For the last several years, I’ve been a member of a writing group that meets once a month, The Longmont Writers Club. I’m currently the secretary, which is a position I’ve been enjoying.  (I’ve also been the vice president, but I like the secretary position more. Reminiscent to my days as an admin, I guess.)

Anyway, the club has been in existence since the early 1930’s. The premise of the club is that the members are given a topic to write on ahead of time. On the day of the meeting, we bring our pieces to read to the club for feedback. The rule is that the writing pieces cannot exceed 500 words.

As you may know, I LOVE the exercise of writing from prompts. When I heard about the club, I knew it was going to be a good fit for me. I have taken the 500 word limit as a personal challenge, and always bring a piece that is exactly 500 words. I love this because it forces you to really hone in on which words are going to tell the story best.

When I set out to write a 500 word piece, I start with an overabundance of words. Then I trim  until I have a more reasonable amount. And then I pick and choose. Replace and rephrase. Until I have exactly 500 words in the end. To me, this feels like really digging into the writing piece. Like I’m sifting and molding as I sort through the words. And the process is highly satisfying.

“High Tea” a short story

The first piece I took to the club was titled, “High Tea”. Fun fact, I was told about the writing club over the phone and misheard the prompt topic. The prompt was actually “The Key” but I heard “The Tea” .

…eh, I guess that’s not a very interesting fact.

Anyway, “High Tea” is a sweet little piece about seeing yourself through the eyes of your child and, ultimately, self acceptance.

I recently sent the story to the Byers, Colorado based magazine, “Prairie Times,”  and it was immediately accepted for the August 2019 issue.  They loved it and encouraged me to submit other stories.  Exciting!

 Read the story online here: http://www.prairietimes.com/Aug2019.pdf

They also sent me a copy of the August issue.

“High Tea” is on page 9

 

New Publication in the Works

I’ve been working on a compilation of short stories from some of these  prompt pieces, from various writing exercises, and from my other works. The book will be entitled “2500” and will include 20 short pieces, all 500 words each.  Look for this soon! I’ve finished putting the manuscript together and will be sending it off to my editor to get all polished up and ready for publication. I’m pretty excited to share these stories. Some may be familiar, such as Faye’s unfortunate coffee shop scene from the beginning of “Super Me”, or short stories posted on this site. Others will be brand new.

Oh, and hey,

Just for fun, this post contains…

EXACTLY 500 words

Boom.