I'm up early today, and wrote 1,300 words using the 5 things prompt. Yesterday I read two essays that were new to me, Signs of Ghosts by Colin Dickey, and My Father Becomes a Bird by Terri Kent. I'll link to those below.
I've been doing this 5 things prompt regularly for nearly 3 years now, and recently realized I had enough material for a collection—nearly 100,000 words in first drafts. Maybe it's more of a diary or other narrative than a collection, but it's something. I'm trying to select and revise a small piece of it every day. It's a real lesson in how small efforts can accumulate into something of value.
Good morning! Yesteday I read the Ottesa Mosfegh piece and the day before, the Virginia Wolf one, neither of which I read before. What struck me about these was they are both on the shorter side. I feel reassured that essays do not have to be these lengthy things.
I filled a couple of pages with another five things this morning and its rather cathartic. I'm sensing some connections between what I'm writing about each day, even if they might be tenuous!
Loved"Fuck the bread, the bread is over". Really felt authors anguish. Also believe if you read Grimm's Faire Tales the morals you need to get through life are all there. If you had nothing else it's all you need.
Hello! I was frankly tired today, so I wrote a list of five things that I observed this week. I liked that I didn't have to overthink it, as I usually do because in the back of my mind at some point I think I have to edit it.
This morning I continued using the 5 things prompts. Yesterday I read "Signs of Ghosts," which I couldn't get out of my head all day. This morning I read "Fuck the Bread. The Bread Is Over," by Sabrina Orah Mark, which made me jealous. I want her mother.
Journaling was a part of my morning routine off and on for more that 20 years. Over the past 3-4 weeks, I let the habit slide after going on vacation in early October. The 5 things prompt has got me back in the grove. Thank you.
I had not ever read the Laurie Stone essay and loved it. Fuck the Bread, the Bread is Over is one of those essays I send people all the time. I love Mark's writing--all of it. I'm working on a prose poem in the form of a letter to my great-great-great-grandmother, who walked the Trail of Tears and survived when she was 17. When she was 9 she wrote a letter to Andrew Jackson! I've done a lot of research to be able to write this hybrid thing I'm writing. This morning I woke up with her voice in my ear, which is when I know my writing is going somewhere--it starts talking to me.
On the first day of essay Camp, I was paralysed. I could not write anything and I sat in front of the notepad, pen in hand and just stared out the window. 🥲🥲
That very same night I was woken up by the soft patter of rainfall against the bedroom window and all my senses came alive and I wrote and just poured onto the notepad whatever came to my mind. Now I am just writing on the same thread. Thank you for the prompts, they are invaluable. 🤗🤗
Is it just me, or is it that doing a Five Things even with perfunctory paragraphs or sentences that may never go anywhere a way of unlocking thoughts that may get stuck in your brain otherwise, even if they never amount to anything?
I am really enjoying the 5 things prompt! Day 3 felt like a particularly clear-headed session of writing for me and I'm keeping this feeling in mind for the future.
ooo day 3 and i decided to write with pen and paper and not mu lap top. to be honest i write a lot pen to paper - i think its my best work. but i grew up with parents who believed in the art of pen and paper. i chose to write over the prompt " house" writing about my family home - i kind forgot a bit about all those memories.
Today has been a bit of a struggle. I thought being on holiday would give me more time and make it easier but I think being away from my usual space and routine is making it harder. But I wrote about that and just about managed another 4 things. Tomorrow is another day!
Our professor increases her word count over time this week. I experience the opposite, cranking through five things today only by including a brief reflection on olive oil that clocks in at 32 words. What’s next, haikus?
I'm not really following the 5 things prompts, but somehow the idea that other people are writing at the same time as me gives this "we're all in this together vibe" that makes me sit my rear in the chair and do it each and every day. I need to be working on pieces to send to my editor, and had kind of stalled out. This has got me moving again, generating potentially related stuff and not worrying until later about whether I'll use it
Day 5 of Essay Camp has been amazing for me and the instructions to follow have truly empowered me and especially since I started Day 1 with “analysis paralysis”.
Happy Essay Camp Day 3!
I'm up early today, and wrote 1,300 words using the 5 things prompt. Yesterday I read two essays that were new to me, Signs of Ghosts by Colin Dickey, and My Father Becomes a Bird by Terri Kent. I'll link to those below.
I've been doing this 5 things prompt regularly for nearly 3 years now, and recently realized I had enough material for a collection—nearly 100,000 words in first drafts. Maybe it's more of a diary or other narrative than a collection, but it's something. I'm trying to select and revise a small piece of it every day. It's a real lesson in how small efforts can accumulate into something of value.
Here are those essays—
Signs of Ghosts by Colin Dickey: https://longreads.com/2023/10/26/signs-of-ghosts/
My Father Becomes a Bird by Terri Kent: https://brevitymag.com/current-issue/my-father-becomes-a-bird/
Good morning! Yesteday I read the Ottesa Mosfegh piece and the day before, the Virginia Wolf one, neither of which I read before. What struck me about these was they are both on the shorter side. I feel reassured that essays do not have to be these lengthy things.
I filled a couple of pages with another five things this morning and its rather cathartic. I'm sensing some connections between what I'm writing about each day, even if they might be tenuous!
Loved"Fuck the bread, the bread is over". Really felt authors anguish. Also believe if you read Grimm's Faire Tales the morals you need to get through life are all there. If you had nothing else it's all you need.
Hello! I was frankly tired today, so I wrote a list of five things that I observed this week. I liked that I didn't have to overthink it, as I usually do because in the back of my mind at some point I think I have to edit it.
"He doesn’t believe he has anything to say except this is the way an artist makes a life, by staying in the game. And he hopes to give pleasure"
Thanks for day three, and especially for the above.
Essay Camp Day 3! 🏕️ 📝
This morning I continued using the 5 things prompts. Yesterday I read "Signs of Ghosts," which I couldn't get out of my head all day. This morning I read "Fuck the Bread. The Bread Is Over," by Sabrina Orah Mark, which made me jealous. I want her mother.
Journaling was a part of my morning routine off and on for more that 20 years. Over the past 3-4 weeks, I let the habit slide after going on vacation in early October. The 5 things prompt has got me back in the grove. Thank you.
Looking forward to tomorrow's Essay Camp!
I had not ever read the Laurie Stone essay and loved it. Fuck the Bread, the Bread is Over is one of those essays I send people all the time. I love Mark's writing--all of it. I'm working on a prose poem in the form of a letter to my great-great-great-grandmother, who walked the Trail of Tears and survived when she was 17. When she was 9 she wrote a letter to Andrew Jackson! I've done a lot of research to be able to write this hybrid thing I'm writing. This morning I woke up with her voice in my ear, which is when I know my writing is going somewhere--it starts talking to me.
On the first day of essay Camp, I was paralysed. I could not write anything and I sat in front of the notepad, pen in hand and just stared out the window. 🥲🥲
That very same night I was woken up by the soft patter of rainfall against the bedroom window and all my senses came alive and I wrote and just poured onto the notepad whatever came to my mind. Now I am just writing on the same thread. Thank you for the prompts, they are invaluable. 🤗🤗
Is it just me, or is it that doing a Five Things even with perfunctory paragraphs or sentences that may never go anywhere a way of unlocking thoughts that may get stuck in your brain otherwise, even if they never amount to anything?
Day three has been the best and most inspiring. I wrote and wrote and wrote. Everything seemed to flow easily for the first time in awhile.
I am really enjoying the 5 things prompt! Day 3 felt like a particularly clear-headed session of writing for me and I'm keeping this feeling in mind for the future.
ooo day 3 and i decided to write with pen and paper and not mu lap top. to be honest i write a lot pen to paper - i think its my best work. but i grew up with parents who believed in the art of pen and paper. i chose to write over the prompt " house" writing about my family home - i kind forgot a bit about all those memories.
I love that Laurie Stone essay!
Today has been a bit of a struggle. I thought being on holiday would give me more time and make it easier but I think being away from my usual space and routine is making it harder. But I wrote about that and just about managed another 4 things. Tomorrow is another day!
Our professor increases her word count over time this week. I experience the opposite, cranking through five things today only by including a brief reflection on olive oil that clocks in at 32 words. What’s next, haikus?
I'm not really following the 5 things prompts, but somehow the idea that other people are writing at the same time as me gives this "we're all in this together vibe" that makes me sit my rear in the chair and do it each and every day. I need to be working on pieces to send to my editor, and had kind of stalled out. This has got me moving again, generating potentially related stuff and not worrying until later about whether I'll use it
Day 5 of Essay Camp has been amazing for me and the instructions to follow have truly empowered me and especially since I started Day 1 with “analysis paralysis”.
Thank you so much @summerBrennan. ❤️