I have an idea!
While looking for a new inspiration in my posts. I picked up Anne Lamott’s book ~ Bird by Bird ~ “Some Instructions on Writing and Life”. One idea she had was to write short assignments ~ about as much as you can see through a one-inch picture frame.
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“It reminds me that all I have to do is to write down as much as I can see through a one-inch picture frame. This is all I have to bite off for the time being. All I’m going to do right now, for example, is to write that one paragraph that sets the story in my hometown, in the late fifties, when the trains were still running. I’m going to paint a picture of it, in words ………………”
Anne Lamott
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Writing is a new past-time for me in the recent years. In the past, I’ve sat down to write for a class assignment, create an essay here and there or send off a Letter to the Editor now and then. Life kept me very busy and many experiences took priority over really delving into the art of writing.
Creating this blog a few years back really got me motivated. I set out to write my story with the main focus being my journey through a particular event that altered my life, for better and worse. Then I got hooked on blogging and have kept up with a post every week.
My blogger friends will all agree that keeping the ideas flowing and creating a daily or weekly post isn’t always easy. So my idea is to follow Anne’s advice. My intent is to write short essays about my growing up years, beginning with looking through a one-inch picture frame. It should be fun!
My first short assignment will be writing for five minutes about as much as I can see looking through a one-inch picture frame of school lunches at my parochial school during the early fifties.
~ To Be Continued Next Week ~
Me In The Middle 
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I love this idea. What an inspiration. I do tend to write in sections of a whole, but they are usually large sections! A nation of grumblers
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From Anne Lamott’s instructions, once you begin writing from the one-inch picture frame view you’ll begin to make connections to the wider scene. Soon you’ll be remembering things you’d long forgotten. 🙂
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What an interesting idea Mary Lou – it’s lovely when you get fresh inspiration to rekindle your love of writing – I’m looking for some atm – maybe you’ll inpire me too 🙂
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I’d like to experiment with writing fictional short stories. I’m hoping that using the ‘one-inch picture frame’ technique will give me some great material. 🙂
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what great inspiration – i love her writing and will be sure to read this. i love the idea of breaking it into small, doable pieces –
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Your posts already capture little snippets of life that we all relate to Beth. I can see where you’d love using this technique. 🙂
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I’ve always believed that breaking down a big project into small pieces makes it much more doable. Whether it’s cleaning out the garage or writing a book (or blog post each week!) I’ve been wanting to read Ann’s book…thanks for the reminder!
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I read Bird by Bird back in the 90’s and somehow missed a lot of the treasures in it. Too much distraction back then. Already I’m thinking about school lunch back in elementary school. 😀
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