About Amy V

Branch Supervisor of the Williamsburg Branch and member of the Dreamweaver Storytelling Troupe.

Williamsburg Creative Writing Group

Prompts for the week of June 28th, 2012

Prompt
This week let’s think about emotions. When we write a story there are emotions involved. We need to practice showing our characters emotions through our words. First write words that you think will express the following emotions. Then using those words to write a paragraph in which your character expresses each of the emotions.
Happy – smiling, sparkling eyes, clapping, jumping up and down for example
Sad
Angry
Hurt
Disappointed
Rebellious
When she saw him step off the plane with the others, she couldn’t contain her joy. She began to jump up and down and clap her hands along with the others. When he came near, her large sparkling eyes and big smile told him he was home.

FIVE WORDS
Create a short story using these five words:
Registration, voluntary, donate, motor, pheasant
HAVE FUN!

The Williamsburg Creative Writing Group will meet at the Owensville branch during the renovation of the Williamsburg branch. Williamsburg will be closed for renovation July 9-August 1, 2012. The Williamsburg Creative Writing Group meets every Thursday 10:30am-12:30pm.

Williamsburg Creative Writing Group

Prompts for the week of June 21st, 2012

Prompt

Create a short story using one of the following prompts.
The Karaoke Queen
Father Time
One in a million
Too hot to handle

FIVE WORDS
Create a short story using these five words:
Highway, vault, tendency, misery, moose
HAVE FUN!

The Williamsburg Creative Writing Group will meet at the Owensville branch during the renovation of the Williamsburg branch. Williamsburg will be closed for renovation July 9-August 1, 2012. The Williamsburg Creative Writing Group meets every Thursday 10:30am-12:30pm.

Williamsburg Creative Writing Group

Prompts for the week of June 14th, 2012

Prompt

Let’s go outside our comfort box this week and try writing a satire. A satire is defined: A literary work in which vices, follies, etc. are held up to ridicule and contempt. The use of ridicule, sarcasm, etc. to attack vices, follies, etc.
A quick example might be, I am so thrilled with the health advantages of a cigarette smoke filled room.

FIVE WORDS
Create a short story using these five words:
Forgetful, impromptu, gorgeous, paycheck, salamander
HAVE FUN!

Two stories from the Williamsburg Creative Writing Group

Love lost
Prompt from 05/17/12

Candice walked out the front door of her little cottage in the country, crossed the road and leaned on the rail fence. She stared at the wildflowers that bloomed there every spring. This year she thought the flowers were more beautiful than ever. It was also the anniversary of the death of her husband who had been killed in Vietnam in May of 1968. Her memories raced back to that horrible day when the telegram came. It had changed her life forever. Tears had rolled down her face and in one instant all of her dreams of having a family with Roger disappeared. It was as if a candle of life had been snuffed right before her eyes.
She said a prayer for Roger and started to remember a song that was popular in the early sixties. The song was “where have all the flowers gone”. The song never had much meaning until after that fateful day in May. Then it all became clear. When will they ever learn not to fight wars? Why do we have to send the flowers of our life off to be killed? When will the body bags stop coming. She thought war is so futile even in its most glorious moments.She also realized that unless the whole world can sit down and talk out their differences there will always be telegrams coming to change someone’s life forever.
She walked back toward the house and a gentle smile crossed her lips as she thought of the wonderful husband and family she has. Maybe she didn’t have the perfect life but she knew she had a good life even without her first love. Next spring if she is still around she will make the 45th walk across the road and pay a silent tribute to a wonderful soldier, husband, a friend and think about flowers that bloom in our hearts and wonder where have they all gone?
05/17/12
T. Waddle

Five words
Bedpost, margarine, financial, develop, cat
Thelma had retired for the night and was lying curled up in the middle of her bed with her favorite book. Jack her husband came into the room and kept looking toward the underside of the bed. He said “I think I hear something under the bed.
Thelma slammed the book on the night stand and said” Jack you need to stop worrying about monsters being under the bed. I’m calling a doctor tomorrow and get you some mental help. There are no monsters under the bed. Can you not believe that?” About then a cat started to scratch the bedpost which sent shivers up Jacks spine. The cat ran past Jack and he gasped as if he were shot.He retreated to the couch were he later fell fast asleep.
The next morning Jack and Thelma sat at the kitchen table eating breakfast. He asked Thelma to pass him the butter for his toast. She never said a word but drank her coffee and slid the butter across the table. She was in deep thought trying to develop a financial plan that would allow them to spend a hundred and twenty dollars an hour for a therapist for Jack. He had this problem with monsters under his bed since childhood. She was determined to get him help or kill him. She couldn’t take it any longer.
The next day Thelma came home and told Jack she had it figured out. They would sacrifice dinners out, vacations and any other luxury for a while until they got the eighteen or so treatments he needed.
Jack looked at Thelma and said” you won’t need to do that because I had the maintenance guy fix my problem for twenty bucks. She looked at him with a worried look.
“What did you do Jack?“
Jack smiled and said “I had him cut the legs off the bed. It now lays flat on the floor. Problem solved for only twenty bucks. And by the way that was margarine you gave me for breakfast yesterday not butter.” Thelma thought, I wonder just how much does a gun cost. TWW T 05/17/12

Williamsburg Creative Writing Group

Prompts for the week of May 24th, 2012

Prompt
This week we will continue to work on character development. Find a picture of a person that you don’t know. You can get them from a magazine or newspaper or where ever. Create a character for that picture. Tell us who they are, what they look like, how old they are, what they do for a living, or what they do in their spare time. You decide who they are and what their life is all about and tell us. Happy writing!!

FIVE WORDS
Create a short story using these five words:
Plastic, personal, weekly, savory, possum
HAVE FUN!

Williamsburg Creative Writing Group Story Submissions

DREAMS DO COME TRUE

I saw him walking toward me. At first, I honestly thought I could be hallucinating. I have been in love with this man for more years than I can even remember.
I walked up to him and his wife. Hi, I said. Can I bother you for a minute? They were used to people stopping them. I have been in love with you for years and I swore to myself that if I was ever lucky enough to meet you that we would swap spit. That got his attention. He smiled at me. I looked at his wife and said, With your permission I’d like to ask your husband to kiss me.
She looked up at her husband and said, Why Not!
He asked me my name. I told him. He said, Betty, what if it isn’t what you expect?
Believe me, I know it will be, I’ve got all of the confidence in the world in you. He had a huge grin on his face. I’ve been asked a lot of things but this takes the cake.
Well to be honest, I’m just a country girl without a lot of experience. Besides your wife you have kissed some beautiful women so I expect you to be more disappointed than I will be.
He was really smiling, I’ll take my chances he said.
There on one of the busiest streets in Aspen, Colorado, Sam Elliott gave me the kiss of a lifetime. When he lifted his lips he said, you did a great job.
I said, I always knew you were a gentleman.
His wife, asked, would you like to join us for lunch?
I answered, I have to think of a way to prove to myself I’m still alive because I feel like I’ve died and gone to heaven.
Then I woke up!

By B. O’Neal

WHISKEY RIVER WYOMING

Elrod lived in a small western town in 1736. He loved to drink whiskey and ride his horse. Sometimes the two did not go well together. It was a Sunday afternoon and Elrod had left the bar and headed across the dirt street to climb aboard his horse. Everyone thought he needed assistance because he was staggering as he left the walkway.
As he made his way to the center of the street a stagecoach went flying past him. He staggered back and his legs looked like elasticbungee cords as he narrowly missed being run over. He yelled obscenities at the driver then made his way across to the other side. What he didn’t realize he was turned around and was headed back into the bar.
As he stepped inside a gentleman wearing a black suit with tails and top hat took Elrod by the arm spun him around and aimed him toward the center of the street. Elrod looked at the man and said “you look like a penguin.” The gentleman said nothing but gave Elrod a slight nudge toward his horse across the street.
Elrod finally made it to his horse and climbed aboard. He placed his feet in the stirrups settled into the saddle and started to sing a rendition of Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush. The town folk saw Elrod sitting on his horse singing and they started to laugh at such a sight. Elrod stopped singing and started to complain. He wanted to know who chopped his horses head off. He was sitting on the horse backwards. This story is a tall tail or should I say a horse’s patoot.

by T. Waddle

Williamsburg Creative Writing Group

Prompts for the week of May 10th, 2012

Prompt
This will be the final prompt for our voices and tenses. This week we will use the omniscient voice ( the all knowing voice). As a general rule it is done in present tense because the omniscient is seeing and describing things as they happen. However that is not always the case. Play with it and tell us what the omniscient is seeing or has seen in your story. Happy writing!!

FIVE WORDS
Create a short story using these five words:
Coliseum, panoramic, mediocre, provide, roach
HAVE FUN!

Williamsburg Creative Writing Group Prompt

Prompts for the week of May 3rd, 2012

Prompt
We will continue to work on our voices and our tenses. Write something this week using the third person (the he/she voice). Write it using both the past and present tenses. Practice makes perfect, happy writing!!

FIVE WORDS
Create a short story using these five words:
Elastic, rendition, assistance, mulberry, penguin
HAVE FUN!