In the News

by Nancy Casey

When we say the word “writing” it usually conjures up an image of sentences and paragraphs. A writer lays down the wall of words one by one and the reader takes them in the same way.  The words combine to form thoughts.  The thoughts and ideas relate to one another.  The writing “says something.”

Your writing practice does not require that kind of writing.  You can fill up pages any way that is pleasing to you.  For instance, you can simply collect words without giving yourself the task of making them all go together and “mean” something.  Give that a try today.

Begin with your usual beginning.  Gather your materials. Get yourself seated comfortably. Limber up your hands, arms and upper body.  Rotate your head and torso gently a few times, as if you were looking behind you to the left and the right.

Draw a big ‘X’ on the paper that divides the page into four more-or-less equal parts.  Collect ten words and write them down in one of the sections.

How do you collect words?  The best place to look for them is in your own writing.  Simply wander through the pages and when you find a good word, write it down in the empty space.

You can also collect words from other people’s writing, such as books, newspapers, emails or Facebook posts.  Or you can quiet your mind and wait for individual words to bubble up and collect them that way.

What makes a good word? You like it for some reason.

Here are some of the reasons you might like it:

• You are surprised to see it.
• It’s important to you and you think about it a lot.
• It has a funny or interesting sound.
• You can spell it, but you aren’t sure how to say it.
• You can say it, but aren’t sure how to spell it.
• You keep hearing that word over and over again.
• The word reminds you of a certain place, time, or person.

Do this three times so that you have three collections of ten words each on the page.  To fill the fourth space, make a “best-of” collection by choosing a few favorite words from the ones you have already collected. (Your page might look something like this.)  Think up a title for each of the four collections, as well as for the whole page.  Put the date on the page also.

As you move about in your weekly travels, continue to collect words.  You can always find them in your writing or somebody else’s, but you don’t have to limit yourself to what’s already written.  Save up a word from something unusual you see.  Save a word for something so boring you are surprised you noticed it.  Save a word you hear.  Save a word you dream.  Just words.  Collect them.  Ten at a time.

When you are out in the world, write down the words you collect on an imaginary page in your mind.  Review them now and again to keep them from erasing themselves.  Can you remember ten words at a time and write them down later?

Nancy Casey is a writer and teacher who has lived in rural Latah County for many years.  You can see more of her work here.  Beginning April 5, she will be teaching these writing classes at the Recovery:

• Get it Written. Bring something you have to write.  Homework, an application, a letter, a report, etc.  Get help if you need it. Get it done.  Thursdays 11-12 and 6-7
• Write For You. Do writing exercises like this one in a group with other people.  Thursdays 3-4.

by Nancy Casey

Everything changes always.  Or at least that’s what they say.  Who is “they?”

Poets and philosophers.  Therapists and counselors.  Geologists.  Stock brokers.  You? 

Will the sun stop being round?  Will you get different parents someday?  Is water always wet?

As you clear a space for your writing materials, think about what does and doesn’t change in the world.  Loosen up your hands, fingers, arms and torso.  Move your legs around under you to get comfortable.  As you do so, start making a list in your head of things that are unlikely to change.

When you are ready, begin to write that list on the page.  Come up with five or ten things that don’t or can’t change.  If you have to wait for ideas to trickle into your head, doodle in the margins around the edge of the page. 

Choose one of the items you have listed, and write about why it is probably going to stay the same.  Tell what would have to happen for it to change and what would be different about the world if it did. 

For instance, what would it take for the sun to stop being round?  The intervention of aliens, perhaps.  Or the galaxy swinging into a new dimension where there were only straight lines?  Maybe just a special pair of glasses that made everything into triangles.

What would the world be like under this new sun?  How will plants grow?  Will skin cancer be an issue?  How will sunrise and sunset look different?  What will the new sunglasses be like?  Will there be any changes to your shadow?

Maybe you will write a lot about one thing on your list.  Or maybe you would rather write a little bit about each thing.  When you have finished, give your work a title and write the date on the page.

Here are some other examples of things you might write.

Throughout the week, continue to notice what does and doesn’t change.  Make a second list of things that you are certain will change.  Write about the things on that list by telling why you know they will change and how the world would be different if they stayed the same. 

Maybe you’ll find you need a third category for listing things that might change.  You might be able to break that down into “probably will change” and “probably won’t change.”

If you think and write about change for a week, you will become a philosopher.  What is change, exactly?  Does everything change or is that just a cool thing to say?  Have your ideas about change changed?

Nancy Casey is a writer and teacher who has lived in rural Latah County for many years.  You can see more of her work here.  Nancy will begin teaching writing classes at the Latah Recovery Center on Thursdays beginning April 6.  Watch the schedule for more details.

by Nancy Casey

Begin, as always, with a pristine sheet of paper.  Smooth away its imaginary wrinkles.  Wipe away all the imaginary dust.  Roll your forearms back and forth to make sure your wrists and fingers are relaxed.  Then take you pen and write the letters of the alphabet down the left hand size of the page.  One letter per line.  A to Z.

If you run out of lines before you run out of letters, you can start a second column, or start a second page.

Then think about your day.  Your whole big day.  Everything you’ve done so far, everything you’ve seen, the places you’ve been.  All that you’ve procrastinated, all that you’ve forgotten.  Think about what’s yet to come in this day, what you could do without, what you are looking forward to.  What will be satisfying? What will boring? What people pass through?

As each of these things floats into your mind, write down the word for it next to its letter.  You can write more than one word for each letter.  The letter ‘L’ could get:  lunch, laughing, and letters.  While ‘S’ could have sleep, sugar, stairs and a secret.

Don’t force yourself through the alphabet starting with ‘A’.  Just fill in words in whichever order they come to you. Here’s an example of what your list could look like.

Think up at least one word for each letter.  When you start to slow down, you might have to squeeze your brain a little to wring out a word for letters you haven’t used yet.  Some letters can require a little imagination: ‘Q’ for instance, or the dreaded ‘X’.  Use creative spelling as needed.  Nobody is going to come by with a red pencil and tell you something isn’t right.

When you have finished spilling out words for today’s events and experiences, look over the page and ask yourself if there’s a theme.  Are there groups of the same kinds of words?  Do they revolve around a topic or an event? If there is a theme, make up a title that reflects it.  If there is no theme or pattern to what you’ve written, make up a title anyway. Put the date on the page as well.

This is a very good exercise to do any time your mind is overfull and scattered.

It can get so chaotic inside our brains sometimes. We get overwhelmed when there are so many things on our mind that it doesn’t seem like they can all fit into the one life that we have. You try to organize your morning and are flooded with thoughts about what is coming in the evening. Maybe you should make a grocery list, but really you should clean the bathroom.  You have to remember to meet a friend later, but you haven’t forgotten how that friend made you mad last week.  What about the laundry? The electric bill?  Have you tied your shoes?

As each thought flits at light-speed through your consciousness, grab one word and write it down next to its letter. (S is for Shoes, L is for laces, B is for Bill, L is for laundry, W is for Washer, M is for mad, G is for Groceries, B is for Bathroom…  You get the idea.)

No matter how out-of-control something feels, you can always put it in alphabetical order.

Any time you feel like you don’t have the focus that it takes to “write something,” write the letters of the alphabet down the left-hand side of the page and start filling in words.  Sometimes it’s nice not to have to explain anything.

Nancy Casey is a writer and teacher who has lived in rural Latah County for many years.  You can see more of her work here.  

Writing classes will be coming to the Recovery Center in April!  Watch the calendar for more information.

by Nancy Casey

How do you spell the word for that sound you sometimes make when you get out of a chair?  Would it be unnh? Or does it need a “g” in it, something more like aagh?  Does it have an “r” sometimes?  Arnh? Urrh?

It doesn’t matter so much how you spell it, but it matters that you say it.  Or more accurately, since it’s not quite something you “say,” it matters that the noise comes out of you.  We often laugh at ourselves when we make these noises.  But what do they mean?

Only you know for sure, of course, but grunting when you stand up has something to do with the fact that it’s hard to get out of the chair.  If you make one of these noises at the end of your writing practice, it means that your writing practice ends with some kind of a struggle.  Can’t have that!

Today, before you begin your writing practice, experiment with finishing it.  Write the date on the page and then before writing anything else, stand up. Do it like this:

• Set down your pen. Put your hands in your lap.  Look at the world.
• Move your feet around to remind them that they will soon have to get to work.
• Jiggle or slide your body forward in the chair and move your feet to a place where it feels like your feet and legs are solid under you.
• Push one foot into the floor, and then the other. Gently. Back and forth.  Roll your hips a little bit to the left and right in the chair.
• Look at the world. If you are inside, use your eyes to “draw” the lines where the ceiling meets the walls.  Trace them slowly, back and forth.  If you are outside, use your eyes to draw around the edges of all the objects that touch the sky.
• Shift your feet around one last time. Get them under you in a way that makes you feel sturdy from your hips to the floor.  Notify all systems to get ready for lift-off.
• Scoot the chair back a little bit if you need to.
• Finally, using all of the big, strong muscles of your legs, lift yourself to a standing position. As you lift, inhale. Imagine that the air you take in floats you up.
• Once you are on your feet, don’t go anywhere. Shift your weight from your right leg to the left and back a few of times.  Just in case your body has forgotten what walking is like.
• Tap your left heel on the ground a couple of times. Gently.  Feel the vibration go up your leg and into your torso.  This helps your body remember how sturdy you are.  Tap your left heel.  Then tap them both.
• Take an interest in the horizon again.
• Walk gracefully away. Look all around you.  Try to feel yourself gliding.

Return to your writing spot, and write a sentence or two about what that was like.  How was it different from the way you usually stand up? After a couple of sentences, go through the stand-up procedure again.  Return to your writing and write a few sentences about what you have seen since the last time you stood up.  Stand up again and glide around the room.

When you sit down the third time, write about the day ahead.  What do you have to do?  Are different parts of the coming day more appealing than others?  What part of the day promises satisfaction?

When you have finished, give your page a title.  Use the stand-up procedure to glide effortlessly from your chair and into the hours ahead.

Nancy Casey is a writer and teacher who has lived in rural Latah County for many years.  You can see more of her work here.

Would you like to attend a writing class?  Nancy will begin teaching at the Recovery Center in April.  Stay tuned!

By Nancy Casey

Choose an interesting place in your house to write about.  Walk around in that place and take a look at all the things that make it interesting.

Everything you can see is interesting in and of itself. A melted candle. The dent in the couch cushion.  A book called I’ll Sell You a Dog. The stapler.

Some things are interesting because of what we know about them.  The clock that hung on the wall in my mother’s house.  The only boots that don’t leak.  The doormat from Nevada.  The cat food that is almost gone.

A whole lot of things become more interesting because of where they happen to be, or what they have landed next to.  The shoe on the desk.  The spider in the shower.  The bright yellow napkin on the doorstep. A ten-penny nail in the coffee cup.

Action is always more interesting than no-action. Water dripping outside the window. Birds.  Wind. The computer fan. The snoring dog. All the sounds.

After you’ve taken in what’s interesting about that place in your house, go somewhere you can’t see what you’ve been looking at and sit down with your writing materials. Describe the interesting things that you saw.

After you have finished writing, go back and wander around the spot you were writing about.  Notice what you forgot to put in your description.  After you’ve taken a good look, go back to your writing and describe more things.

Get up and take a third look. What more can you write down about this particular spot in the world?  Has anything changed?  Could anything change?  Has anything become more interesting, or less so?

Keep alternating between looking and writing until there is nothing more to say.  Is that possible?  How can you be sure you can’t say anything new? Here is an example of what someone could write.

When you have finished with this writing, put the date on the page and give it a title.  Then think about a place you could write about next time.

This is fun to do in your house because it helps you appreciate how rich your surroundings are how unique they are to you.  In a day or two, you can visit the same spot in your house and write about what has and hasn’t changed.  You can do that a month from now, too.

You don’t have to limit yourself to the inside of your house.  You can write about a new place that you visit, or describe a place you see every day in your usual routine.  All you need is something to look at and a place nearby where you can write down what you have seen.

An art gallery, for example, is a fun place to do this exercise.  Interesting rooms are not hard to find, and usually there are places to sit.  Libraries are like that, too.  You could do the writing in a café or park and do the “looking” on a walk around the block.

If you do this exercise a half-dozen times, you will be certain of at least one thing: the more you look, the more interesting things get.

Nancy Casey is a writer and teacher who has lived in rural Latah County for many years.  You can see more of her work here.