by Rev. Wayne Wright
Prompt: Write from an object you interact with everyday.
What’s the value of a blank piece of paper? Maybe a penny? Maybe more? I wonder what kind of tree was cut down to start the paper-making process? I think of all it took to float the log to the paper mill, grind it up, mix it with rags, and somehow make the stinking mess into a big roll of paper. Read More
By Kelly Fonteijn
Prompt: Capture with as much fidelity as possible, a moment from this past week.
I am sitting in front of the open hearth at my in-law’s house in Boerhaar, Holland, in a heavy wooden chair covered with a plaid blanket. Burnished copper kettles reflect the firelight; they sit on the edge of the hearth with the heavy old-fashioned iron and a tidy stack of gardening magazines. I am drinking cognac; my husband Adri and my father-in-law, André, are sipping whiskey. Read More
by Bethany Swanson
Prompt: Write about a significant moment in your past. Research national or world events that occurred during that time.
I have never had alcohol aside from cough medicine, so I had to take the nurses at their word when they said, “The effects of magnesium sulfate are like being drunk.” Everything was blurry. The room and the sheets smelled like antiseptic. Read More
by Teresa Jansen
Prompt: Write from your latest trip or vacation.
I sit on a grey, discarded stump on the desert’s edge of Northern California, waves of August heat rising from the asphalt circling our campsite. My flip-flop feet are covered in dust. The campground is deserted, all but one family of sunburnt, swearing, shirtless wonders with a blaring radio down the road. They knew to bring a gas grill. Their smoke rises and the smell of beef makes my stomach growl. Jeff and I have only charcoal bricks and a cast-iron pan. It is fire season, I am told. So these are not allowed. No one knows we are in hell. Read More
By Gwen Jackson
Prompt: Write from your latest trip or vacation.
It was a last minute plan, but one that was desperately needed. Perhaps a three-day getaway to a secluded spot in western Hungary wasn’t sufficient to fully recover from the marathon of travel, people, and work that my husband, Dennis, and I had run in the past three- months. But hey, one day for each month was better than nothing. Read More
by Vikki Huisman
I Can’t Remember Prompt: Write from what you have forgotten in your life.
Josh was born on April 27, 2000 weighing in at 9 lbs., 3 oz. He was big, beautiful, and perfect. Unlike when his brother, Jacob, was born three years earlier, I felt great and couldn’t wait to take him home. My fears of sibling jealously were unfounded. Jacob adored his baby brother and was eager to help in any way I would allow. Josh only cried when he was hungry or needed to be changed. He was, in my humble opinion, the most perfect baby ever created. Read More
By Lesley Miller
Prompt: Write from a piece of music that has been important to you in your life.
I’m not sure when I first heard U2, but I know for certain my dad introduced me to the band at a young age. It was one of several bands we’d listen to on the long, six- hour drive home from Mammoth Lakes, our favorite family vacation spot in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Read More
By Erik Fisher
Prompt: Write about a significant moment in your past. Research national or world events that occurred during that time.
Late in the summer of 1991, as new countries emerged and broke off from the U.S.S.R. during the collapse of the Soviet Union, a tumor was forming in the brain of my younger brother Evan. I was 11 at the time and unaware of either event. Read More
Prompt: Write from what you have forgotten in your life.
I don’t remember meeting my younger brother, Seth, for the first time, but apparently I was aggressive. My mother snapped a picture of me in fight stance, 18 months old and wearing a diaper. I stood in front of the couch on which my preemie-sized newborn brother lay snoozing and unaware of how invasive he was. I hit my mother in the knee. Thanks, Mom, for bringing home a dumb baby. Read More
A year ago, I had an idea to start leading writing workshops on-line. On the heels of that idea came a second: to put together a literary journal sharing the work created in the workshops. Seven workshops, and nearly 30 writers later, I am thrilled to present The Blank Page Journal. The nine essays in this journal are a sample of the writing I've watched evolve during the workshops. Every one of these writers began with a blank page and a writing prompt. I've included an abbreviated version of the writing prompt that inspired the writers at the beginning of each essay.* Thank you to all the writers who have trusted me with their creative process. Thank you to my co-editors, Teresa Jansen and Brie Walter, for helping me put this journal together. And Thank you, reader, for giving us your time. I hope these essays inspire you to "stop staring, and start writing". * All prompts are adapted from Brenda Miller and Suzanne Paola's book, _Tell It Slant_.
