I have had a good week. On Thursday I took part in a dramatic reading of a play, and on Friday I had a piece of flash fiction published online.
Both are linked to the creation stories and feature Adam and Eve, and Cain and Abel.
‘Cain, a Mystery’
This month is the 200th anniversary of Byron’s death. Jon Quayle and Meiko O’Halloran, who both lecture in Romantic Literature at Newcastle University, invited Jesmond Library’s Play Reading Group to take part in a dramatic reading of Lord Byron’s play about Cain and Abel. I read the part of Abel’s wife; by the end of the play, of course, his widow.
The play was so much more powerful as a group event. Despite having read it several times in rehearsal, performing to an audience gave it an added dimension. It was a fabulous experience.
And I learned a lot more about Byron, not least of which that he didn’t just write poetry.
‘He was certainly handsome’
Since November 2008, Paragraph Planet has featured a different 75 word story every day. I was first published on the site back in May 2014; this is my 33rd time on the planet. They accept any genre, any style, complete stories, extracts, descriptive pieces – the only requirement is that it must be exactly 75 words including the title.
I find it a good way to warm up at the start of a writing day, rather like a singer will start by practising scales.
I also find the 75 word discipline an excellent lesson in editing, honing a story down to its essence, deciding what words to cut, where to place the emphasis.
Inspiration
This particular piece started as a prompt given at a writing group some years ago – ‘Adam and Eve’s first date’. I found the first draft in an old notebook and adapted it for Paragraph Planet.
Now I feel inspired to see what else I may have tucked away in my countless notebooks or saved to memory sticks. There is definitely one story there which with a bit of reworking I hope will suit The People’s Friend. Let this be my challenge for the week.
beacreativewriter 