epiphanies | Sleep is for the Weak

Writing Workshop: Mama

Posted by Josie on Dec 9, 2009 in Creative Writing, Writing, Writing Workshop | 35 comments

Welcome back to the Wednesday Writing Workshop link-up! At the bottom of this post you’ll find the widget to post the link to your workshop posts. I have a feeling it’s going to be a quieter one this week after all of last week’s enthusiasm, but that’s ok – we’re all allowed to wax and wane a little.

First of all though, it’s my turn of course. I’ve chosen prompt #4 and tried to put myself in the mind-set of the person that I understand both most and least. Sometimes I feel so connected to this person it as if I can quite literally read his thoughts. At other times though I find him completely unfathomable, infuriatingly confusing and impossible to gauge correctly. It is my boy of course, my monster, my ratbag, my heart and soul. I hope you enjoy it.

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Hello mama. I am going to tell you some of the things I like. Ok?

I like it when my face is fitted tight into the space your neck makes.

My arm must be tightly wound so you cannot get away and my fingers must feel the shape of your face. It is like a book and I want to read it over and over. I feel the softness of your skin, you hair and it makes me happy. I breathe and the smell of you is my breath and fills me up warm and safe like my milk which is my favourite thing. I need you mummy.

I like to press my forehead against your own, noses squashed. I hear your thoughts and they are noisy.

I like it best when you talk to me with words I know. I make my mouth make the sounds of talking, I tell you so many things. The best is when you understand and if you get it right I will tell you so yeah yeah. And nod and smile. I like YES! I like it when you tell me what we are doing next and then we do it. I’m not so keen on surprises mummy. Especially if they involve medicine or brushing my teeth.

I like it when we give names to things. You show me and I bury it deep in my brain. I like the sounds they make. There are so many sounds. I wish I could make my mouth make the right sounds but it doesn’t sound the same when I try. I like to play the ‘where is the’ game. I can tell you where everything is, especially if it is on me or one of my favourite things. I like the animals that we see. They move and they do funny things. I like Grandma’s dog the best when I feed him biscuits, but also the birds mummy when they go up so high I can’t see.

I like outside. I will fetch you my shoes and coat if it helps but we must go now because the wind and the sun and the puddles and pigeons are telling me to hurry. I like to move like you on my legs. I can make them go fast mummy. Outside is big but I want to see it all and I want to choose the way. You must come with me but do not pull me or make me go there because I want to be here and go this way. That is where my feet are going so it is tough luck. I shall tell you when I see a bus or the bin men with my excited voice – they are special mummy.

I like my toys. My cars are favourite. I like to make their sound pap pap brrmm brrmm and push them and make them go and go. Blocks go on top of more blocks and make tall towers to crash and smash. I like to make my crayons make a mark that is brand new and wasn’t there before on the white. I like the TV on please mummy, especially if there is singing so we can dance and you can sing the words. And I like splashing with water, and drinking it too, lots and lots. More water please. Yum yum delicious.

I like it when you read my books with me and we point at everything there is to see. I want this one again, and then you must read it again. And do the voices mummy because it makes me laugh. I like laughing. It bubbles out because you tickle it out of me and do funny things.

Sometimes though I do NOT like. And when I do NOT like I will tell you with all of my body and all of my sound so that you will listen.

I do not like it when I am tired. You tell me I must go to sleep but sometimes I cannot. My brain is full of things, big things and sometimes they move very fast and are scary. Sometimes I am just not ready to do sleeping. I try though mummy, I really try. Don’t be mad with me.

I do not like it when I feel not-good. I do not know what it means but it hurts in my mouth and my teeth and my tummy and makes me cry because I am frightened and I want to sleep but it makes me awake.

I do not like it when you make me be separate when what I need is to be in the same space as you are. My body feels lonely and needs to not be separate for a while. I promise I will be separate another day but not today.

I do not like it when you don’t understand. I am telling you what I want but you have got it wrong and I am angry because I tried very hard. You must listen mummy and do what I say so I can feel happy again. And it must be now because waiting is no good at all. If you don’t I will tell you NO NO NO and shake my head and arch and wriggle because I MUST NOT. It is very important.

Let’s get the duvet and make a den. You must lie down and I will put my head on your chest and we can be very still and together.

And make Night Garden come on mummy because it has that funny train on and you are very good at the singing bits.

Thank you.

I love you.

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So now it’s your turn! What prompt did you choose?

1. What are you addicted to?
- Inspired by Kat at Slugs on the Refrigerator and her yarnaholism.

2. Tell me of your proudest moment.
- Inspired by Tara at Sticky Finger’s beautiful post ‘Jumpers for Goalposts’

3. “Have you ever had an epiphany, when you realized that something you’d long believed wasn’t really true?”
- Inspired by Amber Strocel’s recent post that asked this question and made me think.

4. Put yourself in the mindset of someone else and write about the world from their perspective.
- Inspired by Heather from Notes from Lapland’s moving piece of writing based on her empathy for the victims of the Cumbrian Floods.

5. Have a good rant. Go on! You know you want to…
- Inspired by ME! and my Christmas rant this week.

Leave your name and the URL to your post in the MckLinky below (the URL should be to your post not just to your blog) andleave me a comment to let me know you’ve taken part. If you have the time it would be great if you could try and read and comment on at least two other entries. And be kind! It’s supposed to be a bit of fun – we’re not looking for the next Booker Prize winner here!

If you haven’t had chance to respond yet, then you’ve still got today! Or just wait till next week, when there’ll be five brand new prompts to get you thinking.

(Linky Closed)

This Writing Workshop is brought to you in association with Mama Kat’s Losin’ It – who’s lovely author came up with the concept and runs her own workshop over in the U.S.

Writing Workshop #8 – Addictions and Epiphanies

Posted by Josie on Dec 7, 2009 in Writing, Writing Prompts | 9 comments

Morning all. First of all, I need to say a huge thank you to everyone that took part last week. I was overwhelmed with how many of you took part and so touched and humbled by the beautiful letters that so many of you wrote. Thank you for sharing such personal and moving moments with me – I feel honoured to have shared them with you, and your bravery in facing difficult memories gave me the strength to revisit a few myself.

So, it’s a new week, and one that I hope will be just as creatively inspiring and challenging.

For all your newbies (and it’s never to late to join in), here’s how it works… I’m going to give you 5 writing/blogging prompts. Pick one, pick two, or do them all if you’re really keen – it’s up to you. How you respond is your choice. You could share a real-life story, or make one up. You could write a poem or just free-write without thinking too hard and see what happens. It can be funny; it can be serious; it can be emotional. It can be whatever you want it to be. The only rule is to have fun with it!

Prompts each week will take their inspiration from blogs, current affairs, daily life, or just whatever everyone happened to be talking about that week. If you’d like to suggest a prompt then send me an email or catch me on Twitter – I would love to hear your ideas.

So here they are:

1. What are you addicted to?
- Inspired by Kat at Slugs on the Refrigerator and her yarnaholism.

2. Tell me of your proudest moment.
- Inspired by Tara at Sticky Finger’s beautiful post ‘Jumpers for Goalposts’

4. Put yourself in the mindset of someone else, someone you see on the news, or read about in a book, or see a photo of in a magazine, or pass in the street. Perhaps even someone you know. Write about the world from their perspective, imagine how they must feel.
- Inspired by Heather from Notes from Lapland’s moving piece of writing based on her empathy for the victims of the Cumbrian Floods.

5. Have a good rant. Go on! You know you want to… get whatever has been bugging you off your chest. But you must be honest and not afraid to go against the grain!
- Inspired by ME! and my Christmas rant this week.

Now here’s what you have to do. Write your post and publish it on your blog between now and Wednesday. On Wednesday come back and use the widget that will be up to paste in the URL of your post to share. Then take some time to read some of the other entries and leave some comment love! We’re not here to critique – just to have fun and support each other in our writing experiments. So be kind please.

Anyone who would like to submit something via email, or even anonymously will be more than welcome to do so. I’ll post them on the site here and include the link in Wednesday’s round-up.

Feel free to use the Workshop badge on your blog or as part of your post if you like. Code is here:

Note: I’m told Blogger does something a bit funny with the code so you’ll need to copy and paste it and then retype the quotation marks (“) as Blogger changes them for some reason.

See you Wednesday then!

P.S. And if you fancy plugging this workshop on the social network of your choice? Then that would be fan-frigging-tastic.

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This Writing Workshop is brought to you in association with Mama Kat’s Losin’ It – who’s lovely author came up with the concept and runs her own workshop over in the U.S.