#AmReading Patty Dann’s THE BUTTERFLY HOURS:
transforming memories into memoir

I found THE BUTTERFLY HOURS by chance. I had stopped in at the bookstore one Saturday afternoon for an author event. First thing’s first: I bought the author’s book (KRAZY by Michael Tisserand) and a new pack of stationary. Then, I settled into a plush chair two rows back from the speaker podium. I figured I’d thumb through the book while I waited, but I was twenty minutes early and the author had just arrived and people were still setting things up. So instead, I decided to browse the tables of good reads nearby.

With the store set up for author and audience, furniture had been rearranged. The table of current staff favorites that’s usually parked who knows where sat off to the side but steps in front of me now, with the last copy of Patty Dann’s book directly in my line of sight.

The book’s appearance, meek and thin with a simple cover, drew me in. Its subtitle, transforming memories into memoir, clinched my attention, since I’m in the last stages of editing Family Stories from the Attic with Lisa Rivero and in the midst of my online Flash Nonfiction course. After reading through the first three pages, I didn’t hesitate in my second run at the cashier; having finished the book, I’m eager to recommend it. Dann offers chapter after chapter of advice, encouragement, and examples of how writing prompts work–really, how writing in general works.

You have to do the messy part because even if you write ten pages and you only like one phrase, three weeks later, during lunch or in the middle of the night, you might feel compelled to continue that phrase. If you don’t have that one phrase written down, there will be nowhere to begin.

People sometimes freeze up at prompts, get stuck on the literal meaning of a word or the exact image in a phrase. But Dann suggests that the point of a prompt is to start. Write awkward; write clunky. Prompt or no prompt, just write. Last Sunday I “just wrote” the opening scene to a new story–200 words of awful and 10 words of “this might work” (with those 10 being part of a definition from the dictionary). Still, if nothing was written, I would nothing to revise.

Shut your eyes and listen to the church bell, the train whistle, and the snow falling on the roof. Open your eyes and see how children speak into one another’s mouths rather than their ears. Recall the lilac smell of your grandmother as she bent to kiss your cheek. Touch the dried snakeskin on the ground and imagine the way your throat burned the first time you tried hot peppers.

Paying attention to sensory details like touch, smell, and taste can bring a story to life or a memory back to life, benefitting the writer as well as the reader. For writers, such focus on our surroundings can “open us up,” as Dinty W. Moore says (THE MINDFUL WRITER, another of my favorite reads), “help us to see the story or poem or play or monologue or memoir in everyone and everything.” For readers, intimate specifics make way for greater connections with the work.

There are days, even weeks, or certain months of the year, when you simply cannot write. Don’t bother to feel deflated. Accept the fact that you have time off and fill the well.

Ah, there is my saving grace.

Taste new foods, listen to music from childhood, hike trails you’ve long forgotten, try your hand at watercolors, recite the names of the presidents of the United States, and interview your elders.

Because it’s been several months since I opened the draft of my novel. When anyone asks, How’s the book coming along? I cringe, silently berate myself, dance around my answer, hope they won’t notice the shame in my eyes. I wonder what’s wrong with me, worry about whether or not I will ever finish.

All good questions; all good food for though. But as Dann reminds us, nothing to be ashamed of.

digital sketch of woman looking out of window
self portrait: unfinished sketch

Look at the other creative things you’re doing during those quiet weeks or months. There’s much to be said for how a simple sketch or a twist in the recipe of your favorite meal or a day with the camera may feed your creative side. There are plenty of ways to engage in the work, even with your pen tossed aside. And we need that bounty as much as we need to fill the page.

Every essay I read brings me closer to my idea of how I want ( or don’t want) to write. Every story I edit reminds me of structure, what works and what doesn’t. Every book I find by chance re-energizes and renews my affection for the craft and for the power of story. Some might say this is not writing, but others, like Dann, would suggest that respite from one piece of work or another gives way for a writer to “fill the well” once again.


About THE BUTTERFLY HOURS (from Indiebound.org): Sometimes all it takes is a single word to spark a strong memory. Bicycle. Snowstorm. Washing machine. By presenting one-word prompts and simple phrases, author and writing teacher Patty Dann gives us the keys to unlock our life stories. Organized around her ten rules for writing memoir, Dann’s lyrical vignettes offer glimpses into her own life while, surprisingly, opening us up to our own. This book is a small but powerful guide and companion for anyone wanting to get their own story on the page.

3 Misconceptions about #Writing Prompts

bowl of pencils wrapped in writing promptsLast weekend, I spent two full days hanging out in the studio during Doors Open Milwaukee, seeing several familiar faces and meeting plenty of new ones (thanks to everyone who stopped by!). And if you follow me on Instagram, you know one of the goodies on the giveaway table was a bowl full of cigarettes #writing prompts (see left).

Offer freebies at any event, and you get a range of reactions from people squinting at said goodies but keeping their distance to folks digging in for three or four. It’s a real sociological experiment.

a hand out in a blockFrom the people who chose their pencil and read the paper right there in the studio, I saw a lot of head shaking and heard repeat “oh no’s” and “I can’t.” In those observations, I realized most of us carry misconceptions about how writing prompts work.

Since misconceptions can sometimes be traced back to fear, and fear stunts any good writer, let’s clear up a few of those fallacies right away.

Misconception #1: With a prompt, you have to make up an award-winning story ON THE SPOT.

lightbulb lit upIf you can write an award-winning story in one sitting, forget the prompt; I want to know your secret! For the rest of us, think of a prompt as a nudge, a spark of an idea.

One of the hardest things about writing is to start. The prompt simply opens the door. Even if it’s a word or phrase you hate (and one person did toss his tiny prompt in the garbage), you still walk away thinking in STORY, telling your buddy later about “that time I stopped at that crazy writer lady’s studio and she tried to get me to write a book….”

Misconception #2: You have to take the prompt literally.

open notebook, blank pagesListen, creative expression is all about interpretation. If the prompt says, “yesterday’s coffee,” you could start with the cup of coffee you had yesterday. OR you could go straight to the syrupy mix you discovered in the office carafe last Monday morning and the fact that you were totally desperate, because (you fill in the blank), so you heated up that sludge in your officemate’s “I’m the BOSS” cup and drank it anyway.

Maybe you read the prompt and head down a road to the incompetency you felt the first time your wife brought home a Keurig and rattled through the instructions to “pop in this pod–” and “The what?” you asked. But she waved you off and kept talking right past your scrunched nose and furrowed brow. So the next time you were alone with the machine, all it did was beep at you and flash its lights, and all of a sudden the story is no longer about yesterday’s coffee but about man’s infinite struggle with mechanical beast.

A prompt works to get your creative juices flowing. Once you get moving, the prompt doesn’t even matter.

Misconception #3: A writing prompt is for writing, and that’s it.

Here’s the other thing about creative expression: prompts can be used for all kinds of inspiration.

man holding pencil and paintbrushMy favorite conversation during the open house was with a woman who wasn’t a writer at all. She picked out a prompt–with enthusiasm–and said, “I’m a quilter, but you never know where things like this will lead, what kind of new quilt this prompt might inspire.”

I absolutely love her idea.

Because STORY is everywhere. It’s on paper; it’s in conversation. It’s in the next letter you might write (hey, another use for a prompt!). We find it in images all the time. Why not let a prompt inspire another creative venture?

“Okay fine,” you say. “Where do I get these prompts?”

I’m soooo glad you asked.

>> Subscriptions to places like A.Word.A.DayBack in 2010, I ran a series on the blog called Wednesday’s Word of the Day, where I gave myself 24 hours to write a flash fiction piece based on A.Word.A.Day’s…word of the day (how many times can you fit the same phrase into one small paragraph? boy oh boy).

"It starts with one word" typed on sheet of paper in typewriterMost weeks, it was harder than heck to crank out a decent story in such short time, but all that choppy writing was worth it. One of my very-raw pieces, “The Peninsula,” grew in length and depth through years of revisions and recently found its way to publication in Streetlight Magazine. You’ll have to search the archives for the really rough version, but you can read the final story online.

And it all started with the word of the day on that fateful morning: “never-never land.”

>> Books! Check out Midge Raymond’s Everyday Writing, which offers quick five-minute prompts and prompts for longer sit-downs with pen and paper. Her advice is:

cover image for Everyday Writing“Choose whatever prompt(s) you have time for—and feel free to use them as they are or to rework them in whatever way best fits your mood or project. The only rule here is to put pen to paper, or fingertip to keyboard, and see where it takes you.”

Raymond and I think alike.

Plus, she offers insight and tips on living the life of an everyday writer, even when writing is last on your to-do list.

hand holding pencil>> Fellow writers. Bet you’re wondering what prompt you might have discovered in that pile of wrapped pencils. Here’s a sneak peek:

  • Misunderstandings.
  • Pockets.
  • It came in waves.

Give one a try. Better yet, write about all three in one fell swoop.

Principles & Prompts: A New Online Writing Class

“A creative life is an amplified life. It’s a bigger life, a happier life, an expanded life, and a hell of a lot more interesting life. Living in this manner–continually and stubbornly bringing forth the jewels that are hidden within you–is a fine art, in and of itself.” ~ Elizabeth Gilbert in BIG MAGIC

image: Big Magic bookI’ve been reading BIG MAGIC lately, taking to heart much of Elizabeth Gilbert’s advice (or maybe it’s more like confirmation) that this thing we do–writing–has purpose whether or not the stories land in this publication or that. It’s easy to minimize our work and on some days to want to give it up outright. So, I do whatever I can to stay connected to creativity.

♦ I read novels or short stories (or books on the craft) that amaze me and inspire me to write more or write better. Lately, I’m reading Shann Ray’s soon-to-be-released novel, AMERICAN COPPER, which is a story I don’t want to put down and a model of writing I would love to emulate.

♦ I schedule coffee dates with other creatives who get it. Who say, Yeah we’re easily distracted by laundry or dinner or bedtime conversations with kids, but we’re easily distracted because our minds are always open–open to the busyness of the world around us and, in turn, open to the inspirations found within that same world. “Easily distracted” is a good thing.

♦ And, I make a commitment to writing in some regular way: every Friday afternoon, once a month at Harwood Place, and, beginning November 1st, six weeks online with you.


Principles & Prompts
an online course on creativity, story, and writing

In simple terms, this is a six-week course from November 1st-December 12th where we will discuss a few principles of the genius and the craft, pulling from books like BIG MAGIC, Lisa Cron’s WIRED FOR STORY, as well as podcasts, videos, & essays online. And, we’ll draft a story or essay based on one writing prompt a week.


photo (3)This is a busy season, I know, but the main goal of this course is to keep you engaged with writing during a time of year when our creative aspirations fall to the wayside in the midst of menu planning, family gatherings, and holidays.

With that in mind, the time commitment is low and so is the price, because not only is this a busy time of year but an expensive one: $65 (returning students will see an even lower rate) guarantees you six weeks of inspiration, the beginnings of several pieces, and new connections with writers like yourself.

I hope you’ll join me. Register through PayPal by clicking the button below. Even though this is online, seats are limited, and the deadline to sign up is Wednesday, October 28th.

Principles & Prompts
November 1-December 12, online.
New students: $65
Returning students: $50

*Registration is now closed, but for more information on the course or future offerings, contact me.