I recently sent out an article describing this project, and I thought I’d send a more concise Thread with this list summarizing potential reflection questions for use as springboards. I will be initiating further Threads with a narrower focus over the coming month and a half. Feel free to comment on any of these questions in this Thread or watch for future Threads for more lively discussion. I just wanted you to have these questions in case you get time for journaling or reflection over the summer. Thanks for joining us!!
How would you describe the place writing has in your own world?
Here’s another quote for you to reflect upon:
“If your book doesn’t keep you up nights when you are writing it, it won’t keep anyone up nights reading it.” —James A Michener
Where do your most compelling ideas for your writing originate? What’s your inspiration and writing process like?
How does writing help you to process emotions or difficult memories, or even to record joyful experiences?
What does your writing life mean to you personally nowadays? When did you first begin to see yourself as a writer?
Do you ever struggle with imposter sydrome? How do you handle negative self talk or address creative anxiety?
What has helped you to create a more consistent writing life that you enjoy? Or is this an ongoing struggle, or an area you’re exploring?
What tips would you share with others about things that help you learn and grow as a writer?
In what ways has writing been part of your healing, growth and transformation as an individual?
Can you recall a time when your written words have helped to change your personal relationships for the better?
If you’re in my generation, do you have a little stack of of special letters you still treasure?
How does writing help you cultivate a richer spiritual life?
I would like to invite you to share with me some of your thoughts about how writing has helped you heal and grow, or deepen your spiritual life.
Whether you simply share a thought or two in the comments of this post, or you write an essay or story that explores this topic, I’d love to hear from you.
How do you view your own skill as a writer? Do you feel like you can legitimately call yourself a writer? Or do you mumble and blush whenever someone asks you what you do, and hesitate to call yourself a “real writer.”
Photo credit: Susan Kuenzi 2011 in Yangshuo, China
Here’s an encouraging quote for you:
Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don't give up.
“I’m not a very good writer, but I’m an excellent rewriter.”
— James A. Michener
“If a man happens to find himself, he has a mansion which he can inhabit with dignity all the days of his life.”
— James A. Michener
photo by Susan Kuenzi 2011 in Yanshuo, China
One last question for you to ponder:
How has writing helped you find yourself?
Watch for further articles or Threads, or start by commenting at this article. This is open to free subscribers, but I’d love it if you’d subscribe so you won’t miss the series as they are released.
Here’s a link to the original article in case you missed it:
In honor of our soon to happen voyage to Alaska, I'm reading some James Michener quotes. QUOTEFANCY.COMTransformed by His Love is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. James A. Michener Quote: “I love writing. I love the swirl and swing of words as they tangle with human emot…
Susan, I will be printing off this list, because I LOVE journaling prompts! I do process and exploratory journaling almost every morning (minus Sundays, usually), so your post will be an excellent addition for me to do some mining in my own life. Thank you.
These questions were all easy for me to answer, because through my writing the last three years is where I found my healing. To answer the how writing has impacted my spiritual life and how the two are intertwined, I find writing to be a gift and should be used to serve others. I will not let my writing deviate from sharing my spirituality because it is rooted in my rebirth.
And my best work is done at night when I lie awake. I am a writer who finds her identity in Christ!
"How does writing help you cultivate a richer spiritual life?" Honestly, this is why I write, because it's through writing that I find one of my clearest connections to the divine. It's been an excellent adjust to prayer and meditation practices--as it's been said, prayer is talking to God and meditation is listening, and in many ways the same process can happen in writing, especially in personal journals.
And as I said in a footnote in the second post of that series, "Why, then, do I not just ;meditate' in silence all the time rather than bothering with writing? Because I’m frankly not that good at it, and if I push too hard I become exhausted and discouraged. ... But I can exercise elements of effective meditation through writing, art, and various forms of serviceful activity, knowing that they’ll gradually accumulate to the point where longer periods of pure inner communion are natural."
Love these questions, Susan!!! There is much gold to be found in this post alone.
"If your book doesn’t keep you up nights when you are writing it, it won’t keep anyone up nights reading it." What a powerful quote! Definitely inspires me to get back to having a few nights in the week when I grind out some writing :)
Thank you for this! Can't wait to see what else you put out for this thread!!!
So glad, Brother Young. The post about the Endicott Arm relates and so does the one about the cucumber. I will be sending out another Thread next week.
Susan, I will be printing off this list, because I LOVE journaling prompts! I do process and exploratory journaling almost every morning (minus Sundays, usually), so your post will be an excellent addition for me to do some mining in my own life. Thank you.
Fantastic! Let me know if your journaling on any particular question is especially meaningful to you. Thanks for letting me know.
These questions were all easy for me to answer, because through my writing the last three years is where I found my healing. To answer the how writing has impacted my spiritual life and how the two are intertwined, I find writing to be a gift and should be used to serve others. I will not let my writing deviate from sharing my spirituality because it is rooted in my rebirth.
And my best work is done at night when I lie awake. I am a writer who finds her identity in Christ!
That's wonderful, Karen. I appreciate hearing your thoughts on this topic. Blessed writing, my friend!
"How does writing help you cultivate a richer spiritual life?" Honestly, this is why I write, because it's through writing that I find one of my clearest connections to the divine. It's been an excellent adjust to prayer and meditation practices--as it's been said, prayer is talking to God and meditation is listening, and in many ways the same process can happen in writing, especially in personal journals.
Where fiction is concerned, writing the inner experience of a character is a practice in empathy as well as visualizing states of awareness to which I also aspire. I've two posts about this, on "The privilege of writing inner experience" (https://kiranblackwell.substack.com/p/the-privilege-of-writing-inner-experiences?r=2pm8fx, and https://kiranblackwell.substack.com/p/the-privilege-of-writing-inner-experiences-506?r=2pm8fx)
And as I said in a footnote in the second post of that series, "Why, then, do I not just ;meditate' in silence all the time rather than bothering with writing? Because I’m frankly not that good at it, and if I push too hard I become exhausted and discouraged. ... But I can exercise elements of effective meditation through writing, art, and various forms of serviceful activity, knowing that they’ll gradually accumulate to the point where longer periods of pure inner communion are natural."
Love these questions, Susan!!! There is much gold to be found in this post alone.
"If your book doesn’t keep you up nights when you are writing it, it won’t keep anyone up nights reading it." What a powerful quote! Definitely inspires me to get back to having a few nights in the week when I grind out some writing :)
Thank you for this! Can't wait to see what else you put out for this thread!!!
So glad, Brother Young. The post about the Endicott Arm relates and so does the one about the cucumber. I will be sending out another Thread next week.
Can't wait to read it, Susan!!!
check out this short thread as well: https://susankuenzi.substack.com/p/knowing-your-purpose/comments
These are such great questions, Susan! Thanks for sharing them.
Thanks, Ryan. I'm looking forward to hearing from people this summer.
https://open.substack.com/pub/niksblog/p/dont-date-a-man-who-writes?r=22wfou&utm_medium=ios
Here are some thoughts about growing as a writer: https://open.substack.com/pub/everytinythought/p/the-obvious-was-never-so-obvious?r=22wfou&utm_medium=ios
This article I wrote earlier talks about what motivates me to finish this book. But it also gets to the heart of why I write and what writing means to me. https://open.substack.com/pub/susankuenzi/p/what-motivates-you-to-finish-your?r=22wfou&utm_medium=ios
https://open.substack.com/pub/slowburnliving/p/writing-letters-for-the-illiterate?r=22wfou&utm_medium=ios
This reflection by Blake Roberts, MFT, was really encouraging for us as writers: https://substack.com/@blakeroberts/note/c-63442037?utm_source=notes-share-action&r=22wfou
https://open.substack.com/pub/storycraft855/p/5-reasons-why-im-addicted-to-writing?r=22wfou&utm_medium=ios
Here's another article I read today that relates to creating and writing: https://open.substack.com/pub/kristenluiso/p/how-your-life-feels-is-more-important?r=22wfou&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Excellent quotes on writing. Thanks, Blake. https://substack.com/@blakeroberts/note/c-63049711?r=22wfou&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
Here’s a great related post: https://substack.com/@hope2rise/note/c-62995027?r=22wfou&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
Another relevant note: https://substack.com/@thomaskuegler/note/c-61520305?r=22wfou&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
This note by Dan relates to this Thread, so here's a link: https://substack.com/@danblank/note/c-61504422?utm_source=notes-share-action&r=22wfou
Fun note by @Beth Kempton on her daughter’s story inspiration from doing math: https://substack.com/@bethkempton/note/c-61440707?r=22wfou&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
I am going to share links of articles I find here about this theme. This article had some really valuable insights. https://open.substack.com/pub/iandegraaf/p/heres-the-strange-but-true-reason?r=22wfou&utm_medium=ios