Sketching Nature In Prose

Welcome, writers! If this is your first visit to one of the best writer’s support groups on the web, relax, you’re home ;-) Take a look around our awesome group by clicking the links below, including all of the many great resources offered by the Insecure Writers Support Group, founded by Alex Cavanaugh, right here and right now on this first Wednesday of the month, when IWSG members convene through blogging, Facebook, and Twitter to talk about whatever is on our writing minds and agendas. See what we’re all talking about here. 

Happy Library Lovers Month! When browsing a library or bookstore do you typically have a particular author or theme in mind? Would you agree that reading for relaxation is one of the most enjoyable paths to inspiration?

Even the most thought out plans can get derailed sometimes and much-needed writing time is forsaken. When that happens I often resort to long moments of window-gazing (shh, don’t tell ;-)) and thinking of – or writing – Haikus. In honor of National Haiku Writing Month, I’m sharing a poem by one who I think is a master at sketching nature in prose, Masaoka Shiki:

Toward those short trees

we saw a hawk descending

on a day in spring

The IWSG optional question of the month is “What do you love about the genre you write in most often?”  The first word that comes to mind is impressionable. The second thought I have is caution; the care that must be taken to ensure that the fresh, new pallet of a child’s mind is painted in wondrous enchantment. I can’t think of a better backdrop than nature. 

On this day in literary history, one of my earliest favorite authors was born. While the stories by Laura Ingalls Wilder no doubt live on in the hearts of many today (including mine), her style and subject matter remains a source of timeless inspiration for writers of life in its sincerest form.

So, what are you writing?

"Home is the nicest word there is" ~ Laura Ingalls Wilder