Author: Susan Schmidlin

A long time lover of the natural world including rocks, minerals and fossils along with being a full time farmer and writer, Susan Schmidlin shares stories of life on an Oregon Black Angus farm.

It’s A Scary Thing (A Tribute to NaNoWriMo)

Written from the Prompt at Writers in the Grove on Monday, October 26. Halloween type stories.

 

I’ve got a month-long challenge in front of me, to write almost 2,000 words a day and keep track of my progress.

I’m not sure which scares me more, the writing or the keeping track. I signed up a week ago and even the website gave me chills. This is just another thing I have to learn while doing the writing that I love.

My inner struggle keeps casting doubts on all my good intentions. The waffle-factor is showing itself to be a large, looming obstacle to overcome. I feel the need to keep plowing through until the writing can start to flow.

“Like a bull in a china shop,” I heard that phrase often throughout the years. They were always looking straight at me when they were verbalizing the clique’.

It’s not that I want to bulldoze my way through life. I would much rather be a dainty little flower with time to envelope the day in loving embrace and have the ability to fill nay-sayers with quiet consolation.

Instead, I bang, twist and impale while tearing apart ideas, methods and plans before finding a balance of thoughts for the writing to begin.

Doggedly, I will be sharpening my cleaver, dusting off the sledge hammer, and lifting mental weights daily until November 1st, before advancing laboriously into the challenge of NaNoWriMo.

A Prompt and an Assignment

At the end of last weeks class, a stack of magazines had been offered as the prompt for the class to be held on Sept. 21. It is as simple as leafing through a magazine and finding an image that speaks to you.

Using the image, write freely for 15 minutes.

Feel free to share your writing at the Monday class, or bring images that you select to be passed around as inspiration for others in the group.

You can write by describing what you see, or what the image makes you think about. It could be the emotion you feel, or want others to feel. What the photographer was looking for or what can’t be seen in the picture. Let your imagination run wild.

A photo from The Sun Magazine, a solitary form walking in the mist.

Also, a reminder that Sept. 21 is a celebration for Patty. She has successfully completed TOPS and has graduated to the KOPS program. Congratulations Patty!

From the Prompt Cavort

The following poem was inspired by the prompt called “Cavort.”

Cavort

A shoe found near the front door
The well-worn t-shirt just a few paces later
What was left of Stinky, the favorite bedtime blanket,
was tossed casually amongst the weeds
at the edge of the lane
With holey jeans and unders discarded
The six year old dances buck-naked
in an unexpected summer rain.

Prompt: Cavort

A simple word led Writers in the Grove to come up with a room full of diverse stories and poems.

The group had discussed the arc of a piece and how to take it from the beginning hook, to action, to resolution. It was mentioned that it is like dominoes set to fall in a pattern, each section of the piece needs to connect to the next domino in order for the pattern to fall in succession. Each thing that happens, has to happen for a reason.

The prompt was: Cavort.

See where the word takes you.

August at the Vernonia Library

The Vernonia Library Writing Group met August 20 at 6 pm. We explored the writing practice of Imitation, that is writing about an object or experience in several different ways.

Seeing the moon as a perfect pearl, or a white balloon that had lost its string, or an owl eye without a pupil, or a saucer without a teacup all gave us ideas on different ways to describe a single thought.

The prompt for the group was a sentence of unknown origin, “I will never hide my talent, if I am silent, I am forgotten.” The group was given 15 minutes to free write.

A homework assignment was given to the group. Before the next meeting on Sept. 17, individuals will ‘eavesdrop’ on a conversation and write what they have heard. This practice is designed to focus on not only dialog, but nuances that can change a conversation. Writers are not required to copy the conversation as they heard it, but to see if they can discern and imitate the tone.

Assignments will be discussed at our next meeting scheduled for September 17, 2015, at the Vernonia Library, 7pm.

Prompt: Dialog

This is the prompt from Vernonia Library Writers Group prompt for July 16: Writing Dialog.

The introduction to the prompt began with reading aloud 10 lines of dialog that had no other information as to who was talking or how it was said, just dialog. It could have been a scene in a play or just a casual conversation. After reading the dialog, the group discussed if they could distinguish the characters by the lines they spoke. Male, female, young, old, local or from somewhere else, and if this was a current exchange, from days gone by, or from the future; the dialog created characters.

The class was given 15 minutes to write their own dialog. The class dissected each members dialog to reveal who the characters were by their dialog. Some were very precise to what the writer had in mind. One person had three people in their dialog. This led to a good discussion about ways to make the distinct characters have their own presence, their unique personality.

Prompt: Choices

The prompt for June 15 revolved around choices: What has been chosen and was it the right path? Or, something that was of your own choosing; how it would be different today if the choice was different.

This was a lively discussion and writing exercise at the writing class. Some choices were light-hearted and silly, while others dived in deeply to thoughts and experiences. It is your choice for this prompt…where does it lead you?

Rain Magazine Event

Writing and artistic contributions from throughout Western Oregon and Washington are compiled by Clatsop Community College each year. These submissions are put into magazine/review form, and the College invites the authors in for an event to debut the magazine. The audience gets to hear the authors as they read their articles.

This is the information from the Rain Magazine event coordinator;

Clatsop Community College invites the community to celebrate the release of the 2015 edition of Rain Magazine at a free public reading and reception,Friday, May 29 from 6:00pm to 8:30pm in the Towler Hall 3rd floor Commons, 1660 Lexington Avenue, Astoria. Gather at 5:30pm for an author meet-and-greet and reading signup before the program begins.
Many contributors will be on hand to read excerpts from their works, and original artwork from the magazine will be on display. Light refreshments will be served, and copies of this limited edition Clatsop Community College publication will be available to the public.
This year’s Rain Magazine includes new writing from Robert Michael Pyle, Alex Autio, Tricia Gates Brown, Nancy Cook, Wayne Downing, Tim Hurd, Lucien Swerdloff, Florence Sage, Jan Bono, Jim Dott, Reba Owen, John Ciminello, Richard Mack, and more. Artwork by Terry Shumaker, Vicki Baker, Stirling Gorsuch, Kerri Zell, Laurel Fleet, and many others is included. This year’s cover features an oil painting by Astoria artist Darren Orange.
Event contact: Alison Ruch, aruch@clatsopcc.edu

Senses by Susan Schmidlin

April 20, 2015

The earth between my fingers
Dark loam that crumbles at the touch
Warmed by the spring sun
Just moist enough to dampen my knees.

Visitors in the form of potato bugs,
Worms, bees, and slugs
Come and go as I toil
Leaving mere bits of memories in the stillness.

I notice something in the breeze
That distracts me from my work
Makes me pause and I breathe in
As the lilacs begin to sing.

Inspired by the Prompt: Senses.