June 2, 2014.  Prompt #33

As a writer, I am often asked, “Where do you find your inspiration?” That question always surprises me, as I find inspiration everywhere. In this week’s posts, I’ll offer a variety of people, places, and instances that may inspire you.  Using your writer’s notebook, track what engages you throughout the day.

Maya Angelou

Last week, writer, performer, professor, and activist Dr. Maya Angelou died.  My Facebook feed was filled with tributes and quotes. This was among my favorites: Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you can’t practice any other virtue consistently.

Instructions

1. For five minutes, free write about the word courage. Include whatever associations—people, places, situations—arise.
2. Next, for ten minutes, write about a time when you acted courageously, in either word or action, either big or small.

Further Writing

• Write about a time when you (or your character) were not as courageous as you wished you’d been.  Was there a time when you missed an opportunity to act courageously?
• My father used a say, “Discretion is the better part of valor”  (originally “The better part of valoris discretion,” from Shakespeare’s Henry IV.)  Write about the difference between valor and courage and the complexity of courageous acts.

Variations for Writing Groups

1. On an index card, write a short description of a real or imagined courageous act.
2. Place the cards in the middle of the table and choose one to write about for 15 minutes.
3. Discuss the power of big vs. understated courageous acts. What are the challenges of writing about each of them?