Dark Angels Note 55

Dearest friends,

Welcome back to our writerly thoughts to distract, inspire and reassure you. Be well, keep reading, keep writing and know that we’re always here..

1. Writing

From the Wife of Bath to Jay Gatsby, literature is full of fibbers. Nothing beats a good lie to add suspense and intrigue.

Have you ever had to cover up a secret with a lie? Write a dialogue between two people where one of them is lying to the other. Give them a setting and a topic of conversation, but know that one character is covering up a secret with little falsehoods. There’s no need to reveal the secret at the end of the scene.  Just give one of your characters something important to hide and explore the ways you can tap into that subtext throughout the conversation.

2. Reading

Stupid Job

I’m a liar. It’s not a job
that pays well but I am
my own boss. My wife
brushes teeth. Hers. She
flosses, too. I’ve asked her
to do mine. Get a job,
she tells me. I have one.
I’m a liar, I tell her. We
look at each other, as if
we were paintings, as if
looking would make clear
some deep meaning,
make us smarter,
make us at least feel
better about ourselves.

Curtis Bauer
Copyright © 2010 by Curtis Bauer. “Stupid Job” originally appeared in The Cortland Review.

3. Sharing

For if not now, then when?
And if not then, where now?
And where, if now and then,
one stops and asks, ‘But how?’
And what if, asking ‘How?’,
one wonders, by and by,
if we know where and when and how,
then who is asking ‘Why?’

Craig Watson wrote this short piece in response to a creative exercise during a recent Dark Angels gathering.

4. Gathering

Join us via Zoom for an hour of writing and talking with other Dark Angels. We meet at 7pm UK time every Tuesday. Click here on the night. There’s no need to register in advance and we’ll be using the same link every week from now on. There’s no charge. And feel free to bring a friend along.

 5. Workshopping

One Starter Day place is still up for grabs on 9th June. If you know of anyone who would enjoy the company of Dark Angels, feel free to spread the word.

From everyone at Dark Angels