Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Ron's Letter in the Toronto Star

For anyone who missed it, this is the letter Ron had published in the Toronto Star:

Poor can’t protect their interests

Published On Sun Feb 12 2012
Re: Different law for rich and poor, Letter, Feb. 9
This is an eternal unchanging tune of the rich affording the well-connected lawyers to get their clients a lenient sentence or no sentence at all. The “marginalized” will always pay the price for not having the wherewithal to protect their interests, right or wrong.
Ron Lehman, Orangeville
 

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Meeting Minutes Feb 12, 2012

We had an abbreviated meeting today. Only seven people made it and we were done by 3pm.
Clare dropped by to tell us his wifeslipped on the ice and broke her arm yesterday. He couldn't stay.
Ron's wife is back in Orangeville and doing better.

David returned after a long hiatus and told us he's been working on 3 novels. One, "Twelfth Night of Royal Blue" will be released at the end of February and available from him or at BookLore. We await word of a book launch.

 Only two people brought writing to read today: Marilyn who read more of her locket story and David who read a poem written for his grand-daughter's birthday.

The prompts were fun. Jayne handed us sheets with spaces for: Character's Name, One Physical Trait, One Behavioral Trait, Job/Occupation, Setting, Critical Event. The first person filled in the first blank then passed the paper on to the right until the sheet was full. Jayne handed the papers out at random and we wrote for 20 min - which by VERY fast! We had some interesting stories come of that exercise.

Our next meeting is March 4th. Clare will be leading.
Happy Writing!

Monday, February 6, 2012

Meeting February 5, 2012

Ron announced at the beginning of the meeting that his wife has taken ill in the Dominican Republic. I forwarded an update which looks promising. Please continue to keep her in your prayers.

At the meeting 7 of the 9 people in attendance brought something to read which was great to see! I was thrilled to share a short story I had written and have submitted to the Toronto Star Short Story Contest. The Artist's Way has certainly affected my creativity and how I use my time. Jayne read a story about her garden that she is submitting to Sideroads Magazine. Keep your eyes open for that.

Please remember the Brian Henry Workshop is coming up on Saturday, February 25th from 10am-3:30pm. It's called "Secrets of Writing a Page-Turner". This is an HWG sponsored workshop. We should get a good turn-out so if you haven't registered yet, do so soon.

Danielle led the meeting for the first time. She shared with us a tidbit from the book she is reading. Her first set of prompts are based on this reading but I'm sure you can do the exercise without having heard the scene she read.

In the example we read today, the author took an ordinary, mundane situation and turned it into an exciting event that kept the story moving. The event in the example was not only action-packed but also served as a hint for an unexpected plot twist later in the story. Mundane situations need not always be turned into action sequences but could be hiding humour, a character's personal revelation, a new piece of knowledge, something utterly ridiculous or a "big reveal" in a story. The point is to keep the story moving along without any "dead" spots. Today we're going to practice turning the ordinary into the extraordinary!

Choose one of the following boring beginnings/situations and turn it into a page-turner:

1. Sam bent down to put on his socks.

2. I'll take a large coffee, double-double," Jill told the woman behind the counter.

3. Hank flipped idly through the myriad of satellite channels on the Roger's network. He'd have thought with all that variety, there would have been something good to watch on TV.

4. The bus pulled up to the curb.

5. Sheila fumbled for her keys in her purse.

6. Jeff flicked on the light in the hall.

If you don't care to try that exercise, the following prompts were also provided:

1. Write about your favourite toy as a child.

2. Describe your favourite place and tell us why it's your favourite.

3. What's the best thing that ever happened to you?

4. Come up with a limerick, or 2, or 3.

5. What's the best excuse you ever came up with and where or when did you use it?

I am compelled to add that there appears to be a sock fetish among many of our members. LOL!

Great job, Danielle!

The next meeting is next week (Sunday, February 12th) due to the Family Day holiday the following weekend, and the Brian Henry workshop the weekend after that. Jayne will be leading.