My Writing Prompt Result

I wrote following from a prompt at last week's meeting (previous post). I had been urged that morning to write a story about this band I have become familiar with through live streaming. They have read the story and have given it high praise, including 90% accuracy in the story. They have given me the okay to post it here and are also posting it on their website TheStillwinter.org.

The Stillwinter’s House

            “It’s a pretty rundown old house,” said Ian as they wandered through the rental unit in a Southern California neighborhood.

            “But it’s cheap,” said Richie.

            They were two members of a band who thought living together would make life easier.

            “It’s three bedrooms. Obviously Gabby and Verenna can move in with us.”

            “Still, a third bedroom,” added Ian. “We need more people to help pay the rent.

            “Zoro is always couch surfing. He could join us.”

            Ian stood in the living room looking around thoughtfully. “I guess it will do if we can come up with the money.”

            “There is a basement. A great place to practice.” Richie led the way through a door and down stairs.

            “Yeah,” Ian agreed as he looked around at the sparsely finished room with wood panelling and old quilted carpeting. “This would work.”

            “Hello?” came a female voice from above.

            “We’re down here,” Ian called out.

            Gabby and Verenna, Ian and Richie’s respective girlfriends, made their way down to the proverbial rec room.

            “What do you think?” Richie asked.

            “I’m glad I’m not a member of the band and don’t ever have to come down here,” said Gabby.

            “What do you mean? This is a cool spot,” Richie gave her a puzzled look.

            “Cool is right,” Gabby agreed as she pulled her sleeves down over her hands. “Is there any heating down here?”

            Richie and Ian looked at each other. “It’s not cold down here, Gabs,” Ian said.

            “In fact it’s hot and stuffy,” Richie added.

            Ian went over to his girlfriend and put an arm around her. “You’re shivering, girl. You sure you’re not coming down with something?”

            “I find it a little chilly too,” Verenna added hugging herself.

            Richie rolled his eyes. “I guess it’s a good thing you’re not a member of the band either.”

            Verenna gave Gabby a sideways glance.

            “We went through the rest of the house,” Gabby said. “It’s fine, great, cheap. I could live here. But I’m not coming down into this basement – ever.”

            “Me neither,” Verenna agreed.

            Ian and Richie looked at each other puzzled, then back at the girls.

            “The basement suits our purposes for band rehearsal,” Ian said.

            “Good. Fine. Whatever.” Gabby started back up the stairs. Verenna was close behind her.

            “There’s more to this than it just being chilly, which it is not,” said Ian. “What’s going on Gabby?”

            She stopped half-way up the stairs and peered down at them. “The truth?”

            Richie and Ian nodded.

            “I swear I see ghosts everywhere down here. Good luck with rehearsals.” She rushed up the stairs with Verenna close behind her.

Written by Mary Patricia Bird

Sunday, January 21st Meeting Notes & Prompts

Harry Posner, as Poet Laureate for Dufferin County, is organizing a Poetry Day on Broadway in May on the heels of the opening of the Saturday Farmer's Market. Details will follow soon.

Patricia will be meeting with Lauren, Events Coordinator at Orangeville Public Library, regarding what events we can participate in with the library for the coming year. We all agree that Open Mic was a big success and worth doing again.

Writing Prompts:

HEADWATERS WRITERS’ GUILD – January 21 2018– NANCY RORKE

Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury    

I know you’ve heard it a thousand times before. But it is true- hard work pays off. If you want to be good, you have to practice, practice, practice. If you don’t love something than don’t do it.

The Internet is a big distraction.

Your intuition knows how to write, so get out of the way.

Write something that you love, something to live for.     

Prompts

The Lake

The Night

The Night Train 

The Old Lady or Man

The Neighbour

The Attic

The Crow

The Coffin

The Telephone

Other Prompts

I swear I see ghosts everywhere…

The difference is that I lie for a reason

As always, you are encouraged to share your writing here.

Next Meeting:

Sunday, February 11th, 1:30pm

Leader: June

January 7, 2018, Meeting

Marilyn presented two new novels she has published: Lavinia by Marilyn Temmer, and We Drank Wine by Marion Reidel, which are available for purchase at Amazon.

 


As it is a new year, Patricia suggested we go around the table and indicate what goals each have set for themselves for the coming year.

The prompts were in the form of the Storymatic cards. Because the discussion took up a good deal of time, we wrote but did not read what we wrote. For those in attendance, they have something to read at the next meeting. Please feel free to share your writing on the blog.

Next Meeting Sunday, January 21st

Nancy is leading

HWG 2018 Meeting Schedule

2018 Meeting Schedule

1:30pm Orangeville Public Library

Sunday, January 7 – Leader: Patricia

Sunday, January 21 – Leader: Nancy

Sunday, February 11 – Leader: June

Sunday, February 25 – Leader: Sonja

Sunday, March 11 – Leader: Judy

Sunday, March 25 – Leader: Clare

Sunday, April 8 – Leader: Don

Sunday, April 22 – Leader: Virginia

Sunday, May 6 – Leader: Patricia

Sunday, May 27 – Leader: Sonja

Sunday, June 10 – Leader: Nancy

Sunday, June 24 – Leader: June

Sunday, July 15 – Leader: Judy

Sunday, August 12 – Leader: Clare

Sunday, September 9 – Leader: Don

Sunday, September 23 – Leader: Virginia

Sunday, October 14 – Leader: Sonja

Sunday, October 28 – Leader: Judy

Sunday, November 4 – Leader: Patricia

Sunday, November 18 – Leader: Don

Saturday, November 24 – Christmas Luncheon

W.O.W. - Words the Orangeville Way, December 2, 2017

On Saturday, December 2nd, 2017, The Orangeville Public Library in partnership with The Headwaters Writers' Guild and local independent book store BookLore, held the third annual W.O.W. celebrating award winning authors Nicolas Billon and Michael Redhill.

Harry Posner, Dufferin County's first Poet Laureate and member of the Headwaters Writer's Guild, hosted the event with a special introduction by HWG member and USA Today bestselling author Diane Bator. Diane spoke about her experience with the Headwaters Writers' Guild and how the group has helped her to publish several novels. She went on to introduce our two guest authors Nicolas Billon and Michael Redhill. A panel discussion then took place moderated by Harry Posner followed by an audience Q&A.

Nicholas Billon, Harry Posner, Michael Redhill

On Finding Inspiration

Nicolas Billon: Reading. A question from something I have read.

Michael Redhill: My muse is spending time in a room and just waiting until something catches.

Writing Process

N.B.: I Write from 9-6. I try not to write outside these hours but sometimes the brain doesn't turn off. I don't always do an outline.

M.R.: Writing process consists of peaks and valleys. I respond when it is flowing in the right direction. Writing accrues in layers. In comparison to sculpting - Michelangelo chipped away at the rock until David appeared.

Advice for Beginning Authors

M.R.: Seek out a local writing group like the Headwaters Writers' Guild.

N.B.: Your mother is a good person to sell your writing to. She will always read it. She will always buy it. Have patience. Everyone's first draft is shit. You will be writing and rewriting.

On Books & Bookstores being killed by E-books

M.R.: I think they are bouncing back now. There is a lot of pleasure to be had by the physical object. I'm not that worried.

N.B.: I'm not that worried either. We've been talking about the death of books for about a decade.

M.R.: There are more people reading poetry more than ever.

Speaking About Their Books

Nicolas Billon: Butcher is currently in development for a future film. Can't say much without giving anything away.

The language spoken in Butcher is Levinian which does not exist. In Greek tragedies violence never occurs on stage. In order to hide the violence when someone is describing the violence he needed to use a language no one can understand.

The conflict is invented though the Balkan Wars and Rwanda Genocide are alluded to.

Themes: Revenge, justice and forgiveness.

"You can have justice or you can have peace but you can't have both." - Martin Luther King, Jr.

Butcher seeks out whether that quote is true. Revenge is easy to understand. We have all felt it. Justice is more abstract. Your identity can be tied up in an emotion or a drive. The idea of identity and complexity of idea is woven throughout the play.

I cannot predict an audience and their reaction. If the audience walks away with questions I think that is a good thing.

Harry Posner: When you are writing a play do you think along the lines that it would be turned into a film?

N.B.: No. I feel if a play is adapted into a film I feel it has failed. Rewriting for a film is beginning from scratch.

Nicolas Billon went on to read from "Greenland" from the Fault Lines series.

Harry Posner to Michael Redhill: What does the Giller mean for a writer? (Michael Redhill having very recently won the 2017 Soctiabank Giller prize).

M.R.: I don't know yet. It was only 2 weeks ago. It doesn't seem real yet. I was stunned when my name was called. It was weird.

Harry Posner asked Michael Redhill to discuss the winning book "Bellevue Square".

M.R.: A woman hears she has a doppelganger hanging around Toronto's Kensington Market, a place of many sub-cultures. (On where the idea came from): I just sat in the park watching the people and wondered what it would be like for me to see "me" walk into the park. The book is about a woman who walks out and sees someone sucking up her reality.

Harry Posner: What was your process?

M.R.: I don't work with outlines. I would be stymied by sticking to the path. I wasn't sure where this book was going to end up. I knew there had to be confrontation between these two characters.

Harry: Did you know it would affect the reader?

M.R.: No. The original draft was 60 pages. I cut it down to 30.

Harry:  The book moves around between multiple genres.

M.R.: Keeping the reader wrong-footed was what I had in mind.

Harry: What was the most challenging aspect of writing the book?

M.R.: I started writing it in 2010. I wrote a book I wanted to read. I wanted it to be strange and difficult. This is the first book in a triptic. The next book is called "Modern Ghosts".

Michael Redhill went on to read from "Modern Ghosts".

Audience Question: Did you know when you were writing that you were writing a triptic?

N.B.: No.

M.R.: I wrote the first one, put it in a drawer. While writing the second one I heard the first one calling me.

~~~

BookLore had the authors' books on hand for purchase and the authors took the time to meet and sign books.

The Headwaters Writers' Guild and M.J. Moores had a table set up of their books for sale.

M.J. Moores; Judy Zarowny, Patricia Gallant, Harry Posner, Diane Bator,

Sonja Wolter, Clare McCarthy representing The Headwaters Writers' Guild.

Diane Bator (HWG), Darla Fraser (Chief Librarian, Orangeville Public Library),

Michael Redhill, Harry Posner, Nicolas Billon, and Lauren Tilly (Program & Research Coordinator, Orangeville Public Library)

A huge crowd was on hand.

Another successful author event held by The Orangeville Public Library. The Headwaters Writers' Guild was honoured to be a part of it and look forward to next year's event.

Writing Prompts from November 5, 2017

THE FIVE SENSES

Have you ever been overcome by certain smells or tastes, sounds or sights in the present, that shoot you back to a time in the past and bring up a memory with certain emotions attached?

WRITE ABOUT A PERSONAL MEMORY STIMULATED BY A SENSE OF MEMORY.

OR WRITE A STORY, CHARACTER STUDY, OR POEM BY CHOOSING THREE OR FOUR THINGS FROM EACH OF THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES:

The smell of pipe tobacco, cigar smoke, bonfires, forest fires, burnt food, stale cologne, oranges, rotten potatoes, alcohol breath, peppermint or any spice, automobile exhaust, cow manure, bread baking, musty basements, sweaty bodies, old clothes, perfume, baby diapers, vomit, old books, old church, incense, new age store, bakery, garage...

The sound of sea gull cries, glass breaking, a fog horn, fire engine siren, sea surf, baby crying, rain on a roof, rain on a car roof, thunder, vacuum cleaner, men shouting, sounds in a hockey arena, basketball court, school gym, school music class, screams, train whistle or horn, crows, screeching brakes, wind, violin, piano, choir, airplane taking off, traffic...

Textures: soft skin, rough hands, worn velvet chair, satin dress, chiffon dress, old leather jacket, bricks, tree trunk, grass, long grass, cold stone floor, bare feet in mud, sand, rocks, rocky surfaces, smooth stones, beach glass, old pebbly book cover, fresh sheet of smooth paper, keyboard, cold water, ice in a drink, rink ice, snowflakes on skin, laying in snow, dead fish, cat fur, horse's nose, eggs, baby chick, tent canvas...

Taste of a particular flavour of ice cream, hard candy, pie, cheesecake, turkey dinner, sour lemons, blood, oatmeal for breakfast, white wine, popcorn, barbecued ribs, green olives, morning coffee, spring water, cough syrup, blue cheese, warm bread and butter, hot peppers, bacon, licorice, salty potato chips...

Sight of fog, sunlight on water, twilight, moon at night, squirrels, woods at sunset, garbage on the roadside, condoms in the woods, waterfalls, rough seas, smooth seas, rapids, parched earth, dead plants, healthy well tended garden, smoke, dark room, homeless child, beggar on street, snake, spiders, fur coat, antique key, grandfather's bible, old shoes...

OR CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING PROMPTS:

Touching the scratchy tweed of his worn coat filled her with (sadness, remorse, terror, loneliness, etc.)...

The scent of his cologne lingering in her room meant that he had been there recently...

He dropped the bottle of rubbing alcohol on the bathroom floor, flooding the air with its pungent smell, and sending his mind racing back to a time when...

The smell of lilacs in the spring always filled (them/him/me/the child) with...

She dragged her hand along the roughness of what seemed like a cement wall hoping she could find a door in the darkness.

She opened the box of clothing from her grandfather's house, and the smell of _____________ and ____________________ conjured up ________________...



Please feel free to share the results of your writing here.

Next, and last Meeting of the Year

Sunday, November 19, 1:30pm

Clare will be leading

Christmas Luncheon

Saturday, November 25th

Please be sure to R.S.V.P.

Meetings October 15th and 29th

Business

We are currently updating the website at headwaterswritersguild.com. Those who are currently with the group should either forward updated bios and pictures to the Group Administrator (Patricia) or the Internet Administrator (Shirley), or if you have not been included on the website and would like to be added, forward a bio and picture.

Judy won 2nd place in Caledon's Click, Create, Celebrate Contest for her short story "Stranger in a Strange Land". Congratulations Judy!

Harry Posner's final poetry workshop takes place on Sunday, November 26th, at 1:30pm. Please register at the Orangeville Public Library.

Patricia has ordered 250 business cards for the group. They will contain all social media and the official Headwaters Writers' Guild email address.

Our Christmas luncheon is on Saturday, November 25th, at the Chinese Buffet on First Street. Family members are welcome. As soon as you know, please provide Patricia with your R.S.V.P. Lunch is usually around 12:30 but time has not been finalized.

The Orangeville Public Library has informed us that Words The Orangeville Way (W.O.W.) will take place on Saturday, December 2nd, at the Mill Street location. Members of the Headwaters Writers' Guild are expected to attend to show their support and assist where needed. Anyone wishing to highlight self-published works is welcome to set up a table to showcase their work that day. We suggest a shared table.

Writing Prompts

On Sunday, October 15th, Clare brought an assortment of objects from his home as writing prompts.

The writing prompts for Sunday, October 29th, provided by Sonja are below.

Halloween Spooktacular

Write a story that begins with one of the following sentences:

1.  I didn't mean to kill her.

2.  Sometimes we must do terrible things in the name of love.

3.  He carried it with him everywhere.

4.  I met him at the crosswords.

5.  A baby's cry pierced the night.

6.  This was not the cure I'd been hoping for.

7.  The door had been nailed shut for a reason.

8.  It came out of the shadows.

9.  I'll never use an Ouija board again.

10. It wasn't the first time my alarm had gone off at 3 a.m.

11. Trust me. The only good vampire is a dead one.

12. We're all infected.

13. It started the day my keys went missing.


Please feel free to share your work on here.

Next Meeting is Sunday, November 5th, at 1:30pm

Judy will be leading.