Ooops, last night there was one of the WWWPs missing in action. A bad cold had kept her home, overdosing on zinc.
Since Tammy was the one who was MIA, and since she is our resident Grammar *itch, we all scrambled to fill in for her. Where do those commas belong? How about that apostrophe--what is the most accepted placement? We did our best, but fell short. Not only did we miss her deft touch, we missed her writing voice.
I had seen a grammar pen, and mentioned it to my fellow WWWPs, but since no one believed me, I'm including a link. It vibrates when an error is made, which--in our group--led to some wild digression.
As writers, when something is missing, we know it. Succintness. A strong ending. A hook at the beginning. When we get the story down, then we can attend to the missing components.
Last night, except for Tammy, nothing was missing. Apparently Elvis had not left the building. Lynn shared a story she had written quite a while ago about a trip with "Elvis," which proved that a good storyteller's stories have great bones, no matter how ancient the story is.
Linda brought a story about the WWWPs. In not many words, she had captured the flavor and the evolution of our group.
And Beth...Beth has written a story that is honest and raw, exposing her vulnerability. She took a Chicken Soup theme and has condensed it down it its very essence.
Tammy, you had better be over your cold in two weeks. You had better get off your butt and join us. We missed you. When a piece is missing, there's a void...a void that a vibrating pen could not fill.
