Crafted Word Writing Prompts

Suggested Writing Genres for The Crafted Word

The wrestling team I coach will look at me sideways if I ask them to practice cartwheels.  Some professional football teams bring in dance instructors to teach their behemoths the art of ballet nd foxtrot. My point is that practicing any athletic sport will usually enhance your skill in your preferred sport. The same is true in writing: by practicing the skills and techniques used in different genres of writing, we enhance the overall quality and effectiveness of the writing we love to do or are required to do because of schoolwork or employment.  By practicing different styles and genres of writing, we learn to avoid the rut of developing a formulaic, predictable, and downright dull writing style—plus, you might even discover a new love and energy for writing.

As part of a Crafted Word Community I strongly encourage (which is just a hair’s breadth below required) to write in each of the following genres:

1. Your Daily Journal: Every good writer keeps a journal that carries the daily events of his or her life., no matter how mundane or common.  A daily journal is a recording of your life, and as such, it is a treasure trove of memories that you can draw from later in life—memories that you can expand upon in a more formal writing piece any time you wish.

2. The Ramble: The Ramble is a free-flowing series of thoughts, ideas and experiences.  The ramble does not have a formal structure, but it does try and focus on a specific theme. And it does try and punctuate and paragraph to the best of your ability: The events of the day (daily ramble); your thoughts on a particular subject or topic  (politics, sports, entertainment, spirituality, vacation, school, people), and any other  journey you feel like taking with mind and heart and soul. By defining a certain post as a ramble you are freed from all criticism of your writing style and technique.  You are simply on an exploration of yourself, and as such, it is hard to go wrong!

3. The Personal Narrative: (see my full post under Pages) Personal Narratives are the stories of our lives.  By habitually practicing the art of storytelling through personal narratives, we practice the basic craft of the Short Story and the Essay. By telling the stories of our lives we follow the main rule of all writing: Write about what you know! I could write all day about the joy of Bungee jumping, and I still couldn't convince a toad that I knew what I was talking about.  But if I wrote about the day I watched people bungee jumping off a bridge, then I could probably get that toad to publish the story for me. I could be the protagonist, and my best friend forcing me to try could be the antagonist; fear of jumping into the unknown could be the conflict; standing up to my friend could be the climax; falling out of a tree when I was young could be my supporting facts; facing and trying to overcome my fears could become the theme of my essay/story, and when a reader can relate to  your theme, they are able to recreate your story in their own imaginations. It might force them to think about their own fears, and in doing so, your story effects a powerful transformations in their lives. Every day and every experience is a possible personal narrative.  If that experience means anything to you, it will mean the same thing to someone else because we are all tied together by our "common humanity;" we share the same emotional connections, but how we experience those emotions is infinite and infinitely varied--and that is why our libraries and bookshelves are filled, and that is why we all keep returning to the power and creative magic of literature.  Think of everything you write as true literature.

4. Memoirs: The way in which a person affects your life is a profound statement of your values and an enduring testament a specific person’s influence on your life.  A memoir is a type of personal narrative that paints a vivid portrait of an interesting and worthy character.  Through images and actions, thoughts, feelings and memories you, as a writer, recreate the power and magic of someone who has left an indelible mark on your life.  Every good novelist and short story writer is a master of the memoir because writing memoirs is the key to developing dynamic, real and empathetic characters, without which a story falls flat on its face!

5. Short Stories: Every writer is essentially a storyteller, but the craft of short story writing requires a discipline and attention to detail that most writers are not willing to undertake. A good short story effectively creates a powerful experience for the reader out of the writer’s imagination and experience.  Most beginning short story writers bite off more than they can chew; they attempt to scale a high peak without first learning how to tie their boots.  I will write more in a future post, but for now keep it simple: don’t write stories with a bunch of different characters. Two or three main characters is all a good short story needs! Make the plot easy to follow and be sure that there is a clear protagonist and a clear antagonist and a clear conflict. Most importantly, create characters that you can relate to on a personal level. If you are ten years old, make your main character a ten year old, because that is what you know best, and you can recreate experiences for your reader that are compelling and real.  And remember that your first draft is never ever your best draft! I will post a more detailed explanation on short stories later this week.

6. Poetry: Poetry is the highest art. A great writer is not always a great poet, but a great poet is always a great writer. Poetry is the hardest genre to pin down and say, “This is poetry!” Poetry is the rough gem of life polished to perfection. To write poetry, you need to simply ask yourself: “Why is this a poem?” A poem is more than thoughts expressed in short lines; it is the meticulous crafting, choosing and placing of words, lines, spaces, breaths, and stanzas that defines what you call a poem.  This is all up to you as the poet.  I can’t tell you what is and what is not a poem, but I can tell you that good poets read the poems of other good poets, and they spend huge amounts of time on their own poetry.  With practice come skill; with skill becomes perfection, and poetry will only happen in this order. The first skill of a poet is to ask, “Why am I writing this?” The second skill of a poet is to ask, “Did I tell my reader something, or did I show them something?” Don’t give the meaning of a poem away, but do leave clues for the reader to find that meaning.

7. Personal Reflections: I love personal reflections.  There are few joys greater than the opportunity to just “think about something.”  At the highest level, a personal reflection is an intimate and high-minded conversation with our own self—a conversation that is focused on a particular subject, topic or idea. The personal reflection differs from the ramble because it refuses to jump from thought to thought.  Like a ramble, it retains the “I” I the voice.but it stays fixed on a theme that is expressed in some kind of thesis or guiding statement.   It is, by nature, less formal than a topical essay by retaining a spontaneous and unaffected narrative flow that feels to the reader like it is coming directly from your heart. It always has a distinct beginning, middle and end, but it never loses the sense of an open and inquiring mind on a search for truth—and every one appreciates someone who is willing to explore their own assumptions.  A personal reflection asks of each of us: Why am I writing this? What am I writing about? What do I think about my topic? If I come to a conclusion, how did I get there? A well-written personal reflection is as powerful as writing can get; it is the best of your mind offered to the reader as a gift that the reader can share in, think about, and agree or disagree in equal measure. A personal reflection is the best of your thoughts distilled into an experience of words!

8. Literary Reflections: Writing without reading is like an egg without a yolk; the nutrients are there, but the flavor is lacking.  Usually, when we finish reading something, we put it away on the shelf and convince ourselves we are impressed, amazed, indifferent, or profoundly moved.  The literary reflection is an offshoot of the personal reflection because it does not try and criticize a writing piece solely on its literary merits, but rather it “talks” about something you have read purely on an emotional and intellectual personal level.  There is almost no reason to write a literary reflection about something which you didn’t like reading. (That is what a “Review” is for!) Write Literary Reflections about literature that you feel is important for other people to read because you want them—your readers—to experience the same magic that you experienced.  It’s like being on a sightseeing whaling boat and someone shouts out “There’s a whale,” and everyone turns to see the whale for himself or herself! They all appreciate your attentiveness, and in turn, you are pleased to point out the magnificence of the moment to them.

9. Reviews: One of the cool things about being in a writing community with your peers is the chance to write about and read about a whole assortment of books, movies, places, games and any other activity people your age love to do.  We live in a world of reviews.  We avoid movies because they get panned in the Boston Globe.  We refuse to eat in a certain restaurant because it only has a three star rating in Gourmet Magazine.  What many “reviewers” fail to realize it that what they write directly impacts a person’s very livelihood.  The main job of a review is to tell your reader whether or not what you are reviewing lives up to the hype.  If somebody is arrogant enough to say they are the best in town, then by all means, hold them to that standard. But if Al at Al’s Diner says he sells cheap burgers, it is up to you to tell us just how cheap his burgers are—and you might want to add in that you get what you pay for.  I love reading reviews, but I insist they be honest and fair. Use common sense when writing a review: don’t give away the plot and ending of books and movies; don’t write a review about something someone else can’t experience. (That is what a personal narrative is for!) Make sure to balance out your reviews.  If your reviews are all negative, you will soon get the rep as a negative guy; if your reviews are always positive and glowing, people will think you live in la la land. 

The wrestling team I coach will look at me sideways if I ask them to practice cartwheels.  Some professional football teams bring in dance instructors to teach their behemoths the art of ballet nd foxtrot. My point is that practicing any athletic sport will usually enhance your skill in your preferred sport. The same is true in writing: by practicing the skills and techniques used in different genres of writing, we enhance the overall quality and effectiveness of the writing we love to do or are required to do because of schoolwork or employment.  By practicing different styles and genres of writing, we learn to avoid the rut of developing a formulaic, predictable, and downright dull writing style—plus, you might even discover a new love and energy for writing.

As part of a Crafted Word Community I strongly encourage (which is just a hair’s breadth below required) to write in each of the following genres:

1. Your Daily Journal: Every good writer keeps a journal that carries the daily events of his or her life., no matter how mundane or common.  A daily journal is a recording of your life, and as such, it is a treasure trove of memories that you can draw from later in life—memories that you can expand upon in a more formal writing piece any time you wish.

2. The Ramble: The Ramble is a free-flowing series of thoughts, ideas and experiences.  The ramble does not have a formal structure, but it does try and focus on a specific theme. And it does try and punctuate and paragraph to the best of your ability: The events of the day (daily ramble); your thoughts on a particular subject or topic  (politics, sports, entertainment, spirituality, vacation, school, people), and any other  journey you feel like taking with mind and heart and soul. By defining a certain post as a ramble you are freed from all criticism of your writing style and technique.  You are simply on an exploration of yourself, and as such, it is hard to go wrong!

3. The Personal Narrative: (see my full post under Pages) Personal Narratives are the stories of our lives.  By habitually practicing the art of storytelling through personal narratives, we practice the basic craft of the Short Story and the Essay. By telling the stories of our lives we follow the main rule of all writing: Write about what you know! I could write all day about the joy of Bungee jumping, and I still couldn't convince a toad that I knew what I was talking about.  But if I wrote about the day I watched people bungee jumping off a bridge, then I could probably get that toad to publish the story for me. I could be the protagonist, and my best friend forcing me to try could be the antagonist; fear of jumping into the unknown could be the conflict; standing up to my friend could be the climax; falling out of a tree when I was young could be my supporting facts; facing and trying to overcome my fears could become the theme of my essay/story, and when a reader can relate to  your theme, they are able to recreate your story in their own imaginations. It might force them to think about their own fears, and in doing so, your story effects a powerful transformations in their lives. Every day and every experience is a possible personal narrative.  If that experience means anything to you, it will mean the same thing to someone else because we are all tied together by our "common humanity;" we share the same emotional connections, but how we experience those emotions is infinite and infinitely varied--and that is why our libraries and bookshelves are filled, and that is why we all keep returning to the power and creative magic of literature.  Think of everything you write as true literature.

4. Memoirs: The way in which a person affects your life is a profound statement of your values and an enduring testament a specific person’s influence on your life.  A memoir is a type of personal narrative that paints a vivid portrait of an interesting and worthy character.  Through images and actions, thoughts, feelings and memories you, as a writer, recreate the power and magic of someone who has left an indelible mark on your life.  Every good novelist and short story writer is a master of the memoir because writing memoirs is the key to developing dynamic, real and empathetic characters, without which a story falls flat on its face!

5. Short Stories: Every writer is essentially a storyteller, but the craft of short story writing requires a discipline and attention to detail that most writers are not willing to undertake. A good short story effectively creates a powerful experience for the reader out of the writer’s imagination and experience.  Most beginning short story writers bite off more than they can chew; they attempt to scale a high peak without first learning how to tie their boots.  I will write more in a future post, but for now keep it simple: don’t write stories with a bunch of different characters. Two or three main characters is all a good short story needs! Make the plot easy to follow and be sure that there is a clear protagonist and a clear antagonist and a clear conflict. Most importantly, create characters that you can relate to on a personal level. If you are ten years old, make your main character a ten year old, because that is what you know best, and you can recreate experiences for your reader that are compelling and real.  And remember that your first draft is never ever your best draft! I will post a more detailed explanation on short stories later this week.

6. Poetry: Poetry is the highest art. A great writer is not always a great poet, but a great poet is always a great writer. Poetry is the hardest genre to pin down and say, “This is poetry!” Poetry is the rough gem of life polished to perfection. To write poetry, you need to simply ask yourself: “Why is this a poem?” A poem is more than thoughts expressed in short lines; it is the meticulous crafting, choosing and placing of words, lines, spaces, breaths, and stanzas that defines what you call a poem.  This is all up to you as the poet.  I can’t tell you what is and what is not a poem, but I can tell you that good poets read the poems of other good poets, and they spend huge amounts of time on their own poetry.  With practice come skill; with skill becomes perfection, and poetry will only happen in this order. The first skill of a poet is to ask, “Why am I writing this?” The second skill of a poet is to ask, “Did I tell my reader something, or did I show them something?” Don’t give the meaning of a poem away, but do leave clues for the reader to find that meaning.

7. Personal Reflections: I love personal reflections.  There are few joys greater than the opportunity to just “think about something.”  At the highest level, a personal reflection is an intimate and high-minded conversation with our own self—a conversation that is focused on a particular subject, topic or idea. The personal reflection differs from the ramble because it refuses to jump from thought to thought.  Like a ramble, it retains the “I” I the voice.but it stays fixed on a theme that is expressed in some kind of thesis or guiding statement.   It is, by nature, less formal than a topical essay by retaining a spontaneous and unaffected narrative flow that feels to the reader like it is coming directly from your heart. It always has a distinct beginning, middle and end, but it never loses the sense of an open and inquiring mind on a search for truth—and every one appreciates someone who is willing to explore their own assumptions.  A personal reflection asks of each of us: Why am I writing this? What am I writing about? What do I think about my topic? If I come to a conclusion, how did I get there? A well-written personal reflection is as powerful as writing can get; it is the best of your mind offered to the reader as a gift that the reader can share in, think about, and agree or disagree in equal measure. A personal reflection is the best of your thoughts distilled into an experience of words!

8. Literary Reflections: Writing without reading is like an egg without a yolk; the nutrients are there, but the flavor is lacking.  Usually, when we finish reading something, we put it away on the shelf and convince ourselves we are impressed, amazed, indifferent, or profoundly moved.  The literary reflection is an offshoot of the personal reflection because it does not try and criticize a writing piece solely on its literary merits, but rather it “talks” about something you have read purely on an emotional and intellectual personal level.  There is almost no reason to write a literary reflection about something which you didn’t like reading. (That is what a “Review” is for!) Write Literary Reflections about literature that you feel is important for other people to read because you want them—your readers—to experience the same magic that you experienced.  It’s like being on a sightseeing whaling boat and someone shouts out “There’s a whale,” and everyone turns to see the whale for himself or herself! They all appreciate your attentiveness, and in turn, you are pleased to point out the magnificence of the moment to them.

9. Reviews: One of the cool things about being in a writing community with your peers is the chance to write about and read about a whole assortment of books, movies, places, games and any other activity people your age love to do.  We live in a world of reviews.  We avoid movies because they get panned in the Boston Globe.  We refuse to eat in a certain restaurant because it only has a three star rating in Gourmet Magazine.  What many “reviewers” fail to realize it that what they write directly impacts a person’s very livelihood.  The main job of a review is to tell your reader whether or not what you are reviewing lives up to the hype.  If somebody is arrogant enough to say they are the best in town, then by all means, hold them to that standard. But if Al at Al’s Diner says he sells cheap burgers, it is up to you to tell us just how cheap his burgers are—and you might want to add in that you get what you pay for.  I love reading reviews, but I insist they be honest and fair. Use common sense when writing a review: don’t give away the plot and ending of books and movies; don’t write a review about something someone else can’t experience. (That is what a personal narrative is for!) Make sure to balance out your reviews.  If your reviews are all negative, you will soon get the rep as a negative guy; if your reviews are always positive and glowing, people will think you live in la la land. 

How To Write a Personal Narrative--and Why.

So much depends
on the red wheelbarrow
glazed with rain water
beside the white chickens.

-William Carlos Williams

It was funny to be swimming and clambering around with my kids yesterday in a remote stream in the Berkshires and thinking: "This would be a cool experience to blog about!" People ask me sometimes if encouraging people to get on the computer is a "good thing." As with anything in life, it is only a bad thing when it is used un-wisely or at the expense of living your life to the fullest. As I write this on my back porch, Charlie is swinging on a rope swing: EJ is collecting ants for his ant farm while Tommy investigates and shouts with joy at every caterpillar he can find.  I am eager to pack up the bus and head to the Cape and get my old sailboat in the water, so I can spend longs days (and some nights) cruising around Pleasant Bay and Vineyard Sound.   After years of teaching writing, I can say with confidence that personal narrative writing is the number one BEST way to improve the overall quality of your writing. You have to have experience before you can recreate that experience.

Personal Narratives are the stories of our lives.  By habitually practicing the art of storytelling through personal narratives we practice the basic craft of the Short Story and the Essay. By telling the stories of our lives we follow the main rule of all writing: Write about what you know! I could write all day about the joy of Bungee jumping, and I still couldn't convince a toad that I knew what I was talking about.  But if I wrote about the day I watched people bungee jumping off a bridge, then I could probably get that toad to publish the story for me. I could be the protagonist, and my best friend forcing me to try could be the antagonist; fear of jumping into the unknown could be the conflict; standing up to my friend could be the climax; falling out of a tree when I was young could be my supporting facts; facing and trying to overcome my fears could become the theme of my essay/story, and when a reader can relate to  your theme, they are able to recreate your story in their own imaginations.  It might force them to think about their own fears, and in doing so, your story effects a powerful transformations in their lives.

Every day and every experience is a possible personal narrative.  If that experience means anything to you, it will mean the same thing to someone else because we are all tied together by our "common humanity;" we share the same emotional connections, but how we experience those emotions is infinite and infinitely varied--and that is why our libraries and bookshelves are filled, and that is why we all keep returning to the power and creative magic of literature.  Think of everything you write as true literature.
Don't get bogged down by form and structure, but do ask yourself why you are writing about that experience.

Here are a few ideas I keep in my head when writing a personal narrative.  These ideas also work for any type of short story:

1. Put a man in tree.  Throw stones at him.  Get him down: That is to say, whenever we write a personal narrative or a short story we need to create the scene, show the conflict, and then show how that conflict works itself out.
2. Make sure your reader has an idea of where you are taking him or her "early" in the story. Nobody likes to get in a car blind-folded with a stranger and have no idea where he is taking you. You will jump out of the car at the first chance you get!  You don't need or want to be specific about where you are going with your story, but you certainly want your reader to feel like it is going to be an interesting ride. A simple strategy is to make sure that somewhere (preferably at the end) of your first paragraph there is some kid of guiding statement or foreshadowing technique that assures your reader that your story is going to be worth ride.
3. Use specific images and actions to tell your story: Always remember that your reader is not "in your mind." They can't see what is in your head until you "show" them.
4. Use nouns and verbs to create those images and actions: Your readers can put together nouns and verbs without much difficulty. Use adjectives and adverbs only as a way to help your reader--not distract them. The "red wheelbarrow, glazed with rain water beside the white chickens" is a great way to "paint a scene."  If William Carlos Williams wrote the same line as, "the chickens are next to the wet wheelbarrow," then his poem would probably have died a short death.
5. Well chosen dialogue makes everything you write come alive: Words spoken by people who were with you act like supporting facts in an essay.  They are proof that what you say is true, and serve to engage another part of your readers senses. Remember to always lead into a quote by setting the scene; don't just drop dialogue int a writing piece with no context to "hear" that dialogue spoken.
6. Punctuate as well as you can:   For the most part, punctuation is all about the comma--everything else flows from understanding when and where  comma works best.  In future posts, I will deal with commas and other punctuation in more detail. For right now, just be aware that punctuation (a relatively recent part of the creative process) simply helps your reader experience what you want them to experience.
7. Use paragraphs to lead your reader through your story: Contrary to what we are often taught, there is no minimum or maximum "length" for a paragraph. In a short piece, short paragraphs work fine.  Long paragraphs work well in longer pieces.  As a suggestion (not a rule) have the first sentence of your paragraph indicate the direction or idea you are going to write about.  (I call those sentences "steering sentences.") If when writing or editing you find yourself "off of the idea," then simply start a new paragraph.
8. Try to end your story by leaving your readers thinking, wondering, wowing, squirming or relieved:  Just don't leave them hanging.  If your story is well told, the ride is always worth it.
9. Proofread before you publish: Spell-check (there is a spell-check feature on the blogs), fix, change, delete, move, and do whatever you need to do to be happy with what you've finished (or thought you finished:).
10. Read and listen to the comments people leave you: Don't take suggestions personally.  We are all--myself as much as anybody--on a journey to becoming better writers, and that means reflecting on criticism from people you respect.  You can ignore people's comments, but you should at the very least, consider them in the spirit in which they were offered.  They took the time to read your story thoughtfully, and that is a big deal!
11. Write another personal narrative: Think of writing as like playing baseball.  If you get a hit once every three at bats, you are considered to be a great baseball player; if you get a home-run every twenty at bats, you are worshiped as one of the greats.  But you have to step to the plate and swing at the pitches you know you can hit.

So start swinging.  There is nothing to lose and everything to gain.  Through our writing community, we are on a big practice field, and life is throwing us plenty of pitches!

So much depends
on the red wheelbarrow
glazed with rain water
beside the white chickens.

-William Carlos Williams

It was funny to be swimming and clambering around with my kids yesterday in a remote stream in the Berkshires and thinking: "This would be a cool experience to blog about!" People ask me sometimes if encouraging people to get on the computer is a "good thing." As with anything in life, it is only a bad thing when it is used un-wisely or at the expense of living your life to the fullest. As I write this on my back porch, Charlie is swinging on a rope swing: EJ is collecting ants for his ant farm while Tommy investigates and shouts with joy at every caterpillar he can find.  I am eager to pack up the bus and head to the Cape and get my old sailboat in the water, so I can spend longs days (and some nights) cruising around Pleasant Bay and Vineyard Sound.   After years of teaching writing, I can say with confidence that personal narrative writing is the number one BEST way to improve the overall quality of your writing. You have to have experience before you can recreate that experience.

Personal Narratives are the stories of our lives.  By habitually practicing the art of storytelling through personal narratives we practice the basic craft of the Short Story and the Essay. By telling the stories of our lives we follow the main rule of all writing: Write about what you know! I could write all day about the joy of Bungee jumping, and I still couldn't convince a toad that I knew what I was talking about.  But if I wrote about the day I watched people bungee jumping off a bridge, then I could probably get that toad to publish the story for me. I could be the protagonist, and my best friend forcing me to try could be the antagonist; fear of jumping into the unknown could be the conflict; standing up to my friend could be the climax; falling out of a tree when I was young could be my supporting facts; facing and trying to overcome my fears could become the theme of my essay/story, and when a reader can relate to  your theme, they are able to recreate your story in their own imaginations.  It might force them to think about their own fears, and in doing so, your story effects a powerful transformations in their lives.

Every day and every experience is a possible personal narrative.  If that experience means anything to you, it will mean the same thing to someone else because we are all tied together by our "common humanity;" we share the same emotional connections, but how we experience those emotions is infinite and infinitely varied--and that is why our libraries and bookshelves are filled, and that is why we all keep returning to the power and creative magic of literature.  Think of everything you write as true literature.
Don't get bogged down by form and structure, but do ask yourself why you are writing about that experience.

Here are a few ideas I keep in my head when writing a personal narrative.  These ideas also work for any type of short story:

1. Put a man in tree.  Throw stones at him.  Get him down: That is to say, whenever we write a personal narrative or a short story we need to create the scene, show the conflict, and then show how that conflict works itself out.
2. Make sure your reader has an idea of where you are taking him or her "early" in the story. Nobody likes to get in a car blind-folded with a stranger and have no idea where he is taking you. You will jump out of the car at the first chance you get!  You don't need or want to be specific about where you are going with your story, but you certainly want your reader to feel like it is going to be an interesting ride. A simple strategy is to make sure that somewhere (preferably at the end) of your first paragraph there is some kid of guiding statement or foreshadowing technique that assures your reader that your story is going to be worth ride.
3. Use specific images and actions to tell your story: Always remember that your reader is not "in your mind." They can't see what is in your head until you "show" them.
4. Use nouns and verbs to create those images and actions: Your readers can put together nouns and verbs without much difficulty. Use adjectives and adverbs only as a way to help your reader--not distract them. The "red wheelbarrow, glazed with rain water beside the white chickens" is a great way to "paint a scene."  If William Carlos Williams wrote the same line as, "the chickens are next to the wet wheelbarrow," then his poem would probably have died a short death.
5. Well chosen dialogue makes everything you write come alive: Words spoken by people who were with you act like supporting facts in an essay.  They are proof that what you say is true, and serve to engage another part of your readers senses. Remember to always lead into a quote by setting the scene; don't just drop dialogue int a writing piece with no context to "hear" that dialogue spoken.
6. Punctuate as well as you can:   For the most part, punctuation is all about the comma--everything else flows from understanding when and where  comma works best.  In future posts, I will deal with commas and other punctuation in more detail. For right now, just be aware that punctuation (a relatively recent part of the creative process) simply helps your reader experience what you want them to experience.
7. Use paragraphs to lead your reader through your story: Contrary to what we are often taught, there is no minimum or maximum "length" for a paragraph. In a short piece, short paragraphs work fine.  Long paragraphs work well in longer pieces.  As a suggestion (not a rule) have the first sentence of your paragraph indicate the direction or idea you are going to write about.  (I call those sentences "steering sentences.") If when writing or editing you find yourself "off of the idea," then simply start a new paragraph.
8. Try to end your story by leaving your readers thinking, wondering, wowing, squirming or relieved:  Just don't leave them hanging.  If your story is well told, the ride is always worth it.
9. Proofread before you publish: Spell-check (there is a spell-check feature on the blogs), fix, change, delete, move, and do whatever you need to do to be happy with what you've finished (or thought you finished:).
10. Read and listen to the comments people leave you: Don't take suggestions personally.  We are all--myself as much as anybody--on a journey to becoming better writers, and that means reflecting on criticism from people you respect.  You can ignore people's comments, but you should at the very least, consider them in the spirit in which they were offered.  They took the time to read your story thoughtfully, and that is a big deal!
11. Write another personal narrative: Think of writing as like playing baseball.  If you get a hit once every three at bats, you are considered to be a great baseball player; if you get a home-run every twenty at bats, you are worshiped as one of the greats.  But you have to step to the plate and swing at the pitches you know you can hit.

So start swinging.  There is nothing to lose and everything to gain.  Through our writing community, we are on a big practice field, and life is throwing us plenty of pitches!