A New Dawn for the Group

Want to join the W Writers’ Group from home? No problem.

Don’t want to stay at work late to participate? No problem.

To join the new format W Writers’ Group it’s easy:

Log on to yahoo messenger (or install and log on) on the pre-arranged day and time
Ping dawnie_wood@yahoo.com
Join the chatroom
Let the creative juices flow

Due to changes in the group; people leaving the company, getting busier schedules, the nights drawing in, it was decided that moving the group online was the simplest and most logical next step.

To find out more about how you can join in just email me (w.writersgroup@googlemail.com).

Look forward to ‘seeing’ you there.

Stories from the August Meeting

Please post links to your stories here.

Ideas for the EMEA Bulletin

Please post all ideas for the bulletin article as comments here.

The Place for Your Prompts

For those who were at the meeting, and also those that weren't...please post your prompts for the next meeting in the comments.

The challenge for all of you is to come up with possible prompts to be used as the 'quick write' prompt during the next meeting, which is next Wednesday (5th August 2009).

Good luck, and I look forward to reading them.

July Meeting

We are now over half-way through the year and this is now our 6th meeting.

To all of you who come to the meetings/or follow the meetings on the blog - thank you :)

Anyway, less of the mushy stuff and on to the business of discussing our next meeting which takes place on Wednesday 8th July 2009.

We have been asked to produce a writing challenge that is somewhat Wiley relevant for the September issue of the EMEA News Bulletin. The idea has to be written up and sent by 17th July, so I would love for all of you to put your thinking caps on and come up with an idea or two before the meeting.

Also, the task (no, not homework) for the next meeting is to come up with some writing prompts that can be used in the meeting for the 30-minute freewrite.

To avoid confusion, the meeting start-time is 5.15 with the freewrite starting at 5.30 (giving any stragglers a chance to get to the meeting). I will put the prompt for the meeting freewrite up on the blog by Friday at the latest (just need a bit of time to come up with something).

Hope to see you all there. Anyone who can't make it, just drop me a line to let me know.

June Meeting

You will have all received the email by now...this month's meeting has now been moved to next week, Wednesday June 10th from 5.15.

June Meeting: Prompts

The writing task for this month is (for those who were at the meeting) to continue on with the story that you started in the meeting. For everyone else, do a 30-minute exercise based on one of the previous challenges.

Sometimes just finding time to sit down and write is a virtual impossibility. For this reason – and the fact that it seemed to be so successful last meeting, I have decided that part of the June meeting will be a writing challenge. As requested by some of you I am sending the prompts for the meeting in advance – to give you a bit of time to prepare (though I don’t want you to write it all bar the ending to bring in for the meeting – that would be cheating).

For 30-45 minutes (to be decided) the objective will be to write about one of the following (I thought that having a variety of options so that (hopefully) everyone is catered for:

Write a reverse-style story (or at least the start of one):

Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen) in the style of Stephen King
Romeo & Juliet (Shakespeare) in the style of Irving Welsh
Lady Chatterley’s Lover (DH Lawrence) in the style of Enid Blyton
Alice in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll) in the style of Ian Fleming
About a Boy (Nick Hornby) in the style of Emily Bronte


First Lines (Select one of the following):

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age...
“Who's there?”
“Do you ever think that your life would be easier if...”
As the door opened with a squeak that spoke of years of neglect he/she/they stepped cautiously into the room and...

And use the following Random words:

Barbeque
Rover
Pluto
Filing
Chauvinist

Or

Clementine
Judo
Barricade
Blasphemy
Hedonism

Or

Anchor
Crown
Blade
Vampire
Vale


What happens next?

Write a “what might have happened instead” story based on:

“Pride & Prejudice” if Lizzy and Darcy had never met
“Jane Eyre” had Jane never returned to Thornfield Manor and Mr Rochester
“Romeo & Juliet” had they not died
For the more ‘contemporary writers’ “Twilight” had Edward succumbed and killed Bella

Next Meeting (subject to change)
Date: Wednesday 3rd June 2009
Time: 5.15 - 6.45
Location: Atrium cafe

Fourth Meeting/Prompt

The last few months I have been setting optional exercises for you to complete between meetings. Some of you, like me, have been busy with work and other things, and unable to do the previous ones, while others have been producing an abundance of pieces using these varied prompts. For that reason this month is ‘catch-up’ month. If you want to try your hand at one of the past exercises and haven’t had a chance yet, then this is it.

There will be a change in format at the next meeting. Instead of sitting round and talking about what we have written, we will have a 30-minute writing exercise with an existing prompt. Bring your pen and pad with you and get ready for a 30-minute mad writing session. In the coming months we will be mixing it up a bit, as well as the writing sessions I am also hoping that you will join me in making up prompts...

I look forward to seeing you all there.

Keep writing and PLEASE keep reviewing. Also, if you are unable to attend please let me know.

Next Meeting: Wednesday 6th May 2009

Third Prompt

At the meeting last night we discussed possible content for future meetings, including many things that will hopefully be of interest to many of you who were unable to attend; such as setting out a plot, drawing word clusters and of course constructive criticism. These will all be things that are looked at in the future.

To this end the ‘assignment’ for this month (deadline for posting stories is 7th April) is in two parts:

Part 1: Constructive Criticism


Select the stories written by the next member alphabetically (see the list below) Writers’ Group and write a constructive review of them. Of course, some of you may find that you only have one story on which to write any criticism.

This critique doesn’t have to follow any set format, but the following might help: What did you like? Why? What didn’t you like? Why? How do you think that this could have been improved? What do you enjoy about reading this story? What do you feel was unnecessary to the plot? Do you feel that the story was well put together?

Essentially look at the story through the eyes of a reader and most importantly, be honest. There is no point in saying that something is good if you didn’t think that at all. Of course, the most important thing to remember in writing constructive criticism is that it is intended to HELP the writer, not upset them or leave them totally demotivated. Inspire them to write more by giving them a gentle push (not off a cliff!) with encouragement as well as advice.

As I know that everyone is busy, but I really want to encourage you to give more than just “I like this” or “This was really well done” as feedback, take a maximum of 15 minutes on writing constructive criticism for each of your two stories (so a total of 30 minutes). If the writer you are reviewing only has one story then use the whole 30 minutes to think and write about it.

Part of the meeting next month will be taken up with giving this feedback – it is after all one of the things we all want.

Reviewing sheet (1 reviews 2, 2 reviews 3 etc until we get back to 1 again)
1. Keith Abbott
2. Sarah Johnson
3. Kerry Laundon
4. Jenny Ng
5. Nicola O'Brien
6. Kate Osborne
7. Jon Peacock
8. Emily Pears
9. Rachel Richardson
10. Carole Richmond
11. Sam Turner
12. Susan Turner
13. Megan Varilly

~*~

Part 2: The Story

Write a story. Yes, I know that this is easier said than done, which is why I am going to set a theme again. This time the theme is:

What happens after the happily ever after?

Select one of the following 6 characters from Fairy Tales: Cinderella, Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty, Pinocchio, The Little Mermaid, The Princess and the Frog

Use one of the following (or a combination of two) tones: Satirical, Morose, Hyperactive, Soppily romantic, Cynical, Bitter.

Without drawing upon the many (in most cases dreadful) sequels penned by over-eager money-spinners at Disney, write a ‘what happened next’ story. For this exercise you have 45 minutes...

Second Prompt

This is by no means compulsory, but it is a good little practice exercise and only takes 30 minutes.

~*~

Pick one of these sentences as the starter:

It all started to go wrong when …

She/He would have never believed it possible in a thousand years but …

If she/he lived to be one hundred she/he knew that the sight of …


AND/OR


Use these five words in the story:

Mystery
Obligation
Biro
Sapphire
Sellotape


Use one of the following three emotions as a central theme:

Despair
Hatred
Excitement

And write for a maximum of 30 minutes (it doesn’t seem like much but you’ll be amazed at how much you can do).

There is no limit on length (some people can write upwards of 500 words, some struggle with 200) and there is no right or wrong. Do not go back and edit after you have finished, no matter how strong the desire may be to change something. The point of this exercise is to trust your instincts.

Your time starts now!

As I mentioned in the meeting, if anyone wants another prompt after using this one, email me and I will see what I can do (w.writersgroup@googlemail.com).

First Meeting

It was great to see you all today at the first meeting. Though it was a bit higgledy piggledy I hope that it gave you an idea of the direction that we will be going.

As promised I will be posting a new prompt on Friday.

In the mean time have a look around the blog (maybe set up one of your own) and post your "Sins" stories after this message (or a link to it if you would rather post it on your own site/blog).

Remember, the next meeting is in 3 weeks, on Wednesday 4th March from 5.15.

February Meeting

Due to the weather that we have all been experiencing this week (and the difficulties that this has caused to transport to and from work), it has been decided to postpone the first meeting of the Writers' Group until next week.

The posters around the Atrium are going to be updated today, and anyone who participates in the Wellness Week lunchtime activities on Wednesday 4th February (I will be in Ruskin 1 from 12.30 - 1.00) will be told.

The meeting is now going to be:

Wednesday 11th February 2009

5.15 - 6.45

As I am not sure how many people will be participating, we will meet in the Atrium Servery and take it from there. There is no point in booking a large room and having small attendance figures, just as there is little point in booking a small meeting room only to find there isn't enough room for everyone to sit.

I look forward to seeing you there.

First Prompt

Write a story featuring one or more of the seven deadly sins:

• Lust
• Envy
• Gluttony
• Sloth
• Pride
• Wrath
• Greed