Do you like Kipling?

“I don’t know – I’ve never kippled!” was my Dad’s answer.

In fact, he was a big fan of Rudyard Kipling, the author of Just So Stories, Kim, and The Jungle Book, and other works including poetry.

This week’s assignment is to use one of these quotes from Kipling to inspire a piece of writing:

You must learn to forgive a man when he’s in love. He’s always a nuisance.

I never made a mistake in my life; at least, never one that I couldn’t explain away afterwards.

We’re all islands shouting lies to each other across seas of misunderstanding.

A woman’s guess is much more accurate than a man’s certainty.

For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.

Of all the liars in the world, sometimes the worst are our own fears.

I am the Cat who walks by himself, and all places are alike to me.

A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition.

I am, by calling, a dealer in words; and words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.

No price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.

Our next meeting is CHRISTMAS-THEMED, on 20 Dec 2022.

By something ever-so-slightly less than a coincidence, our latest assignment is to write something set in (or connected with) a chemist’s shop or pharmacy. That way, although it seems highly likely I won’t quite reach the NaNo target of producing 50,000 words in one month, at least I’ll be able to say I’ve completed my Island Writers assignment!

Or so I thought!

Sadly, my NaNo novel’s plot hit a snag, so I have now declared myself a NaNoRebel – I’m trying to continue writing and aim for the same word count, but I’ve switched to another project: a memoir of my childhood.

Will I manage to include a chemist’s shop? I doubt it, but we’ll have to see.

So, what can be done with that topic? A chemist’s shop sells two main product lines: health and beauty.

Health

The pharmacy dispenses medicines from the doctors’ prescriptions, while off-the-shelf health products include vitamins and supplements, plasters and bandages, ointments and treatments for minor ailments, as well as products such as toothpaste.

The characters in your story might include ill people, particularly those who wish to avoid seeing their doctor, but are quite willing to spread their infections to others. Keeping people waiting while their prescriptions are dispensed might cause an interesting source of conflict between customers or staff. Alternatively, a customer may be pregnant, which could cause an emergency – or an embarrassing situation. The shop staff might be asked to help with advice or treatment for an injury to a passer-by, or a customer might decide to interfere and offer other customers inaccurate health advice.

Beauty

Beauty products include skin creams, cosmetics, hair dye, foot treatments, nail polish, hair remover and other self-grooming items.

These characters would be people who want to enhance their appearance, either because they’re ugly, or because they’re already beautiful. But does their self-perception reflect reality?

Do they understand how to use the product correctly, or listen to the sales assistant’s advice? Does the beauty product improve their looks, or spoil them? How does the change in their outer appearance affect their happiness, or alter the way they treat other people?

This might be an opportunity to write a memoir of your teenage years rather than a short story or poem. Or perhaps a piece of science fiction or fantasy, where the medication or beauty product causes an otherworldly change.

—

Remember, as this month has five Tuesdays, we’re catching up for a friendly drink at Yelf’s Hotel in Ryde (with or without your partner, whichever you prefer) on Tuesday 29 November, 7pm onwards.

The next Island Writers meeting is Tuesday 6 December.

My love is like a red, red rose…

The latest Island Writers assignment topic is Flowers with a meaning.

Everyone knows that a single red rose means I love you. But why?

Back in Victorian times, there were things which couldn’t be said openly for reasons of delicacy, so a complicated language of flowers developed to express these emotions. It wasn’t just the flowers, but where the bow was tied and even how they were presented to the recipient which could impart each shade of meaning.

Some flower meanings pre-date the Victorian era. We might recall Ophelia in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, saying, “Here’s rosemary; that’s for remembrance.” And it’s not too difficult to figure out the intended meaning behind a posy of forget-me-nots. But which other flower meanings have survived to the present day? And which have changed?

White roses symbolise new beginnings and purity, a reason for their continued popularity in wedding bouquets. My personal favourites, yellow roses, meant jealousy or infidelity in the Victorian era, but fortunately their modern meaning is friendship. Sunflowers, with their connotations of positivity and strength, have been chosen as a symbol for those coping with cancer.

Heraldic flower meanings include the white and red roses for the houses of York and Lancaster in the wars of the Roses. Other flowers have been chosen as their country’s symbol, notably the daffodil for Wales and the thistle for Scotland. Holly has Christian meaning, with its spiky leaves representing Christ’s crown of thorns, and its red berries symbolising his blood.

For creative writing, the meanings of flowers can be given a directly-stated symbolism, but can also add subtle emphasis of a theme, as the roses on the judge’s bench are used in Dorothy Sayers’ Strong Poison, which is not only a murder mystery but a love story: red roses (true love) “they looked like splashes of blood,” when Harriet is put on trial for murder and Wimsey falls in love with her, and gold chrysanthemums (neglected love) “they looked like burning banners,” to represent her triumph when she is found not guilty, but also her rejection of Wimsey’s proposal of marriage.

In a piece of historical fiction, if less well-known flower meanings are included, it might be necessary to explain their significance to a modern-day audience:

“The gentleman left these flowers for you, miss.” A basket of white clover, meaning, ‘think of me.’ Isabella’s heart leapt. “I shall do little else until you return, my dearest,” she murmured. Then, to her horror, she noticed a single poppy nestling in the middle of the clover. Horatio was telling her he was not free! “Why, you impertinent…” As he had already departed for London, she couldn’t even send him a single yellow carnation to express her disdain. In a fury, Isabella snatched up the basket and hurled it out of the open window to land on the flagstones below.

In this modern era, we’re free to speak our minds (although that particular doorway of opportunity appears to be edging closed already), but we’re still using symbols to communicate. Emojis began as the use of regular typography to represent smiley faces and other simple emotions and has proliferated into a vast range of symbols requiring an Emojipedia to explain them all. So, if flowers don’t do it for you, perhaps another aspect of the topic could motivate a non-fiction opinion piece.

Or, as it’s November, the present-day symbolism of poppies might inspire you to create an appropriate piece of writing.

I had a light-bulb moment the other day.

Island Writers has almost reached maximum capacity, and with the lazy days of summer behind us, soon we’ll have to freeze membership again. But that leaves many Isle of Wight writers still looking for support and encouragement from a group of enthusiastic writer friends. Non-members are welcome to join the Island Writers facebook group, but it’s not the same as meeting in person.

Then I had a flash of inspiration: creative writing workshops!

A series of themed, stand-alone workshops, open to non-members and members alike, offers opportunities to link up with other local writers, including people who want to get back to creative writing, and those with more experience.

As a trial run, I’ve arranged three Sunday afternoon workshops, which will be held at our home in Ryde. The content will be suitable for writers of any genre, and will include :

LIGHT & DARK: Sunday 16 OCT, 3pm to 5.30pm, £7.50

CHRISTMAS: Sunday 20 NOV, 3pm to 5.30pm, £7.50

TIME: Sunday 15 JAN, 3pm to 5.30pm, £7.50

We’ve had several enquiries about writing memoirs/autobiography, so next year, I will be leading a series of three Wednesday afternoon sessions in Ryde:

MEMOIR-WRITING: Wednesday 8, 15 and 22 FEB, 3pm to 5.30pm, £22.50 (for 3 sessions)

All of these will have limited spaces, so book your place now to avoid disappointment!

As it’s Boxing Day, I thought you’d all like a gift… an extra creative writing assignment! Yippee! And while we’re still feeling festive, I decided Cinderella was the ideal topic.

As far as writers are concerned, the Cinderella story is a wonderful starting point for short stories, romance novels, and even fantasy fiction like Harry Potter.

If you’re not in a particularly creative mood, give us a simple re-telling of the well-known fairy tale, or try it as a poem or play script: it’ll be interesting to compare different versions. You could even combine it with Steve’s writing challenge, and try to tell it in exactly 100 words (not including the title).

If you want to mix it up a bit, you might make the characters all woodland animals, change the ending so the handsome Prince falls in love with one of the ugly sisters, or have a gender-swap, with poor Chris who can’t go to the ball with his ugly step-brothers.

Or why not try a modern-day version, where Cinderella goes out clubbing, but her ride home leaves at twelve, or even a futuristic science fiction version, where the magic is replaced by science, and her outfit is set to dissolve on the dot of midnight?

Whichever you decide upon, remember the next Island Writers meeting is on Tuesday 4th Dec at 7pm-9pm – and unless the rules change, we’ll be back at Ryde Library (£2.50 a session)

The latest Island Writers assignment topic, Maps, may seem limiting at first. OK, we could write a story about someone who discovers an ancient pirate map, and goes off voyaging to seek the treasure. Although it’s fair to say that this scenario might not have the same freshness today as when Robert Louis Stephenson wrote Treasure Island in the 1880s, there may be a few twists left if we use our imaginations.

We’re not restricted to a particular period in history, for a start. Our story could be set in the Stone Age with a map drawn in the sand, or during Medieval times, the Victorian era, World War II, the 1970s, the present day, or even the future, with space explorers going beyond the mapped area of a planet into uncharted territory.

And the map doesn’t need to lead to treasure. The map might be to give directions for some other reason, be used for town planning, or be part of an orienteering exercise for soldiers or girl guides. Maybe it’s a team-building activity for an unwilling group of office colleagues, or a TV game show.

Examining an area more closely on a street-map, or comparing a historical map with a more recent one, might reveal a secret building or local feature such as a cave or old water-tower. Or the information shown might reveal a hitherto-unsuspected problem which could lead to a story for your characters.

Our map could be something different from the pirates’ treasure-chart or a standard Ordnance Survey map. It might show tunnels, or ley-lines, or rock strata, or the journeys of religious believers. Or perhaps it just shows places with funny names such as Fatt Bottom or Bald Knob.

If all else fails, for inspiration, try Googling, “Interesting Map Facts.” If you found geography lessons boring at school , you might not think there are any interesting facts about maps – but there certainly are!

NEXT ISLAND WRITERS MEETING:

Tuesday 19 October 2021 – for more details, use the Contact page.

WHAM!

Lockdown was quite a shock to the system. Almost overnight, it took us away from our jobs, distanced us from our families and friends, and cancelled most of our hobbies.

It wasn’t easy, but human nature is resilient. So, after a while, we got used to these tiresome social restrictions and created different patterns of living for ourselves. Some of us even preferred our new, relaxed lifestyles, chilling at home in our PJs instead of struggling through the rush hour, and spending more time with the kids, with a cast-iron excuse not to visit our annoying in-laws. As for our creative writing… well, much as we loved it, we had to put that on the back burner until we got the other stuff sorted out.

Now, we’re crawling back towards normality… but wait. Isn’t there something we’ve overlooked? Has our writing been simmering on the back burner for so long, that it’s almost boiled away? It’s become something we used to do, instead of something we do?

It’s time for action: time to do something positive to get our creative urge back.

For writers of memoirs or family history, an afternoon spent looking through old photographs or a visit to a place that has links with the past could be a spur to get writing again. For playwrights (failing a theatre trip), watching a film we haven’t seen before could start us off again, or watching an old favourite, but with a critical eye for its construction.

For short story writers and poets, being an active member of a writers’ group gives accountability, a reason to actually do some writing instead of just feeling guilty that we haven’t. Island Writers meets at our house in Ryde twice a month to do short writing exercises, share our work and keep ourselves on track, and we set a new (optional) topic every two weeks. The current topic is Badges, and the next meeting is Tuesday 5th October, 7pm-9pm.

NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is coming up in November – so for those of us who prefer to write novels, Nano Prep can help us get revved up and ready to write. It’s already started, but it’s not too late to catch up, or we can use it as guidance, but follow the steps at our own pace – the important thing is to get going.

Instead of tinkering around with an existing bit of writing, adding a word here and deleting a phrase there, let’s get started on a fresh piece. Any subject, any genre, any length. Try one of these:

• A journal entry – what you’ve done so far today.
• A story which starts, “The dragon was restless.”
• A list of reasons why your neighbour is a pain.
• A poem about cheese.
• A description of one item in the room you’re in.
• A memoir of something naughty you did as a child.
• A piece of dialogue between a posh person and someone who works for them.

Whatever we decide, it’s vital to remember that all new writing is good. If we’re not happy with it, we can edit it later, but first, let’s get some new writing down on paper.

Today.

It’s based on something Katie’s been doing during lockdown (so, yes, it’s all her fault). She found a daily writing prompt gave her more incentive to get some writing done. So, here’s the assignment for next time.

Write at least 50 words a day for two weeks – and here are the daily topics:

• Wellies
• Mountain
• Pen
• Cats
• Rainbow
• Autograph
• Cave
• Ringing
• Bus
• Blood
• Scales
• Beach
• Unlucky
• Wood

As always, the prompt is as flexible as you like. So, if the subject is ‘Cats,’ you could write about feline animals, but you might choose to use other meanings: the musical Cats, cat-o’-nine-tails whips, catamarans or catty people, for example.

And your writing could be a simple paragraph of description, or be developed into a poem, memoir, short story, play-script or any other format – you certainly don’t have to stop after 50 words if you can write more.

I’ll be putting daily reminders on the Island Writers Facebook group – let us know how you get on, even if you can’t make it to meetings!

NEXT MEETING: TUESDAY 17 AUGUST, 7pm-9pm at our house.

Scribbled down in a hurry, sometimes our attempts at creative writing can be… well, superficial. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. A short story or poem can be simple, lighthearted and entertaining; it doesn’t need to be imbued with deeply significant psychological resonance to be worth reading.

But our new assignment title, Skin, was chosen because it offers the opportunity to get under the surface of our characters and perhaps create something more subtle and nuanced.

In a literal sense, the skin is the body’s protective layer, of course, but it’s more than that. It has become a social signifier to other people, revealing information about our age, our ethnic background, our state of health, and sometimes our relationship status, social groupings and personal tastes.

We decorate it with cosmetics and tattoos, lighten it with bleach or darken it with sunbed sessions, scent it with perfumes and smooth it with oils. Usually these are attempts to subvert the information our skin signals to others: to look younger or healthier or more aggressive, or just different from (or the same as) other people. Why might your character want to achieve this?

Even without these efforts, the outer appearance people present – or try to present – in public can be a metaphorical protective ‘skin,’ very different from the emotions hidden underneath.

Skin is also the organ for our sense of touch: the most important way we interact with and explore our world.

It’s how we express love, anger, sympathy and a myriad other feelings in a physical way, and how we experience pleasure and pain, heat and cold, freedom and confinement.

A character in the James Bond film The World is Not Enough is unable to feel physical sensations at all. In the film, he’s depicted as super-powerful, unable to feel tiredness or suffer injury – but what would life really be like for someone who cannot sense anything through their skin?

NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, is the annual challenge to spend November writing a novel. But it tends to leave most of its participants realising that what they’ve written is, well, part of a novel, even if they’ve reached the target of 50,000 words written in one month. Even those who complete their novels still need to edit them. Now, NaNoFinMo has been created to encourage writers to get those part-novels finished, edited and ready for publication; it stands, of course for National Novel Finishing Month.

The NaNo website only allows targets to be set in words, not in chapters, pages, or other values, so I chose an arbitrary target of 1000 words a day. Pretty achievable, you might think, considering that the original challenge was to write 2000 words a day.

By Day 8, I had realised my mistake.

Editing is not like writing the first draft. Yes, I had extra words to write to complete the book, but their quantity wasn’t important: they had to be the best words, not the most words. I needed to feel free to delete words, sentences and paragraphs – maybe even entire chapters if necessary – without worrying about reaching a pre-assigned word count. An effective day’s editing could easily result in a negative word count figure, but that’s fine, if the finished book is the better for having cleared out the trash.

During NaNoWriMo, I had found that posting daily updates on the Island Writers Facebook page helped to encourage me to put in a full day’s effort, and I enjoyed choosing appropriate pictures from Pixabay to illustrate my mood or level of achievement. So I didn’t want to give up the idea of posting my targets during NaNoFinMo (which, to match the shark’s ‘Fin’ in the title, were all water-themed).

So, taking an average of my actual word counts from the first week, I cut my official target to 500 words a day, to try to keep myself on track. However, my unwritten target was to edit one chapter every two days, thus completing my 15-chapter novel in 30 days.

Did it work? Sad to say, no.

The first thing I did wrong was not planning and preparing properly. I made a last-minute decision, and I still had some important paperwork which took up my time, but needed to be sorted out urgently.

And then, a warm, sunny April was the wrong time of year to force myself to stay shut away indoors. In the early part of the month, I was too willing to let other distractions and responsibilities take preference. After all, I had plenty of time. There were so many jobs I needed to get done in the garden, and because of the fine weather, I made the decision to prioritise them.And then, on the 12th, the lockdown restrictions were partly relaxed, so we had several medical appointments and other social commitments.

More importantly, my revised target was still a numerical daily word target – still not the right kind of target. Nor was the unofficial chapter-every-two-days target helpful, as some of the chapters were almost complete, some needed rewriting, some were hardly started and one I decided to scrap entirely, while some of the editing involved rearranging the order of what I’d written, and breaking some parts up into different chapters.

Unfortunately, by simply not worrying about whether I managed to reach the word total, I had unwittingly removed my main motivator for finishing my book: my daily ‘reward’ to myself of choosing a photo from Pixabay to present each day’s update. Far from helping it all to go swimmingly, as I’d hoped, I was floating off in the wrong direction, and rewarding myself whether I’d worked hard at my editing or not.

What I should have done, I realise now, is set a target for the amount of time spent editing. And when I say, ‘editing,’ I don’t mean checking my emails, looking at cat pictures on Facebook, reading articles in Writing Magazine, making a sandwich, putting a wash in the machine, buying stuff on Ebay, mowing the lawn, typing up the agenda from a meeting, mending my chair because it’s a bit wobbly, watering my plants, answering questions on Quora, or emptying the recycling bin. Because, apparently, none of those improved my book at all. Who knew, right?

But I’m not downhearted.

During this month, I wrote over 9000 extra words for my novel, which is a lot more than I’d normally have achieved. I’ve also managed to tweak it and pummel it into a much more effective shape – it’s getting there!

Many thanks to Katie and the other members of the Island Writers Facebook group who have left supportive comments and ‘likes’ to encourage me on my NaNoFinMo journey.