Three Things
Gen writing drop in, a prompt, and August 8 IRL retreat!
Pals: how’s doings? Did you get any writing done this long weekend? This weekend served up some chaos in our household - Bella’s got a paw injury, so we’re all in a kerfluffel over here. Girl has rarely been injured in her whole life, so the melodrama sad dog vibes are on HIGH. Here she is with her little bandaged foot:
Just three quick things today:
One
It’s been hard for me to make the time to write even though I’ve been desperate to get after it. Is this true for you, too? If so, come write with me at Gen Writing (more on that in the linked post) tonight at 6:30pm EST, Saturday am at 10EST, or both. We meet on zoom. We write for an hour. We read to each other (if you feel like it) and hype each other up, then if there’s time talk writing. Drop in for $25. Register here.
Two
Here’s the prompt we’re using in Gen Writing this week. Work on it at your leisure, or maybe it’ll inspire you to come hang with us. Regardless, I hope it’s helpful.
Playing Pretend
I watched a clip last night from a short film called “Homeschooled” which starred a very young Jeremy Allen White, the guy from The Bear, who played a high school aged homeschooled kid. In an effort to give his character the illusion of a normal high schooler’s social life, his parents give him a fake girlfriend, Jenny, who is actually a mop with a paper mask over the moppy part. The scene I watched featured new neighbors at the house, witnessing Jeremy Allen White announcing he’s going to the movies with “Jenny” then holding up the mop doll while the parents all played along, acting like Jenny was real. Lars and the Real Girl, a movie with Ryan Gosling from 2007 has a similar premise where a man starts dating a blow up doll and everyone around him has to humor him until he moves on.
This week I want us to play with scenarios where one person insists something they made up is real, and everyone has to play along. Here are some scenarios to play with:
A person falls in love with an inanimate object or a bot they pretend is a human
A child insists a stuffed animal is alive
A person believes they are a time traveller from the future
A person believes they have developed a magical power
A person believes they are an animal
A person believes they are possessed by a ghost or can speak to the dead when they really can’t
A person believes in a conspiracy theory that causes them to go on a false “world saving” crusade
Use one of these to inspire a new short story, essay, poem, or as fodder for a work in progress.
Three
My next in person retreat is on the calendar, and registration is open. Honestly, I can’t imagine a better way to spend a day, immersed in a project surrounded by other writers getting it done. Here are the deets:
August 8, 10-5pm EST, Downtown Easthampton. I bring prompts for everyone (a whole booklet to take home + a digital copy), loads of chocolate, and the company is always top notch. We arrive, make a plan, write for about 5 hours straight, then we gab, read to each other, and offer insanely specific positive feedback so everyone leaves with juice to keep going. You can tack on a 30 min coaching sesh with me if you like.
I know it seems early to sign up, but I know this will fill up fast, so I recommend registering early if you already know this is something you wanna come to.
Bonus recommendation:
There’s a new limited series adaptation of Lord of the Flies on Netflix. I just finished it this week. It’s arty. It’s gorgeous. It’s violent. It’s very true to the novel. And all the kid actors are honestly REALLY good at acting. Check it out if you can hang with that sort of thing.
Next Kill Your Darlings Reading Series
…and lastly. The reading series last weekend was such a blast. If you live in Western MA, you really should get to one if you can. July 18, Saturday, doors at 4, readers at 4:30 at Darlings Cafe in Easthampton is the next one. We’ve got Erin Somers, Natalie Lemle, Sarah Sawyer and Sarah Browning this go around — an treat of an extra reader. Hope to see you.
More soon, pals.