His eyes filled up with tears…
Intrigued? Are you interested in what comes next? It’s a prompt we call a ‘Round Robin’ sent out to our members of Spilt Ink, an international writers group spread out around the globe. Each one of us in turn, adds their own two hundred words before passing it on to the next person until all of us have contributed. So where does the story end? I’ve put my idea at the conclusion? In reality, it may end up in an altogether different way.
So have you always thought it may be interesting to write? Are you curious? There’s no longer a lockdown to while away the hours… but maybe there’s another reason? Would you like to see your name in print? Have you a story that you want to tell? Do you need to write some wound away? Writing can be cathartic ‒ takes you to places in your mind you never thought you’d be.
OK, now you’re interested to make a start… you open up your laptop… and then you panic at the blank page showing there.
Here Stephen King would say, just get on with it. But writing groups can help. We offer each other support and a chance to honestly appraise your writing. Start small. Writing’s like a muscle. You work to make it strong. First a small idea. A short story – usually around four pages long. Then short stories aren’t enough. Eventually comes the daunting task of sitting down to write a full length novel. A need for ninety-thousand words. Sounds scary, doesn’t it! So one step on the diving board and plunge.
Don’t expect to earn a fortune. A writer friend of mine just got a six-figure book deal with Penguin and that’s as rare as hen’s teeth. Besides, her book is about pirates and in many countries, folks have never seen the sea… or know what a pirate is. The publisher wants it changed!
I don’t know about you, but I am sick of reading books that promise the earth – usually the cover states it’s full of draw dropping twists (I’m a thriller writer) and I get to the end of a usually light-weight read and wonder where I missed this shocking twist. A book should never disappoint.
So why be in a group? Spilt Ink’s one commonality is that we have all been involved in Phuket ‒ some stay several months a year and meet up together locally ‒ at other times by zoom. An anthology on a theme is published every other year. We’ve won awards. We’ve been on TV and on Radio too. It’s fun.
You don’t have to be a genius to write. But because we’re international and much travelled, we tend to be interesting people and we’re zany. So If you want to have a go, email me.
Now about that story that I started with… I would have ended it by saying little Yusef chooses his stamp album for money for his parents, but they insist he chooses teddy. Mummy also hid her diamonds in the bear.
Regretfully most refugees don’t end up like Yusef and his parents.
Contact me on sth1000@hotmail.com. Oh, and by the way, my name is Stephanie. Thanks for reading.