TheWritersBag.com

I’m going to try something new on this blog that I’m really excited about….

Every week we’re going to have a Word Shot exercise and competition, with the objective of stimulating our writing abilities.

Here’s how it will go:

1. I will include a human interest photograph in the weekly Word Shot blog post.
2. Anyone who wants to participate can write something that relates to that photograph and include it in a comment to that blog post. It can be a word, a phrase, a paragraph, even a full story. The only restriction is that it must in some way relate to the photo.
3. Everyone is invited to submit their “Word Shots” as comments. They are also encourages to submit comments regarding the Word Shots other have submitted. (Don’t worry – I will moderate these comments and screen out any comments that are not positive, instructive or helpful. In short, you don’t have to worry about attracting mean criticisms.) The fact is, hundreds of talented writers read this blog regularly and we should all be helping each other improve our writing. A forum like this offers a great opportunity we would be fools to ignore.
4. I will review all the Word Shot comments that have been submitted and choose a winner. (They will all be “winners” of course, but one will receive a prize.)
5. In the following week’s Word Shot post, I will announce the winner from the previous week and run the winning text with the photo, along with the name of the winner.
6. I will give the winner a prize. Initially, the prize will be all three of my e-manuals. If the winner already has the manuals, I’ll send them to someone of his or her choosing, in the winner’s name.

Why am I doing this? Years ago, long before I started working as a full-time writer, I bought a book called Stop, Look and Write! by Hart Day Leavitt and David A. Sohn. On the first page, it said:

“Here is a unique new method of learning to write that is as revolutionary as it is simple. Based on the principle that all effective writing depends primarily on accurate, insightful observation, it teaches the student how to see life with the perceptive eye of the great photographer. Then, the student learns how to express himself and what he has observed in an entirely fresh and original way.”

The book was filled with human interest photos. My task was to stop what I was doing, look intently at the photo and then write something about it. The key was to really look at the photo – in fact, focus my attention on it intensely until I became absorbed into it. This was a form of meditation, which centered me on the subject and allowed me to write about it at a level I would not otherwise be able to.

It was a wonderful technique to learn and has served me well ever since. I hope the Word Shot exercises will do the same for you.

Stay tuned. It begins this Monday!

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