Carolyn Wilhelm's Dec. 15 Writing Prompt Is Here

It is December 15^th on Sharing with Writers and Readers, so it is time for the new writing prompt freebies. Holidays will be front and center in most people's minds, even (or especially) in 2020. Staying at home? Wearing masks? Shopping by mail or going to the store? Whatever plans and preparations are underway at your house will give you some ideas for writing. 

Holiday picture writing prompts free PDF, downloads here

 

This month, I am going to share a little quick-write story of my own. Family recipes sometimes have stories with them, so here is mine. 

 

Potica Just Like Grandma Used to Make, Only Store-Bought

 

Oh, how fun to find Potica at the store today! Usually, we can buy some near Christmas time. The price has climbed a bit since we last purchased any, but as the Pope has referred to Potica by name, what could you expect? Grandma would be so happy the Pope mentioned Potica, but I'm sure she would disapprove of "store-bought" bakery items. 

 

Grandma baked all her own bread and pastries, grew substantial vegetable gardens, canned the vegetables, washed clothes in a wringer washer, hung them on the line to dry, and did everything that needed to be done whenever anyone asked. She was no stranger to hard work. 

 

I'm sure we managed to visit when it just happened to be a baking day more than once. I remember everyone fussing about Potica, but I don't remember much about it, just that it was a lot of work and very special. I do remember liking pie crust cookies made from leftover pieces of pie crust and shaped every which way. They were baked in the oven for a few minutes with cinnamon and sugar sprinkled on top. As a child, I thought those were extremely special! 

 

I remember that Grandma made a salad from dandelions. She made her own oil and vinegar salad dressing. She could can venison meat! She could do anything. I am good at buying Potica from the store, so I hope she forgives me. 

 

As usual, there are six picture prompts with a few words to help some writers get started and six without. Images are enough for some people to begin writing immediately. I hope some people find this useful! 

 

Thank you for reading, Carolyn Wilhelm

MORE ABOUT TODAY'S GUEST BLOGGER

Carolyn Wilhelm is a veteran educator and the owner of Wise Owl Factory LLC .  She reviews for Midwest Book Review  and

New Book Review and is the author of the award-winning Climate Change Captives 2035 and Project SAVE . Learn more about her here: 

A Medium article About Carolyn

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PS: A reminder; Here are six picture prompts for you to use, perhaps in a classroom. Perhaps on Zoom. Perhaps around the kitchen table! 

https://www.thewiseowlfactory.com/PDFs/2020/12/December-Holiday-writing-prompt.pdf

The prompts are on Carolyn Howard-Johnson's Sharing with Writers and Readers Blog and post the 15th of each month. 

Adding Color Writing Prompts post and free instant download

Camping Writing Prompts  post and free instant download

Comedy Writing Prompts post and free instant download

Cyber Crime Writing Prompts post and free instant download

December Writing Prompts post and free instant download

Fantasy Writing Prompts post and free instant download

February Days Writing Prompts post and free instant download

Halloween and October Writing Prompts  post and free instant download

Historical Fiction Writing Prompts  post and free instant download

January Any Year Writing Prompts post and free instant download

Magical and Magical Realism Writing Prompts post and free instant download

March Days Writing Prompts post and free instant download

Motherhood and May Writing Prompts post and free instant download

Music Writing Prompts post and free instant download

Mystery and Thriller Writing Prompts post and free instant download

November and Fall Writing Prompts post and free instant download

Pandemic People Writing Prompts post and free instant download

Road Trip Writing Prompts post and free instant download

Royals, Monarchs, Kings, and Queens Prompts post and free instant download

Social Media Writing Prompts post and free instant download

Summer Evenings Writing Prompts post and free instant download

Traveling Abroad Writing Prompts post and free instant download

Twitter Writing Prompts  post and free instant download

Western Romance Picture Only Writing Prompts post and free instant download

Women Theme Writing Prompts post and free instant download

What if? Writing Prompts post and free instant download

You might also like the following writing prompt freebies on the Wise Owl Factory blog.

14 Quick Writes or Flash Fiction Animal Theme Prompts Free

MORE ABOUT THE BLOGGER 

 Howard-Johnson is the multi award-wining author of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. She is also a marketing consultant, editor, and author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers including the multi award-winning The Frugal Book Promoter (http://bit.ly/FrugalBookPromoIII), now offered by Modern History Press in its third edition. Carolyn's latest is in the #HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers is How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically. She has two booklets in the #HowToDoItFrugally Series, both in their second editions from Modern History Press. Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers (http://bit.ly/LastMinuteEditsII) and The Great First Impression Book Proposal (http://bit.ly/BookProposalsII) are career boosters in mini doses and both make ideal thank you gifts for authors. The Frugal Editor (http://bit.ly/FrugalEditor), now in its second edition, is the winningest book in the series. Carolyn also has three frugal books for retailers including one she encourages authors to read because it helps them convince retailers to host their workshops, presentations, and signings. It is A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques (http://bit.ly/RetailersGuide). In addition to this blog, Carolyn helps writers extend the exposure of their favorite reviews at TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com. She also blogs at all things editing--grammar, formatting and more--at The Frugal, Smart, and Tuned-In Editor (http://TheFrugalEditor.blogspot.com). Learn more and follow for news on her new releases direct from Amazon: http://bit.ly/CarolynsAmznProfile.

Writing Teacher Passes Along "Legacy" Writing Tips

It’s been over 30 years since this happened, so there are details long lost in the fog of my teaching memories.

It was in one of my World Literature evening classes when we were all listening to student reports discussing one author or literary work or another. Then she took the podium.

She was a rather exotic Mediterranean (I think) blonde beauty. An art student. The sort of student a teacher is well advised to keep his thoughts about to himself.     I did.

She stood at the front of the class and asked for a volunteer. One gentlemen joined her and she asked him to turn his back to her and cup his hands behind his back. She said she was going to place a series of objects in his hands, ask him to describe the object in question without identifying it, and then ask the class to guess what the object was. She didn’t reveal what each object was until the guessing game was over.

I don’t remember what her objects were—I think they included a hairbrush and seashell. I don’t remember how well the class did at guessing the objects. But I do remember that, when she was done, she looked out at us and said, “This is what a writer does. Try to describe something so we can identify it without seeing it.”

  

She didn’t elaborate on that point, if memory serves. I do know I imitated her demonstration for many years in my writing classes and kept a bag of objects I used over and over.  I’m pretty sure I had a clothes brush and a genuine cowboy spur in the mix. If memory serves, many classes did very well at guessing the objects, others not so much.  One thing was consistent. For a few minutes, I definitely had their attention.

If you’re a writing teacher, writing coach, the like, try this little demo yourself. If nothing else, you’ll engage your students for a few minutes and perhaps give them writing prompts to play with.

MORE ABOUT THE ESSAYIST

Dr. Wesley Britton is the author of The Beta Earth Chronicles and reviews books for BookPleasures.com. Learn more about him with these links: 

Explore the Beta Earth Chronicles website:

Follow Wes Britton’s Goodreads blog:

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Enjoy the videos at Wes Britton’s YouTube Channel:

MORE ABOUT THE BLOGGER


Howard-Johnson is the author of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. She is also a marketing consultant, editor, and author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers including the award-winning second editions of The Frugal Book Promoter (where she talks more about choosing and the advantages of winning contests and how to use those honors)  and The Frugal Editor. Her latest is in the series is  How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically. Learn more on her Amazon profile page, http://bit.ly/CarolynsAmznProfile. Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers is one of her booklets--perfect for inexpensive gift giving--and, another booklet, The Great First Impression Book Proposal helps writers who want to be traditionally published. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including one she encourages authors to read because it will help them convince retailers to host their workshops, presentations, and signings. It is A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques. In addition to this blog, she helps writers extend the exposure of their favorite reviews at TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com. She also blogs at all things editing--grammar, formatting and more--at The Frugal, Smart, and Tuned-In Editor (http://TheFrugalEditor.blogspot.com )