Anything can strike inspiration — even an old trinket on a shelf.
Every month, authors Lynn Olcott and Kristin Yarnell run “Secondhand Stories,” a short writing workshop at Cortland ReUse, said ReUse Coordinator Carrie Narrow.
Attendees pick an item in the store and seek inspiration in it, Yarnell said.
“Since it’s a reuse center, there is all sorts of different fun stuff around the shop,” Yarnell said. “They wanted a writing workshop, and they started with a bunch of different prompts, but one of them was to find an object in the shop that inspired a story. It got to the point where that was the only prompt anybody would use, and it’s a lot of fun.”
Her favorite Secondhand Story she wrote was about an ornate box owned by an old lady who died. In the story, the woman’s family was meeting with an attorney to go through her will, and were waiting in anticipation to see who received the box, and what was in it. Ultimately, the women gave it to a charity, closed, so the family was left not knowing.
“You go around and find an object that speaks with you,” Yarnell said. “You can either write a story from its point of view, like ‘Here I am sitting on a shelf, waiting for somebody to buy me,’ or ‘How did I end up here? I used to have a loving family,’ or ‘Look at the nice ladies who just picked me.’”
It’s a popular event, and sessions are pay-what-you-can, Narrow said.
Karen Dillon, a regular attendee of the workshops, said the objects are chosen quickly, and the writing session is 20 to 30 minutes. Afterward, the writers shares their work.
“We do that in a short amount of time, so there’s not a lot of ‘What am I going to write about?’” Dillon said. “It’s more ‘How am I going to relate to the object I have?’ The immediacy is very good.”
“If you pick out a cookie cutter, it could remind you of times you used to use a cookie cutter as a kid, and have nothing to do with the reuse center itself,” Yarnell said.
The Secondhand Stories were originally in a folder at the register for store visitors to read. Now, they’re available to buy in “Second Hand Stories: Tales from Cortland ReUse, Volume I.” The book is $5, and all proceeds go back to the store, a nonprofit.
The workshop is 1 p.m. the first Sunday of each month.
“It’s a nice and friendly group,” Dillion said. “If you like to dabble in writing, but you haven’t set aside time to do it, this is a nice, once-a-month get together with no pressure – just a good time to practice your craft.”
