IT’S ALL ABOUT – JOYFUL IDEAS IN JUNE

By Melissa Stoller
 
 
June is the perfect month to spread some joy in life and in writing. 
 
Here are thoughts about sparking ideas that bring some fun into your summer stories:

​1) Nature often inspires joy that you can capture and include in your manuscripts. Pick a tree, a flower, or a plant. Write a line incorporating one of your choices. If you can’t get outside, look online at a site such as www.NationalGeographic.com or www.Smithsonian.com for photos. There are also wonderful Apps like “Plantsnap” that help you identify plants in your neighborhood and can provide research assistance for your stories.

2) Cook your favorite recipe. Or buy an ice cream cone from your local ice cream parlor or an ice cream truck. Harken back to your childhood food favorites. Write a story idea based on one food memory relating to summer. Check out these summer food recipes to get started. https://www.foodnetwork.com/topics/summer.

3) Play a word game on a summer afternoon to bring some more words into your life and into your manuscripts. Crossword puzzles are a perennial favorite. My new word obsession in Wordle https://www.nytimes.com/games/wordle/index.html. Pick a word from one of the puzzles and use it in a title and then let your joyful writing continue.

​I hope these suggestions help inspire a little summer joy and fun and bring some sunshine into your writing. Let me know in the comments. Happy creating and happy summer! 

BIO:
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Melissa Stoller is the author of the chapter book series The Enchanted Snow Globe Collection - Return to Coney Island and the picture books Scarlet’s Magic Paintbrush; Ready, Set, GOrilla!; and Sadie’s Shabbat Stories. Planting Friendship: Peace, Salaam, Shalom (co-written with Callie Metler and Shirin Rahman, illustrated by Kate Talbot), released from Clear Fork Publishing in October, 2021. Melissa is a Blogger and Course Assistant for the Children’s Book Academy, a Rate Your Story judge, a Regional Ambassador for The Chapter Book Challenge, a volunteer with SCBWI/MetroNY, and a founding member of The Book Meshuggenahs. She also interviews authors on her blog, This Writing Life, and offers book tips and resources. In other chapters of her life, Melissa has worked as a lawyer, legal writing instructor, freelance writer and editor, and early childhood educator. She lives in New York City with her family, and enjoys theatre, museums, and Wordle! 

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