Writing Prompts from November 3, 2019

Writing Prompts

1. Things I should have said, things I could have said, and things I would have said. We all have these stories in us - the stories of what was left unsaid. Write about one of them (and the regrets or impact it had on you).

2. By the time the officer arrived, Jacob had done his dirty work.

3. I thought I had a perfect (marriage, career, etc.) and then, Fate, as Fate so often does, threw a wrench into the works.

4. If I could just make it home before David opened the letter, our lives could continue as they were.

5. Finnigan, my father's long-dead gray cat, always appeared in the house just before someone in the family died. Who had it come for this time?

6. That night, she put the beautiful porcelain doll, the one she'd bought at the antique fair, in a chest of drawers in her sitting room, and went to bed. Some time in the night she got up when she heard a sound like a child crying, and found the doll lying on the floor outside her bedroom door.

7. She stared into the crumpled car at her own mangled body, when a woman in a pale blue suit appeared and said, "You must come with me now." She protested vigorously so the woman said, "We will let you live this day over again but you must discover the one moment in it that could have changed this outcome, not just for you but for many others as well."

8. Hannah dropped the hitchhiker off in front of the house where she said she lived. It was a cold rainy night, so Hannah watched her as she ran up the driveway toward the front door, to make sure the girl was home and safe. But the girl never made it to the door - she vanished into thin air.

9. The turbulence was the worst she'd ever experienced on a flight and she was glad when they touched down safely; but when she entered the airport from her gate, everything looked, not radically different, but subtly and disturbingly different. This couldn't be Toronto. A passing flight attendant assured her that it was.

10. If you could go back in your life and relive one day in your past, what day would that be?

Next Meeting

Sunday, November 17th

1:30pm

Headwaters Writers' Guild 2020 Meeting Schedule

Below is the schedule of meetings for 2020. Leaders are not listed here. That copy was emailed to group members.

2020 Meeting Schedule

All Meetings at the Orangeville Public Library, Start time 1:30pm

Sunday, January 5^th –

Sunday, January 19^th –

Sunday, February 9^th –

Sunday, February 23^rd –

Sunday, March 8^th –

Sunday, March 22^nd –

Sunday, April 5^th –

Sunday, April 19^th –

Sunday, May 3^rd –

Sunday, May 24^th –

Sunday, June 14^th –

Sunday, June 28^th –

Sunday, July 19^th –

Sunday, August 16^th –

Sunday, September 13^th –

Sunday, September 27^th –

Sunday, October 4^th –

Sunday, October 25^th –

Sunday, November 8^th –

Sunday, November 22^nd –

Sunday, November 29^th – Christmas Social

My First Writing Conference by Diane Bator

This feels a bit like an essay I did once in school.  What I Did This Summer by Diane Bator. Remember those? Only this one is about something I did for the first time as a published writer. I attended a writer's conference. Yes, it's taken me eight novels to finally get to one!

I've read posts by friends who travel to conferences all over the place but was lucky that the Writers' Community of York Region sponsored one in Newmarket, Ontario this past weekend. This was the first event the WCYR had ever hosted and it was well attended by over 100 writers from all over Southern Ontario including Patricia and I.

We started the day in the atrium of the Newmarket Town Hall with coffee and muffins and received a great new folder to take notes in. After a few brief words from on of the coordinators, we broke into groups for our chosen morning sessions.

Our first session was with romance novelist Zoe York, author of more than 50 romance novels. She discussed Marketing for Genre Fiction. A lot of writers in the room were either looking to publish a novel or had published 1 or 2 novels. The one thing I found most interesting were the questions she gave us to think about no matter where we were at in our journeys.

1. What genre do you want to be writing and what type of books do you want to write? ie. genre, heat level, setting, tone, etc.
2. What are the next 5 books you want to write?
3. Can you group thematically or do they exist in the same world? Explain that world in a common theme in a sentence or two. ie. small town romance with sexy cowboy.
4. On a blank piece of paper, list all of your work to date, published or unpublished, finished or in draft/dream stage.

One of the other things they offered throughout the day were 20 minute Blue Pencil Meetings. The opportunity to sit with a fellow writer or editor (including our own Marilyn Kleiber) and ask them questions as well as getting feedback on their novel. I passed on the chance for this conference, but Patricia was very happy with the feedback she received.

Lunch was simple, soup and sandwiches along with some yummy chocolate chip cookies for dessert. While we ate, we were also able to purchase raffle tickets and enter them to win several beautiful baskets donated by sponsors, including the writing group I belong to. Draws were made at the end of the day. I didn't win any, but Patricia did!

After lunch we were treated to a keynote speech from Terry Fallis, author of The Best Laid Plans and two-time winner of the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour. He is a huge fan of being a Plotter when he writes his books. In fact, he plans them in great detail before he writes something I don't think I could ever do! I'm part plotter, part pantser. One thing he said that surprised many people in attendance was that he still works full time. After writing seven novels and receiving many awards, he still must hold a 9-to-5 job.

I was a bit concerned about the afternoon session. The handouts we'd received the week before suggested a very academic-style of session. Luckily, Kate Freiman, author of romantic fiction, was entertaining and the whole afternoon was more interesting than I expected. She discussed blending genres and story structure. Hard to believe I was the only self-professed mystery writer in the room.

Back in the main banquet room afterward, winning tickets were drawn for the gift baskets then my friend and I left. On the way out the door, we received a swag bag with some bookmarks and the like as well as three books. These were mine!

1. Lac Athabasca (a play) by Len Falkenstein
2. Doc Christmas by Neil Enock
3. Mad Men and Philosphy, which is an anthology.

Yay! More new-to-me authors!

I have one year until the next (fingers crossed!) York Writers Conference. I may do some searching and find a couple more I can fit into my schedule. 

In the meantime, I won't quit my day job, but I won't stop dreaming and writing either!

Looking for more New-to-You authors or familiar authors? Visit my blog every Sunday for Escape with a Writer Sunday at https://dbator.blogspot.com/

Feel free to check out my books at http://bookswelove.net/authors/bator-diane-mystery/

Diane Bator

author of Wild Blue Mysteries, Gilda Wright Mysteries, and Glitter Bay Mysteries.