Thursday 21 June 2012

A WRITER'S FOUR A DAY WAY

THE WRITER'S
4 A DAY WAY
Forget an invasion force of small silver centipedes, there is an easier way to make the world a better place.

Someone in my local area is a bit of a genius: they devised and launched a volunteer scheme called The 4-a-day Way.

When I hear the words "volunteer scheme" I panic, sometimes even to the point of crossing the road and finding the door furniture intensely fascinating.

Pay-it-forward just got simple.

The idea is that as many people as possible agree to do four small things every day:

  • one piece of litter - pick up and bin (2.25 million pieces of litter are dropped daily in the UK)
  • one "give way" - allow someone to go before you whether walking or in the car etc (many incidents of road rage, as well as other kinds of accidents, have an element of "me first" in them)
  • one penny - put one penny away (in a jar) to be used for someone else's benefit (There are 60 million people in the UK x 1p? Enough said!)
  • one "helping hand" - a good deed eg holding the door open for someone else, returning the harassed parent's shopping trolley etc (Psychologist, Michael Poulin, believes making a concrete improvement for another can reduce our own personal stress levels) 


A WRITER'S 4 A DAY WAY
• one significant comment - inspirational, meaningful, or encouraging
• one follow - look for someone new to the writing to follow every day
• one tweet or retweet or review - to help a fellow writer
• one "helping hand" - I set up What are you writing: "Tell Me About It!" I'm going to switch this to a separate page on the blog 

See I'm feeling useful and de-stressed already ;)

Here is a significant question too:

WHICH BOOK DO YOU WISH YOU'D WRITTEN? 

8 comments:

  1. I just read Keeping the Castle by Patricia Kindl. I wish I'd written it -- and this is irrelevant to its possibility of success. Unique voice, original story within a genre of retellings, and it made me smile throughout. That is the type of work I aspire to.

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    1. Hi Erin
      Isn't it wonderful to find a book that inspires you. I must look out for Patricia's novel - it could be my first Kindle purchase.

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  2. 4-a-day Way sounds like such a great cause! I love the idea of bringing that into the writing arena. As for books, I'm currently rereading Anne of Green Gables for the billionth time and I dearly wish I could write a heroine as wacky and dreamy and lovable as Anne.

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    1. 4-a-day Way is a simply brilliant idea. I have enjoyed following it in real life and for writing too. I smiled when I saw a cup on the pavement the other day - the easy way to my 4-a-day ;) I loved Anne of Green Gables. I reread it recently too.

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  3. That's a really good idea. I'm not sure I could add too many more followers but I like your idea about the comments and the tweets. Or maybe you could share a great piece of advice with a new novelist. I'm going to try it.

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    1. Hi Clarissa
      I guess I'll get to the point of not being able to add any more followers but between FB, Twitter and the Blog I have the capacity to reach out to a few more writers ;)
      Any writer would benefit from your advice. In repeating waves, the 4 a-day Way could add so much to everyone.

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  4. Sounds like an excellent idea. So easy to put into practice. I might even try it out myself. :-)

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    1. Hi Misha
      That is what I thought: the 4-a-day way is so easy, it seems a shame not to do it. :)

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