Your Writing Mentor

Mary Knippel

Cotton Candy, Carousels and Creativity

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What do all of these have in common?

Well, at the risk of tooting my own horn – me!

Do you remember how much fun you had going to the fair when you were a kid? Riding the Merry-Go-Round or Tilt-A-Whirl? Eating ice cream, carmel corn, and cotton candy? Maybe even a corn dog? Did you slide down the giant slide?

Come be a kid again at my Coaxing Creativity Workshop! It’s FREE and only thirty minutes long. A great way to get reacquainted with how much FUN you can find in just half an hour!

I’m facilitating fabulous & FREE mini Coaxing Creativity Workshops at the San Mateo County Fair on Monday, June 11 from 2-4 p.m. The California Writers Club-Peninsula/San Francisco Branch has coordinated wonderful talent from across the Bay Area to showcase their work on the Literary Stage throughout the run of the fair. I had an amazing time last year giving the Coaxing Creativity Workshops and I happily accepted the invitation to be part of the fun again this year.

While I will not be distributing cotton candy, I will some goodies to share with you along with lots of terrific ideas for you to savor to help you tap into your creativity. 

 We will have a great time riding the flow of energy generated by the sparks of inspiration and imagination from everyone participating.

Last year we had a wonderful turn out:  families, high school students, mothers and daughters, girlfriends, and fair attendees who stopped by to sample what we were doing. Come join us and check out what will we be doing this year!

 Come and play with us!

Great fun for everyone*

*ages 10 and up – no unsupervised children

unleash your creative side

catch yourself having fun

No artistic experience necessary – but be prepared to use a glue stick and connect with your inner artist! 

The Coaxing Creativity Mini Workshop sessions are only 30 minutes long at 2, 2:30, 3 and 3:30 p.m. at the Literary Arts Stage. I’ll bring the workshop materials, you just bring yourself and be prepared to let inspiration find you!

Where do you find your spark? Results 10.22.11

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Results of 5-minute writing prompt: Where do you find your spark?

Well, my spark comes from an enormous number of places:

  1. taking a walk
  2. visiting a museum
  3.  sitting quietly and watching a humming bird
  4. closing my eyes and going within
  5. smelling the lavender in my front yard at dusk
  6. watching an old movie
  7.  listening to music
  8. writing in my journal
  9.  hearing a friend’s voice on the phone
  10. trying a new recipe
  11. reading inspirational material
  12.  listening to a child tell a story
  13. visiting a craft store
  14. visiting a museum
  15. taking a class in a new medium
  16. trying out a new experience
  17. experimenting with new foods
  18. saying Yes to what I’m afraid to do
  19. exploring new areas around the corner, or around the world
  20. playing with collage materials
  21. cleaning out my purse
  22. flipping through magazines without reading them – concentrate on the images
  23. engaging strangers in conversation 
  24. attending live performances
  25. talking with my girlfriends

Step outside the box and Create Your Success Story – Writing Wisdoms #12 from Your Writing Mentor

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This week I gave a presentation at the San Francisco Professional Career Network Meet-Up entitled “Create Your Success Story.” I talked about using the stressors in our lives (losing a job, major move, catastrophic illness) to fuel our ability to change our story. Using the example of how I’ve tapped into my creativity to gain insight into how I could help myself, I invited the group to participate in a few exercises to engage their senses along with activating their imagination and intuition. Some of the “left-brain” thinkers were hesitant about the connection between playful exercise and job hunting. However, all of my suggestions were targeted to have them listen to their intuition and hidden dreams instead of the next logical step according to the business models. Take a look and the video and you can judge for yourself the results on their faces and the colorful collages. 

Ya gotta have friends to help you share your message

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Writing Mentor Mary E Knippel and Writing Coach Teresa LeYung Ryan

 

Of course, we know how important it is to get out there and spread the word about our message. We are among the lucky ones if we fortunate enough to have friends who would help us prepare for an event, coaching us on content and delivery, and then be our support “team” on the day of the event!

I’m sending a huge THANK YOU and lots of love to my friend, head cheerleader and my Mentor, Writing Coach Teresa LeYung Ryan.

I had the opportunity to speak to a fabulous group at the San Francisco Professional Career Network Meet-Up yesterday. In fact, I conducted a mini-workshop (with writing, collage and conversation resulting in lots of creativity) entitled, Create Your Success Story. When folks were asked to introduce themselves, Teresa was the first one to stand up and say she was here because of today’s fabulous speaker! That set the stage for an amazing morning and I’ll share more about the thrill of being able to share what I’m passionate about in another post.

Teresa and I have known each other for over a decade now. She amazes me with all that she does for everyone else, encouraging, supporting, and documenting our accomplishments. I have opened myself up to new opportunities and had some incredible experiences because Teresa nudged/suggested me to consider taking on a bigger role.

Do you have someone who lifts you up?

How do you lift up others?

Tell someone that they shine today.

You’ll be glad you did.

I have a weakness for…Friday Five-minute Writing Prompt Results

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I have a weakness for notebooks of all shapes and sizes. Mostly unlined, but sometimes I’ll like the shape enough that I’ll buy something with lines. I love the freedom of being able to write in any direction I want. My favorite is the huge size – 11 by 17 artist sketch books. They just offer so much possibility. I can create an enormous collage on two pages spread out. My heart races thinking about being able to decorate all the space along with the spiral in the middle. Oh yes, I love the spiral. I add a ribbon so that I can keep track of what page I’m on. It helps me keep a sense of order. I’ve added pockets to some of them too. I found some fancy ribbon in San Francisco at this fabulous fabric store. The ribbon actually had a pocket in it. Not a very sturdy pocket, so it wouldn’t hold anything except a few scraps of paper or maybe a stamp. I like to buy colored clasp envelopes and glue them to the inside cover of the journals.