WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW
There was a very interesting Meeting here last night. Charity was unable to attend. Annette became ill and we wish her a speedy recovery. Luke is probably still packing/moving house. And Chris is stuck in a bi-weekly parenting schedule that doesn’t sync with our schedule for Meetings. I wasn’t able to reach Darlene to tell her it might be just the two of us, so she arrived. Thankfully, Jessica Taylor also arrived at the door. We first talked about a year ago, but this was the first time we met. So the three of us spent two hours filled with readings, discussions and lots of laughter.
I have been working on my collection of ‘Honey’ stories and am two thirds done this final edit. After discussion at the previous Meeting, I decided to re-read some of these stories at Meetings. Last night I read “The Best Thing”, the first story in the manuscript, but probably the last one I had written. It’s about how I met Honey (Bryon), and how we became a couple. Darlene said it sounded polished, and that’s most likely because it was one of the last stories I had written over a twenty year span. When I put all my stories together, I needed something to start the book and let the reader know what to expect. One would hope my writing had improved after twenty years!
Darlene read the next section of her story “Watering Restrictions”, about wife and husband, Ethel and Ralph, having different views about a recent local by-law that limited watering. We hear they have reached Phase 3 of the restrictions, which means hand watering only, and Ethel is still watering beyond the restricted allowance and Ralph catches her at 3:00 a.m. Somebody hangs signs on the city’s dying trees decrying the restrictions. Then Ethel discovers fines for defying restrictions tied to her trees. There are water outages at City Hall and the administrative staff all walk out and Council has to find a different venue for meetings. Ethel complains to a TV news crew and Ralph gets mad. Ralph and Ethel stop talking. One day he hears her voice, but only from the TV. We were all laughing by this point. I see shades of Desi and Lucy, or Ralph and Alice, in this depiction of marital disagreement. Very funny.
Jessica didn’t bring any of her writing to read, but gave us verbally her own background story about falling in love at first sight and then eloping to marry an American Marine. In true military fashion, they have detailed plans for how to proceed so they may eventually find themselves living together in one country, without the prospect of deportation for one or the other. Jessica says a lot of her writing has been personal memoir about lessons learned through living, and she hopes to improve her writing abilities, as do all of us. If she can write a story as engagingly as she tells one, she is well on her way.
So after considering what was read and discussed last night, it was apparent most of our writing was based on personal experience, usually with our significant other. That’s when I said the adage for writers might be true: Write what you know!
We had some discussion last night about changing dates for Meetings. We were thinking that instead of meeting the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month, maybe we should meet every other Wednesday, and pick the be-weekly schedule that would coincide with Chris’s parenting schedule. What do members think of that? Let me know what you think, and we’ll discuss this some more at the next Meeting.
The next Meeting will be Wednesday, April 4th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then!
Lisa A. Hatton
Author
Thursday, March 22, 2018
Thursday, March 8, 2018
THE REVIEW
MY APOLOGIES
Charity, Darlene and Annette joined me last night for us to read our work and discuss writing and life in general. Luke said he was busy packing for a forthcoming move and we all know how daunting that can be. Chris would like to make the meetings, but his parenting schedule comes first. We know what that’s like, too. All you can do is just keep writing in the meantime.
My apologies go out to Charity. In the previous Review, I omitted mention of Charity’s reading at the last Meeting, posted the Review and sent out the link to everyone. Charity read it right away and noticed the omission. Later that day, I awoke from a nap suddenly, realizing the mistake I had made and promptly corrected it, including mention of Charity in the Review. But I didn’t send out an announcement about it, hoping no one had read it yet. I was too late. So I apologize sincerely. My only excuse was that I was tired that day, or you can blame it on advancing years. I am sorry.
Last night Charity read first from Trixie Trouble. It was a detailed chapter about Trixie being tied up in the cellar of the saloon. Mundy and Carmen want to know where the rest of the stolen gold is hidden, thinking she knows where it is. They recognize her Pa’s gun. She refuses to tell them anything and they start beating her. The saloon owner arrives and stops the beating. The saloon owner turns out to be Trixie’s Ma. Great way to end the chapter, which had been full of gruesome happenings.
Darlene read the next section of her story “Watering Restrictions”. Ethel is against newly passed watering restrictions because she has a very “artistic” garden. Neighbours think she uses too much water. Her husband Ralph loves his wife but wants to get along with everyone. Ethel starts watering before and after allowed watering times. When a By-law Officer starts watching her sprinkling one day, she offers him a coffee. This story gives us a picture of the challenges home owners in suburbia face during a hot, dry summer.
Annette said she had started writing stories based on her life. She also said it was because I told her she should do so. The title (just this one story or the collection?) is “Bringing Up Grandma”. Annette’s Grandmother died in 2001, and Annette had to read a eulogy at her funeral. We learn Grandma had moved to B.C. from Saskatchewan and lived in the Aldergrove area. She outlived her husband. She loved going to church, and prayer was her answer to most problems. And we also learn she had mothered Annette for the first two years of her life. This is a good depiction of a definite character and we hope to hear more, especially since Annette told us she had left things out!
I read a new short story I wrote last week called “Caller Unknown”. This story is straight fiction. I had used a writing prompt that said ‘tell of ending up with the wrong cell phone’. The story tells of a young woman retrieving a cell phone her friend left behind at a Karaoke bar, and ending up being stopped by police who are tracking the friend through the phone. Charity said she wanted to know more about the point of view character and Darlene wanted to know what had made the two women friends. So that made me realize the story needs more work. I think I want to emphasize how two people from similar backgrounds can make different choices in life and end up going down totally different paths. I usually want to make a point of some kind when I write a short story, whether it’s a true story or not.
The next Meeting will be Wednesday, March 21st at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then. And if you’re suffering a writer’s block, be sure to go out and kiss the Blarney Stone on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17th!
Lisa A. Hatton
Author
Charity, Darlene and Annette joined me last night for us to read our work and discuss writing and life in general. Luke said he was busy packing for a forthcoming move and we all know how daunting that can be. Chris would like to make the meetings, but his parenting schedule comes first. We know what that’s like, too. All you can do is just keep writing in the meantime.
My apologies go out to Charity. In the previous Review, I omitted mention of Charity’s reading at the last Meeting, posted the Review and sent out the link to everyone. Charity read it right away and noticed the omission. Later that day, I awoke from a nap suddenly, realizing the mistake I had made and promptly corrected it, including mention of Charity in the Review. But I didn’t send out an announcement about it, hoping no one had read it yet. I was too late. So I apologize sincerely. My only excuse was that I was tired that day, or you can blame it on advancing years. I am sorry.
Last night Charity read first from Trixie Trouble. It was a detailed chapter about Trixie being tied up in the cellar of the saloon. Mundy and Carmen want to know where the rest of the stolen gold is hidden, thinking she knows where it is. They recognize her Pa’s gun. She refuses to tell them anything and they start beating her. The saloon owner arrives and stops the beating. The saloon owner turns out to be Trixie’s Ma. Great way to end the chapter, which had been full of gruesome happenings.
Darlene read the next section of her story “Watering Restrictions”. Ethel is against newly passed watering restrictions because she has a very “artistic” garden. Neighbours think she uses too much water. Her husband Ralph loves his wife but wants to get along with everyone. Ethel starts watering before and after allowed watering times. When a By-law Officer starts watching her sprinkling one day, she offers him a coffee. This story gives us a picture of the challenges home owners in suburbia face during a hot, dry summer.
Annette said she had started writing stories based on her life. She also said it was because I told her she should do so. The title (just this one story or the collection?) is “Bringing Up Grandma”. Annette’s Grandmother died in 2001, and Annette had to read a eulogy at her funeral. We learn Grandma had moved to B.C. from Saskatchewan and lived in the Aldergrove area. She outlived her husband. She loved going to church, and prayer was her answer to most problems. And we also learn she had mothered Annette for the first two years of her life. This is a good depiction of a definite character and we hope to hear more, especially since Annette told us she had left things out!
I read a new short story I wrote last week called “Caller Unknown”. This story is straight fiction. I had used a writing prompt that said ‘tell of ending up with the wrong cell phone’. The story tells of a young woman retrieving a cell phone her friend left behind at a Karaoke bar, and ending up being stopped by police who are tracking the friend through the phone. Charity said she wanted to know more about the point of view character and Darlene wanted to know what had made the two women friends. So that made me realize the story needs more work. I think I want to emphasize how two people from similar backgrounds can make different choices in life and end up going down totally different paths. I usually want to make a point of some kind when I write a short story, whether it’s a true story or not.
The next Meeting will be Wednesday, March 21st at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then. And if you’re suffering a writer’s block, be sure to go out and kiss the Blarney Stone on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17th!
Lisa A. Hatton
Author
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