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Regular news and insight from our many poets, writers, educators and facilitators

21 May 2024

Posted by Harley Truslove

Party Writing

Sadly, it was Holly's last session with us today, so we said goodbye to her with some party-themed writing!


First of all, we asked our writers to jot down a starting and ending sentence on slips of paper, both of which should be set at a party. Then Holly mixed them up & distributed them, challenging our group to create a story with the randomised start & end sentences they got! We had an interesting mix, including:


"It was the first birthday party Layla had ever been to, and hoped it wouldn't be the last..." paired with "In the end wasn’t it good that she hadn't taken part in the bet." 

As well as "As the sun rose over the trees, Astra shot a man..." with "Just another day like all days are but with a few more hazards."


Next Holly showed our writers a few different scenes from television and films which involved parties and got our writers to imagine what would happen next, while spinning a roulette wheel to see which genre they would write in. 


Here are a couple of excerpts from our writers' pieces. Ella's piece was a gothic Tracy Beaker:

Would it not have been for the flicker of the candle on the mantlepiece brought by father in the West Indies last year, Benjamin may not have been enlightened as to the uninvited guests his house was currently entertaining. Under the creak of the parlour floorboards, Benjamin graced across the room, tailcoat flying perpendicularly behind him. He swung open the door to the conservatory with a subconscious bow, only for his mouth to fall open at the sight of the garden before him. All of the hoodlums congregating there turned to him as he promptly choked on a fly but courtesy of his mouth falling open...


And Libby's Shakespearian Coronation Street:

- I see it - oh, oh! I see it daughter, I see it all as if it had already happened! My eyes tell me lies, yet it seems as if the crash were as real as you or I!

- Father you are scaring me. Tell me what it is that troubles you so?

- It is a terrible vision - a crash, a fire, a chorus of screams. Tell me it is not so! 

- There is nothing there, father. You look at empty air, yet you seem to see beyond it. I shall fetch a man to call the doctor, you are not well!

- I am well! These poor souls, though, they writhe in their agony. Their faces opening in fear, widening eyes, as they breathe their last stuttering breath...


It was a sad day to say goodbye to Holly, and her creativity will be missed!

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