Category: Meetings

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Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good… write!

A very Happy Christmas to you all from Island Writers!

Here are some sprinkles of Christmassy writing inspiration to keep you all going over the break – because you won’t have anything else to do, right?

These are of course totally optional, but I’m sure some of you would enjoy a few writing prompts to work on. Anything to get out of the washing-up!

  • Make a list of words and phrases including ‘Christmas’.
  • You or your characters are snowed-in unexpectedly on the day before Christmas Eve without some important things – gifts? food? booze? decorations? electricity? your guests? – How does Christmas turn out?
  • A present wrapped in gold.
  • A family has been invited to spend Christmas in Australia. Will they go?
  • Find something on the doorstep on Christmas morning.
  • What’s the significance/history of the items on your Christmas tree?
  • The worst gift turns out to be the best gift. Why?

Have an enjoyable Christmas and we’ll meet up in the New Year.

There’s no meeting on New Year’s Day, so the next Island Writers meeting is on Tuesday 15 Jan 2019, at Ryde Library, 7pm-9pm.

Let’s make 2019 our best writing year ever!

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Dreaming of a Write Christmas

We’ve had our last meeting before Christmas, and it was a great laugh! Good to see so many of you turned up at this busy time of year, even though some of our members are away.

We started by pulling crackers and writing a piece about one of the items we found inside. Then I asked you to write about a childhood Christmas – not necessarily your own childhood. That produced an interesting variety of poetry and prose, although a lot of you chose some rather gloomy stuff. I began to feel quite guilty that my worst Christmas problem is that advent calendars aren’t as exciting as the good old days! 

Let’s be honest, none of us experience the Hollywood idealised Christmas of rosy-cheeked carol-singers tramping through the snow, or happy children sitting beside log fires, opening beribboned parcels containing wooden toys. I doubt if anyone ever did!

The fact is, as Erica pointed out, writing about the ordinary doesn’t grab most readers’ attention. Adding conflict to the mix can create a stronger piece of writing. 

And every Christmas there are many people who don’t get the modern ‘TV advert’ equivalent either. We’ve all seen it, of course, as Mum brings in a platter of gleaming golden turkey to an appreciative gathering of family and friends. Bev’s story of homeless children in a hostel, with ham sandwiches for their Christmas dinner, showed the other side of the coin: many people are dispossessed, sad and alone.

Showing a contrast between the expected joyful feelings of the season and the negative emotions and memories it can evoke in reality works well, but can be a bit of a downer!

Fortunately for those of a more cheerful disposition, there are other ways to add contrasts to a piece of Christmas writing. Comparing the present with the past or one type of celebration with another can have just as powerful effect.

Anyway, we soon perked up again with lots of yummy Christmas food and a couple of glasses of wine!

If you have some spare time for writing over the break, I’ve scheduled some festive writing prompts to appear on this blog on 22nd December. Have a very happy Christmas, and I hope all your conflicts over the festive season are purely fictional!

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Robins and other signs of merry festive jollity

Our last meeting had a theme of Birds, and I swooped on you as soon as you arrived and challenged you to create an alphabetical list of birds. Well done Peter for getting all of them except the X – although there is one, actually: the xenops, a rainforest bird.

Next, I asked you to choose a particular bird, and we spent a few minutes focusing on how our birds moved, sounded etc. and writing useful vocabulary words and phrases which could migrate into our pieces of writing. Then I egged you on to write about a person who reminded you of that bird.

And there was I, wondering if it would be too difficult! I must have been raven mad. You didn’t get into a flap, but all flew into action and hatched some interesting descriptive writing.

Well, Christmas is fast approaching and we are feeling festive! So after our meetup for friendly drinks at Yelfs (Tue 11th December, 7pm), our next Island Writers group session (on 18th December) will have a Christmas theme, with some yummy Christmas nibbles and Christmassy writing activities – feel free to turn up in an ugly Christmas sweater, silly tinsel earrings and elf hat if you get the urge!

Our assignment for next time is to create a piece of writing which includes a robin.

It can be poetry or prose, any length, or can be included in a longer project such as a novel or blog. Lucy’s already done hers – take a look!

As always, it’s optional, but if you haven’t completed your assignment yet, you might find this list of facts about robins useful.

See you on Tuesday 18th December at Ryde Library, 7pm-9pm.

PLEASE NOTE:

After Christmas, our next meeting will be on Tue 15 January 2019 – there will be NO MEETING ON NEW YEAR’S DAY.

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A tide in the affairs of… writers

pixabay-wave-1517436_1920Not much longer to wait – the next meeting of Island Writers is on Tuesday, 4th December.

So if you haven’t had a chance to think about your assignment yet…

The assignment prompt from last session is: “Swept by the tide.”

Perhaps it’s a person, a treasured possession, something evil or dangerous, a special place or even a whole way of life which has been swept away.

Or maybe the ‘tide’ isn’t made of water, but something else?

There’s no limitation on writing style or genre –  choose prose, play script, poetry in any style or genre – whatever suits your subject and your preferred writing style.

Still struggling? Try completing this limerick:

There was a young lady from Ryde
Who was swept away by the tide…

Don’t feel ‘tide’ (sorry!) to this subject – simply choose a different topic, or get on with writing another chapter of your novel instead of ‘editing it’ for the 27th time.

Just try to get some new writing done. On any subject.

See you on December 4th at 7pm, Ryde Library.

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Surfacing from our second meeting

It was great to see so many of you again at the second meeting of Island Writers, and some new faces, too – Angela, Yvie and Mike.

Our writing topic this time was Water. I asked you to write about someone or something underwater, and it was impressive to see how keen you were to wade in and respond to the challenge. Some pieces were dark and brooding, others playful or intriguing, with settings ranging from waterfalls, rivers and canals to the sea and even a bathtub. I’m hoping some will appear on our blog soon.

We spoke about beta-readers, and I noticed some of you were unfamiliar with the term. It’s used to refer to someone who will read and critique your whole manuscript, whereas your first reader (alpha-reader) might look at it in parts, as you write it. Here’s a link you might wish to explore about the difference between alpha- and beta-readers.

If you have a book or any other piece of writing that’s ‘kind-of-finished’ and you’d like a first critique of your writing, I’ll be happy to give you my suggestions, whether you want to call me an alpha-reader, a beta-reader, or a @!?&# pain! You don’t have to follow my advice: the important thing with sharing our writing is that we have the humility to listen to other people’s opinions – and the confidence to decide our own way is better.

I’m still working on the ‘humility’ bit!

Our assignment for next time is a piece of writing including (or inspired by) the phrase, ‘Swept by the tide’.

See you on Tuesday 4th December.

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Eek!

pixabay-mouse-3194768_1280Just a quick post to remind you all that the next meeting of Island Writers is next Tuesday, 20th November.

And we WILL be asking you how much writing you’ve done since we saw you last!

Eek!

Time to get your mouse moving – or your pen.

The assignment prompt from last session is: “Just before nine o’clock…”

It could be just before 9am, and something happens to cause a memorable day. Or just before 9pm, and the first sign that the evening isn’t going as planned.

Maybe it’s a flash of realisation, a spur-of-the-moment decision, a change in the weather, a meeting/ visitor, or a mysterious/ tragic/ delightful event. Anything from a parcel arriving to an attack by aliens!

It can be prose or poetry in any style or genre – whatever suits your subject and your preferred writing style.

If you still can’t think of anything, don’t drag out a piece you wrote three years ago that will do if you add “Just before nine o’clock,” at the beginning. The idea is to prompt you to feel excited and inspired to create some new writing, and definitely not to make you feel stressed because you haven’t dutifully ‘done your homework’!

Try writing a description of this mouse, or a poem about why mice have pink toes, or a letter complaining that this blog is infested with mice.

Just write something new. On any subject.

And we’re quite happy if you come to the meeting and say, “My novel was going so well I didn’t have time for the assignment,” or “I decided to write a funny poem about cucumbers instead!”

 

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Writers? Welcome aboard!

pixabay-ship-952292_1280.jpgOK, maybe I panicked.

Yesterday was the first meeting of Island Writers at Ryde Library.

And when I decided to form a new writers’ group, I had a severe lack of… well… writers.

We’d only moved to the Isle of Wight in January, and with various family crises to deal with, I had hardly left the house. I knew a couple of my Mum’s friends, and four people who lived in Freshwater and weren’t into writing. Great.

So I had this vision of myself marooned in a deserted library, surrounded by nothing but books, while Island Writers sank on its maiden voyage.  Frantically, I distributed leaflets, swamped the internet with listings, contacted other writing groups and everyone I knew. If I could just find a few people to start with…

I had hoped for a friendly crew of different types of people – and my wish was granted!

Ten of you turned up for our first meeting, we all had a terrific evening with a lot of laughs… and nine of you have already joined as members!

So Island Writers is launched and ready to sail on our voyage of discovery, and not a rock in sight, except the Needles.

If you couldn’t make it yesterday, there’s still space for a few more on board. No need to book – just turn up at Ryde Library at 7pm.

See you all at our next session on Tuesday 20 November. Don’t forget your assignment: a piece of writing starting with, “Just before nine o’clock…”

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Isle of Wight creative writers – it’s decision time!

So, tell me…

Are you getting enough creative writing done?

Is your writing or poetry already up to the best standard you could ever hope to reach?

Does anyone read your work, or care what you write?

Or do you need the support of a group of writer friends on the Isle of Wight, with a chance to develop your creative imagination with enjoyable writing activities and share feedback on current projects?

ISLAND WRITERS is a new creative writing group, starting on Tuesday 6th November 2018 at Ryde Library, 7pm to 9pm.

Get inspired to improve your writing!

Find out more here.