Happy New Year!
Welcome to The Scribblers Writing Group blog!
The beginning of the new year brings a new format for our newsletter.
I think that as we move along, I will be learning more about using a blog and subsequent issues will be improved.
“Well, you’ve done it now, Jeff,” said Bill
“I know,” answered Jeff.
“You shouldn’t have been shooting this near dark, or this close to the road.”
“I was tired, but I thought I could see okay. I saw that white tail bobbing along, just as clear…”
“What are you going to do now?”
“Go up and face the music, I guess.”
The two hunters walked slowly toward the car. It had swerved into a ditch after Jeff’s shot. He had evidently hit a tire and caused a blowout. As they got close, they saw what Jeff had mistaken for a bucktail. A puff of white cloth was sticking out of the rear of the car. It looked like it was coming out of the place where the taillight should have been. It did look like a bucktail in the twilight.
Jennifer sat in the library conference room. She was steamed. Where was the rest of the writing group? Were all writers such irresponsible, undependable jerks?
She’d complained to them before about writing discipline. The four group members were still friends and they tried different strategies to get themselves out of writers block. The latest plan was supposed to take place at today’s meeting. They would write rapid fire progressive stories. Each member was to bring a prompt to the meeting. They would each draw a prompt and write as much as they could in 15 minutes. Then they would each pass what they had written to their left. Each person would continue the story they were given for another 15 minutes. Then the stories would be passed again. The person writing the fourth part of the story was expected to bring it to a close. They would end up with four stories after an hour of work. They would spend the next hour of the meeting reading the stories aloud and discussing them. It was Jennifer’s brainchild. Had the idea scared the others off?
Jennifer was so mad she decided to take matters into her own hands.
Joan came out of the mall with an armload of packages. What a day for bargains! She couldn’t pass them up, even though the trip was going to make her late for writing class. As she approached her car, a pair of strong arms grabbed her from behind. Her car keys were wrenched from her hand. Her trunk popped open and the arms thrust her in and slammed the lid.
Joan’s immediate thoughts were completely irrational. Now Jennifer will be really mad. She’s already been waiting a half hour along with the other two class members. And what about all my packages? As she felt around in the dark, she realized the packages had been tossed into the trunk with her.
The car was moving. She finally started to think of how to save herself. She kicked blindly at whatever hard surface she could feel. She heard a crack. She had kicked something plastic. She kicked again and the entire assembly of one of the taillights popped out. Okay, what good will that do me, she thought. She tore open one of her packages. It was a white tablecloth. She wadded it up and started to stuff it through the taillight opening with her foot. She managed to get a puff about the size of a basketball through the opening.
Surely that will get someone’s attention, she thought.
“At least if you blew a tire out, you probably didn’t hit the driver,” said Bill
“Hey, doesn’t this car look familiar?” said Jeff.
The driver’s door opened and the beam of a bright flashlight blinded them.
“My gun’s pointed at you jerks,” said a voice from the driver’s seat. “Drop yours, NOW!”
Jennifer really didn’t know what she had hoped to accomplish, but now she was in trouble. She was a strong woman and the idea of just grabbing Joan and taking her back to the library had been too easy. She had even been nice enough to toss Joan’s packages into the trunk with her. But then heading out into the country on the off chance of finding the other two writing group members was probably not such a good idea.
And now someone was shooting at her. They’d blown her tire and she was sitting in a ditch. They were right behind her. She could see their guns in the rear view mirror. All she had at hand was a flashlight. Could she make them believe she had a gun on them? She decided to try.
Joan had finally twisted around so she could see the glow of the emergency trunk lid opener. Her kidnapper probably didn’t know her car had such a thing. She had forgotten about it herself. The car had come to an abrupt stop a few minutes ago. She decided surprise was her best weapon. She popped the lid and sat up in the trunk. The last thing she expected to see was the frightened faces of Bill and Jeff, from her writing group, lit up by a beam of light coming from her kidnapper.
“Okay, we’re finally all together here,” said Jennifer. “Does everyone have their prompt ready for the story?”
I think that as we move along, I will be learning more about using a blog and subsequent issues will be improved.
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Writing Prompt Story
by John Matthews
This is a story John wrote using all 3 of last months' writing prompts. Very unique to say the least. I never considered putting them all together, but it really works well.
“Well, you’ve done it now, Jeff,” said Bill
“I know,” answered Jeff.
“You shouldn’t have been shooting this near dark, or this close to the road.”
“I was tired, but I thought I could see okay. I saw that white tail bobbing along, just as clear…”
“What are you going to do now?”
“Go up and face the music, I guess.”
The two hunters walked slowly toward the car. It had swerved into a ditch after Jeff’s shot. He had evidently hit a tire and caused a blowout. As they got close, they saw what Jeff had mistaken for a bucktail. A puff of white cloth was sticking out of the rear of the car. It looked like it was coming out of the place where the taillight should have been. It did look like a bucktail in the twilight.
Jennifer sat in the library conference room. She was steamed. Where was the rest of the writing group? Were all writers such irresponsible, undependable jerks?
She’d complained to them before about writing discipline. The four group members were still friends and they tried different strategies to get themselves out of writers block. The latest plan was supposed to take place at today’s meeting. They would write rapid fire progressive stories. Each member was to bring a prompt to the meeting. They would each draw a prompt and write as much as they could in 15 minutes. Then they would each pass what they had written to their left. Each person would continue the story they were given for another 15 minutes. Then the stories would be passed again. The person writing the fourth part of the story was expected to bring it to a close. They would end up with four stories after an hour of work. They would spend the next hour of the meeting reading the stories aloud and discussing them. It was Jennifer’s brainchild. Had the idea scared the others off?
Jennifer was so mad she decided to take matters into her own hands.
Joan came out of the mall with an armload of packages. What a day for bargains! She couldn’t pass them up, even though the trip was going to make her late for writing class. As she approached her car, a pair of strong arms grabbed her from behind. Her car keys were wrenched from her hand. Her trunk popped open and the arms thrust her in and slammed the lid.
Joan’s immediate thoughts were completely irrational. Now Jennifer will be really mad. She’s already been waiting a half hour along with the other two class members. And what about all my packages? As she felt around in the dark, she realized the packages had been tossed into the trunk with her.
The car was moving. She finally started to think of how to save herself. She kicked blindly at whatever hard surface she could feel. She heard a crack. She had kicked something plastic. She kicked again and the entire assembly of one of the taillights popped out. Okay, what good will that do me, she thought. She tore open one of her packages. It was a white tablecloth. She wadded it up and started to stuff it through the taillight opening with her foot. She managed to get a puff about the size of a basketball through the opening.
Surely that will get someone’s attention, she thought.
“At least if you blew a tire out, you probably didn’t hit the driver,” said Bill
“Hey, doesn’t this car look familiar?” said Jeff.
The driver’s door opened and the beam of a bright flashlight blinded them.
“My gun’s pointed at you jerks,” said a voice from the driver’s seat. “Drop yours, NOW!”
Jennifer really didn’t know what she had hoped to accomplish, but now she was in trouble. She was a strong woman and the idea of just grabbing Joan and taking her back to the library had been too easy. She had even been nice enough to toss Joan’s packages into the trunk with her. But then heading out into the country on the off chance of finding the other two writing group members was probably not such a good idea.
And now someone was shooting at her. They’d blown her tire and she was sitting in a ditch. They were right behind her. She could see their guns in the rear view mirror. All she had at hand was a flashlight. Could she make them believe she had a gun on them? She decided to try.
Joan had finally twisted around so she could see the glow of the emergency trunk lid opener. Her kidnapper probably didn’t know her car had such a thing. She had forgotten about it herself. The car had come to an abrupt stop a few minutes ago. She decided surprise was her best weapon. She popped the lid and sat up in the trunk. The last thing she expected to see was the frightened faces of Bill and Jeff, from her writing group, lit up by a beam of light coming from her kidnapper.
“Okay, we’re finally all together here,” said Jennifer. “Does everyone have their prompt ready for the story?”
THE END
**************************************************************
January Writing Prompts:
- Write a story using this as the last line or part of the last paragraph: 'And it was at this exact moment that the power came back on.'
- He’d never noticed a door there before.
- He hadn’t seen her since the day they left High School.
Choose one, or as John did, all of these and write 750 - 1000 words. Have fun with it above all.
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A Look at Jodi Picoult
Jodi Picoult, born May 19, 1966 and raised in Nesconset on Long Island; her family moved to New Hampshire when she was 13 years old. She has described her family as "non-practicing Jewish". She is married to Timothy Warren Van Leer, whom she met while in college. They and their three children, Sammy, Kyle, and Jake, and a handful of pets, live in Hanover, New Hampshire. Picoult wrote her first story at age 5, entitled "The Lobster Which Misunderstood".
She studied writing at Princeton University, and graduated in 1987. She published two short stories in Seventeen magazine while still in college. Immediately after graduation, she began a variety of jobs, ranging from editing textbooks to teaching eighth-grade English. She earned a master's degree in education from Harvard University.
Picoult became the writer of DC Comics' Wonder Woman (vol. 3) series following the departure of fellow writer Allan Heinberg. Her first issue (#6) was released on March 28, 2007, and her last was issue #10 (released on June 27, 2007).
Nineteen Minutes, Picoult's novel about the aftermath of a school shooting in a small town, has become her first book to debut at #1 on the New York Times Best Seller list. Her book Change Of Heart was published on March 4, 2008, and became Picoult's second novel to debut at #1 on the NYT Best Seller list.
Picoult currently has some 14 million copies of her books in print worldwide. She was awarded the New England Bookseller Award for fiction in 2003.
To date, Picoult has written the following:
She studied writing at Princeton University, and graduated in 1987. She published two short stories in Seventeen magazine while still in college. Immediately after graduation, she began a variety of jobs, ranging from editing textbooks to teaching eighth-grade English. She earned a master's degree in education from Harvard University.
Picoult became the writer of DC Comics' Wonder Woman (vol. 3) series following the departure of fellow writer Allan Heinberg. Her first issue (#6) was released on March 28, 2007, and her last was issue #10 (released on June 27, 2007).
Nineteen Minutes, Picoult's novel about the aftermath of a school shooting in a small town, has become her first book to debut at #1 on the New York Times Best Seller list. Her book Change Of Heart was published on March 4, 2008, and became Picoult's second novel to debut at #1 on the NYT Best Seller list.
Picoult currently has some 14 million copies of her books in print worldwide. She was awarded the New England Bookseller Award for fiction in 2003.
To date, Picoult has written the following:
Songs of the Humpback Whale (1992), Harvesting the Heart (1993), Picture Perfect (1995), Mercy (1996), The Pact (1998), Keeping Faith(1999),
Plain Truth (2000), Salem Falls (2001), Perfect Match (2002), Second Glance (2003), My Sister's Keeper (2004), Vanishing Acts (2005), The Tenth Circle (2006), Nineteen Minutes (2007), Wonder Woman (vol. 3) #6-10 (cover date: late May 2007 - August 2007), Wonder Woman: Love and Murder (2007) (hardcover volume collecting Wonder Woman #6-10), Change of Heart (2008), Handle With Care (2009), House Rules (2010), Sing You Home (2011), Lone Wolf (2012), The Storyteller (2013).
Film and television adaptations:
Plain Truth (2000), Salem Falls (2001), Perfect Match (2002), Second Glance (2003), My Sister's Keeper (2004), Vanishing Acts (2005), The Tenth Circle (2006), Nineteen Minutes (2007), Wonder Woman (vol. 3) #6-10 (cover date: late May 2007 - August 2007), Wonder Woman: Love and Murder (2007) (hardcover volume collecting Wonder Woman #6-10), Change of Heart (2008), Handle With Care (2009), House Rules (2010), Sing You Home (2011), Lone Wolf (2012), The Storyteller (2013).
Film and television adaptations:
The Pact (2002) (Lifetime Original Movie), Plain Truth (2004) (Lifetime Original Movie), The Tenth Circle (2008) (Lifetime Original Movie),My Sister's Keeper (2009) (Feature film), Salem Falls (2011) (Lifetime Original Movie).
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And Finally...
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