Week 2 Writing Course Quotes and Exercises

Quotes for the Week:

To know what you prefer instead of humbly saying Amen to what the world tells you you ought to prefer, is to have kept your soul alive. - Robert Louis Stevenson

Every time you don't follow your inner guidance, you feel a loss of energy, loss of power, a sense of spiritual deadness. - Shakti Gawain

Slow down and enjoy life. It's not only the scenery you miss by going too fast--you also miss the sense of where you are going and why. - Eddie Cantor

Exercises

1. List twenty things you enjoy doing (rock climbing, roller-skating, baking pies, making soup, making love, making love again, riding a bike, riding a horse, playing catch, shooting baskets, going for a run, etc.). When was the last time you let yourself do these things. Next to each entry, place a date. Don't be surprised if it's been years for some of your favorites. That will change. This list is an excellent source for artist 'dates' (doing fun stuff to draw out your creative side).

2. Select and write out one horror story from your monster hall of fame. You do not need to write long or much, but do jot down whatever details come back to you--the room you were in, the way people looked at you, the way you felt, what your parent said or didn't say when you told about it. Include whatever rankles you about the incident: "And then I remember she gave me this real fakey smile and patted my head...." You may find it cathartic to draw a sketch of your old monster or to clip out an image that evokes the incident for you. Cartoon trashing your monster, or at least draw a nice red X through it.

- from The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron