Writing prompt – what’s behind the window?
No Comments »3rd February, 2013; Category: Fiction, Short Fiction, Short Stories, Short Story Starters, The Writer's Life, Writing prompts
Windows in the Kasbah des Oudaias, Rabat, Morocco
On our visit to the Rabat, the capital of Morocco, my attention was grabbed by this intriguing, yet, beautiful, set of windows in the Kasbah des Oudaias.
The writer in me started wondering: what’s behind the windows?
Who lives here? What are the stories of the people living here?
If the windows could tell, what stories would they weave.
This quaint, simple scene is evocative of the mysterious, magical Morocco we experienced throughout our tour.
Could this be the setting for a poem?
A short story?
A murder mystery – or a tearful romance?
Good writing.
Join a writers’ group
Last night I attended the first meeting for 2013 of my writers’ group. I’ve been a member now for nearly five years and it has been wonderful experience, each meeting stretching me as a writer. For the first time in the group’s eight year existence, we changed venue to a nearby country location, namely, Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills, rather than near the city CBD. As it turns out, this location is far more central to the majority of members; we just didn’t realise how many of us lived away from the city.
I’ve been an active member of several writers’ groups in the last five years. Over the last few years I’ve even jointly helped to run one. I’ve found that being a member of such a group has many beneficial spin-offs. Some of the benefits as I see it are as follows:
- A sense of belonging – writing can be such a lonely business.
- A place to safely share your work with fellow writers.
- A place to safely share in the struggles of being a writer, and getting mutual support.
- A place to receive honest and constructive critiquing of your writing. (If your group doesn’t do this, it might be time to set down some rules of conduct – or leave the group.)
- A place of encouragement in a world where trying to get writing published can be very discouraging.
- A place to be challenged and encouraged to write more, and perhaps in a genre one would normally not write.
My advice to all my readers is to seek out a writers’ group near where you live. And if you can’t find one, start one, perhaps coordinating it through your local library, or writing a letter to or article for the local newspaper, or even getting an interview spot on local radio.
Good writing.