So, session two of Write Club stumbles to a conclusion with more than one stubbed toe.
Jordan’s prompt from the start of session two seemed innocuous at the time but went on to stump several of us.
Including Jordan.
Which is just poetic justice for coming up with a prompt that required a story length metaphor as part of the prose.
I mean really, WTF was he thinking? But, nine days later, we all turned in something and nobody got kicked out, so I guess it worked.
Mine involved a forest, a Methusilan druid, a young man with magical impotence, a beetle - the poor little bugger was the metaphor, it was never going to end well - and a fire that needed to be lit in a particular way.
What could possibly go wrong?
Ask the beetle. No, wait… you can’t.
In other tales from the dark and turbulent pit of possibilities that is Write Club, we had aliens on the Whitehouse lawn, a brain-damaged brewer, a sexually abused young man, a murder mystery, a coming of age adventure (curiously sans sex) and of course, the obligatory zombie.
Quite a crop from a talented bunch of scribes.
I gotta say that I really found this one a challenge and I reckon all but one of my fellow writers would agree.
Now, we move on to session three and Jayna has the chance to lighten the load for the next two weeks.
Does she take the opportunity?
Shit yes!
She knocks it out of the park with this prompt.
I’m off and running already, none of this head in hands shit of two weeks ago, cursing the whizz-bang metaphor idea.
Oh, no. Quite the opposite. If Jayna wasn’t 5,000 miles away, I’d dig her up and hug her!
In her own words: "Write a story in which your main character ponders an imponderable. It doesn’t matter if the question is answered, or left unanswered, as long as the story concludes in a satisfying way."
I’ve been effing the ineffable for most of my life! This prompt is a fucking gift!
So, there’s this biker in a rough and ready bar, and he’s got THE question. Not just any question, but THE question.
Who the hell is gonna be able to answer THAT question? Someone with his finger in some quantum jiggery-pokery…
I get the feeling this one isn’t going to end well either…