Category: #aprilcreativity

#AprilCreativity – Day 4

#AprilCreativity – Day 4

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Today’s Prompt

AprilCreativity - Day 4

 

The Details

All #AprilCreativity is, at its most basic, is a bunch of writing prompts that I create or find and then post on the blog and my instagram page. On occaision, I’ll also post snippets of writing that came from my use of the prompts, and I’d love to see yours as well!

Feel free to reblog the prompts on instagram, just please tag me in them!

If you reblog or retweet or otherwise share, use the #AprilCreativity hashtag.

Write! I want these to be something that you find useful. If they aren’t useful, then I’m not meeting my goal. If you really like a prompt (or type of prompt), let me know. Same if you hate it. I’d love to have the feedback so I can do better next time.

There will be one each day in April, and they will vary between photo prompts, youtube/musical prompts, and word prompts.

A few tips

If you’re struggling with where to start, I have a few suggestions.

  • Look the photo over for a few moments. Make a list of the things that stand out to you. Then use as many or as few of those things as the focal point of your first few sentences.
  • Start by describing the scene in the photo. See if that takes you somewhere else.
  • Look at the photo for a few moments. Then set a timer and write anything that comes to mind for five minutes. If the timer goes off and you’re on a roll, ignore it and continue. If you are struggling, go ahead and stop. You never know what gem might be hiding in what you think is terrible writing.
  • Save everything you write!

Also, don’t forget about the #30daystarchallenge! If you’re interested in finding out more about that, which is a daily word count goal challenge I’m running at the same time, just visit the other blog posts.

I hope you’ll join me! Connect with me over Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram! I always love talking to readers and writers!

#AprilCreativity – Day 3

#AprilCreativity – Day 3

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Today’s Prompt

You’re a pirate, burying your treasure with the King’s men hot on your trail. Write a curse to guard your treasure!

 

The Details

All #AprilCreativity is, at its most basic, is a bunch of writing prompts that I create or find and then post on the blog and my instagram page. On occaision, I’ll also post snippets of writing that came from my use of the prompts, and I’d love to see yours as well!

Feel free to reblog the prompts on instagram, just please tag me in them!

If you reblog or retweet or otherwise share, use the #AprilCreativity hashtag.

Write! I want these to be something that you find useful. If they aren’t useful, then I’m not meeting my goal. If you really like a prompt (or type of prompt), let me know. Same if you hate it. I’d love to have the feedback so I can do better next time.

There will be one each day in April, and they will vary between photo prompts, youtube/musical prompts, and word prompts.

A few tips

If you’re struggling with where to start, I have a few suggestions.

  • Look the photo over for a few moments. Make a list of the things that stand out to you. Then use as many or as few of those things as the focal point of your first few sentences.
  • Start by describing the scene in the photo. See if that takes you somewhere else.
  • Look at the photo for a few moments. Then set a timer and write anything that comes to mind for five minutes. If the timer goes off and you’re on a roll, ignore it and continue. If you are struggling, go ahead and stop. You never know what gem might be hiding in what you think is terrible writing.
  • Save everything you write!

Also, don’t forget about the #30daystarchallenge! If you’re interested in finding out more about that, which is a daily word count goal challenge I’m running at the same time, just visit the other blog posts.

I hope you’ll join me! Connect with me over Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram! I always love talking to readers and writers!

#AprilCreativity – Day 2

#AprilCreativity – Day 2

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Today’s Prompt

Today’s prompt is a music video. Feel free to just listen and not let the images influence your prompt, or watch the video and see what it brings to mind – whatever works best for you!

 

The Details

All #AprilCreativity is, at its most basic, is a bunch of writing prompts that I create or find and then post on the blog and my instagram page. On occaision, I’ll also post snippets of writing that came from my use of the prompts, and I’d love to see yours as well!

Feel free to reblog the prompts on instagram, just please tag me in them!

If you reblog or retweet or otherwise share, use the #AprilCreativity hashtag.

Write! I want these to be something that you find useful. If they aren’t useful, then I’m not meeting my goal. If you really like a prompt (or type of prompt), let me know. Same if you hate it. I’d love to have the feedback so I can do better next time.

There will be one each day in April, and they will vary between photo prompts, youtube/musical prompts, and word prompts.

A few tips

If you’re struggling with where to start, I have a few suggestions.

  • Look the photo over for a few moments. Make a list of the things that stand out to you. Then use as many or as few of those things as the focal point of your first few sentences.
  • Start by describing the scene in the photo. See if that takes you somewhere else.
  • Look at the photo for a few moments. Then set a timer and write anything that comes to mind for five minutes. If the timer goes off and you’re on a roll, ignore it and continue. If you are struggling, go ahead and stop. You never know what gem might be hiding in what you think is terrible writing.
  • Save everything you write!

Also, don’t forget about the #30daystarchallenge! If you’re interested in finding out more about that, which is a daily word count goal challenge I’m running at the same time, just visit the other blog posts.

I hope you’ll join me! Connect with me over Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram! I always love talking to readers and writers!

April Creativity At vanessabarger.com
April Creativity posts and the 30 Day Star Challenge Begin!

April Creativity posts and the 30 Day Star Challenge Begin!

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First,

Happy Easter!

If you have been following my blog for awhile, you might remember that last April, I decided to do a month of writing prompts that I called #AprilCreativity. I really enjoyed making the prompts, and then using some of them. Others mentioned that they enjoyed them as well, so I decided that I would make it an annual event!

The Details

All #AprilCreativity is, at its most basic, is a bunch of writing prompts that I create or find and then post on the blog and my instagram page. On occaision, I’ll also post snippets of writing that came from my use of the prompts, and I’d love to see yours as well!

Feel free to reblog the prompts on instagram, just please tag me in them!

If you reblog or retweet or otherwise share, use the #AprilCreativity hashtag.

Write! I want these to be something that you find useful. If they aren’t useful, then I’m not meeting my goal. If you really like a prompt (or type of prompt), let me know. Same if you hate it. I’d love to have the feedback so I can do better next time.

There will be one each day in April, and they will vary between photo prompts, youtube/musical prompts, and word prompts.

Let’s get started!

Seeing as today is Easter, I’ve pulled this prompt for you today.

April Creativity Prompt 1 2018

 

A few tips

If you’re struggling with where to start, I have a few suggestions.

  • Look the photo over for a few moments. Make a list of the things that stand out to you. Then use as many or as few of those things as the focal point of your first few sentences.
  • Start by describing the scene in the photo. See if that takes you somewhere else.
  • Look at the photo for a few moments. Then set a timer and write anything that comes to mind for five minutes. If the timer goes off and you’re on a roll, ignore it and continue. If you are struggling, go ahead and stop. You never know what gem might be hiding in what you think is terrible writing.
  • Save everything you write!

Also, don’t forget about the #30daystarchallenge! If you’re interested in finding out more about that, which is a daily word count goal challenge I’m running at the same time, just visit the other blog posts.

I hope you’ll join me! Connect with me over Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram! I always love talking to readers and writers!

 

30DayStarChallenge
Take the #30DayStarChallenge with me!

Take the #30DayStarChallenge with me!

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If you haven’t seen my post earlier, then please, take a minute to go visit it HERE. On that post, I explain the motivation for doing it, and a little about the details. There’s also a downloadable calendar for you, if you want to use it.

The whole point of this challenge is to help get you (and me) motivated and back to a writing habit. Believe me, when you sit down and make yourself write, even if its total garbage and for only ten minutes a day, it becomes easier and easier to get those words out of your head and onto paper. Writing isn’t about being perfect the first time around. Its a process – you’re going to have the terrible first draft, and then you’re going to edit and polish it into something really awesome. It won’t happen in one draft – I don’t know any writers whose novels didn’t need serious edits. But if you never start, you can never finish, and that’s the goal – to finish!

I’m not saying that you’ll start and finish a novel in these 30 days – this isn’t NaNoWriMo! I just want to help you get writing into your daily routine. And, honestly, I need to get it back into mine!

The Details:

All you have to do to participate in the challenge is pick a word count goal – 200 words a day or 1000, it doesn’t matter. Just make sure you pick something that is realistic for you.

Print out the downloadable calendar I’ve made, or use your planner or other calendar, and get a set of small star stickers. I buy mine in Michael’s.

On April 1st, pick a time and sit down to write and meet your goal!

Every Friday, take a picture of your calendar and share it with the hashtag #30daystarchallenge on instagram, twitter, and/or Facebook. Encourage each other!

If you aren’t sure what to write, or you don’t have a novel started but you want to get those writing habits going, then think of participating in the #AprilCreativity posts that I’ll be posting each day of April. Every day will be a different prompt. Take a look, and use it as a warm up, or a way to get some inspiration!

 

Don’t Be Discouraged!

You are probably going to miss a day. Don’t let it make you stop! There are always times when maybe you aren’t near your computer, or life just got in the way. It happens. Just brush yourself off and try again tomorrow. Seriously. This isn’t about adding more stress to your life.

Don’t compare yourself to others either – take a look at their photos, encourage each other, but NEVER let it get you down. Just because someone writes 2000 words a day doesn’t make them a better writer or more of a writer. They just happened to write more words that day. It doesn’t matter how fast or slow you are – it matters that you made the attempt!

 

Connect!

Writing can be a lonely occupation. Take a few moments and connect with other writers participating using the #30daystarchallenge hashtag. Ask each other questions. Make friends! The writing community (especially the children/YA lit community, though I’m biased) is a really awesome place, with some truly amazing people. Use the opportunity to make connections with other writers!

 

30DayStarChallenge

Will you join me? I hope so! Let me know in the comments or connect on Twitter, FB, or Instagram!
#AprilCreativity – Day 5 – Photo Prompt

#AprilCreativity – Day 5 – Photo Prompt

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Okay! Here’s today’s first photo prompt! If you’re art journaling, you can sketch your version of the photo, print it out to use, or do something related or completely unrelated but inspired by the sketch. If you’re writing, then I’d suggest studying the picture, setting your timer, and free writing for five minutes. You could even add to a previous story or prompt if you think it would relate. 

Don’t forget – if you want to share what you’ve come up with, you can do it here in the comments or on social media with the hashtag #AprilCreativity.

#AprilCreativity – Day 4

#AprilCreativity – Day 4

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For this prompt, we’re going to do something a little different. Get out a sheet of paper.

Now, go and read this news article.

Now, spend 3-5 minutes making a mind map of some kind about the article and the ideas that it brings to mind. Brainstorm. After you’ve finished, you can either stop there, or you can:

​Writers: free write for 5 minutes.

Art Journalers: Think about the emotions you would have in this situation. Create an art journal page about those emotions.

#AprilCreativity – Day 3 – Video Prompt

#AprilCreativity – Day 3 – Video Prompt

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Okay! Here’s today’s first video prompt! Here’s some suggestions for using this prompt:

Writers: If you’re writing, then I’d suggest either watching the video and using it as a prompt, or (if you don’t want to be influenced) close your eyes and listen to the song (or mute it and just watch the video). Once it is over, set your timer, and free write for five minutes. You could even add to a previous story or prompt if you think it would relate.

Art Journalers: You can sketch a scene from or inspired by the video, or take one image or series of images and use them in your art journaling page. Or do something related or completely unrelated but inspired by the sketch.

Don’t forget – if you want to share what you’ve come up with, you can do it here in the comments or on social media with the hashtag #AprilCreativity.

#AprilCreativity – Day 2 – Dreaming

#AprilCreativity – Day 2 – Dreaming

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I’m starting you off slowly – so don’t worry. This one is pretty easy. Today, I want you to think back to a dream you had. Maybe it was last night, maybe it was one from a couple weeks or months ago that really stuck with you. If you can’t remember a dream that you like, or will think will work, call a friend or two and ask about their dreams. Then take that, and spend five minutes writing about it. You can describe it. You can write what happened after you woke up. You can write about something totally different. Entirely up to you!

If you’re doing an art journal, then draw a character from the dream. Doesn’t have to be human. Or draw a scene. Whichever will work best for you.

Don’t forget – if you want to share what you’ve come up with, you can do it here in the comments or on social media with the hashtag #AprilCreativity.
Day 1 – #AprilCreativity

Day 1 – #AprilCreativity

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All right! I’ve got pens and pencils at the ready, and my trusty writing journal/art journal with me. Time to start the prompt! Remember – I’ll be posting my spread from today (April 1) tomorrow in the comments of this post, as well as on instagram. This allows me time in the evenings to work on the journal, because I rarely have time before then. Feel free to post your own whenever you finish! It can be in the comments, or instagram or other social media – whatever works best for you! Be sure to use the #AprilCreativity tag when you do!