The November Dig!
Write from your current
Welcome to the November Dig!
The Dig is a monthly set of writing prompts to help you “dig” deeper into the current of your own creativity and benefit from its flow.
Respond to one or more of these prompts in whatever form tickles your fancy—journaling, poem, story, essay . . . the possibilities are endless.
Be playful with the prompt, or serious . . . or seriously playful. Practice old ways of writing, or try a fresh new approach. Write alone, or with a friend.
Most of all, write for yourself. Write what you enjoy, even if it’s occasionally difficult. Write what’s true—in the soul sense.
Stroke #1: A one-word writing prompt
Write in response to this word: JEANS.
Did you know . . .This word’s origins can be traced to Europe. The fabric that Levi Strauss used for his American “jeans” was first manufactured in Genoa, Italy, and Nimes, France. The French word for Genoa is Gênes. “Jeans” appears to be an anglicization of that city’s name.
Stroke #2: A sensory writing prompt
I don’t know about your house, but mine was full of warm aromas from the kitchen this past week as my family celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday with friends: pumpkin pie, baking; apples and onions, sautéing with butter and spices for the stuffing; wine-basted turkey, roasting; candles, burning on the festive table . . .
List a number of scents that are strong in the storehouse of your memory. Let that list inspire a piece of writing. Or choose just one or two of those scents and write a more focused piece.
Stroke #3: A prompt celebrating gratitude
List ten things you’re grateful for.
Now, go deeper and list ten more.
Now, go deeper and list ten more.
Now, go deeper and continue your list until you feel “done.”
Now look carefully at everything you’ve written. Notice words in your list that “shimmer” with special light or carry special weight. Underline or circle them.
Write in response to those shimmering words, or use them within your writing.
Want to share?
Share your work with other Diggers. Swap ideas. Ask questions. Reveal insights.
This concludes the November Dig. Happy writing! I’ll see you next month!
Jeans
In the past, when I was a teenager, shopping for jeans was a living nightmare. Nothing ever fit quite right and just aggravated my sense of being awkward and imperfect. What kind of body did you have to have to fit into a pair of bloody jeans?? Fast forward to the birth of Lycra – praise be!!! And to the brilliant mind who combined cotton denim with Lycra to create jeans that move and breathe with you! Hallelujah! Blessings upon the designers who built jeans for all kinds of shapes and sizes!! May the gods smile upon you always!!! Now, on a daily basis, I sit and work in a pair of jeans, especially in the fall and winter, with warming knee socks and slippers and a sweater or flannel shirt, maybe a scarf. Such a grouping of warmth and fit and colors and comfort. Times have certainly changed for the better and my relationship with jeans has grown to be one of fondness and not hostility; one of ease and not anxiety. Have I changed, or was it really the jeans themselves?