Writer's Block

by Christine, Mary, Maxine, Margaret and Joseph

New York is fun and fearless. We are excited to jump off this [she points to the tallest building] with a parachute. I see a mountain in New York. You go down, and it is very exciting. Realistic. Aware of your surroundings and situation.

It looks like Washington, and I said New York. It’s a busy place, isn’t it? Is it a mystery? You better start writing and then see what happens.

The good guy, a tramp with a dog. You’ve got to start writing and one thing will lead to another. He’s going to be the star of the story, a bum. I don’t have ideas. I’m not good at that, but sometimes people have their homes taken away from them, one way or the other. He is a good main character. He only has one leg. That is interesting and bad.

The bad guy, what does he do? He doesn’t look like a bad guy, because he is a bad guy with no gun. He is the bad guy of the clock, walking, not doing much. Would you have to get his permission to put him in a story? He works in at Show Glass Works. He doesn’t do much of anything. He looks aggressive, drinks.

A child’s face is there, and the bad guy is threatening the child. The child is so prominent to me.

He grew up in a seedy part of town, and that made him bad. He wants a multitude of things from the child. Money, sexual, many ways. It is possible he will abduct the child.

A wall with bubble gum stuck all over it. People passing by saw holes in the wall, so they plugged the holes with their gum. That’s not a lot to go on. We have to put it in the story. I don’t have much imagination when it comes to cooking up things. Not one person, a lot of them, kids [put gum on the wall]. If the bad guy sees all the gum, he probably wants to put more gum there. Something that shouldn’t be done.

He’s getting arrested. Stopped for speeding. We can come up with a lot on arrested. The police stopping him. He was just doing his duty. We can put them all together.

You are the magician, so you write it. How will I get home? Someone stole my car and everything that I had. You have a car. Why do you come over here to these ladies who work very hard? If you don’t read, you will never learn how to write. You have to have training. You should go to school and then write two [he holds up two fingers]. There is no sensation. There is no interest.

Would that be a book or a short story? Difficult to say the least. The good guy has a dog. I have writer’s block. Most writers do eventually. [One workshop participant asks the other, “Do you have writer’s block?” She replies, “I don’t have anything. I’m completely out.”]

If you get with a group of people who know how to write, you can get some good stuff out of them. It is fading away into the sunset, the ending. Is that the world?

I can’t look at it. It hurts to talk. Quiet. That could be the beginning or the end.

Trees and buildings. I shouldn’t have even started it. That’s how it ends.

The dog has talent. A lot more has to happen. It seems to be more than just a short story. He’s sitting there with his dog. He’s a good guy, yes. He’s good at saving dogs. The dog is too nice, not menacing.

You’ve got to have a plot before you can start anything. Next time. See you next time.