Writer's Circle

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2011, November 1 - 11:44am — yasbjmott

Our writers' circle members may discuss writing techniques, problems, etc. and post a sample of their work that they would like to share. Any messages about dates and times of our meetings will be posted here too.

Next Writer's club Meeting is Feb. 9th at 10:30 AM to Noon

2012, February 4 - 11:38am — yasbjmott

At our next meeting, we will share and discuss our active voice work, and discuss writing dialogue for characters. You are welcome to bring other writing you are working on to share, or to show Linda Ensley Hayes, our writing mentor.

Hope to see you there but if not then please write to us on this Blog.

Happy writing everybody.

Judith,
Librarian

Writing Activity for Feb. 9th. using the Active Voice

2012, February 4 - 11:33am — yasbjmott

Here is our activity from our mentor/writer, Linda Ensley Hayes:

Passive voice is the hobgoblin of weak writing. There are two words that lend themselves to passive vocie when they are found at the beginning of a sentence - "the" and "it".

Write a paragraph pf description of a landscape without starting any of the sentences with "the" or "it". Use a variety of sentence lengths.

Here are some examples:

A Weak Paragraph
It was a dark and stormy night. The clouds boiled in the sky, looking like swirls of charging horses. The rain pounded on the roof and it made the people inside the house nervous.

A Strong Paragraph
Storm clouds boiled on the horizon, swirling into the shapes of charging black stallions. Heavy rain plunked onto the roof like a dripping faucet that grated on the nerves and set the occupants on a razor's edge of tension, as they waited for the fierce winds.

Jan./Feb. Writing Assignment Two: Character Motivation

2012, January 7 - 1:21pm — yasbjmott

Write a short piece (1-2 pages) that shows your character's deepest desire. What do they long for? How does it motivate their action? When you write the piece, please don't name the desire, just show the character's reactions, thoughts, movements or emotions as a reflection of that longing.

Character motivation is an exercise in showing motivations rather than telling about them. If you need more direction or want to talk about it you can e-mail or we can talk about it at our next meeting. I'll see if I can find some examples to bring, and would welcome any examples you can bring too.

submission for writing assignment two

2012, January 11 - 12:37pm — Laura Warman (not verified)

I know now where not to look. Easy triggers for cheap emotions, but they still have the power to crumble my resolve. Therefore: no newsstands. Technical journals are ok, and I have arranged to have them delivered to my door, or read them at work. I bring my own reading material to the doctor's office. Much more sanitary at any rate. I stay in my car until appointment time, rush to a seat, and fix my eyes firmly on my book until my name is called. Sometimes it doesn't work and I have to go for a brisk walk outside, hoping the cold wind will excuse my tears. Doctor's appointments are always bad news anyway. Work days are usually easier. I have an office with a door, and lots of work to do. Most of my colleagues are male, which of course helps a great deal, though once in a while even they trigger me off. And those damn secretaries! They always have a party with balloons and silly gifts. Of course I have to chip in my contribution, or it would look strange. I slip in halfway through, give a brief congratulation and then return to my desk, my cheeks aching from the fake smile. I know this does not make me popular. The other women think I am unnatural, strange. They think I stay away from disgust. But if they knew they could only give me their pity. I get my husband to do the grocery shopping if he can. He goes up and down every single aisle without a problem. Doesn't matter to him who else is in the store, or the noises they make. It's no big deal to him, and I know it is coming between us, but I don't know what to do. If things would only resolve themselves, one way or another, a definite 'yes' or 'no'. Instead there is month after month after month of uncertainty. Time is working against me, but hope is eternal. That's what makes it so hard to bear.

Jan. 11th Writing Assignment One: Using Scent

2012, January 7 - 1:14pm — yasbjmott

Write a short piece that incorporates scent as a part of the scene, the character's persecution, or the trigger for a flashback. You choose what inspires you and what will bring the readerinto the writing using scent. We'll be reading these to each other during the meeting.

Some scents that Linda brought were: lavender, moth balls, garlic, chocolate, etc.

reversed fairy tale

2011, December 7 - 10:49pm — Anonymous (not verified)

I'm not well enough to be there in person, so I'm emailing it in.

Wakeful Ugly, a Fairy-Tale Reversal

Once upon a time, there was a peasant girl who had the worst case of insomnia you've ever seen. No matter how many gallons of warm milk she chugged, she simply could not get enough shut-eye. The girl grew steadily more and more tired, cranky, and bloated. She was lactose-intolerant, which really didn't help things much. She got so haggard-looking that the villagers started calling her Wakeful Ugly.
Commoners don't have fairy godmothers (they are an upper-class thing) but W.U. did have a virtuous stepmother, who was deeply concerned about the well-being of her stepdaughter. The stepmother decided to delve into the psychological roots of the problem. She started by looking into W.U.'s bedtime reading -- which turned out to be exclusively fairy tales. A common theme running through the stories was that of the slumbering princess awakened by a kiss.
"My goodness!" exclaimed the virtuous stepmother. "Sexual harassment while unconscious! Who wouldn't be scared of that?" So she surrounded W.U.'s bed with rolls of razor wire and got her the cutest little tear-gas canister to tuck under her pillow. Wakeful Ugly gave her stepmother a grateful kiss and promptly dropped off to sleep.

Moral: One girl's handsome prince is another girl's necrophiliac creep.

writing exercise

2011, November 26 - 3:10pm — Laura Warman (not verified)

This is an example of a writing exercise from the Writer's Circle. This is a "Zoom In - Zoom Out" technique.

From high overhead, the eagle glanced down at the moving dot on the water below. Food? No. Threat? No. Irrelevant. The eagle flew on to more important things.
"Wow!" whispered the stern paddler. "Did you see that?" He squinted upwards, tracking the bird against the bright sky.
"Yeah...right down there...don't move. You'll scare him away." The woman in the bow gestured won to the surface of the water. There, just below her left hand, a beaver glided through the water. Small bubbbles of air gleamed on the edges of its fur. Its dark eyes considered the canoe. Threat? No. Food? No. Irrelevant.

First Writers' Circle Meeting

2011, November 24 - 6:33pm — yasbjmott

It was great to have you all come out and try some writing exercises. Special thanks to writer & friend Linda Ensley (Hayes) who came all the way from West Edmonton to share her expertise, experience, and favorite books for writers!Congrats to Laura on being the first to post to our new, virgin, squeaky clean blog space.

'Til next we write..