I am just getting home from a lively morning at the Eleanor London Côte Saint-Luc Public Library, where I gave the first of four StoryScaping writing workshops. The StoryScaping program is a Quebec Writers' Federation initiative that brings writers like me into the community.
The first thing I want to tell you is that the Eleanor London Côte Saint-Luc Public Library is the first library I ever went to! In fact, the librarian who used to check out my books was Eleanor London herself!
The second thing I want to tell you is that it's usually me who makes things LIVELY, but today I had a lot of help from my ten workshop participants!! It was an extremely lively crowd, full of storytellers. Five of us were retired teachers, and one, Goldye, is still teaching bridge! Anyway, we teachers do seem to have a lot to say!! I had planned to share writing tips and do three exercises, but going round the table for introductions took a little longer than expected, so we only did one exercises at the end. (I took today's pic as proof that my students actually did some writing!) When we meet again next week there will definitely be THREE exercises, and possibly FOUR!
But the getting to know each other part of the morning turned out to be interesting and useful. Miri, who had been my student at Marianopolis College (FUN!!), told us a fascinating story about some genealogical research she's been doing -- which led us to discuss how miracles seem to happen when we're working on the stories we most need to tell. (Which reminds me that the name of my workshop is "Finding the Story You Need to Tell"!) Miri's introduction also reminded me to point out the importance of knowing when to take a break from doing research, and also the importance of writing in scenes. Mira (we have a Miri and a Mira in the group) shared a riveting story about how, as a child in Egypt, she was forced to leave her home in 24 hours. I'm sure I'm not the only one there today who will be unable to get this story out of my mind. It's a sign, Mira, that you need to write it -- not just for your family, but for all readers out there! Natalie wants to write about growing up in Montreal in the 60s and 70s -- we agreed with her assessment that there are not enough books about this period.
There was time (phew!!) for me to introduce my favourite writing tips, which include making writing a habit, reading, finding a place for trouble, and rewriting!
During the writing exercise, I noticed that two participants -- Mira and Rita -- put down their pens a little too soon! I told the group how, when I put down my pen (or take my fingers off the keyboard) too quickly, I always make myself go back and write a little more. And often, those sentences are my best work of the day. And guess what? Mira and Rita went on to generate some excellent new material!
When I was a kid growing up in Côte Saint-Luc, I loved to play school! As you can guess, I was the teacher!! This morning over coffee, I told my husband I was looking forward to playing school again today!! I don't know about you, but my favorite days (and favorite writing workshops) are a mix of work and play.
Stay tuned for further news from this StoryScaping group. Let's see whether the curly-haired teacher can get all her writing exercises in!!