Just finished dinner after a few cans and some really good virtual events hosted by the Women On Tap Festival of 2021. The first event of the night was a collaboration with Chalk Back on a discussion regarding harassment in the hospitality industry. For a more serious but necessary topic of the night, the discussion flowed really well and I look forward to seeing what other work can be done in this space.
The second event I partook in was called Back of a Beermat and it was a writing workshop hosted by Small Acts (Katie Etheridge & Simon Persighetti). During this session, there were fun activities and writing prompts given for each participant to write up 4 short stories based on said prompts (short as they are meant to fit on the back of a beermat). It was such a fun 2 hour session that flew by and got my creative juices flowing more than I've been able to inspire them to over the last few years (at a minimum). Thought I would share the 4 pieces that I came up with (idea behind the exercise is in italics while the name of the exercise will be bolded and underlined and the actual prompt words - if applicable - will just be in bold).
It's definitely inspired me to start writing more random blurbs on the back of a beermat whenever the opportunity presents itself. Now...for the pieces...
First exercise is done by everybody throwing in words for the sounds, smells, and colour that conjure up in your mind when you think of opening a door to a pub. You then pick one word/phrase from each category and work it in to your short story.
I opened the door to the pub and was immediately greeted by the sound of glasses smashing. It was late enough in the evening that you could smell the scent of urinal cakes and pee. The beer was still flowing a luminous gold colour and two blose in the corner were having an animated chat over the football results, resulting in the shards now covering the carpeted floor. Man is it good to be back in the pub.
We were asked to write down a question you'd ask somebody that worked at a pub (A), a question you'd ask a "pub elder" (B), the answer somebody that worked at a pub would give you to question A (C), and the answer the pub elder would give you to question B (D). Our piece was then to comprise of ordering what we wrote in A-C-B-D format. The idea is that this creates the chaos you get when stumbling from one topic to another in a pub setting.
A Pint Sized Conversation...
What's on Tap?
Things were more simple then... You could smoke indoors, the price of a beer was cheaper, and you knew everybody by name...
What was the pub like when you started coming here?
What are you in the mood for?
We were given the scenario - we had gone to the toilet and came out to find somebody in our seat. The prompts given were about the mystery person now sitting in our seat (What were they wearing?; What were they doing?; What drink did they order?; What did they say to us?).
Who's that stranger sitting on my bar stool? Is this real life?! How could they not notice my things hanging all about?! Wearing a rainbow ensemble and dancing aroung like a loon while sipping a whiskey - neat - they asked "Can I help you?". Well yes! You can! Order me a drink and let's share a toast!
Only prompt given was to put "The" in the top left corner of the writing space and "and" in the bottom right corner. We were just asked to write a short story regarding the passing of time in a pub in any capacity (physical time, time travel, etc.). During the session, we read stories one after another to create one, long story...but here is mine in isolation...
The last bell has chimed. 30 minutes and no more. Where has the night gone? Filled with laughter and smiles; short stories and shots; half truths and half pints. Every night the same, yet starkly different. All the best people surround you as you debate who's round it is in a drunken game of round robin. It's yours. Or maybe not... You just care the least. Seeing a friendly face behind the bar, you step up and....
Hope you enjoyed the bits I wrote above. It was a really fun exercise and one I hope to try to do again - especially when in a pub with a beermat containing way too much white space.