Richard Scarsbrook is Back in Orangeville

In 2013, we were delighted and pleasantly surprised when the Orangeville Public Library sponsored creative writing workshops with Richard Scarsbrook, award-winning fiction writer, poet and creative writing teacher (Humber College and George Brown College).

In the last series of workshops, we brought in twenty copies of our short story or creative non-fiction (1,500 word max), or a series of poems. Richard critiqued them along with input from writers attending the workshops.

It is interesting to take a creative writing workshop by a writer who is both informative and a great speaker. He’s never boring and he's entertaining. I am prone to day dreaming, but at Richard’s workshops, I hung on to his every word.

Richard is not only a good writer but he’s an excellent teacher. And most of the workshops were filled. I always arrived early to make sure I had a chair at the front.

Richard is a genius for pointing out not only what’s good with your writing but what is missing from it. He helped me with my editing skills and to perfect my short story.

Fortunately for writers, the Orangeville Library will again be offering free creative writing workshops with Richard Scarsbrook, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.

Monday, March 31, 2014
Monday, April 28, 2014
Monday, May 26, 2014
Monday, June 23, 2014
Monday, July 21, 2014

For further information, please check out:

http://www.orangeville.library.on.ca/events_detail.php?id=680&s=

http://www.richardscarsbrook.com/events.html

Mark your calendars. I promise you, you won’t be disappointed.

Adam - Prompt from February 9, 2014

Here is Patricia's prompt from the February 9th meeting.

Everyone grabbed a book and this seemed to be the last book on the table apart from a children's book. This seemed appropriate with my recent obsession with Ghost Adventures. I have not altered the following result of the prompt in any way, including adding to it. This is exactly what I wrote during the 15 minutes time allotted.

"There is a ghost here," said the eccentric old man.

"And how do you know that?" Zak, the professional ghost hunter asked.

"'Cause I seen 'im."

"You've seen him? And what exactly have you seen?"

"His face."

"Just his face?"

"Well, he got no eyes but the angular jaw and large nose and bony cheek bones, clear as day."

"And when do you see him?"

"All the time, by gosh. As soon as I lay down in bed he is hovering over me. I tell Adam to find someone else to bother."

"Show me," Zak said as they walked through the cabin in the woods.

Old Henry hobbled along towards the back bedroom. He put his hand on the door knob but it did not turn. "By gosh, he done it again."

Zak looked back at Nick, his partner in crime, giving him a 'I think this guy's off his rocker' kind of look.

"Adam!" Henry yelled. "Open the dang door!"

"Excuse me." Zak pushed by him and tried the door. Sure enough it was locked.

"Have you got a key?"

"A key? T'aint no lock on this door."

Zak examined it. He was right. There was no visible lock or key hole.

"Could be a deadbolt on the inside," Nick whispered.

"I said there ain't no lock!" Henry hollered. "Now Adam, open the door!"

Excuse me, Henry, but who is Adam?"

"Well, the ghost. Isn't that what I brought y'all here for?"

"Yes, but how do you know his name is Adam?"

"He told me." He tried the door again.

"He told you?" Zak was surprised and intrigued.

"Sure he did. I said, 'who the hell are you?' and he said 'Adam'."

"Really."

Henry tried the door again.

"Whoa," Nick yelled as he spun around.

"What, Nick?" Zak said. "What happened?"

"I just felt something touch my back."

If Zak had any doubts before he didn't have any now. He trusted his friend.

"Hey Adam?" Zak called out. "Can you let us know you're here? Perhaps you can open the bedroom door?"

The three stood silently waiting for some response when they heard a knock from inside the room.

"What the - ?"

"Try the door now," Henry said.

Zak turned the knob and the door opened. They walked cautiously into the darkened room.

"Let me get the lights," Henry began.

"No." Zak stopped him with a touch to his arm. He pulled his flashlight out of his back pocket and flashed it around the room. Something caught his eye and he moved the light back. He saw the image of a face in the spotlight.

"Hooo-lyyy!" He jumped back.

Yes, that's where it ends. On the Ghost Adventures show this would where they would insert a commercial break. So I guess you better stay tuned for more. 

February 9, 2014, Meeting

Look what I have!

The Bookstore Lady by Diane Bator, now available at BookLore in Orangeville.

As usual we started the meeting asking if anyone had anything to read. Caitlin explained that she has a short story to write for an anthology but is finding every excuse not to work on it. She feels the subject of erotica is holding her back. This started a discussion on how to motivate yourself to write. The following suggestions were made:

- Judy says when she is tired and starts writing it energizes her.

- Another suggestion was to dedicate an hour first thing in the morning to write. Get it done and then it's done.

- Have an email buddy to hold you accountable.

- Patricia said she needs someone standing over her with a whip. Clare volunteered. She declined.

Jayne was leading this week and she grabbed a bunch of books off the shelves in the church's library and placed them on the table. Everyone took a book and used either the title, cover picture, author's name or even a line from inside the book to use as their writing prompt.

I urge those in attendance to publish their results here. I will be doing so, in its rough form.

Our next meeting is Sunday, February 23rd. Judy will be leading.

Meeting January 12, 2014

One note from the last meeting in December...

Christiana has a story published in Chicken Soup for the Soul's Miraculous Messages from Heaven available at Amazon. I've also seen it at Walmart.

We had two new members join us in December, one who returned today, and two new members joined us today. Welcome to Sonia, Lauren and Kadi.

Marilyn shared with us two new books published by her publishing company:

Both are available at all Amazons in book and Kindle formats.

Diane read from a prompt she received from the Ontario Writers' Conference (nice to see the apostrophe after the 's' here too!). It is their Story Starters Contest. You can find it here: http://thewritersconference.com/whats-new/story-starters-contest/ 

Christiana brought up a discussion regarding something the Ontario Premier was heard to have said regarding the ice storm and subsequent giving of grocery gift cards to help those who needed to replace food lost. Kathleen Wynne said: I do not believe it is better to do nothing than to try to help. The question: Is this sentence grammatically correct? Is it a double negative? Since this was a spoken statement and not written, punctuation is invisible if there. Some said it was grammatically incorrect while others said it was correct but should have been worded differently. What do you think? Leave us a comment.

The Toronto Star Short Story Contest deadline is February 28, 2014, at 11:59pm. It is open to Ontario residents only, no fee, maximum 2500 words. You can find details here: http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2014/01/04/star_short_story_contest_seeks_entries.html

Someone brought up the question of how to know what to write for any given short story contest. In the case of the Toronto Star one should read past winning submissions and also research the judges.

Clare informed us that after writing mostly about other people he has decided to write about himself and is tackling a memoir. We look forward to seeing that in print and reading it.

The Prompts provided by Marilyn:

Below are a number of book titles - some with authors' names, some very tongue-in-cheek and some serious. Pick one (or two, if you wish) and write a short story that the title triggers within you. (Some in attendance used more than one - Diane used all but two of them!

1. Omens from the Grave

2. Finished

3. The Inept Burglar

4. The Body at the Bottom of the Cliff by Ilene Dover

5. Walk the Red Line

6. Elvis Lives

7. Cracked by H. Dumpty

8. The Princess and the Fakir

9. The Black Rose

10. The Squirrel in the Garden

11. Red Fox, Black Fox

12. Demons at Dawn

13. False Count

14. Faeries and Unicorns

15. Planet of Doom

16. Love in Winter

Try one (or more) of these prompts. HWG members please share your writing on this blog.

Our next meeting is Sunday, January 26, 2014.

Headwaters Writers' Guild - TEN YEARS - December 9, 2013

 

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

HWG - BEGINNING

How was your drive into work today? If this had been Tuesday, December 9, 2003, possibly the first Headwaters Writers’ Guild session might not have happened.

The drive to Honeywood in the winter was horrendous and often the late Janet Bellinger and I would write at Coffee Way (now Duca). "It's too bad we don't have a writing group in Orangeville." Janet planted the seed for our group.

For almost two years, Janet Bellinger and I continued to take workshops from the late Ed Wildman. Janet and I would be up early on the day of the workshop, editing some of our writing to read at the group. Ed believed that it was paramount for a writer to read their work aloud. He followed Natalie Goldberg’s advice.
Ed would always serve us coffee and dessert during a fifteen-minute break. Sometimes I brought muffins and Janet brought cake, and occasionally we had a potluck lunch.

Michele joined Ed’s workshop in 2002, and J.C. in April of 2003. Ed’s last workshop was in early September 2003.

By the end of October 2003, J.C. missed going to Ed’s workshops and he begged me to start a new writing group in Orangeville.

We’d called the Grand Valley Library and they offered us a room for our sessions. But we didn’t relish the drive to Grand Valley in the winter.

In mid November, while I was in the process of starting the group, Michele emailed me complaining about withdrawal pains re the writing workshops. Another member of Ed’s writing group was supposed to join us but we had conflicting schedules. Finally, I emailed Michele, who had four children, to pick a date and J.C. and I would attend.

On Tuesday night, December 9, 2003, J.C., Michele and I sat at a long table upstairs at the Orangeville Library and began the first session of the Headwaters Writers’ Guild, although at that time we were nameless.

Ed was unable to attend our first writing session.

 

December 14, 2013

 

I can't believe that it's ten years already. Even as a writer, I couldn't have imagined this. At first, our group consisted of beginning writers. Now, most of us have been published. Or we are writing novels, short stories, or we're working on editing our completed novels or non-fiction books.

When we started this group, we wanted to connect with other writers. We knew that only other writers would know how hard it is to find the perfect word, write on a daily basis, edit, send our writing out into the world, read or share our writing, and become the writer of our dreams.

Thank you to all our members for sharing this journey. We miss all our members who for some reason are unable to attend. We are delighted when you join us.

And for our member who reside in heaven - the late Ed Wildman, Janet Bellinger, and Len Rich, I still miss you!

Nancy,
Founding Member.

 

Two Stories Accepted for Publication

Hey, all. Just heard the news that two more of my flash fiction stories have been accepted for publication. Check out the first one, ONCE UPON A TIME, A SOLDIER, at commuterLit.com today! The second story, LES CANAILLE, will be published at Cigale Literary Magazine (cigalelitmag.com) on December 20th.

Lot's of good things happening. Jeremy Grant and I (The Rubber Brothers--percussion and poetry) opened for the Dave Bidini book reading event at the Alton Mill yesterday afternoon. A great time was had by all. And...I organized the audience into a poetry writing jag (collected their scribblings and shaped them into a poem) so that together we created the Great Canadian Hockey Poem. This is what we came up with:

Dreams Live Forever

Dreams live forever

dad and me on a Saturday night

where cold meets warm at the edge

of the rink

at the edge of the hot chocolate cup

cold seeping into bones

frozen feet and numb fingers

sitting on the bench

putting rink boards up

the echo of the puck

hitting the boards in an empty rink

I love hockey

it makes me happy

soggy hot dogs and stinky popcorn

my couch coach father

and our Saturday night imperative

skates on ice, sticks on puck, the big hit

(but please, no fights)

Hull Hall Harvey Howe

the 4-H club

Johnny Bower, Tim Horton, Dave Keon

(because I wrote a speech about him in 7^th grade)

I loved the edge catching, ankle twisting hurts

the bulrushes up the ice

fogged over in the morning light

oh, and

my father tying my skates

the smell of gloves

fights on the ice

fights in the stands

hey, and no helmets

no mouthguards

toothless

like a 7-year-old-child

but macho

like smelly brothers after a game

and thank god for

sweet smelling, nose saving, Febreeze-fresh hockey bags

leather goalie pads and sweat

and the thrill of the first Leafs game in Maple Leaf Gardens

And clear the track, here comes Shack

the arc of shaved ice on a sudden stop

See, I was at the big game

3-1 Leafs over the Habs, 1967

and Keon winning the Conn Smythe

a part of history

Jubilation in Canadian Pride

and I loved shinny

and I remember my old gear

“Make sure you hang it up.”

It’s all about the dream

that I’m the one with the puck

back and forth

momentum changes

exploding into a breakaway

bodies banging

sliding gliding sweeping

swooshing around the ice

and crack went the stick to the puck

oomph, crash, shoulders hurt

But we love the game

that’s why we think

it’s worth the stench of the hockey bag stink

because dreams live forever

and well

it’s kept the guys out of trouble

Cheers!

Exercise at Meeting - December 1, 2013

I admit it. I stole the idea from the Georgetown Wordsmiths for today's exercise. I orginally participated in this exercise, November 2012. After I received my paper, it felt so good that I wanted to share the experience.

I didn't expect two new members, Louise and Sonia, to join us. But they were game and joined us in writing nice things about strangers! Thank you Louise and Sonia for being such good sports.

We were delighted when Michael (Judy's son) visited us. He enjoyed the exercise too.

And like Val, I of course, brought cake. I hope everybody enjoyed today's meeting.

Joan Doane, of course, is one of the funniest writers I know, gave me permission to publish this on our blog. Thanks Joan.

Her website is http://www.joandoane.com/

I hope you enjoy her minutes as much as I did!

November 26, 2012 – Minutes by  Joan Doane (Georgetown Wordsmiths)

 

I almost had to resort to calling my husband and asking him to bring the truck to get me home from the last meeting. Car troubles, you ask? No, but I was having a problem getting my swelled head into my small vehicle. My head barely fit through the door and, once I’d wedged it in, I then had to fumble about to get my seat to its lowest setting. As it was, my hair rubbed along the roof and my nose touched the front window, which became rather chilly during the 15 minute ride home (my nose AND the window.)

 

The problem started with Anne Marie who was acting as our illustrious Chair for the evening. She presented us with a very interesting opening exercise which consisted of us all writing nice things about each other! Imagine! We all went home with a sheet of paper, beautifully decorated with our names on the top, and 11 comments from our fellow Wordsmiths about how brilliant we are! Now that was certainly a great way to end a long day.
 
While I was hoping to receive accolades about my flowing mane of hair and lithe body (and received surprisingly few of those, for whatever reason), I was also happy to hear that I’m considered smart and caring, empathetic and organized (you obviously haven’t seen my desk lately!), and also, by a bit of a landslide majority, somewhat humorous. Go figure! It was a truly brilliant exercise and a great pick-me-up for everyone. Thanks, Anne Marie, for the neat idea! Thanks to all my fellow wordsmiths for the mutual I-think-you’re-great-too-lovefest! I’m still having difficulties going through narrrow doorways.

 Val brought cookies to share — a sweet gesture – in both kinds of ways. Nom, nom, nom. Thanks, Val!