For the month of March I will be participating in the Slice of Life Challenge sponsored by The Two Writing Teachers Blog. Each day I will be sharing a Quick Write as my way of slicing. The idea is to offer a SPARK that will kindle thinking and then write as quickly as you can for 5-10 minutes. No filters, no revisions. I’ve been curating a collection of Sparks and will share some with you all month. It’s a great way to ignite your writing life.
Be Present
A simple quick write SPARK to encourage greater mindfulness is to stop and jot what you are experiencing in a given moment. Tap into your senses and notice where your mind takes you. This meditative quick write can be quite relaxing in a natural space or stimulating in a more chaotic space.
Yesterday I woke before my family (who hadn’t adjusted yet to the time change) and noticed the morning sky. I grabbed my bedside notebook and for 5 minutes immersed myself in the present moment:
This quick write is a lot like morning pages that I sometimes do, except that this is 5 minutes instead of 3 pages. I often can’t find the 30-40 minutes to incorporate morning pages, but I can easily find 5 minutes to quick write.
I get a very different emotional and sensory feel from a Present Moment quick write during my lunch break at school or even after I get home in the afternoon. The fun comes from not knowing where your mind will take you and what words will emerge as you put pen to paper. Sure I could do this on my computer, but there is something special about watching those words form from your hand and not feeling fully in control of what comes out! It’s kind of magical. Give it a go this week and see what you discover in your present moments.
litcoachlady 
“Each cloud seems to have grabbed a bit of color to carry into the sky.” Love it, Paula! I will have to try this with my writer’s notebook at different times of the day as you have suggested. A great way to make sure you can have some writing on the page each day! Thank you!
What a beautiful sky! What I love about a timed quickwrite like this is that I am so often surprised by what I end up writing about. I borrowed your prompt today and ended up with a piece about my writer’s notebook that I could never have planned to write. I also really like the advice to try this at different times of day and in different locations. A good reminder to mix things up at least occasionally for the rest of the month! Thanks for the inspiration today!
I read your blog and LOVED it. Always curious about other writer’s notebooks. Thanks for sharing a peek at your possibilities.
Yes, this is so good and it’s so much better to write sometimes than type, but I have to admit all my writer’s notebooks are never completed…I just love ‘smelling the cold’ you sure can smell it!
I love this. It is SO important. Often, I do this at school after a lesson or class period. Sometimes, I don’t write enough. The exposition lesson really was terrible (I actually use another word other than “really was terrible”). Then, I don’t remember why. Ugh! I have been better about it, but I am always working on writing a little more. Thanks for the post!
Thanks for tip! Mindful writing would be great to do with students too!
The picture of the stunning sky is mesmerizing! I love how you also posted a pic of your 5 minute quick write and wrote about your process. I’ll add this to the toolbox!
I love reading your writing! Your photo is beautiful. I find it difficult to just write about what I see or feel. I will have to try it sometime soon!
I love this Paula! Thank you for sharing all your work and ideas ❤
I prefer to start things in my notebook. I love handwriting and going back and reading over my old notebooks. I cannot part with any of them!
One advantage of the time change is that I once again get to see the morning gloaming. That magical space between darkness and light that seems to hang outside of time for a few moments.
Writing does help us be present – love how this idea helps us as writers and in our lives. Thanks fo sharing
I love this idea. Lately, finding time for evening pages (Christie W.’s version of morning pages) has been difficult. I love the idea of a five minute mindful writing!
I do think writing with paper is a completely different experi nice. It’s funny my quick writes are always on paper. I never thought about that before
When my students and I write in our notebooks, I set the “Insight Timer” to whatever they request. Let’s do 8 minutes? 5? 3? Then whatever comes, comes. I think freeing your mind to write like this is the best.