your memories from this day
a photo writing prompt you can do while you're waiting for the mac and cheese to cook
Hi friends! I’m trying out a couple new sections at Write More, and this one, stolen time, is going to offer quick writing and revision exercises you can do in little moments stolen from your day. Whether you’ve got two minutes or half an hour, you can do more than you think.
And if you’ve got a quick exercise or prompt that you’d love to share, feel free to email me! I’d love to feature your suggestions for working more writing into the margins of your day.
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Look at this little time capsule that arrived in my inbox.
In that little robot-made collage, we’ve got: my second son’s newborn photos, a visit to my mother-in-law’s when my older son was not quite 1 (and my baby wasn’t, as my mom says, even a twinkle in my eye), and my older son’s pre-K graduation. It’s wild to see all those years collapsed into just a few frames.
What I love about these little nudges is how random they are. Those moments don’t necessarily have anything to do with each other—but maybe they do?
For today’s stolen moment prompt, flip through the photos on your phone and find one that interests or surprises you.
If you also get automated reminders (mine are from OneDrive and also from google photos, I think? my photo storage has been chaotic over the years), you can start there. If you don’t, just scroll back far enough to find a photo that sparks something. The goal here is less to get a really great photo or an important moment and more to find a picture that will get your creative brain going.
Start by zooming in to the photo. What’s happening in it? Who’s there, and what are they doing? And what about the sensory experience of that moment? (It was so humid the day we took those newborn photos, I still always feel a little sticky when I look at them.)
Then look just to the side. What’s outside the frame of the photo? What was happening just before or after the photo was taken? What doesn’t the photo show?
What do you know now that you didn’t know then? If you could reach back into the mind of the you from that photo, what would you say?
If you’re looking for a form to shape your writing, you could title it with a phrase that gives us the place and time and write toward a disclosure or an imperative or a piece of encouragement for that earlier self.
If this newsletter has helped you in your writing life, clicking the little heart at the top or bottom of this email will help other people find it!
if you can steal a few more minutes, a couple ideas from the Write More archive
on finding, making, and stealing time for your writing
on writing through the fragmented time of summer
Write More, Be Less Careful is a newsletter about why writing is hard & how to do it anyway. Have a victory or an epiphany in your writing life you’d like to share? A struggle you’d like help with? Reply to this email, comment below, or find me on instagram (@nancy.o.reddy).
If you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, I’d love it if you would share it or send it to a friend.
If you’re looking for a form to shape your writing, you could title it with a phrase that gives us the place and time and write toward a disclosure or an imperative or a piece of encouragement for that earlier self.
Excited to try this. ❤️