Record of meeting 2 May 2018

The writers

Terry, Jo, Trevor, Pauline, Helene, Elizabeth, Pat

The words of the day

Diffident – uncertain

Loquacious – talkative

Spiel – an elaborate or glib speech

Arborglyphs – carvings on trees

Impostor – deception under an assumed name

Felloe – circumference of wheel attached by spokes

Quasar – intergalactic source of massive energy

A Quasar

Writing from words of the day

The writers grabbed the words of the day and wrote about - High on sugar, Excitement in space, She tried to think of a story, She stood before a tree, Minding my own business and Do they bottom out - brilliant stories from Pat and Pauline.

Reading of homework

The writers read out their homework on the topics - From one song to another, Invisibility in the city, Is Jennifer my twin, My plans, Lost in France in love and After World War 11.

Exercise – write about work when we were younger

The writers shared an array of interesting stories set in workplaces.  Subjects were Ginger nuts biscuits, Twenty cent tips, On the toy counter, At Woolworths, Filing and errands and discrimination, Selling an idea and The Bundy Clock.

Homework from A novel in a year

Read week 20 starting on page 113. Write an account or story including

·         how you will set yourself a timetable to write

·         how you will deal with Allies and enemies to your writing (things that stop us writing and things that encourage writing)

·         some humour in the writing

Meeting 25 April 2018

The writers

Pauline and Pat turned up on Anzac Day. 

They had a nice chat and shared homework and publishing experiences.

Homework

Complete last weeks homework or write something about Anzac biscuits or both.

Record of meeting 18 April 2018

The writers

Terry, Jo, Trevor, Pauline, Helene, Elizabeth, Pat

The words of the day

Ruse – a trick

Salubrious – health giving

Fash – troubled or bothered

Confound – surprise or confusion

Indefensible – not able to be justified

Feeble – physically weak physically or mentally

Montage – a piece of work produced by combining smaller parts

Writing from words of the day

The writers grasped the words of the day and wrote salubrious astounding stories about - Trash in a fash, Too small, Not even mildly pleasant, The teacher, To be or not to be, It raised my blood pressure

and Gallery opening.

Reading of homework

Five writers read out homework on the subjects - Truth and veils, The limp and no limp, Lost in France – a montage of music, Family experiences and What a brilliant idea.

Exercise – write a letter why you need your job back

The writers wrote about getting back their job after being mistaken about a  Lotto win and bathing. The stories were - Soaking in a tin bath, Have pity on me, On my knees, A warm bath in the lounge room, In a cockney accent, Dear Mr Scrougie and I am not a habitual drinker.

Homework

Exercise 4 from page 57 of “A novel in a year”

Meeting 11th April 2018

Attending...Elizabeth, Jo, Trevor, Terry        Apology from Helene

Words of day.
Confound...to confuse, mix up
Diffident... shy, bashful, lacking self confidence
Breach........break a promise
Breeches....mens trousers
Foment......to promote or foster discord

Again a range of thought processes produced wide ranging stories using these words

Homework reading.
This was to be based loosely on chapter six of our "Writing a novel" book.
This wasn't necessarily the way it was done by all but some interesting writing resulted.

Exercises.
1) We had to write a story about a phone call at 3 in the morning.
2) Again a story incorporating the words "...three days passed before they found the body..."

Some interesting stories.

Homework.
Write a story based on the contents of Week 7 of our book "A novel in a year"

Record of meeting 4 April 2018

The writers

Terry, Jo, Trevor, Helene

The words of the day

Disdain- contempt

Purport – to claim

Satiate – to satisfy

Floozie – girl of loose morals

Crapulous - ill after eating too much

Dysania – hard to get out of bed in the morning

Ball tampering - unlawful alteration of the surface or seam

Poultice – applied to relieve soreness and inflammation

Trumpery – deceit or fraud, things that look good but are useless

Writing from words of the day

The writers contributed multiple words to satiate our need for writing. We created the stories - Reading on my day bed, Dad was going red, The annual ball and In a strip club.

Reading of homework

The writers read out their homework on the topics - The lisp, Just a little accident, Maintenance matters and The visitor.

Exercise – use the word me 33 times in a story

The writers had fun and some thought outside the square to write interesting stories about - The baton, She and the letter, An only child and At the white house.

Exercise - Three memories of a banana and a story from that

The writers were inspired by the banana and wrote about - Homage to the banana, When I was six and In Coffs Harbour.

Homework

Read week 6 from “A novel in a year” by Louise Doughty and write something inspired by the chapter.

Meeting for 28 March 2018 cancelled

As only two members attended the Vincentia Golf club at 1 pm on Wednesday 28 March 2018, the meeting was cancelled.

Homework

Continue working on homework from 21 March 2018.

Record of meeting 21 March 2018

The writers  - Jo, Helene, Pauline, Terry, Trevor E

Shoalhaven Writers Festival 

Terry reported that our group will present a workshop at the festival on Saturday 4 August 2018. The workshop will cover how we conduct our group meetings. It is expected that Frank Moorhouse AM, the writer who was born in Nowra will attend the festival. More details in later blogs.

The words of the day

Ergophobia – fear of work

Lupine- pertaining to a wolf

Focus – the centre of interest or activity

Immediate – without delay, instant, nearest

Memoir – based on personal experience of the writer

Indian summer – warm weather occurring in autumn, a period of happiness late in life

Writing from words of the day

Without ergophobia the five writers focused on the words to create the immediate stories of - Happy hours, These members, Coin collecting, Far too much rest and Wall Street.

Reading of homework

Four writers read out their homework on the subjects - Unsatisfactory darling (in a Russian Accent), From my childhood, Freedom and secrets & Walking down the street.

Exercise – From out of the blue

The writers chose an action, a person, item, texture, emotion and a piece of furniture to write a story starting "From out of the blue". The stories were about - The euphoric feeling of falling asleep, Watch and cry, Terry’s ear has turned blue, A chair on a knee and tree branches.

Exercise – write a story using words of one syllable

The writers wrote stories about a bull using words of one syllable, the stories were about - Foam in his mouth, Too much Guinness, Mad as hell, Dip at the beach and Pain.

Exercise – she adjusted his bow tie

The writers created stories on the topics - That was too good, After the burglary, You are a vamp and Of course I want to go.

Homework

Exercise 3 from “A novel in a year”.

Write a simple and straight forward account of an

accident in your life without embellishments or analysis.