Meeting February 5, 2012

Ron announced at the beginning of the meeting that his wife has taken ill in the Dominican Republic. I forwarded an update which looks promising. Please continue to keep her in your prayers.

At the meeting 7 of the 9 people in attendance brought something to read which was great to see! I was thrilled to share a short story I had written and have submitted to the Toronto Star Short Story Contest. The Artist's Way has certainly affected my creativity and how I use my time. Jayne read a story about her garden that she is submitting to Sideroads Magazine. Keep your eyes open for that.

Please remember the Brian Henry Workshop is coming up on Saturday, February 25th from 10am-3:30pm. It's called "Secrets of Writing a Page-Turner". This is an HWG sponsored workshop. We should get a good turn-out so if you haven't registered yet, do so soon.

Danielle led the meeting for the first time. She shared with us a tidbit from the book she is reading. Her first set of prompts are based on this reading but I'm sure you can do the exercise without having heard the scene she read.

In the example we read today, the author took an ordinary, mundane situation and turned it into an exciting event that kept the story moving. The event in the example was not only action-packed but also served as a hint for an unexpected plot twist later in the story. Mundane situations need not always be turned into action sequences but could be hiding humour, a character's personal revelation, a new piece of knowledge, something utterly ridiculous or a "big reveal" in a story. The point is to keep the story moving along without any "dead" spots. Today we're going to practice turning the ordinary into the extraordinary!

Choose one of the following boring beginnings/situations and turn it into a page-turner:

1. Sam bent down to put on his socks.

2. I'll take a large coffee, double-double," Jill told the woman behind the counter.

3. Hank flipped idly through the myriad of satellite channels on the Roger's network. He'd have thought with all that variety, there would have been something good to watch on TV.

4. The bus pulled up to the curb.

5. Sheila fumbled for her keys in her purse.

6. Jeff flicked on the light in the hall.

If you don't care to try that exercise, the following prompts were also provided:

1. Write about your favourite toy as a child.

2. Describe your favourite place and tell us why it's your favourite.

3. What's the best thing that ever happened to you?

4. Come up with a limerick, or 2, or 3.

5. What's the best excuse you ever came up with and where or when did you use it?

I am compelled to add that there appears to be a sock fetish among many of our members. LOL!

Great job, Danielle!

The next meeting is next week (Sunday, February 12th) due to the Family Day holiday the following weekend, and the Brian Henry workshop the weekend after that. Jayne will be leading.