Record of meeting 14 December 2016

The writers

Wendy, Terry, David, Cath, Helene, Pauline, Helene

The words of the day

Geezer – odd character

Graveolent – offensive smell

Glean – collect or gather

Gabardine – strong twill cloth used for raincoats

Galumph – move about noisily

Writing from words of the day

The writers grabbed the words of the day and generated the following stories; Cath – Greedy greengrocer, Helene – On the beach, Wendy – Gravitate outside, Pauline – Smells in the kitchen and David – An old man.

Reading of homework

Two writers read out their homework; Helene – Grizzly guardian and Pauline – Finding a Christian.

Homework

Making resolutions or not

Happy Christmas and healthy New Year to writers, their families and friends

Next meeting Wednesday 4 January 2017

Record of meeting 7 December 2016

The writers

Wendy, David C, Cath, Helene, Pauline, Lynn, Elizabeth, Diane

Words of the day

Exquisite – beautiful

Excruciating – painful

Eschew – avoid, abstain

Obligatory – compulsory

Ebullient – cheerful, full of energy

Elixir – magical, medicinal potent

Edifice – a monumental building

Extensible – capable of being extended

Writing from the words of the day

The writers took the words of the day and produced the following creative stories and poems. Helene - A dress and a mosque, Elizabeth - The invitation, David - Our Malcolm, Diane - The young man, Lynne - Evening events, Pauline - I struggled,  Cath - The bracelet and Wendy - Two spoonful’s a day.

Reading of homework and other reading

Helene - Eggnog, Escargot and Eggplant, Pauline - Jack went to the Royal wedding, and David - Ellie the effervescent elephant.

In addition, David read his story about Darcy from Condobolin and Lost love. Wendy read out her poem Bah Humbug.

Christmas break 15 December 2016 to 3 January 2017

Bring a plate of food to share at our last meeting on Wednesday 14 December.

Be prepared to return to our writing group on Wednesday 4 January 2017.

Exercise 1 – The beads of sweat

We wrote a story starting “The beads of sweat” and finished with “Every clown has a silver lining”.

Helene – Santa is sick, Wendy – Win $100 to eat Brussel Sprouts, Cath – The wood pile, Pauline – Dam brats, Lynne – Hide among the balls, Diane – Sweat in the curry, David – The axe in his hands and Elizabeth – Something hidden.

Exercise 2 - An emotion, a teacher and an animal

Helene – Harry, blood and a bull terrier, Elizabeth – Are you my new owner? David – The vicar and the greyhound, Diane -  My Maths and History teacher, Lynne – Tell me pet, Pauline – Embarrassment and Cath – Miss Jenkins.

Homework

It was a difficult decision and the letter G

Christmas lunch 6 December 2016

Writers present

Terry, Wendy, Juan, Cath, Elizabeth, Diane, David C, Helene and Pauline

Record of meeting

The writers enjoyed lunch at the St Georges Basin Country Club.

Thanks to Wendy for her organisational and financial skills and for Juan who was our un Secret Santa. Thanks to Terry for presenting Wendy with a special red Santa candle

Record of meeting 23 November 2016

Writers

Wendy, Juan, Trevor, Diane, Terry, Cath, Pauline, Helene

Words of the day

Cicatrix – scar                                    

Courageous – brave

Calibre – ability, quality

Compassion – sympathy

Cacophony – harsh sound

Crucial – pivotal important

Currawong – a small wattle tree or bird

Callithumpian – no religious or political ties

Writing from words of the day

The writers conjured up a range of funny stories on the topics including - The decision, Cyril & his hearing aid, Under a tree and Camilla a country cow

Reading of homework

Four committed writers produced the following homework Trevor - Captains call, Helene – Crazy Carol, Pauline – Stories from the Daily Telegraph and life & Juan – Celestial Candle.

Exercise – a nurse, a beautician and police officer & the emotions of pride, jealousy and dread

The writers created a cacophony of stories and poems; Wendy – The cougar, Juan – The softie, Diane – I can’t do that, Terry – Tiffany, Cath – The employee, Pauline – A day spa and Helene – Waxing and exfoliation.

Homework

The letter D and Upside down

Meeting 16th November 2016

Record of meeting 16th November,  2016
The Writers:
Wendy, Terry, Di, Pauline, David, Cath.
The following “B” words were used with imagination to bestow varied stories on bemused listeners
Brandish – to wave fiercely/defiantly
Besotted – infatuated
Boobook – an owl 
Bewray – divulge unintentionally
Banal – unoriginal/ordinary
Bellicose – aggressive/ready to fight

David:  Challenging the owl
Pauline:  It was all on DVD
Terry:  The battle of William Wallace
Wendy:  Barry the Barista
Cath:  A lecture on the Boobook
Di:  The Boobook cull


The ‘’B” homework
Terry:  The gym athletes
Pauline:  What will be will be
David:  Bernard the behemoth policeman versus Billy the thief
Juan – although absent:  A letter from Santa – Bugger all this year.
The exercise:  Using as the first words - I blinked, blinked again - write a poem or story. 
Pauline:  An unearned gift
David:  The robbery
Terry:  Wednesday memories
Wendy:  Stomach blues
Di:  Confused dreaming
Cath:  The tiger

Next week’s Homework:  Using words beginning with ‘’C’’ to write a story or poem.

Record of meeting 9 November 2016

The writers

Wendy, Terry, Juan, Cathy, Pauline, Helene and Diane

New date for Christmas lunch Tuesday 6 December 2016

The St Georges Basin Country Club 12 noon

Words of the day

Alliteration – words following each other starting with the same letter

Abjectly – hopeless resigned

Amorphous – without fixed shape or form

Astronomical – large or relating to astronomy

Afoot - happening

Aphorism – short clever saying expressing a general truth

Stories from words of the day

The writers grabbed the word of the day and manipulated them into awesome stories and poems as follows:  Helene – The twins, Cath – A plot, Terry – Hope I never see you, Pauline – Ideas and eccentricities, Juan – The house and Wendy The Albino.

Reading of homework

Three admirable writers read out the following homework: Helene – An alien in a strange land, Juan – Bob was different and Pauline – Agatha and James.

Exercise

The writers created short stories and poems starting each word with letters from the alphabet in order.  Stories started with All bothersome children, All babies cry, Always, A blue cramp, Agile boy child and Any……

Homework

The letter B and Whatever will be will be

Record of meeting 2 November 2016

The writers

Wendy, Juan, Trevor,  Lynn, Di, Terry, Cath, Helene

The meeting was full of fun and laughter

Christmas lunch venue change


Christmas lunch will be held at the St Georges Basin Country club at 12 noon on Friday 9 December 2016

The homework

Combine the letter A, and aliens in a thriller


Sorry writers my tablet is not conducive to this task

Record of meeting 26 October 2016

Present

Wendy, Juan, Trevor, Terry,  David, Cath  and welcome back to Melissa on a visit from South Australian

More next time.

Record of meeting 19 October 2016

The writers

Wendy, Cath, Terry, David, Helene and welcome to Trevor

Words of the day

Omnipresent – all around

Ostracise – banish or exclude

Ordinate – regulation, official rule

Opprobrium – scurrilous, harsh criticism

Obtuse – not sharp or pointed, stupid, blunt

Obdurate – stubborn, persistent in wrong dealing

Writing from words of the day

The omnipresent writers operated to organise the words of the day into the following stories and poems: Helene – Ballarat Police Station, Cath – The council, David – You are so stupid, Trevor – A fine man, Terry – In the joint and Wendy – Ostriches.

Reading of homework

Three dedicated writers read out their Snow White homework: David – I did not have relations with those 7 men, Terry – Get Dopey and Helene – Angel and Raven

Christmas lunch

Wendy will check and report back on the availability of the Lodge for the end of November or the first week of December for our Christmas lunch.

Exercise – he had calluses on his hands

Helene - In the construction industry, Wendy – Opening oysters, Terry – from a mine and fighting, Terry – The story behind the callused hands, David – Grabbed the hem of her dress and Cath – From the garden.

Exercise – using unknown words

We used the words cedi, ekpwele, kwacha and oyguya to create stories and poems

Helene – pet rocks, Wendy – I felt seedy, Terry – On the train, Trevor – Customers applauded and David – All his needs.

Exercise – Oops

The writers wrote interesting stories and poems on the topic of Oops

Trevor – My wedding day, Terry – Something missing, Wendy – I didn’t mean it, Helene Chocolate and David – I couldn’t help it.

Homework

Write a comedy based on the character of Pinocchio. Next week bring a word starting with the letter P for word of the day.  

Record of meeting 12 October 2016

The writers

Wendy, Terry, Cath, David C, Juan, Helene and Diane

Words of the day

Implore – to plead, beg

Idiosyncrasy – peculiarity

Icon – image, emblem, logo, idol

Incult- uncultivated, common, unrefined

Ignoramus – ignorant or stupid person

Insouciant – casual lack of concern, relaxed

Writing from words of the day

The writers grabbed the words of the day and wrote: David - I was so relieved, Cath – In the cabinet, Helene – I want to be immersed in water, Wendy – Eating your food, Terry – Poor old Donald and Juan – Sitting on the couch with the cat.

Reading of homework

Only one diligent writer read out homework Helene – Ivana Trump – a unique story of alliances associated with the US Presidential Election.

Exercise – write a paragraph without using the letter e

The writers thought deeply and slowly and wrote efficiently without using the letter e creating a range of interesting stories: Helene – A Kangaroo and a Koala, Wendy – Insipid imp, Terry – Tommy was silly, Juan – A lap top, Diane – Mad woman, David – Not a word, Cath – All I could do.

Exercise 2 - The story of Cinderella from her point of view

The writers told the Cinderella story from her point of view with some twisted facts; Wendy – A poor like girl, Helene – no cleaning today, Cath – One day my time will come, David – Why do I have to?, Diane – In a boarding school, Yuan – Too big to clean and Terry – Nothing to wear.

Homework

Write the Snow White story as a comedy. Bring a word of the day starting with the letter “O”.

Record of meeting 5 October 2016

 The writers

Wendy, Cath, Juan, Lynn, David C, Elizabeth, Helene, Diane

The words of the day

Ebullient – full of life

Erudite – scholarly, learned

Emotion – sentiment, passion

Epitome – a perfect example

Emigrant – leave one country for another

Equity – value of share, fair and reasonable

Eccentric – quirky, act differently to others

Equanimity – calmness of the mind, composure

Writing from words of the day

The writers embraced the words of the day and expressed the following; Helene - Poor decision making, Wendy – On the night cart, Juan – My favourite poem, Elizabeth – His face,  Lynn – Most settle, Diane – The artist, David – No class and Cath – Achievement.

Reading of homework

Three writers shared their homework: Helene – Elongated elegant envelopes, Wendy – An extra leg and David – I went to see Eric and Ernie.

Exercise – Dear self or someone else

The writes wrote a humorous letter to themselves or someone else Helene – James Packer, Cath – sliding around and throwing custard packets, David – You have finally done it, Diane – I wish I had bought the witch, Lynn – You washed the car, Elizabeth – Black slacks, Juan – Letter from the Minister and Wendy – Dear June.

Exercise – Three word poem starting each line with letter E

The writers wrote poems with three word sentences, each line starting with the letter E.  Helene – Every day starts, Wendy - Early to bed, Elizabeth - Every day sunny, Lynn – Ever the gentleman, Diane – Emulating wind machines and David – Every line rhymes.

Homework

Select your word of the day starting with the letter I. Use words starting with the letter I in a comedy story or poem

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Record of meeting 28 September 2016

The writers 

Wendy, Cath, Helene, Juan, Terry, David C

The words of the day

Soporific – inducing drowsiness

Salubrious – healthy, feeling good

Salvation – being saved from harm or sin

Stupefy – to make dull or astound someone

Sanctimonious – show of being morally superior

Scandal – disgraceful action or event, shame, malicious gossip

Writing from words of the day

The salubrious writers scribbled short stories and poems as follows; Helene - Sabrina swayed, Wendy – Stewart and lots of s words, Juan – Parking, Terry – Donald’s campaign, David – Won by one vote and Cath – Jim.

Reading of homework

A few sanctimonious scribblers scandalised the others with the stories: Helene – Wanda and Warren, David – The Sepia school photograph and Terry – oooooagg at the mercy of a beast.

Young Writer’s competition SSPAN

The group discussed procedures for judging the entries - Terry will send out the 37 entries by email and confirm allocation of entries to judges. Judging to be completed by Wednesday 12 October 2016. Any enquires about entries to Terry.

Exercise - Giraffe, gold fish and/or hypochondriac nurse

The writers scrutinised the exercise topics to stream the stories; Cath – buy the fish, David – Maid Marion visits me, Terry – When I was young, Juan – Lazy man, Wendy – My sister sent me a spider and Helene - Visit from the nurse.

Homework

Use the letter E to evolve a word of the day and use it to energise a comedy story or poem.

Record of meeting 21 September 2016

The writers present

David C, Terry, Elizabeth, Cath, Juan, Wendy, Pauline and Diane

Words of the Day.
Wring     Winklepickers   Worldling   Woebegone   Wage   
Winsome   Wergild   Dessert
Using these words there were stories of disaster, a young mother's struggle, visiting a cafeteria, an old woman, an adventurous wedding, Wally and Willimena, a long journey, and a young man in the desert.

Homework.
Juan...When everything is gone    (reminiscence and hope)
David...An intergalactic war   Pauline...The fortune teller
Dianne...Robots and terror    Elizabeth...Pastoral memories

Exercise...We used the words "I have to hand it to you" and came up with wide variation of tales.

Homework for 28 September 2016

Bring a word of the day starting with the letter S and include words starting with the letter S in a Sci fi or occult story or poem.

Record of meeting 14 September 2016

The writers

Wendy, Juan, Cath, Helene, Terry, David C and Diane

The words of the day

Termagant – bad tempered woman

Telepathy – direct communication between minds

Tantamount – equivalent to

Trenchant – effective, sharp edge

Tangible – actual, not vague

Tarradiddle – a white lie, fib (from Hindi)

The stories from words of the day

The writers turned out tangible stories and poems; from Helene – Aunty Tina, Cath – Treason, David – the sting, Terry – Heresy, Juan – Bob and Jane and Wendy – The ugly old woman.

The reading of homework

The following writers read out homework: Helene – Tia and Truth, David – Human flesh for dinner, Terry – Over the hills and far away – a witty poem, Juan – The true story of Jonah and Noah.

Exercise - In the rear view mirror

The writers wrote what the taxi driver saw in the rear view mirror; Helene – A bloodied doll, Wendy – Tattooed head, Juan – A spider on a passengers face, Terry – The randy young man – a great poem, Diane – A ghostly figure, David – Typical Friday night and Cath – Dark clouds.

Homework

Bring a word of the day starting with the letter W and include words starting with the letter W in a Sci fi or occult story or poem.

Record of meeting 14 September 2016

The writers

Wendy, Juan, Cath, Helene, Terry, David C and Diane

The words of the day

Termagant – bad tempered woman

Telepathy – direct communication between minds

Tantamount – equivalent to

Trenchant – effective, sharp edge

Tangible – actual, not vague

Tarradiddle – a white lie, fib (from Hindi)

The stories from words of the day

The writers turned out tangible stories and poems; from Helene – Aunty Tina, Cath – Treason, David – the sting, Terry – Heresy, Juan – Bob and Jane and Wendy – The ugly old woman.

The reading of homework

The following writers read out homework: Helene – Tia and Truth, David – Human flesh for dinner, Terry – Over the hills and far away – a witty poem, Juan – The true story of Jonah and Noah.

Exercise - In the rear view mirror

The writers wrote what the taxi driver saw in the rear view mirror; Helene – A bloodied doll, Wendy – Tattooed head, Juan – A spider on a passengers face, Terry – The randy young man – a great poem, Diane – A ghostly figure, David – Typical Friday night and Cath – Dark clouds.

Homework

Bring a word of the day starting with the letter W and include words starting with the letter W in a Sci fi or occult story or poem.

Record of meeting 7 September 2016

Writers in attendance

Wendy, Juan, Cath, Elizabeth, David C, Helene

Words of the day

Maelstrom-Malevolent-Miscreant-Moppet-Misanthrope

Writing from words of the day

The writers manipulated the words of the day and made short stories with an occult twist.

Reading of homework

Moon base Sci-fi, Strange things Occult

Exercise - The Hitchhiker

Strange tales of spiders and more

Homework for 14 September 2016

The letter T for word of the day with more Sci-fi or Occult stories or poems



Record of meeting 31 August 2016

The writers

Wendy, Helene, Roslyn, Leonie, Terry, Cath, Diane

Words of the day

Lone – solitary

Life – existence

Lank – lean and tall

Lachrymose – tearful

Laggard – person who falls behind

Libertine – a person who goes their own way

Lambaste – scold severely, thrash, criticize

  

Writing from words of the day

The lugubrious writers leisurely lifted the words of the day to the following stories and poems: Wendy – Little old lady, Cath – On deaf ears, Roslyn – My friend, Leonie – A potential leader, Diane – An unusual man, Terry – He wont say die and Helene – Lisa the lousy lush.

Reading of homework

Six writers presented the following stories and poems: Roslyn – Library day, Leonie – Hospitals, Diane – Love to all others, Terry – Laurie (a brilliant descriptive poem), Helene – Lulu laments love lost and Juan – Lots of L words (read by Terry in Juan’s absence).

Discussion

We held a discussion of the background and procedures for the Youth Writing competition. We will further discuss the procedures after the closing date of 16 September 2016.

Exercise 1

We started a story/poem with - The first time I heard about/saw him I had a feeling...........

The writers wrote about: Helene – Clive Palmer, Wendy – the messiah (very witty), Cath – Dusty the dog, Roslyn – The applicant, Leonie – My husband, Diane – Donald Trump  and Terry – The Jolly swag man.

Exercise 2 

We started a story or poem with the words “He held my hand in his” and in long hand and by lap top created:

Leonie – in a scary situation, Diane – On the dance floor, Terry – Riding in a Bentley,  Helene – A card reading, Wendy – In handcuffs, Cath – A good life line and Roslyn – How things would change.

Homework

Write a story or poem on the theme of Sci-Fi or Occult. Next week bring a word starting with the letter M.