For our first Weird Words gathering, we used the Random Story feature on liminal.earth as a starting point to create blackout poetry.
The results were pretty fantastic, and really added a new dimension to the weirdness of the reports by highlighting some themes within the original story.
What could we learn about the paranormal by reframing experiences (those of others, or our own)? In the act of taking one narrative and carving another out of it, can we experience something a bit more viscerally ourselves? That was certainly my unexpected experience in doing this exercise.
My random story had to do with a time slip. I found myself focusing in on the words that were related to a sense of time. What was left felt like a condensation of the experience, which I think is something good poetry achieves and reminds me of the stone tape theory in the paranormal.
For our next Weird Words Writing Group, we're going to be utilizing tarot as a creative muse, which I'm really excited to explore with y'all. See you at 8:30 ET/5:30 PST this Thursday! If you haven't received a calendar invite already, fill out this form & I'll get it to you ASAP.
I'm really excited to start writing with my fellow weirdos on the last Thursday of each month!
What to Expect
Opening free-write for ~10 min
Introductions
2-3 (optional) writing prompts, typically related to the weird, occult, paranormal, cryptids, etc.
This week, we're going to be using the “Random Story” feature on Liminal Earth's map for our prompts!
An opportunity after each prompt to share a bit of what you wrote in response (sharing is, of course, always optional)
How do I sign up!?
If you'd like to join us this coming Thursday, January 26th at 5:30pm PST please fill out this form by Wednesday, January 25th so I can make sure to get the Zoom link emailed out to you. (I'll do my best to keep an eye out for any submissions between then and the start of the group on Thursday & get you the link, too.)
If you can't join this time, but want to be invited for future meetings, feel free to note that when you fill out the form (as well as anything that could help make it accessible to you if there's an issue w/ timing) & we'll see what we can do!
The main thing that's stopped me from using my website blog feature more, or starting a Substack/something similar is that I hate having to cross promote things on various platforms. Being able to both follow other writers within Mastodon and post/cross-post my own work in what has quickly become my main social media platform. I'm loving the #fediverse !