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Dear ,
What should you take a chance on? Yourself. And your writing dreams. And, if you live in the Charlotte area, the CPCC literary events coming next week, including readings by Ron Rash and Li-Young Lee!
Details here, along with other great free literary events!
I've been thinking a lot about chances this month, and in last week's Under Construction class, we had a great time exploring the literary possibilities inherent in this word: last chances, second chances, chance encounters, chances taken on ourselves, others, opportunities...
I asked one of my talented WordPlayers, Kristin Smith, who used this prompt to create a scene in her novel-in-progress, if she'd be willing to share her results with you, and she said yes. Thanks, Kristin! I'm inspired every week at how my students use writing prompts to propel their writing projects forward, and thought it might provide inspiration to you to see how they do this. You know the drill -- scroll on down!
And I hope that, like Kristin's character Becca, you'll grab "
every small chance there is to celebrate!"
Maureen
Upcoming WordPlay
ILLUSTRATING OUR AUTHENTIC SELVES
Join Maureen Ryan Griffin, author of Spinning Words Into Gold, for a free one- hour session on collaging and writing as self-exploration. We invite you to bring your own visual images for this session. Other supplies will be provided.
Age Group(s): Teens (12-18), Adults
WHERE:Myers Park Library, Charlotte
WHEN: Monday, April 22, 6:45-7:45pm
TO REGISTER: http://www.cmlibrary.org/calendar/eventsignup.asp?ID=133508&disptype=info&return=http://www.plcmc.org/programs/
DELICIOUS MEMORIES
Food not only nurtures and sustains us, it's a rich source of metaphor and memory! We'll explore our connections with food as we write of when, where, what, with whom, how - and even why - we ate! You can use your food writings to create a family cookbook, creative nonfiction, poetry, a food blog, etc. -- or just for your own pleasure. $49/1 session.
WHERE:Queens Sports Complex, Tyvola Road near Park Road, Charlotte
WHEN: Monday, April 29, 6:30-9:00pm
TO REGISTER: http://www.queens.edu/Academics-and-Schools/Continuing-Education/Program-Categories/Writing---CE/Writing---Delicious-Memories-with-Maureen-Ryan-Griffin.html
For details about more 2013 offerings, visit www.wordplaynow.com/current.htm.
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WordPlay Success Story
"Maureen steers us in the right direction and then lets us sail. We, in our critique groups, give each other navigation advice. It has been as much fun watching my writing friends find their voices as it has been finding my own."
Meet WordPlayer Kristin Smith
My first writing class with Maureen was ten years ago at Queens College. At the time, I had three children under the age of three. I know -- what was I thinking? I loved every minute of the class but found that my mind was too consumed with baby babble to string together coherent sentences. Seven years later, I signed up for WordPlay again and have been an active participant in Maureen's Tuesday morning Under Construction class ever since.
Coming to class gives me confidence that I can be a writer. Being in a small group environment with Maureen at the helm gets my creative juices flowing. We always laugh, sometimes we cry, and we write some surprisingly beautiful things. But most importantly, we write. Maureen gets us going with a prompt, we put pen to paper and, next thing you know, ideas abound. During my WordPlay years, I've worked on essays, short stories, a novel idea, and a manual for a program of virtues I created for young children. Maureen steers us in the right direction and then lets us sail. We, in our critique groups, give each other navigation advice. It has been as much fun watching my writing friends find their voices as it has been finding my own.
I've almost finished the manual for teaching my children's virtue program. I plan to continue writing humorous essays and further develop my novel idea during the remainder of this Under Construction class. And before our last class this semester, you can bet I will have my deposit in for next fall!
Featured Writing "Chance" by Kristin Smith
Most days, Becca scrambled to get everything done before 3:40 when she had to pick up the kids at the bus stop, but today she couldn't wait to see them. The hands on her watch told her she had three more hours. She looked up at the phone on the kitchen counter. Should she call the school? No, the kids will think something bad has happened, like Champ is lost again or has been hit by a car. She would wait. Maybe even do something special. A little celebration was in order, she thought, after all, this was her first paying job in sixteen years. And a good job it was, which meant they would be out of this apartment soon.
Becca glanced around the place and wrinkled her nose at the dingy walls, banged up by the many short-term renters moving their things in and out. The stained beige carpet reeked of cigarette smoke from a previous tenant. Yes, they'd be out of here soon.
The Harris-Webb Agency thought Becca was worth taking a chance on. And she'd prove them right. She walked into the kitchen and opened a warped cabinet door. The yellow plastic bag filled with semi-sweet chocolate morsels seemed to be smiling at her. Oh yes, she thought. A new job is definitely Tollhouse cookie-worthy. "From here on out," Becca said to Champ, "we are grabbing every small chance there is to celebrate.
We've had such a downer year; we need to start focusing on the positive around here." She reached into the refrigerator and pulled out the eggs, then retrieved the flour, sugar, and oil from the tiny pantry. Before getting out the mixing bowl, she wrestled with the window over the sink to let in some fresh air. It wouldn't budge. "I'm not giving up that easily," she said out loud, and climbed up onto the countertop. After a few bangs and tugs, she got the thing open. The warm spring air felt good on her face and neck. Probably going to jump start my
allergies, she thought, glancing at the yellow pollen on the hoods of the cars in the parking lot. But what the heck, I'm celebrating.
WordPlay Now! Writing Prompt
This is WordPlay -- so why not revel in the power and potential of one good word after another? This week, it's "chance."
Follow Kristin's lead -- choose a story, fictional or real, that you are working on or would like to write. Take a moment to consider what part "chance" can play in the telling of your story. Then set a timer for ten minutes (I love this applauding online one: http://www.online-stopwatch.com/eggtimer-countdown/full-screen/?ns=../../s/3.mp3)
.Then pick up your pen and write a scene, weaving "chance" into it in any way that works. There! Progress toward your finished work!
(If you're an Abba fan, you can do what we did in class and begin with a bit of musical inspiration:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-crgQGdpZR0
) Want to be featured in a future Word-zine?
Send in a piece of your writing that you think could inspire other WordPlayers to write. 500-word limit, please.) You can send something inspired by this writing, or anything else of your choosing. Email your words to WordPlay here and your piece may be chosen for a future Word-zine.
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MAUREEN RYAN GRIFFIN, an award-winning poetry and nonfiction writer, is the author of Spinning Words into Gold, a Hands-On Guide to the Craft of Writing, a grief workbook entitled I Will Never Forget You, and two collections of poetry, This Scatter of Blossoms
and When the Leaves Are in the Water. She believes, as author Julia Cameron says, "We are meant to midwife dreams for one another."
Maureen also believes that serious "word work" requires serious WordPlay, as play is how we humans best learn -- and perform. What she loves best is witnessing all the other dreams that come true for her clients along the way. Language, when used with intentionality and focus, is, after all, serious fuel for joy. Here's to yours! |
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