Record of meeting 15 July 2015

The writers

Terry, Clare, Cathy, Helene, Leonie, David C

The words of the day

Livid = black and blue, furiously angry

Defalcate = to embezzle

Infra dig = unbecoming, demeaning

Hathos = pleasure of hating someone

Dross = impurity, waste matter

Rusticate = to expel temporarily from a college or send to the country

Writing from words of the day

We used our words of the day to create stories on the topics - Enjoyment, Retiring, Mean minded Treasurer, The defendant, Living in Queensland and Another way to infuriate.

Reading of homework

Five writers read out serious and funny homework stories - The influence of labels, Chilly morning coffee, The box syndrome, Living in a ticky tacky box and Working for the project. David C also read two old homework stories called Blow flies and Policing at its best.

Exercise 1- When I asked

Choose two nouns, two verbs, two adjectives and two names and write a story using all eight words starting with “When I asked”.

  

For this exercise the writers produced the following stories - His friend had gone mad, He didn’t know, Busy doing nothing, Such a mess, Freshly washed hair and What book?

Exercise 2 -The scream was loud

We defined the word Indaba and wrote a story starting with "The scream was loud"

We produced some interesting definitions from bar to goddess and created stories about - Shrill noise, The smell of brewed hops, The lion, The kitchen goddess, Possessed by a diva and The curse.

The homework  

Three wishes

Record of meeting 8 July 2015

The brave writers

Wendy, Clare, Helene, Elizabeth, Geoff, Leonie, Terry

The eye catching words of the day 

Fiasco = ridiculous failure

Ice blink

Exigency = urgent need

Vanquished = conquer

Ice blink = luminous appearance on the horizon caused by a reflection of ice

Volition = wish, will, decision, choice, desire, preference, option

Bunkum = non-sense, insincere or foolish talk

Fervid = intense enthusiasm to an excessive degree

We used words of the day to create a range of stories - The crocodile tamer, Talking sense, No fight back, Life at the North Pole, Fathers advice, Before dinner and Words on paper.

Reading of homework

Three brave writers read their homework on the topic “wildlife can eat you”, with the brilliant - What else am I to do - a poem from Clare, Please don’t feed the bears by Leonie and So wild and free from Helene.

Future activities

Wendy reported on the costs of river cruises and it was decided to have a Christmas in July lunch probably at the Lodge in Sanctuary Point. More details next week.

Terry suggested devoting one meeting each month to conduct workshops.  Terry is seeking further information from a writing group in Adelaide with a view to us conducting workshops – in particular about performance poetry. The idea would be to write a poem or short story and present to the group using voice, language, costumes etc to communicate the message.

Exercise 

We wrote on the topic - Conversations in my head. An excellent range of stories were read out - Good, evil and myself; A free offer; On Center court; Thought preparation; More options and What a beautiful day.

Homework

Write about putting people in boxes – have you put people in boxes or have you been put in a box – categorised by appearance, age, disability, communication skills, assets etc

Record of meeting 1 July 2015

The writers

David R, Helene, Wendy, Clare, Terry, Leonie, Geoff, Lynn, Cath 

The words of the day

Cohort = group of people of common interest, band of associates

Tippet = scarf of fur, band of silk, used in fishing

Adulate = to flatter or admire excessively

Evanescent = vanishing, transitory

Transpire = something happened or took place, give off water vapour

Velleity = wish or inclination not strong enough to take action

Loving cup = two or three handled cup to share

Unkempt = untidy hair

Rue = to repent

The writing from words of the day

We created an array of stories and poems on the topics - Around the Pope, The end, The red haired woman, From union days, The banquet, I’m scruffy, Cold sores, Social wrecks and Pop groups.

The reading of home work

Six dedicated writers read out their homework with the titles - Ode to the socks – a clever poem, The unfaithful sock, I lost my twin – a fun poem, Santa’s coming – a children’s story, The explorer ode and Where are my socks.

After our readings we heard some solutions for securing straying socks from several writers.

Other reading

David R read his poem about climate change. Later Clare read her poem The ballard of the onion – a tear making tale.

Exercise - Red shoe, guitar and a unique cake

We used the trio of subjects to cook up great stories - The brightly lit stage, A big decision, There’s no place like home, The man in red shoes, Baby shoes, My kitchen apron, In our living room, The shoe cake – very funny poem and The glitter on the shoe cake.

Exercise – The last time I saw …………………

We wrote about Parkes NSW, An elephant, My toes, Her, my primary school, Maureen, Paris, Stewart and my body,

Exercise – 5 minute TV advertisement for asparagus

We created high quality advertisements on the topics - High in fibre, It’s slim, Put in a blender, Promises of being sharply, Better than Brussels sprouts, Vitamin B without the fuss, You too can be slim, Give your taste buds a treat and Rather eat tyre off a bike.

Homework

In my country dinner eats you

Record of meeting 24 June 2015

The writers

Wendy, David R, Clare, Helene, Pauline, Cath, Elizabeth, David C, Lynn, Terry, Geoff

The words of the day

Clandestine = Kept secret or private

Atrocious = wicked or brutal or bad taste

Nebbish = a timid or ineffectual man

Scuttle = cause a ship to sink or run horridly

Pernicious = deadly or wicked

Meditation = think deeply about something

Paroxysm = sudden outburst

Freegan = a recycler of food

Cavil = to raise irritating petty objection

Abderian = silly laughter, incessant merriment

Bunker = military fortification etc

The stories from words of the day

We created pernicious stories about - Taken away by the police, Peaches on the beaches, The meeting, Overcome, The balls, The Immigration Minister, Reasons for his outburst, Ferdinand and local government, A Group of politicians, A wet paper bag and Seeping through me

The reading of homework

Eight hardy writers read out their homework on the topics - It’s all in a name, Stop that jiggly dance, Peace and the log fire, Run away for biscuits and Brie, Memories by the sea, A trickle of sand, Stories with Meals on wheels and Clancy’s contemplation

Discussions and ideas

Pauline read out her impressions on the movie “Still Alice” which led to a discussion on the topic of dementia.

Geoff reminded us about the 2015 Miles Franklin award to Sofie Lagana for “The eye of the sheep” and the New Copyright Internet law recently passed.

David R read his humorous poem - The black stump and David C read his 500 word story Lost and found.

The exercises

1. Why I write?

We expressed various reasons for our writing - I can’t say, To avoid calculating my tax, Some thing new, Ideas to give, To keep in touch through a blog, I have to write, To be remembered, An outlet for the information in my brain, An inner fight, Natural expression and Challenge and improvement.

2. An interesting character from the past

A sheep with one eye and three legs, Wedding cakes and sheep’s eyes, Bah humbug, A man with a tattoo on his head helped me, A comb over, Protector of the castle, The boss is in the office, Emma was an intense person, Cosmic at the Lady Denman, Gives a wink and The jail bird.

Homework

The lost sock

RECORD OF MEETING 17TH JUNE 2015

                               

Wendy, David R, Pauline, David C, Terry, Geoff, Cath and Lynn all enjoyed a great days writing.

WORDS OF THE DAY

Prognosis    -   foretell

Staunch       -   loyal, firm or stop flow

Ambivalent -   contrary emotions

Pendulous   -   hanging down, swinging decision

Eclectic       -   made of different sources

Bloomsday  -   anniversary day for James Joyce Irish author

Addage        -   proverb or saying

Subdue        -   overcome

The group used various aspects of Bloomsday to create some interesting stories then homework was read the topic being Anniversaries  -

Anniversaries of marriage, disasters, belonging, political events and a poem on 'States of Mind' showed the eclectic thought processes of the group. 

EXERCISE

DARWIN AWARDS -  using one of five novel newspaper heading write the story behind the headline.

A two wheel wheely bin ride

Fake robbery goes wrong

Chile eating record broken

Midnight scooter ride down highway

Death in brewery

From this came wild stories of poor dead Jimmy, Dermot, lots of chile eating compounding the  nuts, that screws washes and bolts. 

EXERCISE

Write the shortest viable sentence possible using the words deduct, detail, defeat and defence.

EXERCISE

Compile a list within the group of words starting with mag. Then use this list in a quick write using at least three of the words.

HOMEWORK

'SANDCASTLES'                

  

Record of meeting 10 June 2015

The writers

Wendy, Terry, Cath, Lynn, Clare, Helene, Leonie, David C, Geoff, Elizabeth

The words of the day

Slew = turn or swing around on an axis and kill

Chigga = an uncultured person

Mesmerise = capture the complete attention of someone

Extemporize = improvise, adlib

Nebulous = indistinct

Acumen = sharp or quick thinking

Quasi-maliciously = deliberately malicious legal term

Beguile = to deceive by guile, cheat or mislead, to charm

Haggle = to cut into small pieces or difficult in bargaining

Impecunious = little or no money

The stories from words of the day

Some great beguiling story on the topics - No mercy for Big John; The deal in his favour; The rally car driver; The discovery; The handsome face; A toothless smile; Haggle with the Pope; Joe’s grim ideas; Sad to see; and Trying to trick.

The reading of Homework

Seven diligent writers read great homework stories - Time to ski; Body parts – a funny poem; The purpose of our being – a poem; One dark winter’s night; They met on the Internet; Fate intervened and The car accident.

We are/have been reading

Lynn is enjoying hearing “The death of a stock man” written by Hugh Anderson and is also reading work by Dorothy Wimple. Terry recommends reading “Being there” by Jerzy Kosinski. Helene is reading and enjoying “The goldfinch” winner of the 2014 Pulitzer Prize by Donna Tartt.

Exercise 1 - The stain will not come out

On the topic of stains we wrote a great array of stories and poems including - We’ve got things to discuss: The intruder: Tonight was the night: It wasn’t long: My white dress and mangos: The painting: Brand new carpet: Out dam spot and His mother is overprotective.

Exercise 2 – The inside of an egg

The sloppy topic of inside an egg produced the eggcentic stories of Hollow and slimy, I came first, Empty nest egg, My room, Only pale blue light, My egg is packed ready to go, Yellow white and Cooked chook.

Homework

Today marks the anniversary of two people …………..

Record of meeting 3 June 2015

The writers 

Wendy, Cath, Terry, Pauline, David C, Elizabeth, Leonie, Geoff, Lynn and welcome to Clare and Vivienne

The words of the day

Fulminate = criticise or denounce

Duplicitous = deceitful behaviour

Misogamy = hatred of marriage

Forefend = avert or keep off

Accrue = gain or collect

Astringent = cleansing, austere, severe

Prophetic = looking into the future

Impromptu = without prior planning

Mercurial = quick, changeable, volatile

Surreptitious = clandestine

Quintessential = pure and concentrated in nature, fifth essence

Procaffeinating = tendency to not start anything until after a cup of coffee

The stories from words of the day

We created duplicitous and quintessential stories and poems from our words of the day – A Men’s Meeting, A little bit mental, Before the house, First sip – read with passion, Impending doom, A leaky boat, No other than a man and a woman, Close the door, Dealing with life, Rare moments and Trapping men.

The reading of homework

Eight mercurial writers read their homework - Caving, Imprisoned in black, The blessed world of publishing, Dog paddling, The old lift, Lost head, A hint of anxiety and They are extinct.

The exercise - topic waiting

We used the word waiting to write stories and poems on the subjects Professional waiting, Green cap and gown, Cut the legs off, Alone with my thoughts, A pleasure, The ballet dream, Don’t be slow, Smarten up, There’s cool, Very still, My daughter will be here,

The exercise – topic losers using three word sentences

We wrote about losers of weight, time, lotteries,status etc

The homework

Kismet