Tag: Off_The_Cuff

An Off The Cuff Moment

An Off The Cuff Moment.

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Off The Cuff is my local, friendly, supportive writing group. We meet once a week and write off the cuff. Sometimes we’re given a title, sometimes we’re presented with specific words to include within our piece, and sometimes we’re prompted by a hash tag on a text …

It’s a great way to flex the writing muscle.

I have a number of notebooks filled with short stories, flash fictions, poems and possible beginnings to new novels, all written at Off The Cuff. I was looking through my most recent one and thought I’d share my cowboy short with you.

 

Gunfight at the Not OK Corral.

Swaggering down the street, gun in hand, Gabe’s eyes flicked left to right as he scanned the path ahead. Five minutes had passed since his tussle with Jed behind the old church and neither gunslinger was about to leave town. This was a fight to the death.
Turning the corner, Gabe squinted. The low summer sun was reflecting off the rear window of a large, black four-by-four, blinding him to what lay ahead. Right now, he was vulnerable. Right now, Jed could shoot him down.

Gabe stopped and listened. A scuffing and shuffling of boots carried on the breeze and drew his attention to the front of the vehicle. He raised a hand to his brow, and searched the dusty road for signs of life. There. A brim of a hat. A shadow.

Exposed and with nowhere to hide, Gabe checked his gun for ammo – one more shot. He had to make it count.

‘Jed,’ he called. ‘I know you’re there. Show yourself.’ He tucked his gun into the front pocket of his jeans, thrust his thumbs into his waistband, and waited.

With a hand secured to his hip, Jed emerged from in front of the car. ‘What’s it to be, Gabe?’ he said, his fingers hovering over his holster. ‘One on one?’

Gabe nodded. ‘Yep. Just you and me. We end it. Now.’ He indicated for Jed to turn around, stood with his back to his, and started a count to ten as both cowboys strode in opposite directions.

‘Turn and draw?’ Jed asked at step eight.

‘Yep.’ Gabe’s nerves rolled like tumble weed around his gut. He could take Jed. He just needed to keep his focus. ‘Nine. Ten.’ He wheeled round, lifted his gun and squeezed the trigger. ‘Prepare to get wet, Jed!’ he yelled, laughing as the water spurted from his pistol.

 

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I’m thrilled to have been asked to be a judge at Bridport’s Story Slam on Tuesday 14th October 2015. If you’re in the area, please do come along and listen to the local talent.

I will have copies of Follow Me Follow You available for purchase on the day.

Take care.

Laura x

I Have News

Evening Sun in PenrithGood morning. I have news.

I am delighted to tell you my first novel, ‘Truth or Dare?’ has been accepted for publication by the marvellous Choc Lit, under their new Choc Lit Lite imprint, and I couldn’t be happier.

Choc Lit are a well-respected, award-winning, independent publisher, with great work ethics and fantastic authors, and one with whom I feel honoured to be linked.

I’m quite sure none of this would have happened had I not joined my local writing group, Off The Cuff, or the Romantic Novelists’ Association New Writers’ Scheme, and owe everyone involved my thanks. If you are an unpublished writer of romance, the NWS is the scheme for you. Find out about it here.

Through both groups, I have learned such a lot about writing, and life, but best of all, I made enduring, solid writing friendships, including my online support group, The Romaniacs.Romaniac Tee Shirts

Then there are those wonderful friends and family at home, who for the last six years have listened to me without glazing over, and encouraged me to keep going.

You are all stars, and not once have I found writing a lonely experience 🙂

Thank you.

And thank you, Mum.

Take care.

Laura xx

Thank you for this photo, Shelly xxx
Thank you for this photo, Shelly xxx

 

 

Laura Gets Flash

IMG_2244Last week I blogged about my local writing group and the skills I’ve learned through attending Off The Cuff. It was this group that introduced and explained Flash Fiction to me. Wikipedia defines it as “…a style of fictional literature or fiction of extreme brevity.”

I have written stories as short as 25 words, and entered competitions with tales of 500 words. I’ve tried a 6 word story, but am not yet skilled enough to produce anything of value in this range.

As an over-writer who loves to hack and slash scripts down, flash fiction satisfies my desire for concision. It focuses the mind, and helps develop the ability to identify the relevant points of the story.

The following is a 10 minute, 100 word story, written at Off The Cuff. It’s not been tweaked – this is how it was presented.

From Hero to Zero 

Handsome and rich. I had everything; Hollywood ranch, private jet, two Oscars. I had glacial white, virginal girls pleading to be walked on the red carpet.

My days were full of action. My nights too.

My face appeared on billboards, my palm prints on the Walk of Fame. My life was documented in magazines, news clippings, movies. “The greatest action hero of all time”, the tag line to my name.

And then I met her.

She taught me there’s no value to property, fame, or notches on a bedpost.

I’d rather possess nothing, and have her love.

Zero.

Not hero.

 

It’s not perfect, it possibly breaks all sorts of rules, and it’s not award-winning stuff, but that’s not why I wrote it.

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I wrote it because I love to write.

Take care.

Laura x

It’s all Off The Cuff

What would I do without my lovely, local writing group, Off The Cuff?IMG_0568

We quite literally write off the cuff. We enter the library with no clue as to what the task will be and settle down to twenty minutes of writing. This may be inspiration taken from a line in a book, or ideas gathered from the roll of a set of story dice, or one person’s suggestion, prepared especially for the session.

Our meetings are split into two, refuelling with coffee at the break. The second half is shorter than the first and can consist of flash fiction, or poetry, amongst other styles, and this is when I experiment with different forms of expression. We’ve even tried writing a twenty-six line story, each sentence, or each word beginning with the next letter of the alphabet, but an observation was made today that, whilst this certainly stretches the creative muscle, most stories end with someone having an x-ray or playing a xylophone in yonder zoo.

Andrew Began Counting Daffodils. Each Flower Grew Higher…Whilst X-raying Yonder Zoo.

See?

Not daffs, but yellow.
Not daffs, but yellow.

I love Off The Cuff for many reasons, the first being the wonderful friendship offered. I am looked after and nurtured by writers with greater knowledge and understanding than I, and I am in awe of these wonderful friends and their skills. And how different we all are. Give seven of us the same title, the same subject, and we will produce seven different projects.

It’s a fantastic way to get the brain kick-started, and with a notebook full of OTC tasks, I have a collection of ideas and stories waiting to be developed.

 

 

 

At our latest gathering, we were given the title ‘Speak of the Devil’.

This was my twenty minute offering.

Speak of the Devil 

Say my name, and I’ll cock an ear

Speak it twice, and a mist appears

A third time now, you’ll see my head

My tail you’ll see, a fourth time said.

 

Say my name, and I’ll come to you

We’ll whirl a dance in devil’s shoes

But take my hand and a deal we’ll make:

Your soul turns black, it’s mine to take.

 

Say my name and I’ll show you how

With worldly riches you can endow

Your lust for life will see no end

If I remain your one true friend.

 

But turn your back on all I’ve done

The gift I’ve wrapped will come undone

Betray me once and you will see

My living hell: Immortality.

 

Speak of the devil, and you will see his tail

Best to stay silent, if your soul’s not for sale.Notebooks

 

Which writing tasks flex your creative muscle?

Laura x