft a meditation on life inspired by nature surrounding you.
Shape a story or personal essay around an object, sign, or something else within your setting.

Don’t be afraid to take risks! Your response can be purely nonfiction and be an exact report of what you see, or a piece of creative nonfiction that uses storytelling elements (like point of view, pacing, and dialogue) to shape a more dramatic narrative.

writing 2

“The road to hell is paved with works-in-progress” Philip Roth

Writing 101, Day Ten: Let the scene write itself

Writing non fiction
Causes me lots of friction
I am torn between real life
And the safety of fantasy
The internal strife
Living a daydream
Or surrendering to reality
Quite simple it would seam
If I only gave the permission
To write a simple edition
Of something non fiction
Without too much contradiction
Maybe a learning curve
My thoughts to unnerve

 

Related post:
Friday, the 13th

Friday 13th 2

Writing 101, Day Nine: Writing and not writing

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Writing 101, Day Nine: Writing and not writing

If you write often or for a living, it’s important to take breaks — to live your life and have new experiences, and to reflect and recharge so you can come back to your desk, ready to hit the keyboard again. Not writing allows you to gain the distance from your words, and thus perspective, which are both needed when it’s time to edit.

Being active every day makes it easier to hear that inner voice.
— Haruki Murakami, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

Write every day, but don’t put your life on hold . . .
— Vincent Mars, “Writing as a Way of Life”

What do you do when you’re not writing? How do you reset and return to this dashboard, refreshed? What do you need in your day-to-day life to maintain balance: Running? Yoga? Gardening? Painting? Cooking?

If you’re not a full-time writer, or if your day is so full of other tasks that you have little time to write, consider these alternative questions: if you could step into a machine that gave you more time, how would you structure your day? What would you write with this extra time?

You have an additional task for the day. Reach out to someone for an interview or collaboration. This person can be a Blogging U. participant, a blogger on WordPress.com or another platform, or anyone else whose work you admire. For planning purposes, this post will run on Day 19.

a-professional-writer-is-an-amateur-who-didnt-quit

“It is perfectly okay to write garbage—as long as you edit brilliantly” C. J. Cherryh

Writing 101, Day Nine: Writing and not writing

If you’re not a full-time writer, or if your day is so full of other tasks that you have little time to write, consider these alternative questions: if you could step into a machine that gave you more time, how would you structure your day? What would you write with this extra time?

Working in the coal mine
Daily routine from nine to nine
Pulling twelve hour shifts
Desperately needing a face lift

Waiting for the bell to ring
Then it will be time to sing
Riding in the heavy traffic
Seeing something photographic

Mind finally free to unwind
Thoughts starting to find a rhyme
In through the front door
No time for a quick snore

Laptop booting with a chirp
Gulping food with a quick slurp
Fingers running on the keyboard
Like riding fast on a skateboard

Trying to type as fast as possible
Beating the odds and timetable
The night has fallen dark outside
Trying to complete all tasks with pride

Hearing the clock beep
No time for rest or sleep
Soon an other day breaks
Trying to remain awake

Coffee, coffee, coffee
Finally finished my story
Time for another working day
To earn my keep and get paid

If I only had a time machine
To extend the time between
I would write, write, write
Finally an ending in sight

Tasks long ignored, now complete
Because I did not have to compete
With real life obligations
Chewing up on my patience

For now,
Only in my dreams
Am I really redeemed
And a celebrated writer
One of the mightier

manifesto

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Be careful what you wish for! (Repost for Writing 101)

Writing 101, Day Seven: Let social media inspire you

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Writing 101, Day Seven: Let social media inspire you

One of the goals of Writing 101 is to tap into new and unexpected places for post ideas. Today, let’s look to Twitter for inspiration. Don’t worry — you don’t need an account to participate in this prompt. Even if Twitter isn’t your thing, you might be surprised that you can find starting points for our own writing in other people’s tweets.

Today, write a response to one of these tweets. Shape your post in any way you choose — agree or disagree with the tweet, or use it as a starting point for a story, personal essay, poem, or something else.

procrastination-quote1

“Procrastination is like a credit card: it’s a lot of fun until you get the bill” Christopher Parker

Writing 101, Day Seven: Let social media inspire you

“I can’t decide if procrastination kills creativity or is essential to it.”

Dancing, romancing
Laughing, prancing
Completely trancing
Time fast advancing

Panic quickly attacks
There is no turning back
Time was supposed to lack
Or maybe I am a quack

I was supposed to do
An essay, story, poem or a few
If I only had the slightest clue
I would not be feeling blue
Right now

Was I procrastinating?
Maybe just contemplating?
Planning my next writing?
Or simply, just waiting?

A simple prompt enough
Not too a difficult task
But if I must, I must
With these words at last

I am not going to be defeated
And this poem is completed

procrastination-fucked

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Some socialmedia bullshit