Starting creative writing DAY 1

I am sure you are on tenterhooks wondering what I did in my first lesson and as I am not one to torture those who care for me, here goes.....

I arrived 20 minutes early yet there was an even eager-rer beaver than me. The class started of very very quietly if a feather had been left to float round the room and finally rest on the floor we would have heard it's entire journey- I swear. So after that rather uncomfortable wait we all introduced ourselves and much to my bewilderment not everyone was a beginner! Cheeky buggers!!

We were 11 in the class, one had already had a piece published another writes his own sketch show and has been touring for 3 years. Then there was a classics graduate, a girl who wrote plays in French, a retired business teacher about 5 fellow bloggers all with a clear idea of what they want to do- kid books, short stories, novels, plays and sitcoms. Oh.... And me- the office administrator out on a whim thinking she's cut out for this because she can string a few words together and put her thoughts on paper.

Once my heart beat had stabilised from popping out of my chest, seriously I'm no public speaker! We went on to read a poem about ballons and one about a vase both of which I struggled to concentrate on. My ears we still ringing from the noise my heart was making as my turn to talk got closer and closer.

We were asked to work in pairs with an object picked out at random, we got a bottle opener, and find as many uses as possible for it.

Here goes....

1. Bottle/beer opener (Jo at her most creative?)
2. Necklace pendant for those that can't do with a glass
3. Coconut milk extractor
4. Self defense weapon
5. drill/ wrench
6. thread unpicker
7. voodoo doll 
8. puppet
9. some sort of pully device (not sure what my girl with a degree in Classics meant)
10. bamboozeler (again my Classics chic thought of this)

Then we had to write a description of the object for someone that has never seen it...

At first glance it's shape springs to mind a human figure. In this case my little figurine dons a sickly orange vest clinging to a skeletal torso. A smooth, shiny mirror like head with a hole in the centre and a thin pairs of arms poke through his clothes. With arms on cogs rendered unable to move individually, and a stance reminiscent of a soldier on duty he stands awaiting orders. Though only able to move his arms up or down in unison creating a rather comical sinking of it's head all at once my little man can only shrug with arms held high. 

Then we had to write an encounter with said object....

I can recall a moment of urgency, when my coconut milk cravings could hardly be contained. I was struck with the not so easy task of extracting every last drop out of this fluffy sphere without damaging all its shell and effectively losing the sweet thirst quenching liquid. In desperation, and with no other tool for the job, the spiral end of my bottle opener was the perfect way of piercing through the 3 tiny weak points of the tortoise like exterior and capturing my well deserved drink. 

Ok, so that's all a managed in our 10 minute task. No master piece, I know. But this is a beginners course- and that I am. A few people read out their favorite line but I in pure Jo-i-ness style chickened out and said I could find nothing worth reading out. I know, not very brave, but I certainly never claimed to be brave.