Before you consider resorting to AI for ideas

Get a little creative; I'll show you how

I’ll explain the flower at the end.

But first, tell me: Is your goal to be the fastest writer in the west?

You’ve been reading those posts again, haven’t you? The ones that promise they’ll save you time in your preparation for your weekly writing tasks? They’ll share 25 Chat GPT prompts to get you started. They’ll share their own process for sorting good prompts from bad; they will tell you how to write better with AI.

If your goal is to be the fastest, maybe you should listen to them.

But if your goal is to use your time more efficiently, I have a better solution for you.

Come join Writers Inspired by the Arts (WIA), a new virtual writing community featuring expert guests sharing ways that they are inspired by the arts in their writing and how you can be as well.

The twice-monthly sessions will also provide ample time for writing together, but on our individual projects.

Sessions will close with participant progress updates.

The benefits of joining Writers Inspired by the Arts

So, instead of referring to a list generated by Chat GPT or some other, albeit friendly AI, join a community where you will:

• target a writing project to work on before each session

• receive inspo, instruction, tips, and demos from top writers in their fields

• be accountable for the work you do in the company of nurturing, like-minded, human writers

If time management is a typical issue, the biggest benefit for you may be accomplishing the goal that you set for that hour of communal writing you’ll be doing. Every writing group I have ever joined or run has helped me and most participants complete tasks targeted for that time slot.

That and the tips you’ll receive on boosting your creativity are all part of developing healthier writing habits.

I’d welcome any questions you have about this exciting new opportunity. Feel free to DM me for more specifics.

---

The Flower Exercise

Here’s a little exercise from an earlier version of my Notes2Post course, which focuses on using images as part of your writing toolkit.

1. Find two pictures, or two videos, taken of exactly the same location but several years later.

2. Start with the earlier one and use the following prompts to get started:

   1. “What you see in the first photo is . . .” (Try using this exact sentence followed by a description. If you’d rather craft the opener yourself, great, but start with a physical description.

   2. This photo/video was taken in (year), a year when I was (sum up what you were doing personally, professionally, emotionally)

3. Now describe the second photo.

   1. This photo/video was taken in (year).

   2. Describe what is the same.

   3. Describe what is different.

4. Add a concluding thought.

My turn: A Tale of Two Flowers

What you see in the first video is a solitary, purple iris in narrow, gated garden, gently blowing in the wind.

This video was taken on May 15, 2016. A few days prior to that, I had finally, after nearly 30 years, told my husband that I wanted a divorce. He was devastated. I was relieved.

The second video, the one with the white anemone, was taken on November 17, 2025, just a few days ago.

The location is the same, but it has changed, meaning the anemone was filmed in the same spot as the iris, but it is a totally different garden, the original having been ripped apart while that section of the building got resurfaced.

As you can see, they tore out the lovely ivy, and the building’s surface is clean of any natural adornment.

It’s nice to have the garden back, though, much better than a pile of bricks suffocating the poor soil they covered while the work was taking place.

And me, I’m in the same location, too, but quite changed. I am no longer suffocating.

The divorce was finalized in August 2016, so it has been nearly 10 years since extricated myself from a lifeless marriage. I live in the same place, and I walk by that garden most days, in all seasons.

It was only a few days ago that I noticed the solitary anemone and jumped into the space where a walkway divides the sides of the garden. I waited there, excited, until a gentle breeze seemingly answered my unspoken wish to replicate that long-ago moment.

I liked the old garden better, I think. But I’m happy with the current me.

---

Thanks for reading this bonus newsletter. I’d love to hear how this exercise went if you try it.