http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49x6V_xLGFs&feature=related
A great video re creativity. The Change Artist Book - a novel.
It might answer the question why you're blocked or why you can't finish your novel, painting, or whatever creative work you may be working on.
I suggest you check it out.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Monday, March 7, 2011
Meeting Minutes March 6, 2011
"Reading maketh a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man." - Sir Francis Bacon
It was a much smaller group this week than in weeks past, but it was no less entertaining!
Jayne was leading this week and did a wonderful job.
Pat announced that we've decided on a June 4 date for our next Brian Henry workshop which will be about developing characters. He is leading a "Writing with Style" workshop in Guelph March 12.
Judy read a revised story called "Words from Beyond" that she sent to the Toronto Star Short Story contest. It was very well done and she got a well-deserved round of applause!
Marilyn was "channelling Isaac Asimov today" and read from her new blog! She has a great story about meeting Mr. Asimov.
Pat told us that "Diane inspired me to write about anything." She read us her story called "Stalker Mom" which was very funny and well done. We look forward to hearing where this story ends up!
Nancy was interviewed on CBC Radio this past Tuesday regarding her article about why she loves the f-bomb that was published in Facts & Arguements in the Globe and Mail in 2009. It got a lot of attention then and, with someone using the word at the Academy Awards last week, they called her up for her reaction.
Kelli was going to bring her rejection letters she's gotten since starting to submit her children's book to publishers. She forgot them at home, but will bring them next time.
Caitlyn read a piece from the POV of being a ghost walking through the world. Eerie and fascinating all at once.
Joe had a technical problem. He has saved most of his writing onto floppy disks and has bought a new computer that doesn't accept them. Pat said she has a reader that will allow him to transfer the info from his disks to the new computer. The general consensus was for him to email the info from his old computer to his new one. And to get an external harddrive.
And we come to The Prompts!
Jayne had a book she'd read called Creating Character Emotions by Ann Hood and gave us an interesting assignment: we picked slips of paper with an emotion written on it from a plastic bag. We had to write about the emotion without using the word or any like it. We actually did this one twice since we ended up with lots of time to spare. The second time, she told us to close our eyes and feel the emotion before we wrote about it.
Some of the emotions we wrote about were:
sympathy, contentment, tenderness, hostility, hope, confusion, loneliness, love - parent/child, curiosity, forgiveness, despair, jealousy, revenge, suspicion, gratitude, restlessness, happiness, fear, surprise, anger, excitement, passion.
We all agreed that it was nice to not have the usual "prompts" and that our leaders are getting creative with the things to motivate us to write. It's nice to have some ideas that promote building our skills as writers.
Nancy told me to make a special note to Laura that Pat was especially funny this meeting.
Our next meeting is March 20. Nancy will be leading.
Come on out and write!
It was a much smaller group this week than in weeks past, but it was no less entertaining!
Jayne was leading this week and did a wonderful job.
Pat announced that we've decided on a June 4 date for our next Brian Henry workshop which will be about developing characters. He is leading a "Writing with Style" workshop in Guelph March 12.
Judy read a revised story called "Words from Beyond" that she sent to the Toronto Star Short Story contest. It was very well done and she got a well-deserved round of applause!
Marilyn was "channelling Isaac Asimov today" and read from her new blog! She has a great story about meeting Mr. Asimov.
Pat told us that "Diane inspired me to write about anything." She read us her story called "Stalker Mom" which was very funny and well done. We look forward to hearing where this story ends up!
Nancy was interviewed on CBC Radio this past Tuesday regarding her article about why she loves the f-bomb that was published in Facts & Arguements in the Globe and Mail in 2009. It got a lot of attention then and, with someone using the word at the Academy Awards last week, they called her up for her reaction.
Kelli was going to bring her rejection letters she's gotten since starting to submit her children's book to publishers. She forgot them at home, but will bring them next time.
Caitlyn read a piece from the POV of being a ghost walking through the world. Eerie and fascinating all at once.
Joe had a technical problem. He has saved most of his writing onto floppy disks and has bought a new computer that doesn't accept them. Pat said she has a reader that will allow him to transfer the info from his disks to the new computer. The general consensus was for him to email the info from his old computer to his new one. And to get an external harddrive.
And we come to The Prompts!
Jayne had a book she'd read called Creating Character Emotions by Ann Hood and gave us an interesting assignment: we picked slips of paper with an emotion written on it from a plastic bag. We had to write about the emotion without using the word or any like it. We actually did this one twice since we ended up with lots of time to spare. The second time, she told us to close our eyes and feel the emotion before we wrote about it.
Some of the emotions we wrote about were:
sympathy, contentment, tenderness, hostility, hope, confusion, loneliness, love - parent/child, curiosity, forgiveness, despair, jealousy, revenge, suspicion, gratitude, restlessness, happiness, fear, surprise, anger, excitement, passion.
We all agreed that it was nice to not have the usual "prompts" and that our leaders are getting creative with the things to motivate us to write. It's nice to have some ideas that promote building our skills as writers.
Nancy told me to make a special note to Laura that Pat was especially funny this meeting.
Our next meeting is March 20. Nancy will be leading.
Come on out and write!
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Nancy's Radio Interview
Following is the link to Nancy's interview on CBC Radio regarding her article and opinions on the F-Bomb.
check the archives at http://www.cbc.ca/ontariotoday/archives/
check the archives at http://www.cbc.ca/ontariotoday/archives/
Kelli Curtis' New Blog Entry
Hello, I'm a member of the Headwaters Writers' Guild aand I would like to share with you a piece I wrote from a prompt I was given at our most recent meet.
Please click on the link below to read my recent blog entry and while you're visiting my blog page, click on "LIKE" for my new Facebook Author Fan Page.
Writing Characters Workshop, Orangeville
"Writing Characters," a full-day workshop, Sat, June 4, Orangeville, Ontario
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - now there's a character!
How to find and create great characters
Saturday, June 4, 10 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Tweedsmuir Presbyterian Church, 6 John Street, Orangeville
Presented by the Headwaters Writers' Guild
Whatever you're writing – fiction or nonfiction – readers will care about your story only if they care about your people. In this workshop, you'll learn techniques for creating fictional characters and depicting real people. You’ll learn how to breathe life into the page so that your characters start telling you how the story should go.
Workshop leader Brian Henry has been a book editor and creative writing instructor for more than 25 years. He teaches at Ryerson University and has led creative writing workshops everywhere from Boston to Buffalo and from Sarnia to Charlottetown. But his proudest boast is that he's helped many of his students get published.
Fee: $40 paid in advance for HWG members only.
$38.94 + 13% hst = $44 paid in advance
or $42.48 + 13% hst = $48 if you wait to pay at the door
To reserve your spot, email brianhenry@sympatico.ca
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - now there's a character!
How to find and create great characters
Saturday, June 4, 10 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Tweedsmuir Presbyterian Church, 6 John Street, Orangeville
Presented by the Headwaters Writers' Guild
Whatever you're writing – fiction or nonfiction – readers will care about your story only if they care about your people. In this workshop, you'll learn techniques for creating fictional characters and depicting real people. You’ll learn how to breathe life into the page so that your characters start telling you how the story should go.
Workshop leader Brian Henry has been a book editor and creative writing instructor for more than 25 years. He teaches at Ryerson University and has led creative writing workshops everywhere from Boston to Buffalo and from Sarnia to Charlottetown. But his proudest boast is that he's helped many of his students get published.
Fee: $40 paid in advance for HWG members only.
$38.94 + 13% hst = $44 paid in advance
or $42.48 + 13% hst = $48 if you wait to pay at the door
To reserve your spot, email brianhenry@sympatico.ca
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Nancy's Debut on CBC Radio
I'd just like to congratulate Nancy for her debut interview on CBC Radio during the lunch hour on Tuesday, March 1 regarding her article about the F-bomb. She did a fabulous job and sounded like she'd done this a hundred times or more!
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Why I Write
I never choose to write. My hand is drawn to a pen, and the pen to paper, like opposite poles on a magnet. When the pen hits the paper, the effect is like ink on a paper towel. The ink is drawn out, sometimes in the form of coherent thoughts, often not.
It's probably good that I also have an impossible to fight need to edit as well, because I can then turn that mess into English.
I see editing as being like sculpting. Trim a little here, a little there, and you are left with the beauty of the artist's original vision. I'm not so sure other people see editing in quite the same light.
When I'm not writing on paper, I'm writing in my head. I dream about my characters. While I sleep, I write scenes for them, create their lives beyond my story.
I worry that one day I'll wake my husband up by talking in my sleep to one of the male characters in my work-in-progress. This is likely why none of my characters are named after people I know.
I write because it's who I am. It's who I've always been. If somehow I managed to stop, I'd turn into one of the characters in my stories. And then I'd really have problems.
It's probably good that I also have an impossible to fight need to edit as well, because I can then turn that mess into English.
I see editing as being like sculpting. Trim a little here, a little there, and you are left with the beauty of the artist's original vision. I'm not so sure other people see editing in quite the same light.
When I'm not writing on paper, I'm writing in my head. I dream about my characters. While I sleep, I write scenes for them, create their lives beyond my story.
I worry that one day I'll wake my husband up by talking in my sleep to one of the male characters in my work-in-progress. This is likely why none of my characters are named after people I know.
I write because it's who I am. It's who I've always been. If somehow I managed to stop, I'd turn into one of the characters in my stories. And then I'd really have problems.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)