- Dan posted a story! We didn't feel comfortable discussing it since he wasn't at the meeting, but we are excited to start using the google group more and have a conversation about it there.
- David suggested that he would be more motivated to write if a system were built in to DWChitown that called for more accountability. A large debate ensued, and a compromise was agreed upon. Our brand new "Dibsies" process will be outlined later in this post, and it goes into effect NOW!
- Thought we couldn't come up with a better story prompt than "Cats and/or Batman"? Wrong. After discussing the recent cruise ship sinking, our minds wandered to The Lonely Island's seminal classic "I'm on a Boat." (We may or may not be horrible people.) Thus, after watching the the video, we all wrote stories that began with the phrase "I'm on a boat." It wasn't a contest, but Elizabeth won our hearts with the line, "Fuck it, I'm on a treadmill."
- Becky, Meg, and Felipe read each other's Doctor Who space-and/or-time-travel-related stories from last week's whiskey tasting. Constructive criticism ensued.
- At the end of the evening we all discussed what we've been reading lately. Works mentioned included the plays of Sarah Kane and Doug Wright, Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link, and the Game of Thrones series by George R. R. Martin. (We mentioned some others, but I can't remember what they all were. Feel free to comment on this post!) Meg suggested that perhaps we could start bringing in passages from published works that we feel are particularly good examples of writing. Something to think about.
- Our next meeting will be Tuesday, January 31st at 7:30 p.m., Becky's apartment. (It seems it's a little bit easier for people to get there.)
- Also, it is apparently a national tragedy that I have not seen the Back to the Future films. I have borrowed Glenn's DVDs, and I will have a short essay prepared for the next meeting. :)
As I mentioned earlier, we have a new "Dibsies" system that will allow for more accountability, if you need that accountability to be motivated. Here are the guidelines:
- For 24 hours after each DWChitown meeting (until 10 p.m. the next day), you will have the opportunity to "call dibsies" on submitting a story for the next week by emailing the google group. If you don't call dibsies, you can still submit a story, and we'll still read it. However, by calling dibsies, you are absolutely committing to submitting a story for next week, barring any extreme unforeseen circumstances.
- Two people can call dibsies per meeting. The first person to call dibsies has their story read first at the next meeting, and the second person has theirs read second. All other stories submitted for that week will be read afterwards.
- You have to wait a week in between dibsies. So if you call dibsies for the January 31st meeting, you cannot call dibsies for the meeting after that.
- If you have called dibsies for a given meeting and you fail to produce a story, you will be punished in one of two ways: A) You will have to perform a glorious rendition of "I'm a Little Teapot" for the group, or B) You will have to do ten pushups.
You hear that, my friends? You have until 10 p.m. on January 18th to call dibsies for the next meeting by emailing the google group and letting us know! Even if you weren't at tonight's meeting, you can still call dibsies for the next meeting. That's one reason we decided on a 24-hour waiting period. So get going! I want to see some commitment! And if you have any questions, feel free to email dwchitown@gmail.com. See you next time...
