Record of meeting 24 April 2013

Present

Wendy, Elizabeth, Cath, Amanda, Leonie, David C, Garry, Geoff, David R, Helene, Lynn

 

News

Cath has her car back. Amanda had a sore back. Leonie went to see family in Melbourne and walked this morning. David C has been back to the specialist and GP and is now well - had his brothers visiting from the UK & went on a sailing lunch on Sydney Harbour. Garry’s foster brother in law had twin boys this week. Geoff had a quiet week and a local friend passed away. David R had some lovely swims at Greenfields beach. Helene has been looking after her grandchildren for a week. Wendy had a lovely week in Mudgee. Elizabeth’s daughter has had overseas visitors and enjoyed political discussions. Lynn had a week of did nots.

 

Word of the day

Melsan - melancholic sanguine – type of psychological type – good organisers

Boorish – crude, rude, unattractive

Raze – erase or raze – completely raized – level

Accord – agreement or settle

Integral – necessary to part of the whole

Permeate – to pass through the air by liquid

Bombilate – to hum or buzz

Fashion – popular at a particular time

Rabid – infected by rabies also used to describe mad

Coruscate - To flash or sparkle

 

Writing from words of the day

We produced a range of good stories including Fashion and politics, The night meeting, Fashion was supreme, The boyfriend, The evil king, The voice and mass suicide, The sequin jacket, The demi god, Sam on MKR, The image from the past – very good, Same sex marriage and the tent.

 

Reading of homework

The family circus at home, Working for the circus, The shearing shed, Freaks in the circus, Circus at home, The girl on the flying trapeze, vegans versus meat eaters, Bingo Pop, Escape through books, Return to the book store.

 

Exercise

We each developed a list of characteristics and passed them on to the next person who then wrote a story about the character. A great exercise from Geoff based on Tim Winton’s book “Distant Lands” and “The writing book” by Kate Grenville.

 

Reading

David R read his poems “Beneath the surface” beautiful descriptions and “Seventh heaven”

 

Homework

Take the character we developed today and write more of the story.

Or

Write your own 500 words following after the section of story included in Geoff’s exercise. Contact Helene or Geoff if you want more details.

Or

Write on the topic - Indecision.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meeting 17th April 2013

Meeting 17^th April, 2013

Attendees

David R, Wendy, Elizabeth, Cath, Jo, Terry, Garry, Geoff, Lynn (facilitator today)

News

Geoff: a quiet week

David: enjoying the weather and enjoyed walking the ‘White Sands Walk.

Wendy: going to Mudgee tomorrow for 6 days. It sounds very exciting (tongue in cheek)

Elizabeth: missing her friends in Orange but is now making new friends.

Cath: has no car at the moment but a good looking bike at her home till she gets it back.

Lynne: enjoyed the White Sands Walk this week.

Jo: doing plenty of writing – over 20,000 words

Garry: good week.

Word of the day

Quandary = perplexity, dilemma, sticky situation

Apoplectic = enraged, furious, irate, annoyed

Smirk = grin, sneer, leer

Pique = bad feeling, annoyance, ill will

Whimsical = fanciful, quirky, capricious

Soporific = sleep-inducing, dull

Succinct = concise, short and snappy

Altruism = unselfishness, self-sacrifice

Hegemony = dominion, authority, subjugation

15 minute Quick write

All the poems and writings were ‘whimsical’ and none were ‘soporific’ truly showing the ‘altruism’ of the B&BW

HOMEWORK

Topic : The Book store

All poems and stories were well written and received.

DISCUSSION :

various ‘writing’ topics were informatively discussed. Impress or express in the purpose of writing a story

Writing activity

Describe a situation without actually saying what that situation is.

Once again, poets and writers excelled.

HOMEWORK

The circus

Record of meeting 10 April 2013

Present

Melissa, Cath, Amanda, Terry, Leonie, Helene, David R, Garry, Geoff

 

New Format

David R produced the new meeting format which we followed and it worked well giving us time for an exercise. Spare copies of the new format are in our storage box for everyone. Thanks to David for producing the new meeting format for us.

 

News

Cath has been to the beach enjoying the warm water and beautiful weather. Amanda has been doing motherly things and will take her children to the beach. Terry has been an active dreamer - he acts out his active dreams. Helene saw the movie Amour. David R walked from Vincentia to Huskisson this morning. Garry attended a seminar on the Futures Market and has made money in the first week but nothing the second week. Geoff met up with his old writing group which has been going 25 years. Leonie went for a BBQ brunch this morning. Melissa is a finalist in a writing contest.

 

Word of the day

Merit – verb and noun – value or worth

Propensity – inclination, tendency to behave in a particular way

Ebullient – adj – cheerful, full of energy

Riposte – reply, retort, comeback

Inured – accustomed or to take effect

Indolence – laziness

Archaic – old in language

Abhorrent – detest

Panache – flamboyant

We created a range of wonderful stories from words of the day.

 

Reading of homework

The reincarnation of Elvis – a great poem from Terry; I’ve missed you too – an excellent story from Amanda; Is that you? - a sad story from Cath;  Dementia and mushrooms – a great story from Melissa;  We must do it again - very familiar from Geoff;  A woman scorned – fiction from Garry; Long staying visitors - true story from David; Elvis often looses his way - a dream from Helene; Work and life experience - good lessons for writers from Leonie.

 

Books and ideas for writing

Helene spoke about Private Papers by Margaret Forster a family memoir with comments from a daughter.

Melissa spoke about Ray Bradbury – who advised “write every day”. Melissa will bring in his book “Zen and art of writing”.

Leonie has been having horrific dreams, she started writing each night and she hasn’t had a bad dream since.

Helene talked about writing a grateful diary every day. Melissa recommended using “The Artists way” by Julia Cameron as a stimulus to start writing everyday.

Helene spoke about using track changes for editing documents and Terry spoke about a program of identifying passive words.

David R talked about his daily program of creativity, he writes first, goes for a swim or walk, then writes 500 words longhand in a diary and has been doing so for many years.

Most of us agreed about the enjoyment of being alone and having quiet time.

Geoff talked about using the ellipsis to register a pause, suggests we read Wikipedia about ellipsis.

 

Exercise

We picked 5 people and wrote a one sentence description of what made that person note worthy. Lots of great characters emerged.

 

Homework due 17 April 2013

The bookstore

 

 

 

 

Record of meeting 3 April 2013

Present

David R, Geoff, Garry, Leonie, Lynne, Robyn, Jo, Cath, Helene and welcome to Amanda

New format

We discussed the proposed changes to the format for the meetings and decided the following standard format

• News session limit to 3 minutes, no timer to be used
• Word of the day and writing from word of the day to continue unchanged
• No change in hours for the meeting ie 1 pm to 4 pm
• Homework reading around 500 words
• No roster for facilitator - to be decided at each meeting
• Facilitator to manage the meeting, exercises etc
• Reading of personal projects around 1,000 words
• David R will prepare a handout on format and time and size requirements to be available to current and new members

The group agreed on the desire for spontaneity and fun while following a few guidelines to keep time under control.

 

News

Helene told the group about Piksters tiny toothbrushes to clean between teeth. Cath has a birdbath but the birds are vetoing it. Amanda lives in Basin View and has an interest in writing. Jo has been writing and finishing old projects.  Robyn has a bad back and Joe has been in hospital. Lyn has been walking with Joe. Leonie has planted the last tree for her garden and has 30 stepping stones left to position. Garry went to his mother’s celebration of life in Melbourne and sold his car for what he paid for it. Geoff will allude to his news on his homework. David looked at Energy Watch on line to find the cheapest electricity

 

Words of the day

Bespoke - made to individual order, custom made

Malevolent – wishing ill to others or malicious, evil

Bilbo – rapier or sword

Worrisome – worried

Melancholy – sadness, low mood

Recalcitrant – resisting authority or control

Awash – level on the surface of the water, flooded

Dudgeon – resentment, anger, huff

Apprise – to tell, inform

Drupe – a fleshy fruit with seed eg plum or olive

 

Writing from words of the day

The dress designer, Eat more druplets, A sad pirate, The sister queen, Awake on the wave, The trespasser, Relief in the Antique shop, Do not go near, Not a replica of her mother, Sleeping in the Dungeon – a brilliant poem by David R.

 

Reading of homework

Inspiration, Add spice and stir, The valentine rose, It came to be so, Did you get that, Memories grow sharper with time like a ripple on water – a powerful story from Leonie, Entertainment appropriate for us – a funny story from Garry, A special procedure then a hearty breakfast – a true story from Geoff, She knows the names – a photo taken – a memory.

Reading, writing etc

Shoalhaven Literary award short story contest closes 31 May see www.fawnswshoalhaven.org.au

Jo spoke about Cyril Maude she has sketches and books on him and suggested we look him up on the net

Geoff spoke about a review on Radio National of a book about Madeline St John’s life

David R read a poem called Soon that he wrote overlooking a lake and volcano in Chile

 

Exercise

Helene shared a bag of words, pictures and objects and we wrote about

Leonie – the paint brush reminds me of the love of painting at home sweet home. Robyn – Boot hill drawn to the graveyard. Jo – how not to appreciate a gift.  Amanda – The false Tommy.  Cath – a visit to the beach. Helene – the peach orchard. David R – Mothers girl. Geoff – guns under the bed. Garry – Monastery Island – heaven on earth.

 

Homework

The visitor

 

 

 

Record of meeting 27 March 2013

In attendance

Helene, Jessica, Jo, Leonie, Trish, Geoff, David R., Melissa, Wendy, Cath, Terry, and a big welcome to Elizabeth!

 

News

Leonie: Coffee in Husky, gardening, booked a trip to Melbourne

Jo: Writing over 8,000 words about murder, New Guinea in the 60s

Jessica: Working at SGB Club, golfing with the Hackers

Helene: Has been asked to help a friend write her life story, takes place in Poland

Terry: Finished reading the Diary of Anne Frank, was impressed with video of Elvis impersonator, Ben Portsmouth http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=G8fjHJbF9Es

 Cath: Enjoying the weather, swimming, gardening

Wendy: Went to see the Hallelujah Girls in Nowra, going to Canberra for 5 days

Melissa: Spending time enjoying Jervis Bay!

David R.: Stayed in  his cabin in the bush, visited Wombian Caves, never drive on Wombian Caves Road (it’s dangerous!)

Geoff: Good news: watched show on ABC about ukuleles and youth orchestras, “The Mighty Uke”; Bad news: Kidney function is down to 20%

Trish: Went to an afternoon tea, saw a movie, “Safe Haven”, and fell asleep

Elizabeth: Received a phone call from her grand daughter in Paris, where daffodils are breaking through the snow, only to be picked by her great-grandson!

 

Words of the day

Melissa: Antipodes – Direct opposite of something; those who reside on opposite sides of the globe

David: Hyperbole – Exaggerated statements or claims not mean to be taken literally

Geoff: Obloquoy – Abuse or insult

Trish: Indignation – anger at something unfair or wrong

Leonie: Resplendent – shining with brilliant lustre or intensely bright

Jo: Epoch – A point of time from which succeeding years are reckoned, a period of notable events

Jessica:  Doff – removing a hat

Helene: Panopticon – round the clock surveillance of prisoners in their cell

Terry: Effulgence – brightness and radiance

Cath: Transfiguration – to change outward appearance or alter

Wendy: Doldrums – state of depression, or a region of the Atlantic Ocean with calm seas that changes suddenly

A quick write using the words of the day produced some interesting stories


Reading of homework from last week, topic ‘Lie/Lies’

Jessica: A section of her book about lying about the identity of her child

Jo: A story about a red car, a phone conversation, and a woman who lies for fun

Leonie: A commentary about different scenarios where lies are told, politicians, how we become liars at a young age, and the origin of the saying “Liar liar, pants on fire!”

Trish: A story set in Sydney, with elements of thieving and scavenging, that is partly true, and partly false!

David R.: A poem, Liar Bird

Melissa: A true story about a life lesson

Terry: A poem about football, and lies

Helene: A poem about lies, featuring Fi-Fi!

Other readings

Terry read a new chapter from his novel describing the characters.

Homework

Grab the 7^th book from your bookshelf. Open it to page 7. Select the 7^th sentence on the page. Create a poem/story that begins with that sentence.

 

 

Record of meeting 20 March 2013

Present

Wendy, Terry, Leonie, Melissa, Trish, David R, Helene, David C, Lyn and welcome back to Jessica

News 

Trish sang with Sing Australia on Sunday, Jessica set up a beauty business in the Philippines and is now happy to be back, Melissa has been busy unpacking and enjoying the view, David C has reduced his steroids and is feeling better, Leonie planning a plane trip to Melbourne next month, Terry has written to Media Watch about a pixilated sketch, Wendy is going to Nowra Players to see “The Hallelujah girls”, Helene has new orthotics, David R’s trip to Chilli was a great success and wrote 50 poems on his travels, Lyn’s grandson had his appendix out.

 

Words of the day

Sacrosanct – most sacred or holy

Genteel – polite

Conflict – disagreement, clash

Lambaste – criticise harshly

Moot – debatable, doubtful, controversial

Fugacious – fleeting or fading quickly

Invertebrate – lacking a backbone

Curmudgeon - angry person, cantankerous

Maunder - someone who is poor

Juxtaposition – side by side

 

Writing from words of the day

We wrote great stories about football, over the fence, dreaming of the Pope, the jury, any juxtaposition, Jellyfish café, very genteel, a council meeting, at another meeting, a Manly supporter.

 

Reading of homework

Knit one purl one, Pearl’s secret, Pearls of wisdom, Fascination - a lovely story by Leonie, The centre of attention, What a Pearl – why Pearl receives free lunch, Purl not plain, Pearl divers in 1861

 

Reading

David C read more of Charlie the Detective

Trish brought “New selected poems” by Seamus Heaney and discussed the poem Blackberries

Jessica read from her autobiography

David R read poems “Waiting for a miracle” and “Lost in thought”

 

Homework

Liar, liar pants on fire

 

 

 

 

Record of meeting 13 March 2013

Present

Lynn, Terry, Cath, Trish, Helene, Wendy, Geoff and warm welcome back Melissa who has returned to live in JB
 

 

News

Melissa is living back in JB. Cath told us the water is beautiful, the cat is better and she was given a ukulele. Lynn had a crap week at work. Trish sung at a church in Kiama last Sunday with groups of people from Sing Australia. Helene went to Eden for 10 days and has new orthotics. Wendy is going to Canberra by bus at a bargain fare. Terry has been playing around with his 1976 Triumph and drove it today.

 

Words of the day

Cacophony – a sound, a din, a noise

Harmony – agreement, accord, synchronisation

Pernickety – fussy about detail

Gormless – brainless or inept

Afficionato – an expert

Lackadaisical – without interest, lethargic, lazy

 

Quick write

The choir master – a great poem from Terry. Lazy old sod. Pearl’s lunch. The organ. The band lackadaisical at the International Women’s Day event. Music like dogs.

 

Reading of homework

Me and my shadow – a great poem by Wendy. The childhood memories of Mick McCord. Walking in the dark. People are annoying. The word annoying is annoying and arrogant.

 

Reading  

Terry now has the Diary of Ann Frank to read and an Isabelle Allende book. Trish read out more of her story from her life in London.

 

Exercise

We enjoyed a progression write on the topics budgie smugglers, toilets, the shovel, sex toys, dolphins, alcohol and pole dancing.

 

Homework

Pearl – use it any way you wish