Ruby’s writers group the Quills sharpen their pens

Be prepared to bring your A-game when joining a Quills group meeting. The group of keen writers at Ruby by Living Gems meets weekly to share their writings and play ‘beat the clock’ writing exercises where brevity and wit are rewarded.

Anywhere up to 20 people meet in Ruby’s arts and craft studio where they work on longer form stories, flash fiction, poems and more. The group has been running for five years, and the 200th homework assignment has just been issued.

“We all have our areas of writing interest,” said convenor Francie Goodie. “I enjoy writing science fiction stories. We’ve had other members who’ve written steamy romances, and a current member’s go-to is zombie stories.”

Including poets, novelists, memoirists and more, the Quills are open to writers of all levels of experience.

“Not everyone has a desire to be a published author,” she says. “All that’s required to join our group is the desire to write.”

The homework assignments that end each meeting are writing prompts which could be a phrase, such as ‘Congratulations, you’ve been selected…’ or a single word, ‘switch’. The following week the writers share the resulting work which could be poetry, fiction, or a story based on personal experience.

And that’s the very point of the group, as one of the writers, Terry Hayes, points out.

“With the exception of a few sad little poems, I’ve never written anything before this time. As a young bloke, living and working far from home, I rarely wrote letters,” he says. “At Living Gems there are plenty of sports and activities to exercise the body; what Quills does is exercise the mind.”

And that’s a common comment made by everyone who attended the meeting we recently visited.

“The two hours of mental activity once a week is illuminating,” said Maddie Harris. “Not only is my brain getting a workout, but my sense of humour also. The atmosphere is one of hilarity and joy.”

The group has adopted the Fight Club motto: ‘What happens at Quills, stays at Quills’. It is a judgement-free zone that lets writers explore ideas and express what’s on their mind. And every writing prompt results in something either fascinating, poignant, or downright hilarious from each writer.

Those homework assignments are regularly turned into anthologies that the group publishes and makes available to all residents at Ruby by Living Gems.

“Everyone receives a lot of encouragement and some of our members have been encouraged to submit stories to writing competitions. We’ve had a couple of writers here who have published memoirs,” said Francie.

Quills at Ruby by Living Gems is always open to new members, and Francie is more than pleased to share information on how she runs the group to other Living Gems resorts who’d like to start their own Quills.