Micro literary club

Drej and I started a super tiny literary workshop with the purpose of practicing creative writing. Basically we go to a café, order deliciously smelling pink warm water called tea, select a task from Blatnik’s book and execute it within 30-minutes or so timespan. Then we each read the other’s and offer a comment. The funniest thing is when the music starts turning up the beat, like house or techno, we were both writing like nuts. My forearm hurts, because I haven’t been using it for handwriting in too, tooo long.

Our main fault, so to say, is that we stick to our comfort zones – we each chose a topic that was practically a memory or a familiar fantasy. We are both good writers, but my problem is the inability to reach outside my box. Perhaps because I carry a fairly large box. I still think imagination is like a talent – you either have it or you don’t – the only question is, how much you put onto it. Until I learn how to write more purposefully, I won’t be able to write about the things I can’t relate to – but readers could. Excellently, this is where I think Drej is strongest. Things she writes are instantly relatable. You wholesomely feel yourself present in the scenes. Mine are like strange, exotic movies for nerds and geeks.

To each their own, to be sure, but this is where practice, practice, practice comes in. Slowly and surely. In all directions.

And in case you are wondering, my story was about a Botswana chauffer for a travel agency, driving around an excited old white lady on her dream trip and they pick up a sad hitchhiking boy. Turns out, the boy has been trying to convince the people who collect him to try and also collect a hitchhiking lion. (It is Kalahari, after all.) Until now, nobody has thought this to be a great idea. Until now!

Problems:

-         - The story is based on actual memory (the old lady, the driver, the voyage …)

-          - It’s about a country I just read about in a book I .. just read

-          - Although male, the hitchhiker could be of more interesting age.

-          - I ran out of time :D I write too haphazardly.

But the twist was good, I think :)) It jumped out on me in the middle of the story.