The October Dig!
Write from your current
Welcome to the October 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 three-word writing prompt
Write in response to these three words:
mirror
whiff
bone
Stroke #2: A poem calling for a response text
Read the following poem by Mark Nepo.
Jot down words, phrases, images, or lines that “shimmer” for you—anything that captures your attention.
Write a new text in response to one or more of the “shimmering” fragments. (You might even choose to make the fragment an epigraph for your writing. An epigraph is a short quotation, including the name of the author being cited, that is placed before the beginning of a new text to serve as a statement of the theme.)
A poem created in response to Nepo’s would be called an after-poem or a response poem. But, remember, you don’t have to write a poem. Write anything you wish!
ADRIFT Mark Nepo Everything is beautiful and I am so sad. This is how the heart makes a duet of wonder and grief. The light spraying through the lace of the fern is as delicate as the fibers of memory forming their web around the knot in my throat. The breeze makes the birds move from branch to branch as this ache makes me look for those I’ve lost in the next room, in the next song, in the laugh of the next stranger. In the very center, under it all, what we have that no one can take away and all that we’ve lost face each other. It is there that I’m adrift, feeling punctured by a holiness that exists inside everything. I am so sad and everything is beautiful.
Stroke #3: A writing prompt from real life
Here’s what happened recently to
(she publishes the Substack, to which I subscribe):Yesterday, I was exiting the neighborhood drug store and was confused as to why the automated door wouldn’t open. I backed up and approached it again. I waved my arms, trying to activate the sensor. I continued this way, marching to and fro, putting on a whole five-minute show for a small crowd of people, before I realized I was trying to “exit” through the door that was clearly marked “enter.”
Use this real-life anecdote as inspiration. Put yourself in Caroline’s shoes. What might have been going on inside your heart-mind that led to your confusion about the door—and why? How did you feel as you were trying to “wake up” the sensor in front of all those people? How did you feel once you realized your mistake? What did you do then? What might the incident reveal about your life, or life in general?
Another option: Perhaps Caroline’s experience reminds you of something similar that once happened to you. Write in response to that.
Want to share?
Share your work with other Diggers. Swap ideas. Ask questions. Reveal insights.
This concludes the October Dig. Happy writing! I’ll see you next month!
