day twenty-one
Today you’re going to have a little holiday from yourself and give yourself a pen name. Combine the name of the first pet you had with the town or street you grew up in as your first and second name. If you didn’t have a pet, what would you have called one?
For example, my pen-name is Mimi Bedford. Hello, nice to meet you!
Now write for six minutes as if you were your alto-ego. What kind of year have they had? How might they be different from you? Go!
You’re not trying to do anything here but have a bit of fun. Sometimes what we are doing when we write is open up new possibilities, and look at things we think we know well in different ways. This exercise is one way to help you do this.
#30everydaywords
Share your writing, thoughts, or what your daily writing practice looks like using the hashtag #30everydaywords and tag me on instagram or twitter - @sarahsalway. I’d love to see what you write!
day twenty-two
I come from a big games playing family so here’s a little game for you. We always called it the furniture game, and similar to the prompt from Day 2, I’d like to invite you to take an emotion you would like more of in your life and write about it in a new way.
The Furniture Game describes something – it may be an object, or an emotion, or even a person – through what they would be like in different forms. So take your wished-for emotion – it may be love or joy or happiness or security – and complete the following sentences, If XX was an XX it would be a XX.
For example, If joy was a breakfast, it would be fresh croissants and champagne… Here is the list of things to imagine for your emotion:
If xx was a piece of furniture, it would be…
If xx was a pair of shoes, it would be…
If xx was a book, it would be…
If xx was a landscape, it would be…
If xx was a house, it would be..
If xx was food, it would be…
If xx was a perfume, it would be…
If xx was a vehicle, it would be…
If xx was a job, it would be…
If xx was an animal, it would be…
You can keep going endlessly, but this is probably enough to keep you busy for at least six minutes!
#30everydaywords
Share your writing, thoughts, or what your daily writing practice looks like using the hashtag #30everydaywords and tag me on instagram or twitter - @sarahsalway. I’d love to see what you write!
day twenty-three
Today is an observation day, put your journal to one side and go for a walk.
It can even be around your house, but keep your eyes open to all the things that bring you joy. You’re absolutely not looking at what needs to be improved, or making a to-do list. Just what you like. It may be a particular tree, a photograph that makes you smile. Just notice them, that’s all.
This exercise is one of the most important ones you can do to help build your aesthetic muscle!
#30everydaywords
Share your writing, thoughts, or what your daily writing practice looks like using the hashtag #30everydaywords and tag me on instagram or twitter - @sarahsalway. I’d love to see what you write!
day twenty-four
Today I invite you to write what you’ve done over the last year. Write for six minutes, starting with This year I have…
This year I have read some good books… This year I have been ill. GO.
Keep coming back to the prompt if you like, but remember to be kind to yourself. This form of writing practice using prompts is a process of self-discovery, not a cruel shaming exercise. The best rule of thumb in journal writing is to treat yourself as an interesting friend. What might you discover about yourself? In my experience, we discover very little about people if we are always shouting at them.
#30everydaywords
Share your writing, thoughts, or what your daily writing practice looks like using the hashtag #30everydaywords and tag me on instagram or twitter - @sarahsalway. I’d love to see what you write!
day twenty-five
Remember how we started with the prompt I feel? We’ve also done I Remember. These short sentence starters are great at uncovering small things about ourselves we might have forgotten or feel too slight to be written about.
Today’s is different. Begin writing from the prompt, I don’t know…
Yes, that’s right. It’s too easy to go with what you know. What don’t you know?
#30everydaywords
Share your writing, thoughts, or what your daily writing practice looks like using the hashtag #30everydaywords and tag me on instagram or twitter - @sarahsalway. I’d love to see what you write!
day twenty-six
Silver, engine, chocolate, mother, blackberry… Your prompt today is to fit of all these words into your freewriting.
Don’t worry if you don’t know how to right now, just start. Sometimes it’s best not to know where you are going!
#30everydaywords
Share your writing, thoughts, or what your daily writing practice looks like using the hashtag #30everydaywords and tag me on instagram or twitter - @sarahsalway. I’d love to see what you write!
day twenty-seven
The following prompts are about looking at what you’ve written, and thinking about editing. Remember you can use these in the best way that suits you.
So start by going back at random to one of your freewrites and read through, underlining or circling any words or phrases that have energy for you. Now pick one, and do your six minute freewrite from that.
It can be a joy to see where writing takes you like this. You can even carry on. Circle a phrase from today’s freewrite and use it as your launch pad for tomorrow and so on.
#30everydaywords
Share your writing, thoughts, or what your daily writing practice looks like using the hashtag #30everydaywords and tag me on instagram or twitter - @sarahsalway. I’d love to see what you write!
day twenty-eight
Today pick another piece of writing, and read through searching for the heart of what you have written. Often we write ourselves into what we want to say, so it may actually be at the end.
What is this writing about? What do I really want to say? What might I be saying if it wasn’t too difficult?
Now use this to craft a new piece, but with these restrictions:
less than 500 words
It needs to contain FIVE words from your original piece of writing. Choose these in advance.
#30everydaywords
Share your writing, thoughts, or what your daily writing practice looks like using the hashtag #30everydaywords and tag me on instagram or twitter - @sarahsalway. I’d love to see what you write!
day twenty-nine
Take another piece and turn it upside down. Your last sentence becomes your first etc etc. How do things look from this new perspective?
#30everydaywords
Share your writing, thoughts, or what your daily writing practice looks like using the hashtag #30everydaywords and tag me on instagram or twitter - @sarahsalway. I’d love to see what you write!
day thirty
Today is all about CELEBRATION. Woohoo! Go you!
Look back at all your writing today. What three things will you take away?
Maybe you want to do the whole 30 days all over again? Or maybe you want to do the same prompt again and again for 30 days?
Hopefully one thing you’ve picked up is that nothing you do is wrong. Apart from not writing when that’s what you want to do.
Congratulations. I’m proud of you.
#30everydaywords
Share your writing, thoughts, or what your daily writing practice looks like using the hashtag #30everydaywords and tag me on instagram or twitter - @sarahsalway. I’d love to see what you write!