Record of meeting 21 February 2018

The writers

 Helene, Jo, Pauline, Trevor, Jenni, Elizabeth

Promoting the group

The members present decided to defer further discussion about promoting our group in the Country Club/Vincentia Golf Club sites.

The words of the day

Salivate – drool

Authenticity – genuine, original

Pernicious – harmful, damaging

Collocate – to set or place together

Pretentious – affected, ostentatious flashy

Abhorrent – disgust, detestable, hateful, loathsome

Writing from words of the day

The writers were drooling at the thoughts collocated by the words of the day. They wrote stories about Barnaby, Smashed avocado, The secret location, Saving the world, Our leaders and The dinner party.

Reading of homework

Four writers read out homework on the topics - Bob Hawke, childhood memory, King David and Rudolf the Reindeer herder.  

Exercise – A break up message

The writers created break up messages on the following themes - Dear Malcolm, My identical twin sister, School reunion, At the school, Complete honesty and talking to the Lord Mayor.

Exercise – 6 smells

We identified 3 smells we love, 3 smells we hate and used all six in a story starting with “I pulled into a service station”

The writers wrote about Darling are you OK, On the way at last, Coffee, Petrol, Rotten egg smell & Fresh bread and coffee.

Exercise - Plot a story about a disastrous vacation

The writers wrote stories about disastrous holidays as follows - Another car in the driveway, Accused of stealing, Meal times were a problem and Vegans and others on holiday.

Homework

Think about six animal sounds - use as many of these sounds in a story starting - Some relationships are better than others.

Record of meeting 14 February 2018

The writers

Terry, Helene, Jo, Pat, Jenni, Pauline, Cath

The words of the day

Daunting – intimidating

Opaque – impervious to light           

Opaque

Disabuse – undeceived, relieve

Demean – loss of dignity, to lower

Hoot – loud sound of disapproval, like an owl

Decathect – withdraw feelings of attachment in anticipation of future loss

Dissolute – lewd, sensually unbridled, licentious, morally lax

Writing from words of the day

The writers were not daunted or demeaned and hooted with laughter as they read out stories about Sarina, Unseen, Cynical remarks, Catching him out, Loved to go out drinking, Walking through and Barnaby Joyce.

Reading of homework

Six stories were read out on the topics - Should I write the truth, Trapped by a dishwasher, Dual citizenship, Behind a desk, My own wedding and In the dugout.

Exercise 6 from A novel in a year – Louise Doughty - Chose a country, create a fictional character

The writers wrote a paragraph including the name, age and ethnic background on the following characters - George a car mechanic in Devon, Enrique sugar cane farmer, Carsus from  a Subterranian city  of the USA, Suzanna from Canada, Rudolf from Russia, Wanda from Port Moresby and Vladimir from Russia.

Exercise – What was one thing you always as a child but never actually got to have Or the smallest kindest act of kindness you experienced?

The writers shared experiences and wrote about - Given time to change uniforms, I wanted to go to Homebush High, My own pushbike and A China doll.

Homework Chapter 7 from A novel in a year – Louise Doughty

Write a paragraph from the point of view of a character living in the past. Do some research, look at booklets, pamphlets or newspapers. Feel free to take a step on from the foreign country exercise today.

Louise Doughty suggests a character based piece. It doesn’t matter if it’s in the first person or third, past or present tense. Be as wide ranging in your style and content as you like.

Record of meeting 7 February 2018

The writers

Jo, Trevor, Pat, Terry, Jenni & Pauline at Vincentia Golf Club

Terry, Helene, Jo, Pat, Trevor, Jenni, Pauline

The words of the day

Disregard – ignore

Eligible – that may be chosen

Consider – contemplate, reflect

Pervious – open to reason, passage

Whelm – to engulf or crush with weight

Relic – souvenir, part of holy person’s body

Bathroom – a room containing a sink and either bathtub, a shower or both

Writing from words of the day

The eligible writers quietly considered the words of the day and wrote about – A recycled yellow mini skirt, Escape to the country, Half a bathroom, Old umbrella, The dunny, Our heroine and Many years ago.

Reading of homework

Six writers read out their homework on the following topics - Carrying jewellery, Lost little girl, Running free, Holiday in Fiji, Too many Wool Roads and Destination Happy Place.

Exercise – Dreams of a tattoo removal specialist

The writers wrote about - Chaotic life, Compulsory tattoos at birth, Only names, On a conveyor belt, Extra lovely charms, A triquetra and Pigs & chicken.

Exercise - Confessions at midnight

The writers created stories about Friendship and a teapot, Love on the beach, Guard this for me, I did not suspect, My friend’s phone rang out, Karma and None the wiser.

Homework

Exercise 5 from A novel in a year – write an account of a time when you felt trapped.  Before you start to write think about how you actually felt – claustrophobia, panic, anger?  You may need to spend as much time thinking about it as you will writing it. Consider getting out a few photos or go to the library and look up newspapers.  Feel free to embroider.

Record of meeting 31 January 2018

The writers

Terry, Helene, Jo, Pat, Trevor, Jenni, Cath

The words of the day               

Autistic – affected by autism

Harry – to harass, demand, worry

Fast – abstain from foods or speed

Diaphoretic – inducing perspiration

Obsequious – fawning, servile compliant

Retrograde – revert to an earlier condition

Algorithm – formula, process to be followed in calculations or other problem solving especially by a computer

Writing from words of the day

The writers were fast to create a range of stories - Poor Sheldon, Fasting regime, The effects of a mars bar, How difficult, Did not want to get sprung, Fast moving athleticism and Many mathematicians.

Reading of homework

Six writers read out their homework or discussed their ideas on the topics - Band aids, Adventure, People may want to know about me “Who is that woman”, Test my creative writing skills, I used to dream about writing a book and Faction historical drama and Carers handbook.

A novel in a year by Louise Doherty

It was agreed the group would purchase 10 copies of the book "A novel in a year".

Exercise – An accident

The Writers tackled the exercise to write about an accident (big or small) to include as many important details as possible.  The writers included blood and broken bones to write about summer holidays, A walk from Hampton Court palace, Lunch time at primary school, Locked out, A new years eve party, Surfing on coral and Dancing on a table in Bali.

Homework

Write about a time when you were lost.  It could be a small incident, a major incident, lost in a metaphorical sense, lost in a love affair or lost in your family. Fictionalise the story if it feels right.

Record of meeting 24 January 2018

The writers

Terry, Helene, Jo, Pat, Cath

The words of the day

Fallow – uncultivated, left to rest

Simper – smile in an unexpected way

Furlough – to grant leave of absence

Jess – a short strap around the leg of a hawk

Quirky – peculiar or unexpected traits or aspects

Writing from words of the day

The writers did not simper as they wrote quirky stories about - Liz and Jess, Worst aspect of his job, Two men shared a horse, A cabin by the lake and A waste of a day.

Reading of homework

The five writers read out stories on the topics - Broken Christmas memories, Testing testing, The fungus, Writing group and Obsession with change.

Scrabble 12.30 to 4 pm Thursday Country Club

You are invited to attend a scrabble group at the Country Club on Thursday afternoons. Contact Pat or Helene if you want more information.

Exercise from “A novel in a year’ Louise Doughty

We followed Exercise 1 to complete the sentence “The day after my eight birthday, my father told me” and the writers delved back into their memories to write about –

Competition, I wasn’t really eight, I stood in front of the mirror, We moved house and Sent away to school.

Homework 

Write down in plain English why you want to write a novel (not why you want to be a writer); “I want to write a novel because ……”

Record of meeting 17 January 2018

Our first meeting for 2018 held at the relaxing and beautiful Vincentia Golf Club was a success

The writers

Terry, Helene, Pat, Pauline, Cath, Juan and welcome back Jo

The words of the day

Exacerbate – intensify or worsen

Hyperbole - obvious exaggeration

Dissolve – melt, to break up, put an end to

Analects – collection of literary fragments

Quota - limited or fixed number of things

Hypodermic – introduction of medical treatment under the skin

Writing from words of the day

An excellent start to the year with writing on the topics of Relief, Mistaken impressions, Moving on, A tie stained with sauce, Difficult and Truth serum.

Reading of homework topic Christmas

Four writers read homework about Christmas past, Sticky rice and Milo, Shiver, shake and pixilate and Is it me?

How not to get published – Claire Gillman

Pat borrowed the above book from the Nowra Library. It contains information about the common mistakes made in manuscripts by novice writers.

We had a discussion on publishing and related issues. Juan brought a copy of the publication he arranged “Shoalhaven Young Writers Award 2016 - An Anthology” and talked about his experiences in publishing the Anthology.

Exercise – Bald ballerina

The writers developed a list of ten words associated with the word Bald. We then selected six of those words to write a story about a ballerina starting with “I was backstage”

The writer’s pirouetted around the ballerina exercise and wrote on the topics - Freedom, Cookamidgera, Legs were my passion, Glimpsing Pavlova, Uncle Fester, Family story and Hard to watch.

Homework

Possessed by an idea to write or you have written something that comes to life.

Garry Homes "I still call Australia home"

Garry Holmes writing group member in Malaysia and Thailand singing "I still call Australia home" sends his Christmas and New Year wishes for 2017- 18.