A friendly Isle of Wight creative writing group
Who feels like meeting up for a drink on Tuesday 26th March?
We’ll be at Yelf’s Hotel in Union Street, Ryde, from 7pm – 9.30pm-ish (arrive/leave as convenient to you).
If you’re not into booze, they also serve tea and hot chocolate as well as cold drinks.
The next group meeting is Tuesday 19th March at Ryde Library. Our assignment topic for next time is Where the road ends.
Last night, at Island Writers, we were discussing rhyme schemes in poetry.
For those who aren’t familiar with these, a rhyme scheme is a pattern of rhyming sounds at the ends of the lines in a poem. For quick reference, we give each different sound a letter.
For example, an AABCCB rhyme scheme would look like this:
Little Miss Muffet A
Sat on a tuffet A
Eating her curds and whey B
There came a big spider C
Who sat down beside 'er C
And frightened Miss Muffet away B
Anyway, the conversation reminded me that, last week, Jonathan challenged me to write a poem about decadence, using words that rhyme with ‘light’.
(I know, right? Other husbands bring flowers…)
Here is my decadent response:
CHOCOLATE CAKE
by Emily Gillatt-Ball
It's just a little decadence
Which fills me with delight
I don't concern myself with pence
To make each day feel bright
In my pursuit of excellence
It has become a rite
To spark my powers of eloquence
I need a touch of opulence
With dark sensations so intense
They get me through the night
It's just a little decadence
And yet it feels so right
At first I felt some diffidence
Excuses felt so trite
One can't refuse without offence
It's best to be polite
But soon I gained more confidence
Regardless of the true expense
I seemed to feel my common sense
Recede with every bite
It’s just a little decadence
Which caused my sorry plight
I always hide the evidence
And clear it out of sight
But greed demands its recompense
The way I feared it might
I can't continue this pretence
For now my bottom is immense
I know, but in my own defence
I find it helps me write!
So, what are your decadent writing practices? Feel free to respond in verse!
Our next writing assignment is The Tunnel.
It can be any kind of tunnel, from a rocky cave entrance with deep-hidden secrets, to a journey through a modern road or rail tunnel.
It could be a scenic tunnel effect made by trees, the Tunnel of Love at a fairground, an animal’s burrow, a coal mine, or even a child’s colourful play tunnel!
The topic was chosen because in a piece of writing, a tunnel can function as a portal, with some kind of surprise at the other side.
The emotions created by enclosed spaces can also be a trigger to realising important truths, or making decisions about life, with a change happening to your character between entering and coming out the other end.
Your tunnel could be metaphorical, representing a frightening or sorrowful experience. Or perhaps it is a place of safety, to shelter from dangers outside?
As always, your assignment piece can be poetry or prose or any other style of writing, with no limitation on genre.
And if you can’t get inspired by tunnels of any kind – simply do some other new writing on a different subject.
Our next meeting is Tuesday 5th March, so tunnel out and come and share your latest writing.
When it comes to creative writing, much like dancing, there’s a lot to be said for spontaneity.
We can get started right away, while our minds are filled with entrancing images we’re ready to share.
Like a child dancing in a meadow, just expressing the delight of the moment, sometimes our impulsive, unplanned writing can be the best we’ve ever produced.
And, of course, sometimes it’s a load of old rubbish. But does that negate the value of writing on impulse?
As writers, we hone our craft over the years, learning and practising new skills to improve our stories and poetry. We add all these wonderful, imaginative techniques to the finished product. We change words for more effective ones and rearrange the structure.
Eventually, the parts of each piece all work together like trained dancers in a ballet, creating a thing of stunning power and beauty which could never have arisen spontaneously.
But some of the pieces we’ve laboured over for hours and polished out of all recognition can ultimately prove disappointing, compared with that first free-wheeling leap of joy.
So how do we add the polish, but keep the authenticity?
As you may be aware, Island Writers now has a lot of members and it is taking too long for everyone to share their writing in the time allocated, so meetings are dragging on too late. For this reason, we have decided to make two important changes:
As of today, membership is FROZEN. Island Writers will not take on any more new members at present.
EXCEPT places are reserved for the next 2 months for the following people, who have already contacted me personally or joined our Facebook Group : John, Sandy, Shirley, Caroline, Kim and Katerina. You are still welcome to join Island Writers.
AND
Our meeting time is now EXTENDED. We will continue to start at 7pm, but meetings will now end at 9.30pm.
If you need to leave earlier, just let me know so you can be one of the first to share your writing. And I will try to improve my time management!
Things are hotting up now, and it’s time for a reminder about our latest writing assignment. Our topic this time is Feeling the heat – this month has been so flipping cold and miserable that I need warming up!
If you’re struggling to decide what to write, try making a list of hot and warm locations – a tropical island, beside a cosy log fire, a sauna, right next to a radiator, a desert landscape, inside a car on a hot day, snuggling under a quilt with your hot water bottle…
Or you could consider activities which make you hot or warm – anything from jogging or cooking over a hot stove to working on the footplate of a steam locomotive or flying a spaceship too close to the Sun…
… and, yes, that too, if you like!
You can be as quirky as you like, so whether your character is falling accidentally into a vat of hot custard, taking over as the next person in charge of Hell, or being boiled in a cannibals’ cauldron with extra chilli sauce, it’s all cool with the rest of us.
Your piece of writing can be poetry or prose in any style or genre. And if you can’t get inspired by our latest topic, simply choose a different one. Frankly, as long as you do some new writing, we really don’t care if you decide to write a beautifully vivid description of the items on your bedside cabinet. Or, indeed, a rather dull description.
You simply can’t get this wrong, except by not writing anything.
There are just eight days left to complete the assignment, so let’s get started. Our next meeting is Tuesday 19th February. Meanwhile – the heat is on.
I couldn’t sleep last night.
I’d just read a horrific item on Quora about a girl of 16 who was abducted, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. The article gave sickeningly graphic details of exactly how this poor child was tortured for a month, before she finally died in agony.
Please understand, I’m not criticising the writer of the article. He was making a point about the justice system: what legal punishment could possibly be adequate for the perpetrators of these atrocities? His account simply gave the facts, in reasoned and unemotive language. I won’t add a link, because I know you couldn’t resist reading the whole grisly tale, any more than I could. And, trust me, you don’t want those images in your head.
But what if that story had been fiction?
Are we, as writers, justified in creating evil images in our readers’ minds for the sake of entertainment? Is it all okay, as long as the victim escapes and the bad guys get arrested or killed in the last chapter? And, of course, in the horror genre, that often isn’t the case.
Conflict is the basis of every plot. If we don’t create wicked, cruel characters, our heroes have nothing to fight against except natural disasters. And we can’t put tidal waves, forest fires and earthquakes in every novel.
Society these days is difficult to shock, so writers try harder.
At what point – if any – does a graphic description of gratuitous violence go beyond ‘only writing a story’ and become socially irresponsible behaviour?
These scenes may not be always necessary to the plot, but the emotions they inspire in readers are part of the experience of reading that novel. If a character suffers, we need to suffer with them, or we cannot truly understand.
This is why I was particularly pleased to get an email from John today. He hasn’t joined us yet, and he can’t make it to our meeting tonight – but he’s already sent in his first assignment!
In Through the Window, the main character suffers from combat stress, but instead of including nauseatingly graphic descriptions of his physical sufferings, the start focuses on his memory of emotions : Hands clawing, mouths snarling, teeth bared, people shouting, a mass of confusion and terror, the stench of sweat, desert and fear in his nostrils.
When it comes to producing our own creative writing, I feel graphic violence is like swearing – a single occasion generally produces a more powerful effect than a constant repetitive flow of such scenes.
These episodes may not be to our taste, but we cannot censor and castrate every strong piece of writing without expecting the overall standard of fiction produced to fall. Do we really want to read a Disney version of The Silence of the Lambs?
The next Island Writers meeting is on Tuesday 5 February, so we have just a few more days to come up with our latest assignment: A view from a window.
It could be a story or poem based on something exciting, tragic, unusual or hilarious seen from inside a window. Was it seen by chance, or an expected event? Did the person inside realise what they were seeing, or were they mistaken?
The window doesn’t need to be part of a house – your piece could be a description of stunning scenery from a hotel room on holiday, an imagined view from a castle or historic building, or a view whilst travelling, from the window of a car, train or aeroplane.
Or perhaps the view itself isn’t the important part – maybe your writing will focus on the feelings of someone inside the window who wants to be outside. It could be a tedious school classroom, a prison cell, a workplace or a hospital. How would life be different if they could get out there?
Anyway… now’s your chance. The window of opportunity closes soon!
What could be better than an evening spent getting on with your writing? Perhaps a cosy evening by a crackling log fire in an old cottage, drinking wine and talking about books with your writing buddies!
We gathered at Yvie’s home last night, to discuss The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. This gorgeous-looking little book ‘reveals’ the age-old Law of Attraction – that you can bring good and bad things into your life, simply by imagining that they’re already there.
Most of us had tried the Law of Attraction for ourselves, some with surprising success. If you feel like trying a simple experiment, the accompanying website offers a Bank of the Universe cheque to print out, which is supposed to bring a set amount of money to you – hey, it’s got to be worth a try!
There are so many things to consider when planning a book club – timing, venue, refreshments, book selection, what questions to ask when leading the discussion, and, most importantly, what snacks to give Yvie’s friendly dog, Fudge.
Words, Wit, Wisdom and Wine isn’t connected with or organised by Island Writers, but I thought you’d be interested.
I’m hoping to meet some of Yvie’s other friends there next time, when our book choice is Friend Request by Laura Marshall: a psychological thriller based on social media. I suggested it, so it’s all my fault if you don’t like it!
I’ve been trying my hand at critiquing for the first time this week. Now, as those who know me will agree, I’m not famous for my tact and sensitivity. So creating a formal critique was quite a daunting challenge.
Of course, I’ve given my opinion on other people’s writing before. Expressing my thoughts on others’ work is easy and enjoyable. What’s harder is to critique in a helpful and inspiring way, rather than leaving a trail of sobbing victims, all vowing they’ll never write again!
Often, when writers ask for other people’s opinions on their first draft, they don’t really want to hear what you think. They’re expecting to be told that it’s all wonderful. But a first draft is rarely the last draft – or it shouldn’t be.
It’s easy to get unconditional praise when you’ve written an entire book – most people are incredibly impressed and assume it must be a piece of utter brilliance, simply because it’s finished. Wow! Look at all those thousands of words! Well done!
It’s also easy to get the sort of feedback that consists of pointing out every typo, and actually that’s not terribly helpful during the first stage of the revision process. There will be a time to fix spelling mistakes, misused words, double-size gaps and grammatical errors later.
Initially, the writer needs to be sure they’re happy with the overall structure of the book and the quality of their writing – the way the plot develops, the balance of the relationships between the characters, and the believability of situations and dialogue. That’s where a critique can help.
What if someone asks for a critique of their book, and I think it’s utter rubbish? Fortunately, I haven’t had that problem on this occasion. Perhaps it can’t exist: some books may not be quite ready to publish yet, or possibly need major changes, but I don’t feel any lack of respect for them or their writers. It’s down to the writer to decide whether it would be easier to start again from scratch, or to rewrite – I can’t see myself telling anyone it would be kinder to take their novel out and shoot it to put it out of its misery.
We all need to develop thick skins and accept that we can’t please everyone with our writing, otherwise our first few negative reviews on Amazon would be devastating. As I said at our first Island Writers meeting, a writer needs the humility to listen to advice, and then the confidence to choose not to follow it. I’ve tried to make it clear to the writers I’m critiquing that they will need to select what works for them out of the advice I’ve given, and reject the rest.
The critique process has been interesting and thought-provoking, Sometimes, it’s only seeing how other people are doing things wrong that teaches you how to do your own writing better. I hoped I could help other writers by giving them critical feedback, but in fact, I’ve probably learned more from the experience than my ‘victims’ have!