HEARTS OPEN, IDEAS WELCOME

The trick to writing is to keep your heart open; eyes are good too, but your emotions are what makes your writing sing. We who write often, know when we sit down each time, no matter how much we have written in the past, this day on something new is the first time all over again. And our heart has to be in the process.

If you're looking for ideas, all of the topics, scenes, characters, and stories are all around you. Look around the room you are sitting in, for example. I'm sure you will see something that will trigger an idea, or lead you to get on the Internet and research something you've seen until the essay or story begins to form.

Go out onto the street. Who lives in the area? What do they do for a living? How many children do they have, and can you recall something you've seen or heard them do that might give you an idea? Or go on a trip and keep notes. To a park--watch the children on the slide, or the homeless person digging through trash cans for cans to recycle.

Write about anything and everything you know. If you are curious about a subject, or hold a nostalgic memory in your heart, seek more information on the subject matter and share the story with the reading world.

In matters of the heart, or ideas your cherish, you are the expert, even if you've only been in this idea mode for a few minutes. Write!