A small but perfectly formed writing group met on Wednesday with tons of enthusiasm for stories written and those yet to come. Wendy shared some notes on shaping characters. These are especially useful for longer stories, but will still be helpful for shorter ones. Fiona and Wendy shared their stories based on the 3.35pm racing card at Ludlow, and Wendy shared two other tales, including the intriguing Waiting Room. It was interesting to see how the intriguing names on the race card led to some googling for further information which in turn led to inspiration for the stories. Michelle was sidetracked by the #SpringNatureDiary the Arts and Humanities Council ran to mark the Spring Equinox. You can read her entry on her blog, plus those from 100+ contributors here. They make a wonderful snapshot of one day outdoors. She also shared her preliminary notes for a possible entry for the Lady Denman Cup. Both Wendy and Fiona agreed there's far too much for 500 words, more like a novel, so the story will require some simplification if it's to be entered for the Cup. Thoughts turned to competitions in general, with the group offering to help edit one of Fiona's stories down to the 750 words required. It would be a shame not to submit a fine story for the sake of 29 extra words. The latest edition of Writing magazine has a guide to lots of competitions and the group will look to see if there are any which take their fancy. The picture and racing card prompts remain in play, plus a new one added, the first line from a book this time: "If he left now, of course, or even five minutes from now, it would still be all right." Robert Goddard, Out of the Sun. We invite you to join us in producing a story in under 1000 words.