Story Slam

Once a month, Painted Bride Quarterly hosts a written story slam at the Pen and Pencil Club. I always participate, but I'm never sure what to do with the pieces I write. They're so specific to that place and time, and though each might have been pretty good for the moment, they reveal themselves to be much rougher in the light of the next day. Some might be seeds for more polished pieces, but others will never be seen again unless I can use them in the venue of my Pictures of Lilies blog.

The story slam (which isn't really called a story slam -- that's just the best way to describe it) has specific rules. First a poet reads (this was not always the case, but is an experiment that's working well) for ten minutes. The audience pays attention to words and phrases in the poet's work, and then audience members call out these words and phrases when asked to do so. These become the prompts for writing. The first round prompt consists of a noun, verb, and adjective. The second round uses a theme. The third uses a line. Usually we're allowed five minutes to write (sometimes a little more), and then we can choose to get up and read our work. The audience votes/judges with applause, and winners get books, t-shirts, bumper stickers, etc. The best thing I've won was a CD of Richard Marx's album Repeat Offender. To see my Story Slam writing, go to:
http://picturesoflilies.blogspot.com/