write a story about love lost, with a doctor as the main character and a shoe as the key object. set your story in a park.

Martha Graham, a famous dancer and choreographer in the early 20th century, wrote in a letter to one of her students:

“There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique, and if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium; and be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is, not how it compares with other expression. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open.”

Graham’s words ring true. There is only one of you in the world:

The way you think, the way you see things, the way you respond, the way you nurture yourself and other people, the way you go about doing mundane things. The way you love, the way you express, the way you tell a story, the way you write.

The world will know of and witness only one you. The totality of you — talents, nuances, thought processes, expressions — will never be repeated. Hide the real you from the world and the world is deprived of your uniqueness.

But graver than hiding is constantly measuring yourself against others, and finding and deciding you are not good enough. Too much self-criticism is the downfall of many. It derails many a pursuit, dream, passion. Look honestly within and find if you have been doing this to yourself. And if you have — it doesn’t matter up to what extent — take out a measuring cup and get a scoop or two of self-kindness. And then apply Graham’s words to your life:

“It is not my business to determine how good I am, not how I compare with others. It is my business to do what I believe is true to who I am, and pursue the passions that fulfill my sense of self.”

Make it your business to own you with no reservations or conditions. Then bask in the knowledge that there will never be another with a soul that is exactly as unique as yours.

Writing activity: Write about how you nurture others — your child, a parent, your spouse, a friend. Write about how you do it — the ways that are uniquely yours. Write under the comfy blanket of self-acceptance.

Copyright © Shery Russ

begin your story with this line: Only the boy could give them what they wanted.

put a new spin on this cliche: to buy it for the price of a skinny chicken

craft a story around this metaphor: an envelope of distaste

in 200 words, describe “a black book found wedged between the coffee table and wall”.

A vignette is a small literary sketch that may or may not provide a starting point for a longer work. Vignettes provide snapshots of characters and circumstances that people can identify with. Unlike flash fiction, vignettes don’t aim to tell a story. It is simply a description of something or someone. Vignettes can take on many forms: poem, monologue, description, dialogue. Writing a vignette is similar to freewriting. Choose a topic or a prompt then write for 5 to 10 minutes about it.

Here are 5 “slice of life” prompts to jump start your vignettes:

1. finding a $10 bill in the gutter
2. piece of paper flutters down from between two pages in a book
3. sirens screaming past the open window
4. anxiously waiting for the phone to ring
5. glancing at an expired license

[Excerpted from my e-mail course, Creativity Alley: 21 Ways to Jumpstart Your Muse.]

A problem or premise can be viewed from two distinctive points of view — the observer viewpoint and the merged viewpoint. Today’s creativity method focuses on the second viewpoint.

The merged viewpoint occurs when you become the object of the observation. You become the subject of your observation, and you observe from the point of view of your subject. This is referred to as projective identification.

Projective identification can be purely fantasy:

• What’s it like to be a potato about to become French fries?
• How does it feel like to be a gum stuck in a shoe?
• Imagine what it’s like to be an ink cartridge.

Or it can be empathetic:

• Seeing the situation through a laborer’s eyes
• Getting inside the skin of an AIDS victim
• Being in the shoes of a chronically depressed person

For your creative activity today, write 2 short texts (100-200 words) using projective identification for the following:

• Fantasy: What’s it like to be a picture frame?
• Empathetic: Being in the shoes of a petty thief.

Here’s a list to try this creative method on. Write in the voice or perspective of the following:

• a banana about to go bad
• a woman unable to conceive
• a spare tire
• a harassed telephone operator
• a Band-Aid
• an owner whose business is about to go bankrupt
• a blank diskette
• a guy about to break up with his girlfriend
• a computer keyboard
• a woman about to give an answer to a marriage proposal

Copyright © Shery Russ

first line: “The door slammed with finality.”

start a list: “The 7 Top Things that Could Happen to Bad People”