Writing Workshop in Duncan Rocked the Senior Center

On Saturday, August 7, 16 writers came to the Senior Citizens Center in Duncan for a writing workshop. At nine in the morning I showed up and found many people sitting at desks, waiting to start. Patsy Nixon was standing, waiting to show me what she had set up. Patsy, Teri McGrath, and myself had been discussing doing a workshop like this for months, probably a whole year. Finally, we decided to actually do it and without all of the work of Patsy, the workshop would’ve never happened. She arranged the space, arranged the food and drink, advertised, got writers to show up, and set up the room. Of course, her husband, Jack, was integral to setting up everything along the way, too. He is the quiet accomplice who gets it done.

Writers from Marlow, Duncan, Ft. Sill, Lawton, and other places attended. Experience ranged from beginners to pros who’ve been writing for years. Some writers in attendance have finished book manuscripts even. Stacey, for example, has written a memoir. He ws the last stowaway on the original Queen Mary ship. He boarded with the help of some younger crew in England and was caught on the way to Brazil. The American consulate gave him two choices: wait in Brazil until a plane to the U.S. could be arranged or stay on board the ship as a non-paying crew member for the last three weeks of the voyage. Stacey picked the latter option and wrote a 300-page manuscript about his adventures.

On Saturday, we did a few exercises and wrote about place. One writer showed Marlow as a spooky place at night while a new resident to Duncan resident showed it to have almost Utopian features. A Lawton writer focused on the many police cars and that the cars read “POL...ICE” Now, I can only see that when I see a Lawton police car since the workshop.

The workshop ran for four hours but included a break and a long lunch where everyone enjoyed talking to people they had just met and many attendees discussed writing over lunch. It was a nice event for sure. We’ve discussed doing more, of course, including a return to the Duncan Senior Citizens Center. Hopefully in six months or so.