Volume XI, Issue 9
March 2, 2022
Word of the Week: capacious
Dear ,
I'm writing this week at beautiful Sunset Beach, after leading a weekend retreat for eight wonderful writers who filled my
heart with capaciousness. (This week's featured writer, Kate DiCamillo, defines a capacious heart as one that is "open, more capable of seeing and receiving the wonders of this world." Here's a photo of last night's sunset, which
also made me feel capacious.
One of the books I brought with me is Kate DiCamillo's Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures, a children's book that won the Newberry Medal in 2014. I just had to read it after stumbling across this video of DiCamillo's acceptance speech, which is just marvelous. It will make you grateful for
those you love, grateful for kind strangers, grateful for good stories, and, yes, grateful for the word "capacious": www.youtube.com/watch?v=CH5GZkmmJik.
Love, light, and capaciousness,
Maureen
Upcoming
WordPlay
POETRY ROCKS!
Would you like your writing — prose and/or poetry — to be more graceful, powerful, beautiful? Do you sometimes find poetry confusing or intimidating and wish you could “crack the code”? Or do you enjoy writing and reading poems,
but want a more thorough understanding of what makes a poem good? Then this poetry extravaganza is for you. Expect a good time exploring what makes a poem a poem, gaining the knowledge you need to confidently create and revise poetry, and strengthening your writing skills in all genres. It would be a joy and an honor to share what rocks about poetry with you!
You'll receive 23 poetry creation tools, delivered one per day (Monday through Friday) to your inbox — in honor of National Poetry month. Use them as you get them, use them when you can, use them over and over to create poems. Each tool zeroes in on one aspect of poetry and provides an innovative method to approach writing a poem.
Learn more about these tools, and the course, here.
WHERE: From the comfort of your own home, via the web.
WHEN: Any time you want! And once you receive all 23 tools, they’re yours to keep, which means that you can keep using them for years to come.
COST: $45
TO REGISTER: To pay via Zelle, Venmo, or a check via mail, email info@wordplaynow.com for instructions.
To register for Poetry Rocks online, click here.
WordPlay Now! Writing Prompt
This is WordPlay—so why not revel in the power and potential of one good word after another? This week, it's "capacious."
PROMPT: Write about a time that you, or one of your characters, experienced capaciousness; in other words, felt "open, more capable of seeing and receiving the wonders of this
world."
It's fun to play with prompts in community with fellow writers, and to be able to share the results when you're done. You can find out about WordPlay classes, workshops, and retreats here.
MAUREEN RYAN GRIFFIN, an award-winning poetry and nonfiction writer, is the author of Spinning Words into Gold, a Hands-On Guide to the Craft of Writing, a grief workbook entitled I Will Never Forget You, and three collections of poetry, Ten Thousand Cicadas Can't Be Wrong, This Scatter of Blossoms and When the Leaves Are in the Water.
She believes, as author Julia Cameron says, "We are meant to midwife dreams for one another." Maureen also believes that serious "word work" requires serious WordPlay, as play is how we humans best
learn—and perform. What she loves best is witnessing all the other dreams that come true for her clients along the way. Language, when used with intentionality and focus, is, after all, serious fuel for joy. Here's to yours!
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