Write Time, Write Place, Write Now

Today’s prompt: Write about your perfect or favorite mistake.

• What happened?
• How did it shift your view and/or what did you learn?
• Why is it “perfect” or “favorited”?

If you’re up for a challenge, give yourself this constraint: Don’t write a standard narrative. Instead, try a different form. Possibilities:

• a recipe
• a song
• a poem
• a prayer
• a litany
• a scrapbook
• a comic strip
• a series of famous photographs, captioned with the key turns in the story …

…whatever form you feel is a perfect match for your perfect mistake.

Write as fast as you can, as long as you want, but for at least 10 minutes.

 TIPS for making your writing more “yours”:

• Mind-map any images—sights, sounds, textures, tastes, smells, and/or an event/turning point—that come to mind as you think about the questions.
• When you feel a “tug,” begin writing. Look and listen for anything that might be hiding…and let it emerge.
• Write until you surprise yourself.
• Experiment with a different form or shape: a list, a letter format, a Q&A interview style with your alter ego, a “FAQs” style, a shopping list, a list of footnotes, etc. Be creative!
• Give your piece a title that goes beyond a label and actually says something more about the content you wrote.