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After ten years, I can finally see the floor of my home office/guest room/throw-every-photo-scrap-of-paper and plastic-or-metal-thingy you ever collected room. Cleaning out closets, attics, basements, junk drawers, car trunks, garages, the neighbor's trash, is a great way NOT to write. You must go through each and every item and let yourself meditate and commiserate and celebrate about where you were when you first came into possession of the item and who you were with. Then you must take more time to figure out why you still have it. And then ask yourself should or shouldn't you throw the item away. This shouldn't be a hasty decision. No snap judgments made here. The process of agonizing over what to do, keep or discard forever, must be respected. I promise if you do as stated above you won't write for days, weeks, and, if you're lucky, maybe months. Once you’ve cleaned or given up the mess or magic, depending on your perspective, you will want to write.
Here are a few prompts to help you get started:
1. Pick three of the items you are keeping and tell their story. What secret are they keeping?
2. Do the same for three items that you are throwing away.
More Prompts? You got it!
Thirty-one years ago, last month, Angela, the protagonist in my book, "Last Stop on the 6" returned home after having run away and stayed away for ten years. I recently went to visit where she lived in Venice, California.
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