I'll be your cheerleader

A summary of yesterday's Chicken Coop with an open call for writers and free creative prompts

Hi! Welcome to another Good Egg Project Newsletter!

Today’s newsletter title is borrowed from Good Example by R3HAB and Andy Grammer

Thank you so much to everyone who joined us for last night’s Chicken Coop Writing Group! It was so fund to be back at Lost in Leith for another evening of writing, book swapping, and sharing your words.

A special thanks to everyone who shared their work with us last night. We heard from Struan, Nimrah, Kirsty, George, Tom, Dee, Cloe, Larissa, and Pat. Everyone shared a variety of work linked to our prompts below, including stream of consciousness meeting minutes, a peek behind the curtain of social care, how to survive a book club, how to be a woman, and thriving in co-working spaces.

It’s always a pleasure to listen to everyone’s work and many people mentioned how inspiring it is to hear other people’s words out loud. If you’d like more performances and readings in your life, check out this week’s newsletter packed with events for writers, sourced by a writer.

This was such a lovely way to end Pride month, as we all came together to really think about what it means to belong, how we survive the things that challenge us, and how we thrive while these challenges continue and how we move forward after they’ve passed.

Open call for The Chicken Coop Writing Group Open Mic

We will be back at Lost in Leith next month for a special edition of the Coop, where I’m inviting you to perform and share some of the work you’ve created either at our events or from our prompts.

This opportunity is open to people who have attended the Chicken Coop Writing Group, Words & Friends, the Good Egg Community Writing Groups, or who have used prompts from the newsletter. Slot times will be decided after sign-ups are completed, but I’ll be in touch with everyone who is performing ahead of the event.

If you’d like to share your work at our open mic scratch night, please get in touch with me through Substack or Instagram. This is an unpaid opportunity, but performers get a free ticket for the event and a complimentary 3-month paid subscription to the Good Egg Project Newsletter. The deadline for sign ups is Friday, July 11.

Come celebrate the writers of the Good Egg Project community with us on Tuesday, July 29, from 6.30-9.30 pm. Tickets are pay-what-you-can and available on Eventbrite.

Now, without further to do, let’s have a look at…

What we got up to last night

It’s the last week of Pride month, and with these tasks I wanted to balance some celebration and joy with exploring the realities of our current social and political landscapes for various communities, including LGBTQ+ people.

The Good Egg community is not queer exclusive, but it is queer inclusive, which is why our groups and prompts aren’t specifically about the queer experience even as Pride month ends. I wanted to give everyone room to explore the many aspects of their social identities. If you happen to be queer and want to explore that part of your identity, I hope these prompts will also allow you to do that.

I’m really proud of our community and the variety of people we bring together each month. We have a wide range of ages, social backgrounds, and life experiences. I also love the respect that you show each other, how you all listen to other people’s stories, and how you meet everyone where they’re at that day. This is the inclusivity and embracing I’d love to see outside of our groups and our creative communities, instead of the fear mongering and scapegoating we’re so often faced with from the media and politicians.

I hope these tasks meet you wherever you are today, and that you can have some fun or catharsis with these prompts.

These prompts are borrowed from The Creative Writing Workbook by John Singleton, and adapted to suit our needs at the Coop. Writing in italics are adaptations and expansions on Singleton’s original prompts.

Task 1: Survival Kit

Discussion point

There are lots of social groupings within the greater social order. Family is one. School is another. A gang is another. A business is another. An office is another. Can you think of any other social groups you belong to? This could include community groups like choirs, sports clubs, book clubs, parenting, a writing group, community gardening and allotment keeping, a knitting circle, a life-drawing class, a band.

Writing task

Select one of these groups (or a group of your choice) and outline the sides and passwords entrants have to learn. Write about this as if you are listing a set of joining instructions. Or as if you were describing the operating instructions you might find on the inside lid of the standard issue survival kit. You can also play with the form in any way you like.

Task 2: Revenants and Revelations

Discussion point

Expanding on your social survival kit, take a moment to consider the opposite of survival - thriving. What is it that helps you to thrive? A hot shower? An early morning swim? Sex? Hot buttered toast? Dinner with friends? Reading a book with the book club? Compliments on your clothes or your writing?

Writing task

Write about it so that some of the aliveness comes across to the reader. Try to focus on community-based joy. Write about the things that help you thrive in community or the things that make your community thrive. You can write about any community you belong to, try to root this in your lived experiences.

Thanks for reading!

I had a great time at yesterday’s Coop. It was lovely to catch up with you all and to spend time getting our words on paper and screens.

I can’t wait for next month. I’m really looking forward to celebrating your writing, hearing your work, and watching you all smash these performances and readings. This is going to be a fun evening to showcase the things you’ve all written over the last year. It’ll also be a great way to finish up for the summer while I take a break over August to catch my breath.

If you’d like to perform with us next month, get in touch with me as soon as possible on Substack or Instagram. I might be able to keep a couple of slots available on the door, but to guarantee your space, message me by Friday, July 11!

Until next time, take care of each other,
Naomi

P.s. Do you know someone who wants to join a curious and creative writing community? Share our newsletter with them so they can connect with our vibrant scene and start getting their words on paper!