NewBridge Writer's Group - Session 7 - The Writer's Plan

Although the group didn't meet up physically this week due to the increasing spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19),  we did circulate the next part of the Writer's plan and I have completed the exercises.

The aim of this session was to think about

1. What do you need in terms of tools and conditions in order to be able to write?

2. If you were going to travel the world, but did not have much room left in your rucksack, what would be the bare essentials you need to write?

3. How will you get yourself in the 'writing zone' as quickly as possible? Do you have a ritual? Read a certain quote? Tell yourself, "You can do this"

1. What Tools / conditions Do You (Really) Need to Write?

We’re going to look at your writing habits to identify the most basic bare essentials you need to write stripping away any faff.

Faff includes – perfect stationery. The right mood / right time of day. Trying to build that dedicated space / tidy up this / take dog out/ put on a load of washing before writing.


• What tools do you use the most to write now?

Laptop

Microsoft Word - ability to dictate, can change page colour so as to help me read (I'm dyslexic)

Googledocs, dropbox and icloud - to save files to the cloud

Also write in a notebook with pen


• What are your writing props?

Laptop, notebook, pen



• Where do you write?

In my studio, in my kitchen, in the library, somewhere quiet



• When do you Write?

When I have things to write about

When I am not at work

Often towards the end of the day, when I am reflecting



Now look at your list and answer:

• What props can you ditch? What is faff and what is actually useful?

I actually don't need much in the way of physical props to write, for me it is more about the headspace to be able to write

Now list your bare essentials to go portable.

Paper
Writing implement



2. Build Your Den

Now you know what the minimum writer’s kit you need is, and how you spend your time it’s time to build your den.

Look at the opportunities in your week where you could make time to write


• Commuting – I can be researching in this time by listening to audio books

I can be thinking about my own writing, and making plans

• Screen time - When I am on the bike at the gym, I could be using my iphone to research opportunities and read writing-related resources

• Breaks at work – I can use my lunch break to write/ and or research e.g. read, listen to audiobooks, research opportunities, read writing resources



Tip – Writing isn’t all Writing

To really use your writing time to the max expand your definition of what writing actually is because it’s not just word count. There may be times that writing itself is difficult but you could:

• Read or listen to audio books / podcasts in the car

• Research

• Plan

• Work on character

• Take an idea for a walk – can you walk at lunch times?

• Have a creative break eg a family day out to an inspirational location

These are all valid writing jobs. Remember that the part of us that creates doesn’t respond to bullying but to play.


3. Monster Proofing Your Den

Now when you go into your writer’s den you’re going to need to switch on your creative head quickly to get stuck in. You don’t want to waste time beating yourself up about how you’re not good enough, so you’ll need a kind threshold ritual. A take your shoes off before you go in sort of thing. Why? Because the second we get ready to write, out jump all the demons telling us we can’t, shouldn’t, who do you think you are.

So, how are you going to ward off your demons?

Choose a thing to do / find a quote to read or write your own to help you get into the writing zone Demon free.


What’s your starting ritual?

Take 5 deep breaths

Remind myself that it is good for me to write and writing is important because

- I am unique and no one else does, or is going to, write the same thing as me

- It helps me get clarity on my own life, form a clearer understanding of who I am and how I got to where I are. I learn about myself, and can sometimes bring closure to issues.

- Writing is a good way to share

- Sharing stories is a good way to form connections

- Writing can raise awareness and bring about change

Publishing and Self Publishing Event at The NewBridge Project:Gateshead

Publishing and Self Publishing


NewBridge Books

The NewBridge Project : Gateshead


Sofia Niazi and Sahra Hersi from Rabbits Road Press coordinated this event about the worlds of self-publishing and publishing.

















Initially Sofia and Sahra gave a presentation about, amongst other things

how and why they first started making risograph zines

how and why they formed and developed One of My Kind (OOMK)

how and why they founded Rabbits Road Press.



OOMK make, publish and distribute books and printed works which arise from self-initiated projects. OOMK also commission new works by women artists and co-curate DIY Cultures, one of the UK’s largest annual independent publishing fairs.


OOMK Zine is a highly visual, handcrafted small-press publication. Printed biannually, its content pivots upon the imaginations, creativity and spirituality of women. Each issue centres around a different creative theme, with more general content exploring topics of faith, activism and identity.

http://www.oomk.net/


Rabbits Road Press is a community Risograph print studio and publishing press commissioned by Create London and is based at Old Manor Park Library. The small-scale publishing press provides printing and book binding services for artists and community groups in Newham and beyond.

The project builds on Rabbits Road Institute’s initiative to establish an accessible and diverse community art space to support the development of new skills, knowledge sharing and social exchange for people living in Newham. A responsive programme of workshops and events explore a contemporary model for community publishing, bringing together artists, designers, writers and local people.

Rabbits Road Press runs regular public Open Access sessions, that are free and open to all, providing an opportunity for people to learn about Risograph printing and offering a space in which to work on creative projects.

With a focus on design education, OOMK also offer a range of private Risograph printing workshops at Rabbits Road Press.

https://www.rabbitsroadpress.com/

The second part of the event was a round table discussion where Sofia and Sahra answered questions posed by those attending the event.

Here are a number of links that arose during this discussion

See Red Women's Workshop was a collective producing silk screened posters for the women’s liberation movement as well as for community groups and others on request.

See Red Women's Workshop

https://seeredwomensworkshop.wordpress.com/about-see-red/


Glasgow Zine Library is a community-based zine library on Glasgow’s South side. Glasgow Zine Library puts on Glasgow Zine Fest, and run a year round programme of events.

https://glasgowzinelibrary.com/

Sahra Hersi is a multidisciplinary architectural designer and artist based in London. After graduating from the Royal College of Art Architecture programme, she found herself free to reinterpret what architecture means. She has been quietly rebelling against her architectural education ever since. Her practice explores shared spaces, the public realm, collaboration and community engagement. Her work is often born out of engaging with local communities and the spaces they occupy.

Sofia Niazi is an artist and illustrator working and living between London and Birmingham. She completed an MA in illustration at Kingston University. As part of OOMK, she currently runs a community RISO print studio in Newham, Rabbits Road Press, with studio mates Rose Nordin and Heiba Lamara. She employs various digital and hand drawn techniques and crafts to explore questions around housing, technology and politics. Sofia has produced work for Migration Museum, Museum of London, Barbican and The Guardian, amongst others. She regularly leads workshops and delivers talks about her work in community, gallery and academic settings.

https://sahrahersi.net/

https://www.sofianiazi.co.uk/

NewBridge Writers Group - Session 5 - Writing and Sharing

Last night's session was the first in which we had complete free reign over what we wrote. There were some magazine cut-outs provided should we wish to use them, but otherwise we could write about exactly what we wanted.

Alex introduced us to a time management tool called the pomodoro technique, which we followed to accomplish two 25 minute sessions of writing.

"The Pomodoro Technique was invented in the early 1990s by developer, entrepreneur, and author Francesco Cirillo. Cirillo named the system “Pomodoro” after the tomato-shaped timer he used to track his work as a university student.

The methodology is simple: When faced with any large task or series of tasks, break the work down into short, timed intervals (called “Pomodoros”) that are spaced out by short breaks. This trains your brain to focus for short periods and helps you stay on top of deadlines or constantly-refilling inboxes.

Pomodoro is a cyclical system. You work in short sprints, which makes sure you’re consistently productive. You also get to take regular breaks that bolster your motivation and keep you creative."



"The “longer break” is usually around 15-30 minutes, whatever it takes to make you feel recharged and ready to start another 25-minute work session.

It’s important to note that a pomodoro is an indivisible unit of work—that means if you’re distracted part-way by a coworker, meeting, or emergency, you either have to end the pomodoro there (saving your work and starting a new one later), or you have to postpone the distraction until the pomodoro is complete. If you can do the latter, Cirillo suggests the “inform, negotiate and call back” strategy."

https://lifehacker.com/productivity-101-a-primer-to-the-pomodoro-technique-1598992730

Following these two bursts of writing, we each shared a piece of our own writing with the group. Most people shared what they had written during the session that evening, but I asked if I could share something that forms a part of my current 'project'. 

At this stage I have lots of questions; I am still working out how this writing will manifest, what form it will take, is it a memoir or do I turn it into a novel? I've been working on the potential content for about a year, on and off, and have lots of work still to do. 

But rather than working through the above on my own, I wanted to make the most of the wonderful opportunity of being in this supportive group of writers, share my work in the hope that they would be generous enough to use their experience, share their knowledge, provide feedback, constructive criticism, ask questions of me, make recommendations and suggestions. 

Due to the personal subject matter, I was really nervous about making the leap and reading aloud words that until last night, had been confined within my notebook or contained within one long Word document. It wasn't until I began reading it aloud that I realised quite how vulnerable I felt. I was petrified that I was going to be judged, that the group would think it was self-indulgent waffle that should well and truly remain in the notebook in which it was written. I was shaking (in truth, that could have been due to the seemingly sub-zero conditions), and terrified to make eye contact with those around me who I have so much respect for. 

But I am so glad that I did it. I learned so much thanks to the groups feedback. This morning I have already thought of new ways in which I can approach some of the problems I am facing with the project.

It was very helpful to discuss structure and think about the different ways I could approach organising the content. 

As I mentioned above, at the moment my writing is collated in a mammoth document. Some parts are written in diary form, and other anecdotes from earlier periods are organised chronologically. It is all rather overwhelming.

Alex showed me how he split the content of his recent book into many different documents and classified each one according to one of 4 categories. He named each document and later, once he had worked out the order, he also numbered them. By splitting his content into smaller chunks, he was able to rearrange the order easily. 

Amy also showed me her plot outline. She had similarly classified different elements according to some predefined categories and had colour-coded these.

I am now eager to apply this technique to my mammoth document, and in doing so, hope to be able to distinguish what are the common 'themes' that I am writing about. These will become my categories.

The section that I had read was very much written from my own voice, and Alex pointed out the need for there to be more points at which it "reached out to the world" and provided a different voice. 

Back up thoughts by using examples of anecdotes. Potentially bring the anecdotes into the narrative.

He used the analogy of a spotlight. In the text that I read, the focus of the spotlight was largely one one character, but this needs to be diluted with less intense light on other characters further away from the focal point of the spotlight.

Perhaps a good starting point would be to use a quote from a different character?

I could also bring forward the reference to 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower' as this is another example of reaching out into the world. Perhaps add a line from the book that was of particular importance to me?

When I was reading the text aloud I was conscious that there were numerous points that I could have stopped and it be a neat ending, but the text carried on. I was embarrassed about this. The notion that there were lots of possible endings was then raised in the discussion. Alex spoke about imperfect cadences, which are used in classical music to build tension. They give the impression that the piece is going to conclude, but then it carries on. Too many of these can be frustrating, so I need to look at where to split the text up into different scenes. 

Finally, a concept called 'the kicker' was discussed - if you start the piece with a particular image, you end the piece with a similar image. This provides the reader with a tidy package and a natural closing, For example, if it starts with the reference to my Gran, it could end with reference to my Gran.

NewBridge Writers Group - Session 4 - Where do I want to be?

The aim of this session was to work through step 2 of The Writers Guide: Where Do I Want To Be?

I struggle with the notion that it is not self-indulgent for me to spend my time writing. I have a tendency to prioritise other things, things I consider to be more productive, useful or relevant to the world. I also feel unconfident in my own abilities - I have not been educated as a writer, I am dyslexic, am not well-read and am inexperienced. I don't think I have the 'right' to call myself a writer.

However, I do know the impact that writing can have on people, and I do feel a difference when I have had a productive writing session. It feels great to empty my brain onto the page, to share stories and to see ideas emerge, mutate and develop.

Exercise 1 begins with asking what it is that we want; not just the big goals but those critical basic needs, the personal and practical, that are vital to moving our writing forward and building confidence.


What You Really, Really Want?

In order to Just Write we need to understand what that infrastructure of support needs to look like for us. We need to understand what we need right now to help us select the right help and identify the work we need to do right now.

We can set writing goals – 2000 words a day, submit to 7 agents by July – that’s what we want but we need to look at what we NEED to write in order to really get it done.

So you’re going to treat yourself like a character. Think about your full spectrum of needs as a writer and human with a life and commitments: you might want to believe in your writing; you might be lonely as a writer; you might need time; you might need to fix your laptop and clear a space to write. You might also want to set up a website, submit more, get an agent. All are valid. (Remember want means desire and lack. Don’t forget to think about what’s missing that will enable you to write if you could get it.


Task 1: A list! What do I want and need to write? 

Start with a clean page / blank screen.
Draw 2 columns on the page - one is What do I want and the other is What do I need to write?
Set timer for 10 minutes.
And write without stopping.
Now you’re going to sort those needs into a hierarchy to help you tackle them.

Task 2: What are you afraid of?

So now you have your list of wants, we are going to go deeper and find out what you want but may be afraid of doing.

Writing is a risk; a massive undertaking. Because we have everything to lose without a safety net. Because we don’t think of ourselves as writers. Because we expose our true thoughts and feelings.

If we want to dream big we have to work out what scares us and why.

So the task is this:

List ten writing goals you are frightened of, believe aren’t for you or are beyond you and ask why.

Choose one that you would secretly love to try but you’re too scared to and add it to your hierarchy of wants.


Task 3: TRIANGLE OF WRITERLY DESIRES 

Copy Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs with segment headings onto a big sheet of paper. Make it big! Triangle of Writerly Desires
Look at the needs you’ve listed in your freewriting and sort them into the best fitting segment of your hierarchy of needs.

WORK with buddies TO FIT INTO THE CATEGORIES, COMPARE AND IDENTIFY GAPS





Here are some examples: 

Basic Needs: material / logistical - I want a new laptop, to clear the landing as a place to write, get a routine to give me time to write, I need money. Train the dog to allow me to get some work done. 

Safety needs: physical / psychological - I want to eat better and exercise so I’m not too tired to write. I want to feel positive about my work. I need to look for a new job that isn’t so draining. I need to get a cat, all writers seem to have a cat. 

Belonging / affiliation - I want to join a Writers’ group, I need to surround myself with more people who believe in my work. 

Esteem needs: competence, recognition, skills - I want to do that course on Folkore, I need to research where to submit to and submit more in order to build a profile in my genre, I need to sort out my website properly. I need to be seen. 

Self actualisation achieving full potential - I want to get that first draft done, I'm ready to submit to an agent. – The goals we often find e.g. submit to agent / publisher are here but just look at how much needs to happen below to achieve them.

Using the triangle identify any gaps, for example have you thought about belonging – do you want to reach out to other writers? SHARE – TALK US THROUGH WHAT YOU’VE


Task 4 - Make space to listen to your fears and doubts.

Doer Vs Don’ter : The Personal Narrative

I don't know about you but I am my worst enemy. I have the ability to come up with an idea and immediately disregard it thinking it's not worth pursuing. It is literally like having 2 voices in my head. The doer and the don'ter. I'm not very good at letting them have a reasoned discussion. It always seems that the don'ter overpowers the doer.

One tactic I have developed in order to overcome this is to pretend that I am talking to a friend. I replace the don’ter with the dependable; the response that I would give when talking to a friend. This inevitably tends to be more reasoned and rational.

Here’s a typical chat between doer and don’ter:

Doer: I’ve had this idea for a short story that I want to write.

Don’ter: Stop right there. Why would other people want to read your story? It’s far too self-indulgent. All you think about is yourself. You don’t even write well. There are so many people out there who are more eloquent, more experienced, better at spelling and grammar and have more interesting stories.

Doer: But I feel I need to write this, if only for me.

Don’ter: There you go again. It’s all about you, you, you. There are so many more useful things that you could be doing with your time. Things that will help others, make a difference.

Doer: You’re right. I should be less selfish and leave writing to those who are qualified and talented at English.

Here is the alternative conversation using my ‘tell it as though you are talking to a friend’ technique.

Doer: I’ve had this idea for a short story that I want to write.

Dependable : That’s great! Go for it. I look forward to reading it.

Doer: But I’m not sure that it is any good.

Dependable: You won’t find out if it is any good if you don’t write it. Once you write it, then you can make the decision about whether it is any good. Take it one step at a time.
Doer: But I feel selfish for writing. There are so many other things that I should be doing that would make a bigger difference.

Dependable: Writing is not selfish. It is important that you do it for yourself. If you care for yourself, you will be in a better position to be able to care for others. I see a real value in that.

Doer: Thank you for supporting me, I am going to begin to write it now.
It is normal to have doubts and experience difficulties. It is also important to listen to these doubts as we can learn from these and understand ourselves better. It is also important to challenge ourselves and work through our difficulties. These are experiences we can use in our writing. The role of the dependable is to be able to give a reliable and unbiased response. To avoid the tendency for black and white thinking and rationalise. Recognise the doubt and respond appropriately.

For example

Doer: I have had an idea for a short story and want to write it but I can’t because I need to be a good parent to the children.

(Note that the doer thinks they can’t be a good parent if they write the story. It is one or the other; black and white; all or nothing)

Dependable: It’s great that you have an idea and want to write. I know that your children are very important to you and you take your parenting role very seriously, but you can still be a good parent if you write your story. Think about it, could you write when the kids are at school? Or in bed? Could you use the time when they are at out of school club to write? Could you take it in turns with other parents to look after a group of children, and so each of you gets a chance to have some time to yourself whilst knowing that the kids are safe and happy? There are plenty of ways to be a good parent AND write your story.

Write a conversation between the Doer and the Dependable. Remember, the dependable is the character that gives an honest, measured, realistic and reasoned answer. The dependable is your best friend.

Tell your buddy what the doer wants and what the dependable says. Swap. Compare.

The NewBridge Writers Group - Session 3 - Creative Exercises

The focus of week 3 was to look at the structure of a story and introduce a few writing concepts / guidelines / tools such as Bochner and Rigg's 'What Stories Should Have', Freytag's Pyramid Plot Diagram and Natalie Goldberg's 'Earn the Right.

1. Write a Letter to Your Happy Place (15 minutes)

A positive exercise that is good for warming up.

Think of a place that you love to be and tell it what makes it so special for you. How does it make you feel? Describe it. It does not have to be ideal, but does need to have some personal significance to you.

2. What makes up a story? (15 minutes)



1. CHARACTERS 

"The author should introduce the characters in the story with enough information that the reader can visualize each person. This is achieved by providing detailed descriptions of a character’s physical attributes and personality traits. The main character determines the way the plot will develop and is usually who will solve the problem the story centers upon. However, the other characters are also very important because they supply additional details, explanations, or actions. All characters should stay true to the author’s descriptions throughout the story so that the reader can understand and believe the action that is taking place—and perhaps even predict which character may do what next."

http://www.katiekazoo.com/pdf/KK_FiveEssentialElements.pdf


2. A SCENE, PLACE, CONTEXT WHERE THE STORY TAKES PLACE

This could be a physical space or a mental space, it could be an event that has happened. It is the situation that the characters are in; the location of the action. Landscape, scenery, buildings, seasons or weather all help provide a sense of the setting.


3. AN EPIPHANY OR CRISIS THAT PROVIDES DRAMATIC TENSION

The conflict is central to the plot; it is what the characters are attempting to resolve. "The main character is usually on one side of the central conflict. On the other side, the main character may struggle against another important character, against the forces of nature, against society, or even against something inside himself or herself (feelings, emotions, illness)."

http://users.aber.ac.uk/jpm/ellsa/ellsa_elements.html


4. A TEMPORAL ORDER OF EVENTS

Temporal words generally refer to time-related transitions. They can be single words e.g. 'tomorrow', prepositions e.g. 'for', or phrases e.g. 'before long'. Temporal words help the story to flow.

"Sometimes narratives are linear, beginning at the start and concluding at the end of the narrative, sometimes they are cyclical, when they begin and end at the same point. Other times films jump between past present and future which can create suspense whilst the audience waits for all the ends to be tied and the events to be pieced together."

http://www.mediafactory.org.au/siobhan-bird/2015/03/16/temporal-order-duration-and-frequency/


5. A POINT/MORAL TO THE STORY WHICH GIVES MEANING TO THE EXPERIENCES DEPICTED

Why does the author want the audience to read this story? What will the reader get from it? What will they learn? Is there a lesson to be learned from the story? How has the character changed? What has the character learned?

Think of a story you want to tell

Write the 1-5 list

Use these prompts to identify these elements in your story



3 Narrative arc (15 minutes)

- Get a big bit of paper and draw the dramatic unity pyramid (also known as Freytag’s Pyramid Plot Diagram



- Introduction

- Rising movement/action

- Climax

- Falling action

- Catastrophe

- Compare with the 3-act structure



- beginning

- middle

- end


- Map your story idea against these points


4) Earn the Right (15 minutes)

Read Natalie Goldberg's 'Earn the Right' 
"You have to earn the right to make an abstract statement. You earn this right by using concrete bricks of detail. After much original detail, you can take a little leap, step away and make a statement. But you can't make a statement until you have given us a picture of it."


Read ‘Pod’ by Alex Lockwood and recognise the ‘Coruscated leviathans, suspended infinity’ only works because of the concrete names, nouns and verbs that go before.

Spend 8 minutes writing and then UNDERLINE all the nouns and verbs.


5) Dead and Dying (15 minutes)

- Write everything you know about dying. (5 minutes)
  Who died? When did they die? How? Why?

- Write what you will miss when you die. Be specific. What are things that only you know about that will die with you? (5 minutes)

- Write about the catastrophe/ending of your story (5 minutes)

The NewBridge Writers Group - Session 2 - Turning on the tap

The focus of Week 2 was to get people started, and comfortable with starting. Alex likens his writing process to that of turning on a tap. The longer you leave it, the harder it is to turn the tap on, to get creativity flowing. The more often you do it, the looser the tap is, the more the creativity flows easily. 

1st Writing Exercise: Story timeline

Run the string out between two points and give everyone three pegs and they choose three postcards. 

On the postcards they write:
One entry from their ‘story family tree’ from the very far past, childhood, early memory
One entry from the middle of their ‘story family tree’
One entry from the near present of their ‘story family tree’


Then when everyone has done this, they hang the stories up on the line, with one end being far history and the other being present day.

Then we all stand and each person chooses one of the stories to share. They go over, and take one down, and read it out and share.

WRITING PART: 

Everyone takes down ONE OF THEIR postcards and ONE FROM SOMEONE ELSE

2 minute writing task

write the ‘what happened next’ part of the story using the story on the card as the prompt.


2nd Writing Exercise: Blackout

Blackout writing is when a page of text — usually an article from a newspaper — is completely blacked out (colored over with permanent marker so that it is no longer visible) except for a select few words. When only these words are visible, a brand new story is created from the existing text.


Everyone takes a torn out page provided and a sharpie/black marker, and uses the marker to ‘reveal’ a sentence from the page, blacking out all the other words, so you have just the sentence left. This sentence is the starting point of a story—it might be a completely new story, or it might be part of an existing piece the person is working on.

Write the next sentence



3rd Writing Exercise: Picking pages/words from a book:

Pick a book

Check to see what the last page number is, then pick any number between the first and last page number.

Once you find your page, then choose a number between 1–5

Find the sentence that corresponds with that number (ie. number 2 would be the second sentence).

Use that sentence as the first sentence of your prompt and write for ten minutes (or the time frame of your choosing).


4th Writing Exercise: Wikipedia exercise

Access Wikipedia

Click on the Random Article button in the top corner of the page to generate an article

Write down the title/topic/name of that article and a little information that will remind you what it is e.g. Nick Santora, writer and producer

Repeat until you have no less than 6 articles

Write for ten minutes (or the time frame of your choosing), attempting to incorporate as many of the article names into your text

Breaking the rules pieces

We discussed examples of when authors have 'broken the rules' of language as we know it.

Example 1 - Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann

"Ducks, Newburyport is 1,020 pages long,
95% of the novel is made up of just eight near-endless sentences, without paragraph breaks, some of them spooling over more than 100 pages,
most of the novel is a list of statements, separated by commas, that begin with the phrase “the fact that”,
these statements are also punctuated by the seemingly random emanations of the narrator’s mind,
some of these are songs, earworms"


Example 2 - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

Chapter numbers are prime numbers because that is what the narrator likes
Diagrams, maps, charts, graphs, drawings are used throughout
Important sentences are in bold text
Sentences often begin with the word "And"


'Earning the right’

We circulated and discussed Natalie Goldberg's 'earning the right' concept, and shared Alex's 'Pod' short story as an example of focusing on concrete nouns and verbs, rather than complicated adverbs or adjectives, to do the ‘heavy lifting’ of a story.

"There is a sentence ‘Coruscated leviathans, suspended infinity’ which is an abstract image which I feel I ‘earned the right’ to use because of the concrete imagery used leading up to it"


'Stealing from real life"

We circulated Amy Mackelden's "Conversation four" and discussed how we feel about taking or "stealing" from real life conversations and scenarios, memories


HOMEWORK

WRITE A PIECE that refuses to use ONE common rule, e.g. quotation marks, full stops at end of sentences, capital letters at beginning of new sentences, capital letters for proper names and nouns etc…

Optional Additional Writing Exercise: Think of a conversation or a line of a conversation you can write about, and take that line, and build the beginning of a narrative story (non dialogue) around it. E.g. write about it from a narrator’s point of view.

The NewBridge Writers' Group - Session 1 - Where are you now?

Last night was the first NewBridge Writing Workshop session. The 10-week writing workshop has been created specifically for those who have not previously had a formal education or experience in writing (e.g. a university programme) but who are committed to developing their writing skills and also building an understanding of how to get published. 

Dr Alex Lockwood (author of the nonfiction book The Pig in Thin Air, and the 2019 novel The Chernobyl Privileges, shortlisted for The Rubery Prize) has instigated the series, but will be mentoring and supporting me and one of the other participants to facilitate the group.

Of the 10 sessions in the programme, 5 will be spent looking at the Working Class Writer’s Plan (developed by North East writer Carmen Marcus, in conjunction with the Bookseller magazine) to help those taking part build a community of contacts, fellow writers and performers in the North East and beyond. The other 5 sessions will be devoted to other  creative exercises.

Session 1 was an introduction to the group and the introductory session of the Writers' Plan - Where are you now?

As is traditional in these kinds of scenarios, (a group of relative strangers meet each other for the first time) we began with an icebreaker. 

















- The group stands round a table on which a bowl of water and a box of extra long matches have been placed
- One member of the group strikes a match from the box, and has to tell a story that lasts as long as the flame from the match

Some stories ended prematurely - Stories are valuable
Some stories prompted other stories - Stories are contagious

Writing Plan

Exercise 1 - My Writing Family Tree

Create a map to illustrate your life journey with stories

Where did/do I encounter stories? e.g. books, radio, people, writing groups, television

Who told/tells you the stories? e.g. parents, friends, teachers

Exercise 2 - Why Do You Want to Write?

Who are you writing for? 

What are your favourite books?

What do your favourite authors do that impresses you?




Exercise 3 - The Research Years

Column 1 - List of the jobs you've ever done



Column 2 - List a selection of the wondrous and strange experiences you've had



Column 3 - List your values