Assigned topics could be something like a favorite movie or song, a memorable vacation, a letter to a famous (or not so famous) person, or even the message inside a fortune cookie. These are usually assigned to write at home, but occasionally are done spontaneously at the meetings.
Changing Our Mind
Every Saturday as a small boy in a one horse town on the Canadian prairies I raced down the gravel streets six blocks to the ramshackle Odeon theatre with 25 cents clutched in my little fist. I bought my ticket rushed into the dark and musty cinema hall and settled into the ragged seats. I…
Write a story that starts with the sentence. We were supposed to meet each other on the Bay Bridge at midnight, but he never showed up.
By Henry Dumas January 31, 2023 “We were supposed to meet each other on the Bay Bridge at midnight, but he never showed up.” Marlene told her best friend Sally Conner at school the next day. Marlene Williams was a typical high school girl. She had a Barbie doll figure, long blond hair, and…
Summer Thoughts About Fellow Writers
R. Munch/ Aug/2022 Each spring Saskatchewan snow birds feel the call of the north and journey home seemingly under the spell of some Broadway musical … “Saskatchewan. Where the wind comes blowing down the plain. And the waving wheat can sure smell sweet. When the wind comes right behind the rain. We…
Art Appreciation
by Randy Munch The Joy of Writing Club members were presented with a color photo of Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s painting The Luncheon of the Boating Party. The assignment was to write an art appreciation essay on the masterpiece. However believing me, a linear thinking professional engineer, can write an intelligent dissertation on a Renoir masterpiece is…
Romantic Mysteries (Fortune Cookie)
by Randy Munch A long time practice of mine is to remain quiet when all the Asian cuisine diners are reading their fortune cookies. Invariably they insist that I tell them what mine says so I offer with something to the effect …. “there are gorgeous women who think you are handsome and intelligent who…
It’s An Ant’s Life by Antonio, the ant
By Larry Meath (This was an activity in anthropomorphism, giving human characteristics to a non-human object.) Let’s start with this fact, there are lots of my relatives on planet earth. Twenty quadrillion, give or take, by latest count. Yeah, you heard me right–even though you probably have no idea how many that really is. That’s…
On the porch.
By Henry Dumas September 25, 2022 The assignment: Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human characteristics to something that isn’t human, such as an animal or object. Write a scene or story that includes anthropomorphism. That evening, Steven and his girlfriend sat together on a wooden swing on the front porch, watching the sunset over…
How I spent my summer vacation.
By Henry Dumas September 11, 2022 Assignment: Write about that happened in your life since our last meeting in June I wish I had something interesting to write about, like traveling to far off galaxies or meeting a beautiful, older, busty alien female that needs to be rescued from evil green skinned androids. I could…
An Airplane’s Orchestra
The airplane’s landing gear drops, kerplunk All passengers, as if on cue, jump. As it descends to the landing strip, nervous passengers tighten their grip. The wheels hit the ground, a loud thump they make and screech as the pilot pumps the brakes. A chorus of cell phones when turned on, chromatic dings creating a…
A Deck of Playing Cards with Attitude
My brothers, sisters in law, nephews, and I gathered one Saturday night for a rousing evening of playing games. One game required several decks of cards, so we opened new packs and threw them in the mix and the game began. We had neglected to remove an information card from each deck and simply tossed…
Once upon a time
December 12, 2022 / Henry Dumas By Henry Dumas The assignment: Take an old fairy tale and reset it in modern times and in your hometown. Once upon a time in a far-off land called West Jordan, Utah, there lived three fairies. Elfie, Lucy, and Sadie buzzed around the garden, protecting it from unwanted…
My life in a song
July 4, 2022 By Henry Dumas The assignment: If each decade of your life was represented by a pop song, what would each one be? And why? Nineteen forty-nine to nineteen sixty. Mama don’t let your babies grow up to be cowboys by Waylon Jennings. Life was always an adventure playing cowboys and Indians…
What If
Topic: What if By Larry Meath (The actual topic was “If Only” but failure to read carefully combined with old age resulted in the following poem. It happened so suddenly My ears had quit ringing As I stepped onto the deck And the birds had stopped singing. It struck me as odd That those sounds…
Springtime in Alaska
By Larry Meath (Topic: Write about the season where you live or currently happen to be.) Alaska is not exactly a Hollywood Mecca as a movie setting, but in 1960 Alaskans were proudly surprised when John Wayne, the Duke, starred in a film roughly based on a Johnny Horton song, North To Alaska. Horton must…
LIGHTNING
By Martha Jo Tisdale We were those folks who sent postcards to family and friends as we traveled across the country in our motorhome. Then we decided postcards were too small — not size, just couldn’t get enough ‘message’ on it, plus the postage was too high. So we started a blog and taught our…
THE ANSWER
By Martha Jo Tisdale It was the middle of the night and I had just fallen asleep after more than an hour of listening to the barking dog across my back fence. No amount of yelling “shut up, you mangy mutt” did any good. Tossing and turning and with a bit of mulling, I finally…
THE HITCHHIKER
By Martha Jo Tisdale Story starter: She stopped to pick up the hitchhiker despite her parents’ warnings. What harm could an old woman do? * * * * Charlotte was driving west on a country road in the most out-of-the way place in all of Texas, she was sure. The road curved, then straightened, then…
IT HAPPENED AT THE ROWDY RIDER
By Judy A Knox (written in 2015) The assignment was to write about a waitress’s Saturday night at the local bar and grill. You never know what’s going to happen at the Rowdy Riders Bar and Grill. For instance, last night started out just like any other Saturday night, the usual crowd – a few…
WILL YOU STILL LOVE ME TOMORROW
By Dorothy Tarpley They married young, merely teens out of high school. Inexpensive wedding bands were all they could afford, though that had nothing to do with the love they felt for one another. No one would bet on this marriage lasting, they were just too young.
LIFE
By Sonja Steele Life is great. Yes it is. We all appreciate our families and loved ones. I welcome them to my home. I appreciate all people and love them.
A HOMOGRAPHIC LOVE POEM
By Dorothy Tarpley You’re the OBJECT of my affection Unless, of course, you OBJECT This isn’t a CONTEST of wills You can always CONTEST or accept Right this MINUTE I’m crossing my fingers And planning each MINUTE detail
The Cagey Bird
By Pam Bergman Crawford No sooner had the family left to watch their son’s hockey game, the cat, who had been casually sitting on the sofa watching out the window, sprang into action. He had been studying the birdcage for days. It was hung on a hook, firmly attached to the ceiling. Ha, ha, he…
Coming or Going — After March
HERE OR THERE, COMING OR GOING, … AFTER MARCH by Judy A. Knox Written in Illinois for an assignment in 2015 (my first snowbird year) called: “Springtime in Arizona” Well, it’s a dirty job but someone has to do it, and this year it fell to me: being the first “Joy of Writing” snowbird to…
All things are difficult before they become easy (Fortune Cookie)
By Judy A Knox ONE DAY in the spring of 2012 I was talking with my friend Marilyn. She played the harp and had been taking lessons for several years. She said it would be nice if the two of us could play some music together. “Maybe you should take a few lessons on your…