Monday, March 12, 2012

Q is for “Quotas,” “Quotes,” and “Quality,” By Mina Anne Chudilowsky

Now here is a fun story for your pleasure. How many words can you think of that start with the letter “Q”? I think Mina Anne may just have you beat! What an imaginative way to tell a story. . . read on –

          One day after book club Judy posed a question to me: how would I like to join the memoirs group to which she belonged? She said, and I quote, “(I) would be an asset to the group,” (unquote). But really, it was because the quantity of the group had receded and new members were needed.

        I was in a quandary. I had no one for whom to write memoirs and I didn’t think that I had that much about which to write. And it was questionable that I would be an asset to the group. The quality of the group, and the stories read, I discovered, was high.

        Some people were very quick. Jacque wrote her “City of Regret,” in fifteen minutes before class, and Loie wrote a story in class and read it that same day. Some stories are quaint and some are quirky. Some are about quiet reflections, and some show the author’s quick wit. While one may be about a personal quest, another may be about quilting. Another good topic is about quitting. Some stories are written with quotes and personal quotations. Queries may follow the stories.

        Some stories leave you with a quizzical look on your face, while others may provoke a quip from Don, who is quite a quipster. Some authors come close to quarreling about their topic, but no one seems quick tempered.

        There is no quota for stories to write, though many people write quite a few. Some even seem to be a quire long.

        Sometimes Bonnie, our qualified instructor, will give us questionnaires to quicken our brains. We are here to flex our brains, not our quadriceps. Sometimes this feels like a quiz and you quiver, quake and quail when you can’t come up with a quick, qualified answer to the questions. You look around and see quizzical, queasy looks on other people’s faces.

        A new member may quaver, quiver and quake with nervousness and be qualmish about presenting his/her first story; His/her heart may even quicken, but the group quickly quashes this with their unquestionable acceptance of the person.

        If you get blocked, don’t quit and give up. Find a quiet place, a place of quietude, and maybe even look up a quintessential story to stimulate your imagination. You’re not the only one to encounter a block; get in the queue with the rest of us.

        At the center, we sit around quadrilateral tables. During the summer months, the center provides ice water to quash, or quench, our thirst. You can even quaff a quart if you’re quenchless, without question.

        If you come in with qualms, the group puts you at ease and makes you feel welcome. Soon you become a qualified member of the group, and you help meet the quota.

5 comments:

  1. I think one of your best quests was writing this story.Very qualifiable!!!

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  2. From Charlotte:

    Quite quirky without question it is a quality piece!!

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  3. I just won't question how you got all those q words in there. A very quick wit indeed.

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  4. From Charlene:
    Mina Anne, the Queen of Q’s! No qualm, quarrel or quandary … your quest is quality, quaint and quite delightful. You deserve a quadrillion nice comments. Outstanding!

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