Meeting 12 April 2017

Two dedicated writers Helene and Pat attended today. They chatted in peace and quiet and enjoyed a pleasant cup of tea.

Hope to see more people attend next week after the consumption of Easter goodies and chocolate.

Enjoy a peaceful Easter weekend.

Record of meeting 5 April 2017

The writers

Terry, Cath, Elizabeth, Juan, Helene, Pauline and welcome to new member Pat

The words of the day

Passive – submissive

Buxom – plump or comely

Intensify – more intense

Obtuse – dull, slow of perception

Heaven – a place of superfine bliss

Lamington – a cake covered with chocolate icing and coconut

Bitchcraft – the art of annoying people while telling the truth

Writing from words of the day

The writers went to heaven and cooked up a range of stories - Pauline - A breast enlargement, Pat – Writing a blog, Elizabeth – no one would care, Cath – A taste of heaven, Helene – Her pleasure, Terry – A magic wand and Juan – In the mirror.

Reading of homework

Three writers read out their homework: Helene – Bright lights, Pauline – On a cruise and Juan – Original innocence – a twist on original sin.

Exercise

The writers re-wrote the Goldilocks story with Goldie on trial for trashing the Bear house.  Helene – My foot hurt, Cath – Hungry, cold and thirsty, Elizabeth – Living with Bears, Pat – The courtroom was packed, Pauline – Bears on a boat, Juan – Lost and Terry – A B & B.

Homework

Write the first part of a story on a topic of your choice ending with a cliff hanger. This will be the start of a longer work.

Record of meeting 29 March 2017

The writers

Cath, Helene, Terry, Juan, Diane and welcome back to Garry our Foreign correspondent from SE Asia on a flying visit

The words of the day

Frail – morally week, unchaste

Foray – to make a raid, to forage

Mendacious – not telling the truth

Incipient – develop or beginning to happen

Lexicon – vocabulary of a person, dictionary

Perspicacious – strong insight and understanding

Writing from words of the day

The writers made a foray into the words using their lexicon to develop the stories: Helene – Harry and Donald, Garry – Stephen Hawking, Cath – No interpreter, Lynn – His documentary, Juan – I can’t remember her name and Terry – I’ve got it wrong.

Reading of homework

Terry – the first murder is the hardest, Helene – Blinded by the light parts 1 and 2, Garry – She sauntered to the red door, Cath – The circus, Lynn – Run, Darcy run part 2 and Juan – Missing Millionaire.

Exercise – on the beach

Using two common nouns, two proper nouns, two adverbs, two verbs and two adjectives we created stories in the theme on the beach and read out the following stories: Terry – A small dog, Helene – soft sand, Garry – George found a lamp, Cath – at the beach, Lynn – She yapped back, Diane – Noisy waves and Juan – Relaxing on the beach.

Homework

Write part three around 500 words of the story you started previously. Or write a descriptive story using the principle “show not tell”.

The Australian writers centre explains Show, don’t tell

Show, don’t tell. This age-old adage is a well deployed technique of creative literature. Wikipedia explains it well:

When applying “show, don’t tell”, the writer does more than just tell the reader something about a character; he unveils the character by what that character says and does. Showing can be done by:
·         writing scenes
·         describing the actions of the characters
·         revealing character through dialogue
·         using the five senses when possible

Here is an example


Instead of telling:
Mrs Parker was nosy. She gossiped about her neighbours.


The writer could show:
By turning the blinds ever so slightly, Mrs Parker could just peek through the window and see the Ford explorer parked in the driveway. She squinted to get a better view of the tall, muscular man getting out of the vehicle and walking up to Mrs Jones’ front door. He rang the doorbell. When Mrs Jones opened the door and welcomed the stranger into her home with a hug, Mrs Parker gasped and ran to her phone.

“Charlotte, you are not going to believe what I just saw!” Mrs Parker peeked out the window again.

Why authors use this technique
The example illustrates the power of ‘showing.’ It allows the reader to follow you as a writer, into the moment you have created. By being more specific it helps to make your writing come alive. Showing dramatises a scene in a story to help the reader forget he is reading, to help the reader get to know the characters, to make the writing more interesting.

Other examples and information are available from https://www.writerscentre.com.au/blog/why-you-need-to-show-dont-tell/

Record of meeting 22 March 2017

The writers

Terry, Cath, Helene, Lynn, Trevor, Elizabeth

The words of the day

Laud – to praise highly

Succour – to assist and support

Cicerone – guide to sight seers

Infer – deduce, suppose, conclude

Pragmatic – practical, realistic, sensible

Comportment – personal demeanour or conduct

Writing from words of the day

Helene – At morning tea, Cath – His own opinion, Terry – Altitude sickness, Lynn – What she really wanted, Elizabeth – For himself and Terry – a rare breed (very entertaining).

Reading of homework

The writers enjoyed the start of the follow on homework and read out the following stories; Helene – Crystal, Trevor – Anton, Lynn – Her escape, Elizabeth – I did not want to go and Terry – Pieces.

Exercise – show don’t tell

We took the sentence “She quickly walked to the red door and nervously took the key from her purse” and rewrote and expanded it to show rather than tell by removing the “ly” words and not using adverbs.

The exercise stimulated discussion on writing and the use of show don’t tell method of writing.

Homework

1.    Write the next part of your story or the first and second parts if you haven’t started yet

2.   Bring in two common nouns, proper nouns, adverbs, verbs and adjectives.

Record of meeting 15 March 2017

The writers

Terry, Lynn, Trevor, Helene, Pauline, Amanda, Elizabeth, Diane

Words of the day

Irrational – not reasonable

Neophyte – beginner or novice

Timbre – quality of the sound

Prospopagnosia - face blindness

Nonsensical – doesn’t make sense

Quasar – an energetic celestial object

Kaolin – fine white clay to make porcelain

Predictable – unsurprising, expected, banal

Writing from words of the day

Trevor – The witness,  Lynn – Into the dam, Helene – Blurred vision,  Elizabeth – A sunset, Amanda – A telescope,  Terry – Have a go, Diane – The alien being and Pauline – Too bad.

Reading of homework

Helene – Larry the Laptop, Lynn – Invisibility, Trevor – Eves drop on pollies, Pauline – The electric jug, Diane – A fly on the wall, Terry – Musings of a chair – very entertaining and Amanda read Juan’s homework – The humble broom.

Reading

Amanda read her lovely story – My friendly neighbourhood possum

Exercise

The writers created stories on the theme of evil; Elizabeth – Two small children, Helene - Parents produce evil, Lynn – Evil lives, Trevor - The Anita Cobby case, Diane – What is evil, Terry – Pools of blood and Amanda - The Amy Boots man.

Homework

Write approximately 500 words the beginning of a story finishing with a cliff hanger. We hope to use this as the start of the longer story.

Record of meeting 8 March 2017

The writers

Elizabeth, Pauline, Cath, Trevor, Terry, Helene, Lynn, Amanda, Diane

The words of the day

Hype – stimulate, excite

Scrimmage – tussle, scrum

Pluviophile – lover of rain      

Morsel – mouthful, fragment

Compunction – a slight regret or scruple

Solitary – alone, lonesome, unattended

Sabotage – deliberate injury by enemy agent

Ubiquitous – seemingly everywhere, everywhere

Vail – to go low, to doff ones hat, to be of use, tip and veil

Writing from words of the day

The writers were hyped to create a range of stories and poems:

Trevor – wet conditions, Amanda – Watching the rain, Pauline – Pondering questions, Terry – The cowboy, Helene – Fetta and Spinach, Elizabeth – Devoted, Cath – Living a solitary life, Diane – To no avail and Lynn – The vigil.

Reading of homework

Eight writers created an array of homework: Elizabeth reading for Juan – My future wife, Cath – So many visitors, Diane – OCD & OCPC comparison, Lynn – Half lie, Amanda – A strange sensation, Pauline – As time goes by, Terry – A toadstool and Helene – Coffee beans.

Exercise - five things we dislike touching and five adjectives

The writers disliked touching the following items - Slugs, snakes, spider web, peach fuzz, mud, vomit, velvet, dog poo, beetles, unknown gooey substances, insects, fish, eel, mangy dog, loose wires, glass, sharp knives, birds, some food, thorns, liquid detergent, golden syrup, flies, ice, seaweed, metal, wet dishcloths, chalk and some fabrics.  Lots of “s” and other words were used to describe the feelings like slimy, scaly, sour, stale and rough.

Exercise - Take three nouns disappointment, fishing boat and brooch

The writers produced an amazing range of stories from the three nouns.

Helene – The opal broach, Terry – prawning, Pauline – One was real, Amanda – We hired a boat, Trevor – The bottle top, Lynn – The water was dark and eerie, Diane – The mermaid brooch, Cath – All we could find and Elizabeth – Fish hate you.

Homework

If I were invisible I would ……………… or

Write the point of view of a household item and dialogue between yourself and the item

Meeting 1st March 2017

Amanda, Juan, David, Terry, Di, Lyn, Pauline, Cath & Elizabeth were the eager writers ready to offer their word to be used in a story or poem, these words were:-

Gestation  -  germination of ideas  - pregnancy
Cornucopia -  a symbol of abundance
Myriad  -  a horde
Anarchy  -  lawlessness
Epicene  -  unisex
Quasar  -  celestial objects
Lunatic  -  insane

The myriad of ideas using these words were:   Amanda: A dream     Terry:  A lunatic poem          Di:  Space journey    Lyn: Brain overload   Pauline: The effects of the moon Cath:  Asylum inmates    Elizabeth:  Ants

Homework was read by:  Elizabeth  -  a good looking thief
                              Amanda  -  problem solver  - a poem
                              Terry  -   the pseudo tramp
                              Di  -  hidden character
                              Lyn  -  unpopular or popular
                              Pauline  -  a humble man

Suggestions for future meetings were discussed to help achieve further expertise as writers, some being to minimise "what's been going on" chatter at the beginning of each group day, to revert back to spreading the post 3pm exercises amongst all members, to again arrange for writing seminars/training say 4 times a year.

Homework:  "It was only a half-truth, but........."