This time I wasn’t going to be late, I really wasn’t. It’s no
good arriving after the activity has already started and not feeling
part of it. You never properly catch up.
The others weren’t late either, arriving together bang on time with
a smile and a wave. The five of us stood outside the closed, dark
café and frowned at the door. “Doesn’t look like anyone’s
there,” said Danni.
“I did speak to her today,” said Jo. “She definitely said it
was still on.”
I peered up at the first floor windows. There were no lights. Last
time, the room had been bustling and the kitchen had been in the
middle of a bake. It had been very hot, and a bit cramped.
“Let’s give it fifteen minutes,” said Jo, “and then go
somewhere else.” She glanced around it us with slightly narrowed
eyes. “I also need to discuss the night. Don’t worry, not whether
to continue it, but where we do it.”
“Yeah.” We all murmured agreement, some louder than others.
“This place was nice,” I thought aloud, “but there wasn’t
much space. And it was almost as much about the cakes as the
writing.”
Jo tore a piece of A4 out of her pad and started writing on it. “In
case any newbies come along,” she said and tucked it inside the
letterbox. “Writenighters – we have gone to the Castle pub.”
There was a smiley face on it.
The Castle was quiet, quieter than I’d ever seen it, but still they
had some RnB coming out of the speakers. I was the last in, and
followed the others through to the back room, which was deserted,
bright and quiet, apart from us, clustered around a long table. My
brain must have not believed Jo when she said, as I sat down beside
her, “There’s a huge lasagne coming in a minute,” so I
was surprised when a big plate of food actually arrived. It smelled
amazing. I thought she must have really been looking forward to the
cakes in the café.
Ed passed out sheets for the exercise. It was useful stuff –
spending more time considering the circumstances and motivations of
your characters, and making conscious use of the three-act structure
to a story. I need to spend more time on this kind of thing. It can
feel like a chore, but once you do it, it can feel like a veil has
been lifted, and more ideas spring from it.
As is traditional, some subterfuge ensued. Colin pondered what it
would mean to use ‘death’ in answer to all the questions. Danni
wondered if all this wasn’t just over-thinking. We debated briefly
whether it always had to be three acts, or if a story could have no
catalyst or motivation. I think it could, but then it wouldn’t be
much of a story.
We sat and wrote, or typed, or thought for a while, and then chatted
some more. The next NaNoWriMo came up. Ed had his characters and plot
outline already well worked out, which he passed around. Jo had her
pink folder ready, full of research, for an extended version of her
anthology story. Colin sounded well-prepared too. I revealed I had
the idea, but hadn’t mapped out how it would go yet. I bet I leave
it til Oct 31st like last year. Danni wasn’t preparing
much at all. She’s a free-form story-stream kind of girl.
I can’t remember who brought it up, but we mentioned the previous
project a few of us had been working on – an excuse to think more
about editing. I was glad of this, as it had felt unresolved, but Jo
reminded us that the competition was open until Nov 1st,
so we still had time to send if off. Colin brought out a print-out of
his, which a couple of us read, and Danni hacked into it with her red
pen.
Maybe I shouldn’t have done, but I looked at what Colin had been
working on this evening and saw notes of the most interesting points
that had come up. Reversing the three-act plot stood out, so that it
was quite conclusive at the start and ended shortly after a crisis
point, but what really caught my eye was something Danni had said
earlier about it’s creepy when men make eye contact, but it’s
also creepy when men won’t. Seems like we can’t win.
We carried on typing, thinking and writing again and let time slip
by. We forgot about finishing at 9.30. There seemed no hurry.
Eventually, I had to go, but only got as far as the door.
“We didn’t discuss the venue thing yet,” said Colin.
Jo immediately put down her pink highlighter and opened her pad at a
fresh sheet. With true efficiency, she made a list of all the
potential venues we could use to meet, with various pros and cons,
and also thoughts on possible days of the week. I won’t spoil it
for you – I am sure Jo will reveal all in a different post – and
so for now, I wish everyone happy, obsessive and productive writing.
Look forward to seeing everyone again in a couple of weeks.
