I almost didn’t go to that Writers’ Social. I was tired, and it was quite a long drive into town. But I knew I’d enjoy it – hanging out with other writers is always a boost – and so I made myself go.
Should I do the Open Mic?, I wondered as I was driving down the highway through the twilight (I hate driving in twilight, it’s so confusing). I hadn’t prepared for it at all, just had a story in mind that I thought might work – it’s short enough.
And then a line popped into my head, I don’t remember where I heard it or who said it: “Never pass up the opportunity to read from your work.”
Okay then, I thought. What have I got to lose? So when I got there, I asked if there were any Open Mic spots left. I wasn’t really sure whether I wanted to read, I said, so just put me on the “maybe” list.
There were two others ahead of me – two lovely young Creative Writing students from the uni – and as it turned out, nobody else signed up. I was up!
And so I did my first reading at an Open Mic, at a Writer’s Gathering, among six other amazing writers. I pulled up the story on my phone, on Fairytale Magazine‘s old website, and read “Hitting the Wall” – the story of what happens when you stake everything on one particular version of a fairy tale.
It was fun! I really enjoyed reading, and I think the audience enjoyed it too. I even got a laugh or two. And even though my lighthearted, fun little story was rather different from all the serious work that came before and after, I felt okay about that. I’m unapologetic about writing fairy tales – they have things to say.
So there we are: one more new experience, another step in my journey of Telling Stories in Clay and Words.
Life, the Universe, and a Reading at an Open Mic. I’m so glad I got this chance.
(Photo credits Darlene Mulligan. Thank you, Darlene!)
Good for you, stepping up to that microphone! Brava! One instructor said to our class many decades ago, ‘Communication is not complete without response.’ This is the vital part of writing, reading and speaking in front of an audience, that connection with others.
Yes, that’s it. It’s important to have an audience, and with writing you so rarely get to see the audience’s reaction – it’s a time shift between then”performance” (writing the book) and the audience receiving it (reading it). So this was great.