When we're called upon to write something, a piece that others will hear, we often find ourselves second-guessing, sighing, shaking our heads, and starting over, again and again and again.
And while these screen-centered days don't find us crumpling sheets of paper and tossing them in the nearest trash can -- a surefire sign from the past that a writing project was not going well -- the act of penning a short presentation remains fraught with frustration and sometimes fear.
Enter Write Club Los Angeles, which takes any frustration or fear felt by a writer and uses both to grow fruit and other fabulous things.
Imagine being given seven minutes to sum up a series of well-written words, words that provoke, humor, and ultimately make sense, and then present them live before an anticipation-filled audience.
If your palms aren't sweating a bit at the thought, then you've never faced writing something for public consumption. And honestly? We have to believe that palm sweat ultimately aids the process.
Writers will do just that at the Bootleg Theater on Monday, April 11. It's subtitled "Literature as Bloodsport," so believe it: This highbrow tussle comes with an edge not typically found at lit-proper readings nor evenings celebrating the written word.
Who chooses the victor after a pair of scribes present passionate pleas on opposing notions (think "water" vs. "wine")? You do, along with the rest of the audience.
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These opposing notions just to make the proceedings all the more juicy and fracas-filled, of course. Who wants a spirited showdown where everyone agrees out of the gate?
So what's at stake? Some dough, which goes to the charity chosen by the ultimate triumpher. ("Triumpher" isn't an actual dictionary-approved word, of course, but in a heated word match-up, you sometimes must resort to a few unexpected twists.)
Will these writers, with their bravery, their boldness, and their impressive brevity, inspire you the next time you have to craft a wedding toast or a conference introduction?
Picture not the crumbled sheets of paper of yore, the ones that used to clutter the area around a typewriter. Think instead of the night you spent with Write Club Los Angeles, at the Bootleg Theater in Echo Park, and of the wordy warriors that didn't let sweaty palms, nor those stress-inducing audience expectations, get in their story-spinning way.
