Category: Write for You Blog

by Nancy Casey

Living a life is like traveling through a landscape. Hills and valleys, blind turns, unexpected gardens…

Today’s exercise is a chance to imagine what would belong on a map with the title “Landscape of Life.” You can consider your own life, or a part of your life. You can consider all the things you have learned so far about life in general. Notice as many features as you can that a life or a part-of-a-life might have: companions, emotions, events, decisions…

At the same time, think about the kinds of features that might show up on a map: countries, oceans, mountains, deserts, cities, buildings, animal habitat, furniture, buried treasure… Lakes, crosswalks, bike lanes, living things, washing machines. You name it, you can turn it into a feature on a map.

In your imagination, combine life features with map features and draw them. For instance, you could draw in a “River of Possibility.” Then you could think up names for the smaller rivers that flow into it, or draw in a waterfall and name that, too. Would you put a city alongside the river? Mountains? Swamps? What life-features would you name those places after?

Go randomly around the page, sketching in features of a landscape and giving them names that reflect the features that a life can have.

Some people approach this by asking themselves, “What other features does this landscape need?” Then they try to imagine what aspect of living is like that feature.

Other people begin with an idea about a quality or experience in life. Then they ask themselves, “What kind of landscape feature does this remind me of?

Some people draw a page full of map features first. Then they go back around and name everything.

Some people start with the names and do the sketching last.

A lot of people mix all these different strategies up.

Whatever your approach, work on the map until the page is full and it feels to you like it’s done.

Take a moment to admire the landscape you have made. Squeeze in new details or features if new ideas pop into your mind.

When the page is all done, make sure it has a title, and that your signature and the date are on it, too.

Here is an example of the kind of map someone could make.

You can share your work by posting it as a comment below. You can type it in, or take a photo of it and upload the image.

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Nancy Casey has lived in Latah County for many years. You can find more of her work here. It’s not possible to have an in-person Write-For-You class at the Recovery Center at this time, but if you are interested in writing coaching, contact Nancy or the Latah Recovery Center.

by Nancy Casey

Days go by. They always do. Sometimes they feel so identical that they all melt together into the big memory lump we call “the past.” Some days bring such surprises that they are unforgettable.

Making this page will give you a chance to focus on two specific days in your life: yesterday and today. It’s a chance to ask yourself the question: What has happened today that is different from yesterday?

As you set up your page, try to remember your whole experience from the last 48 hours. How did it all unfold?

Draw a line at the top of the page where your title will eventually go. Set aside some space for drawing or illustration if you like.

Begin writing down some details of what has made today unlike yesterday (so far).

Days can vary because of things that are out of our control: the weather, your work schedule, or what other people do and say.

Certain events that will not be repeated might have happened today or yesterday. Perhaps you visited with certain people on one of those days. Maybe some of the places you went were different. Maybe you witnessed something unusual.

What about the various objects in your life? Did you park your car and hang your coat in the same places today and yesterday? Are you wearing the same clothes?

Think about your habits and rituals, the ways most days are the same for you. Did anything vary from normal, either today or yesterday?

What has surprised you in the last 48 hours? Have you learned anything new? Lost anything? Met anybody for the first time?

Maybe you have had a change in attitude about something. Or your alertness and fatigue levels have varied. Did you eat the exact same foods on both days? Have there been changes in your home environment—cleaner? dirtier? Is all the furniture in the same places?

As soon as you think up something that has changed since yesterday, describe it. Explain what’s different and if you want to, explain why it’s different or what you think about it.

It could turn out that you will end up writing about one big change, or more than one. Maybe your page will be in paragraphs, or maybe it will look more like a list.

If you can’t decide what to write about, get your pen going by drawing or doodling. The motion slows your thoughts and helps you notice them better. As soon as an idea for writing comes to you, start putting down some words.

When the page is full, go back over your work. Make small changes if you want to. Add more decoration if there is room. Think up a title.

Write the title at the top of the page. Write the date on it too, along with a signature or your initials.

Here is an example of what someone could write.

You can share your work by posting it as a comment below. You can type it in, or take a photo of it and upload the image.

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Nancy Casey has lived in Latah County for many years. You can find more of her work here. It’s not possible to have an in-person Write-For-You class at the Recovery Center at this time, but if you are interested in writing coaching, contact Nancy or the Latah Recovery Center.

by Nancy Casey

Drawing, doodling, and writing are more alike than different.  All three involve you making marks on paper (or whatever you write on) with a pen (or whatever you write with.) They can float your mind away from the part of your life that is all about tasks and time.

Today’s writing is an opportunity to make a page that leans heavily on the draw-and-doodle aspects of writing. So you can notice what that is like.

Draw a line at the top of the page where your title will go. Extend the line all the way to the edge, down the sides, and across the bottom so the whole page below the title will have a box around it.

Inside that box, draw some lines that divide the space into 5-7 more or less equal sections. You can draw straight lines or squiggly ones. The lines can slant and curve to make the sections be any shape that you like. Or you can make regular, even boxes.

Draw a line pretty close to the inside edge of each section. Now every section has a frame around it!

Decorate all the frames. In the space inside each one, draw a picture and write at least 3 words. You can skip around all over the page and doodle-decorate, draw, or write in any order.

To decorate the frames, you can draw lines and patterns or doodle it up in a way that’s completely random. To decorate a frame really fast, color it all one color.

For the pictures, you can draw any object around you, or something from your memory or imagination. You can try pictures that begin with a squiggle-doodle and turns into—what? Maybe a picture of something maybe not.

Three words isn’t very much. Start with the drawing and doodling parts and see what words pop into your head. More than three words is okay, of course.

Move around the page with drawing, doodling and writing until it is full. Look back over your work and think about what it felt like to do it.

Different people describe different ways that drawing, doodling, and writing affect their mind. For most, after 5 or 10 minutes into the process they notice a shift into a relaxed mind space. Ideas pop up that they didn’t expect to have. The sense of time and responsibility evaporates somehow. It can be very pleasant.

Sometimes there is resistance, too. It’s also interesting to notice that. How you can feel impatient. How, gradually, that impatience can go away and then boing! some clear thought comes into your mind and pleases you.

There’s no single, correct way for a person’s mind to behave. And nobody’s mind is the same every day. Drawing, doodling, and writing are tools in your toolkit. Over time they will show you how your mental and creative processes work.

While you are looking at your work and thinking about your process, a title will likely pop into your head. Write it at the top of the page, along with a signature and the date.

Here is an example of what someone could write.

You can share your work by posting it as a comment below. You can type it in, or take a photo of it and upload the image.

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Nancy Casey has lived in Latah County for many years. You can find more of her work here. It’s not possible to have an in-person Write-For-You class at the Recovery Center at this time, but if you are interested in writing coaching, contact Nancy or the Latah Recovery Center.

by Nancy Casey

Seasons come and seasons go. They don’t stick around. But they do return.

Today in your writing, you will make up names for some of the seasons that you are currently experiencing. You will base those names on activities typical of that season.

While you think about seasons and the activities that come with them, set up your page. Draw a line at the top where the title will go. Mark off a space where you can doodle or draw if you like. Some people like to draw and decorate a frame around the whole page.

Winter, spring, summer and fall probably pop into your mind at the mention of seasons. But not all seasons are made of weather. Any circumstance that arrives, goes away, and then comes back some time later constitutes a season.

Holiday season… Birthday season… Mosquito season… SAD season… Migraine season… Cramps season… Vacation season… Busy season… Worry season…

Some seasons might be so short and ordinary we can experience several in a day. (Cooking season… Doomscrolling season…  Toothbrushing season.) Other seasons, such as a global pandemic season, seem far too long and most of us hope never to experience one again. Grief seasons are like that, too.

Think about a season you are experiencing now. What does it call on you to do? Give it a name based on a normal activity for that season. The best names have hyphens in them, because they let you use several words to describe that season’s activity. Here are some examples:

Think-before-you-speak season… Clean-the-house season… Put-away-the-garden-tools season… Invent-pep-talks-season… Lug-dirty-clothes-to-the-laundromat season… Enjoy-the-view-from-the-window season… Take-tiny-little-baby-steps-so-I-don’t-slip-on-the-sidewalk season…

Explain something about the season you have named. Are you in the beginning, the middle, or the end of it? Words like when or where might help you add details. Other useful words could be until or because or which is the opposite of. You could also explain why you do or don’t like this season. You can write down why you know the season won’t last forever.

After you have given a name to one season and described it a little bit, go on to another one, and another, until you have filled a page with some descriptions of the particular seasons you are passing through at this time.

If you can’t decide what to write about, get your pen started by drawing or doodling. The motion slows your thoughts and helps you notice them better. As soon as an idea for writing comes to you, start putting down some words.

When the page is full, go back over your work. Make small changes if you want to. Add more decoration if there is room. Think up a title.

Write the title at the top of the page. Write the date on it too, along with a signature or your initials.

Here is an example of what someone could write.

You can share your work by posting it as a comment below. You can type it in, or take a photo of it and upload the image.

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Nancy Casey has lived in Latah County for many years. You can find more of her work here. It’s not possible to have an in-person Write-For-You class at the Recovery Center at this time, but if you are interested in writing coaching, contact Nancy or the Latah Recovery Center.

by Nancy Casey

Everything you write on the top half of your page today will be the truth, and everything that you write on the bottom half will be falsehood. Made up stuff. Lies. Although some lies can hurt people, you can also tell lies just for fun. Some people call that “fiction.”

First, the page setup: A line at the top where you will put a title later, and a line across the middle of the page that will divide the truth (top) from the lies (bottom.) You can mark off some space for illustration, too.

Begin writing a list of what’s right there with you in the present tense, obvious things that you or another person could take in with their senses. What’s in the room? What’s out the window? Check out what’s behind you, above you and below. Write down what’s there.

For each item, include as many details as will fit on one line. When you get to the end of the line, move on to something new. Keep going until you’ve filled the top half of the page.

Start the bottom half of the page by choosing an item you wrote about on the top half. Write something false about it, an untruth, what anybody paying attention might call a lie. It doesn’t have to be believable, it just has to be untrue.

You can make tiny changes, like altering the color of something. Or your lies can be wide and vigorous, like a family of extraterrestrials on a picnic dropping by to juggle your houseplants.

When you finish one lie, pluck a new detail from the top part of the page and tell another. And another. Until the bottom part of the page is full, too.

Maybe your list of lies will morph into a story. And maybe it won’t.

When the page is full, go back over your work. Make small changes if you want to. Add more decoration if there is room. Think up a title.

Write the title at the top of the page. Write the date on it too, along with a signature or your initials.

Here is an example of what someone could write.

You can share your work by posting it as a comment below. You can type it in, or take a photo of it and upload the image.

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Nancy Casey has lived in Latah County for many years. You can find more of her work here. It’s not possible to have an in-person Write-For-You class at the Recovery Center at this time, but if you are interested in writing coaching, contact Nancy or the Latah Recovery Center.

by Nancy Casey

Since you will probably write the word “picture” more than once in your writing today, you could start by drawing a picture frame all around the edge of the page. You can decorate the frame while you are thinking about what to write.

Leave a bit of space at the top where a title can fit later, and then write one sentence about something that is small.

You can describe something small that’s in your immediate environment, like a dust mote or a key. Or you can write down a few details about something you remember or something that you make up. It doesn’t have to be a thing. It can be a small idea, like remembering to close the door behind you. Or a small action, like twitching a muscle or the tick of a clock.

Begin the next sentence with the phrase, “In the bigger picture…”  Imagine that you zoom some distance away from the small thing you began with. Describe what’s in the (bigger) picture that contains it.

Then write “In the bigger picture…” again. Zoom once more and describe what’s in a still bigger picture.

You can zoom out into physical space, like a camera would, and put a larger frame around the scene. You can also zoom out in history or time where a day fits into the bigger picture of a month or year, or an event in your life can also be an event in the bigger picture of your family or community. Ideas fit inside one another, too—gravity, for example, is part of physics.

However you keep enlarging the picture, keep going, describing the ever-bigger pictures your first small thing fits into, until you have filled the page. Or until your picture is the whole big vast universe and every object and idea in it. In that case, start over with a new small thing.

When the page is full, go back over your work. Make small changes if you want to. Add more decoration if there is room. Think up a title.

Write the title at the top of the page. Write the date on it too, along with a signature or your initials.

Here is an example of what someone could write.

You can share your work by posting it as a comment below. You can type it in, or take a photo of it and upload the image.

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Nancy Casey has lived in Latah County for many years. You can find more of her work here. It’s not possible to have an in-person Write-For-You class at the Recovery Center at this time, but if you are interested in writing coaching, contact Nancy or the Latah Recovery Center.

by Nancy Casey

Today you will be writing about something that you know how to do. Think about the many different possibilities for this and decide which one(s) to write about as you set up your page.

Draw a line at the top where the title will go. Mark off a space where you can doodle or draw if you like. Or make a frame around the whole page that you can decorate later.

Obviously, you know how to do many things. You have amassed many different skills in your life.

Some people know how to knit. Others know how to fix engines. Some can draw, cook, run marathons or read in a foreign language. Others tend plants, play sports, operate a cash register or fly airplanes.

Some skills are more mundane. Dressing for winter. Chopping an onion. Getting to work on time. Checking social media.

After you have chosen from among the many skills that you have, think about how to do this thing wrong. That’s what you’ll write about today—directions for how not to do something.

You can write from the genuine perspective of sharing the wisdom of your life experience. Or if you prefer, you can caution against doing preposterous things a person would be unlikely to do anyway.

Some examples: If you are walking across town in a snowstorm, don’t wear flip-flops… If you are going to fix a problem with your phone, don’t begin by throwing it across the room … If you are going to drive across the country, don’t leave your wallet at home…

While you are deciding what to write about, get your pen started by drawing or doodling. The motion slows your thoughts and helps you notice them better. As soon as an idea for writing comes to you, start putting down some words.

When you have filled a page with “don’ts,” go back over your work. Make small changes if you want to. Add more decoration if there is room. Think up a title.

Write the title at the top of the page. Write the date on it too, along with a signature or your initials.

Here is an example of what someone could write.

You can share your work by posting it as a comment below. You can type it in, or take a photo of it and upload the image.

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Nancy Casey has lived in Latah County for many years. You can find more of her work here. It’s not possible to have an in-person Write-For-You class at the Recovery Center at this time, but if you are interested in writing coaching, contact Nancy or the Latah Recovery Center.

by Nancy Casey

When we plan, we make predictions. We expect things to go a certain way, and we make a plan for how we’ll fit into the future.

This whole year has been a lesson about what can happen to plans when the future isn’t what we expected.

What are your plans now?

Write about your plans today. Your solid plans. Your plans for fitting into the future the way you expect it to happen.

What is your plan for the next ten minutes? The next few hours? The rest of the day or week? Do you have plans for what you will eat? What are you planning to listen to or watch? Where do you plan to sleep?

You have plans that keep your household running and your hygiene up-to-date. Some people have jobs that involve lots of planning. Sometimes we plan for certain businesses to be open or city services to work. Do you have plans to stay in? Plans to go out?

Ask yourself which parts of your future feel solid. They are probably the parts that you don’t worry about. The areas of your life where it is safe to make plans.

Did the pandemic cause you to set new plans in motion? Did you re-make or postpone a plan? Or replace an old plan with a new one?

Maybe you have a plan not to plan anything. Are you planning to let yourself off the hook for any particular expectations? Are you planning to set certain worries aside?

As you set up your page, steer your mind away from the uncertain parts of your future and begin to notice the solid plans that you do have, big and small.

Draw a line at the top where the title will go. Mark off a space where you can doodle or draw if you like. Or you can draw and decorate a frame around the whole page.

Get your pen started by writing, “I’m planning…” and write whatever comes to mind. If you get stuck, draw or doodle. Go back and forth between drawing and writing until the page is full.

Then go back over your work. Make small changes if you want to. Add more decoration if there is room. Think up a title.

Write the title at the top of the page. Write the date on it too, along with a signature or your initials.

Here is an example of what someone could write.

You can share your work by posting it as a comment below. You can type it in, or take a photo of it and upload the image.

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Nancy Casey has lived in Latah County for many years. You can find more of her work here. It’s not possible to have an in-person Write-For-You class at the Recovery Center at this time, but if you are interested in writing coaching, contact Nancy or the Latah Recovery Center.

by Nancy Casey

Sometimes we feel trapped, as if circumstances block us in every direction we are trying to move. Other times the perfect gift of what we need falls right out of the sky and onto our laps.

In the middle is the vast universe of the choices we make.

Today, write about some of those choices.

Big choices might spring to mind, especially the ones that took our lives in new directions. Sometimes we make these life-changing choices with great care and deliberation. Sometimes we make them without noticing and only recognize them in retrospect.

We make choices all the time, though. What to wear, where to sit, when to eat, whether your bed gets made. A habit is a choice that we make the same way again and again. Choices don’t always have to change things. If we could have done it differently, we made a choice.

In addition to making choices about what we do, we can make choices about what goes on inside ourselves. We can choose to have (or try to have) a certain attitude. We can choose from different interpretations of a story. We can choose to notice or appreciate something.

Right now, I hope you choose to write this page. As you gather your stuff and get started, ramble around in your life’s choices—the ones that you’ve made so far today, and the ones that got you to where you are.

Start with a clean sheet of paper. Draw a line at the top where the title will go. Mark off a space where you can doodle or draw if you like. Or you can draw and decorate a frame for the whole page.

Write down a few sentences about a choice that you made. Tell what it was and when you made it. Or how you made it, or what the consequences were.

After a few sentences on the first choice, switch to another one and write another couple of sentences. Continue down the page that way, choice after choice—big ones, tiny ones, and the ones in between. Until the page is full.

If you pause to think about what you are writing, keep your pen moving by drawing or doodling. The motion keeps you focused on the page. It slows your thoughts and helps you notice them better. As soon as an idea about a choice comes to you, start putting down some words about it.

When the page is full, go back over your work. Make small changes if you want to. Add more decoration if there is room. Think up a title.

Write the title at the top of the page. Write the date on it too, along with a signature or your initials.

Here is an example of what someone could write.

You can share your work by posting it as a comment below. You can type it in, or take a photo of it and upload the image.

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Nancy Casey has lived in Latah County for many years. You can find more of her work here. It’s not possible to have an in-person Write-For-You class at the Recovery Center at this time, but if you are interested in writing coaching, contact Nancy or the Latah Recovery Center.