The Writers’ Nook is a place where we, as a group, can provide a safe and positive environment in which to encourage one another and hone our own writing skills.
The magic in your bucket
Thanks to Justin Zackham and Jack Nicholas we all know what a bucket list is. But what’s the bucket? To my way of thinking, the bucket is your personal container. The one that you kick when you; y’know. What’s in the bucket? All of your experiences; I think. All of your experiences and the emotions, thoughts, feelings, knowledge, and everything else that comes with it. Let’s talk about how to use that which is in your bucket to accelerate the power of your writing.
THE POWER OF EMPATHY
See the Handout sent to you by email. Please read it and bring it with you to the meeting. If you are interested in joining our zoom meeting, please contact me and I’ll send you the co-ordinates and a copy of the handout. There is no charge to join us and see what we’re all about.
Sharing
Joyce shared a page from The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver. It’s a fictional book in which one of the characters, the great artist Freida Kahlo, discusses how artists need to “learn about life” in order to be good artists. That fits right into this discussion.
Kevin shared a page from his chosen book All The Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr.
Joyce shared a page from her chosen book There is a Season by Patrick Lane. He writes here about Spring. The beginning of the paragraph on the previous page, “Spring happened overnight. Three days ago I stood by the pond at sundown and I could feel it arrive, sudden as the breath taken after a deep dive when the mouth first opens above water. Spring was a taste…”
YOUR CHALLENGE
Your challenge before our next meeting on November 16th is to write a story, poem or essay. You may write about any topic of your choosing or use the following prompt: as we drove down the highway from here to Radium and on to Calgary, these interesting place names kept popping up, like, Wiseman’s Road, Chatter Creek, and Deadman’s Flats. I wonder how these names came to be! Can you tell us about any one of them? Or, alternatively, make something up? Try to use the Power of Empathy in your writing.
Responses
Three Theories of Known Places by Shirley Bigelow DeKelver
At the Hostel by Karen Lesli
At the Hostel (Karen)
I raced through your story, knowing what lay ahead. I laughed when the young man left the room, humiliated and embarrassed.
Karen,
Loved your story. Leading young men astray is easy (and fun), isn’t it?
Shirley: I have so any times wondered at the origin of these place-names. Maybe I will give it some thought and then try to give myself the time to create a few stories of my own. Thanks for the encouragement that I feel from your piece. I especially liked your phrase, ‘the power of driving through the mountains’ because I feel that too.
Karen; I really enjoyed your story. You set it up so well, this aging but still active woman knowing her way around, knowing that she was being hit-on, and enjoying it so. Great story! I also felt some compassion for the poor young Italian, and I laughed.
Karen; I really enjoyed your story. You set it up so well, this aging but still active woman knowing her way around, knowing that she was being hit-on, and enjoying it so. Great story! I also felt some compassion for the poor young Italian, and I laughed.