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.
Showing posts with label Brian Henry workshop. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brian Henry workshop. Show all posts
Monday, February 6, 2012
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Meeting Minutes October 30, 2011
Due to a technical glitch, there are no photos from this year's Halloween meeting. Sorry folks. I can tell you that several of the members were dressed up, including Patricia's "Quarter Pounder" idea. Very cute!
Clare was our leader today and brought wonderful buttertarts from his wife Dorothy, whom we love and have made an honorary member of the group years ago! Kelli and Diane brought chocolate bars, too. Bring on the sugar!
Nancy reminded us of the upcoming Brian Henry workshop on Feb 25, 2012. The chosen topic is: "18 Ways to Write a Page Turner." Time and location TBA.
Nancy and Diane are organizing an Artist's Way workshop beginning in November. Participants can get in touch with either of us to register. There is no fees to join, simply find a copy of The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron and have a great notebook, you'll be doing lots of writing and soul searching. Nancy told us that she's done the workbook several times and has grown both as a writer and a person each time. Alberta took the course when she lived in Hawaii with Julia Cameron. She told us that it opens up your relationships as well as changing you creatively. Creativity is the focus, but it will enrich your entire life.
The new Anthologies are here, authors picked them up from Gloria after the meeting. If you still have a book or two to pick up, please contact Gloria. She also had copies of a book called "Limericks from the Animal Kingdom" written by I. Mary Hackney a friend of hers who died this summer. The cartoons were done by Carly Hatton, a 19 year old Autistic woman. The books sell for $12.95.
Ron has become a blogger for "Women Writing for A Change." After doing a couple of guest blogs, he is now a regular blogger with them and encouraged us to check them out. http://www.womenwriting.org/
We had a wonderful treat! Alberta brought the movie she's been working so hard on titled "So I'm Dying...Now What?" It featured a feisty woman named Margaret Hackman who died of metastic cancer in 2009. The video will be premiered in Guelph on Nov 5. It was a moving yet inspiring story and had us all teary eyed. To find out more, Alberta's website is http://www.spiritvalleypictures.com/
Readings:
Nancy read an article she'd written for her Brian Henry workshop.
Trina read about an adult getting a child-like view of the world, reminding us all to take time to play.
Ron read his blog article about Foodstock, the protest against the megaquarry. They had originally expected 20,000 people, but over 28,000 showed up. It featured 100 chefs from top local restaurants and looked like a giant cookout. There is another Foodstock planned for the spring if negotiations are not going well with the quarry.
When Ron was done, Marilyn asked if this was a political forum or a writers group.
Clare's next article for the Banner is called "Food for Thought." and will be about Foodstock as well as how we sustain ourselves with gardens. Instead of reading that, he read a page about his accident in 1979 when he was hit by a car and spent a lot of time in Sunnybrook Hospital. "Beware Nurse Boyle" is a very funny piece. My favourite line was: she gave me "a pill the size of a ten-pin bowling ball." He got a rousing round of applause.
The Prompt:
The prompt was a little labour intensive to explain, but once we all got into it, it made for some hilarious reading later!
Number 1: Clare gave us a list of twelve book titles to choose from. We were to choose one and write it along with our name at the top of the paper he'd given us. That part was easy. Sort of.
The titles:
1) Cat O'Nine Tales
2) Footprints in the Sand
3) Who Killed Old Man Horowitz?
4) Shakespeare's Secret
5) The Cappuccino Murders
6) The Archer's Revenge
7) The Scribbling Preacher Makes Her Mark
8) The Monk in the Attic
9) The Voyage of the Tipsy Virgin
10) A Hand-full of Hounds
11) The Time Ticker
12) Wood Chipper on the Loose
Number 2: The Rest of the Instructions
Write the first two killer hook lines to introduce the book title that you selected.
Pass the lined sheet to person on the right. On the sheet you receive, read the title and lines, leave a blank line then add two more lines of your own.
Pass the lined sheet to person on the right. Read ONLY the title and last two lines that were written. Leave a blank line then add two lines of your own. Pass the sheet to the person on your right.
Continue passing the sheets around the group, again reading ONLY the title and the last two lines written.
When the exercise is done, return the sheet to the person whose name is at the top.
Be prepared to read aloud what appears on your sheet.
For homework for the next meeting, write the first chapter of the book, incorporating as many of the suggestions from the sheet as possible.
Good Luck!!
So how did this all turn out? Well, here's mine. I've alternated colours to show when a different person wrote:
The Cappuccino Murders
Java Jo's had been the only coffee shop in Packham for ten years until Lori's Latte's opened directly across the street. Wednesday morning, Lori Archer failed to open her shop for a very good reason.
It's a true story and Joe Cappucano has written about his mafia family and it put his life in danger.
I thought it was old coffee on the floor as I walked into the cafe - but coffee isn't thick or red.
I slipped, leaving a gross streak of burnished blood across my backside.
And feeling ashamed, I didn't look up.
I could feel the eyes of dozens of people staring at me and the cafe grew silent, except for one gasp.
The spoon clattered on the floor and coffee - dripped - in a puddle on the floor. Call for help now, please.
What the hell do you think I am, Mabel, your servant? Well the least that you could do is clean up the mess!
"Why should I?" s/he yelled. "I do everything around here. It's your turn. S/he turned and left the room.
He ignored her and returned to the coffee machine. He still had time to brew her up a pot of poisoned brew. That would teach the bitch!
When she asked for tea, the plot fizzled out. What next?
Murder plots ran through her head each night. There were cunning ways of disposing of the corpses.
That's my story and I guess I have to stick to it! It was certainly lots of fun reading all the results. Kelli and I laughed so hard we were crying! Nancy found a lesson in the whole exercise: Don't let other people write your story.
Our next meeting is November 13th, 2011. Marilyn will be leading.
November 27th, Nancy will lead.
December 11 will be our Christmas Luncheon.
Clare was our leader today and brought wonderful buttertarts from his wife Dorothy, whom we love and have made an honorary member of the group years ago! Kelli and Diane brought chocolate bars, too. Bring on the sugar!
Nancy reminded us of the upcoming Brian Henry workshop on Feb 25, 2012. The chosen topic is: "18 Ways to Write a Page Turner." Time and location TBA.
Nancy and Diane are organizing an Artist's Way workshop beginning in November. Participants can get in touch with either of us to register. There is no fees to join, simply find a copy of The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron and have a great notebook, you'll be doing lots of writing and soul searching. Nancy told us that she's done the workbook several times and has grown both as a writer and a person each time. Alberta took the course when she lived in Hawaii with Julia Cameron. She told us that it opens up your relationships as well as changing you creatively. Creativity is the focus, but it will enrich your entire life.
The new Anthologies are here, authors picked them up from Gloria after the meeting. If you still have a book or two to pick up, please contact Gloria. She also had copies of a book called "Limericks from the Animal Kingdom" written by I. Mary Hackney a friend of hers who died this summer. The cartoons were done by Carly Hatton, a 19 year old Autistic woman. The books sell for $12.95.
Ron has become a blogger for "Women Writing for A Change." After doing a couple of guest blogs, he is now a regular blogger with them and encouraged us to check them out. http://www.womenwriting.org/
We had a wonderful treat! Alberta brought the movie she's been working so hard on titled "So I'm Dying...Now What?" It featured a feisty woman named Margaret Hackman who died of metastic cancer in 2009. The video will be premiered in Guelph on Nov 5. It was a moving yet inspiring story and had us all teary eyed. To find out more, Alberta's website is http://www.spiritvalleypictures.com/
Readings:
Nancy read an article she'd written for her Brian Henry workshop.
Trina read about an adult getting a child-like view of the world, reminding us all to take time to play.
Ron read his blog article about Foodstock, the protest against the megaquarry. They had originally expected 20,000 people, but over 28,000 showed up. It featured 100 chefs from top local restaurants and looked like a giant cookout. There is another Foodstock planned for the spring if negotiations are not going well with the quarry.
When Ron was done, Marilyn asked if this was a political forum or a writers group.
Clare's next article for the Banner is called "Food for Thought." and will be about Foodstock as well as how we sustain ourselves with gardens. Instead of reading that, he read a page about his accident in 1979 when he was hit by a car and spent a lot of time in Sunnybrook Hospital. "Beware Nurse Boyle" is a very funny piece. My favourite line was: she gave me "a pill the size of a ten-pin bowling ball." He got a rousing round of applause.
The Prompt:
The prompt was a little labour intensive to explain, but once we all got into it, it made for some hilarious reading later!
Number 1: Clare gave us a list of twelve book titles to choose from. We were to choose one and write it along with our name at the top of the paper he'd given us. That part was easy. Sort of.
The titles:
1) Cat O'Nine Tales
2) Footprints in the Sand
3) Who Killed Old Man Horowitz?
4) Shakespeare's Secret
5) The Cappuccino Murders
6) The Archer's Revenge
7) The Scribbling Preacher Makes Her Mark
8) The Monk in the Attic
9) The Voyage of the Tipsy Virgin
10) A Hand-full of Hounds
11) The Time Ticker
12) Wood Chipper on the Loose
Number 2: The Rest of the Instructions
Write the first two killer hook lines to introduce the book title that you selected.
Pass the lined sheet to person on the right. On the sheet you receive, read the title and lines, leave a blank line then add two more lines of your own.
Pass the lined sheet to person on the right. Read ONLY the title and last two lines that were written. Leave a blank line then add two lines of your own. Pass the sheet to the person on your right.
Continue passing the sheets around the group, again reading ONLY the title and the last two lines written.
When the exercise is done, return the sheet to the person whose name is at the top.
Be prepared to read aloud what appears on your sheet.
For homework for the next meeting, write the first chapter of the book, incorporating as many of the suggestions from the sheet as possible.
Good Luck!!
So how did this all turn out? Well, here's mine. I've alternated colours to show when a different person wrote:
The Cappuccino Murders
Java Jo's had been the only coffee shop in Packham for ten years until Lori's Latte's opened directly across the street. Wednesday morning, Lori Archer failed to open her shop for a very good reason.
It's a true story and Joe Cappucano has written about his mafia family and it put his life in danger.
I thought it was old coffee on the floor as I walked into the cafe - but coffee isn't thick or red.
I slipped, leaving a gross streak of burnished blood across my backside.
And feeling ashamed, I didn't look up.
I could feel the eyes of dozens of people staring at me and the cafe grew silent, except for one gasp.
The spoon clattered on the floor and coffee - dripped - in a puddle on the floor. Call for help now, please.
What the hell do you think I am, Mabel, your servant? Well the least that you could do is clean up the mess!
"Why should I?" s/he yelled. "I do everything around here. It's your turn. S/he turned and left the room.
He ignored her and returned to the coffee machine. He still had time to brew her up a pot of poisoned brew. That would teach the bitch!
When she asked for tea, the plot fizzled out. What next?
Murder plots ran through her head each night. There were cunning ways of disposing of the corpses.
That's my story and I guess I have to stick to it! It was certainly lots of fun reading all the results. Kelli and I laughed so hard we were crying! Nancy found a lesson in the whole exercise: Don't let other people write your story.
Our next meeting is November 13th, 2011. Marilyn will be leading.
November 27th, Nancy will lead.
December 11 will be our Christmas Luncheon.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
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
Sunday, September 12, 2010
September 12, 2010 Meeting
No one took minutes at this meeting. We were given our proofs for the anthology to read over to make sure there are no errors. Corrections are to be submitted to Gloria.
Gloria's new book has been published. It is called Dream Quest Dictionary: Find the Meanings of Your Dream & Life Symbols. It retails at $19.95. A launch will be announced soon. If you would like to purchase a copy of Gloria's book directly through her, members of the Headwaters Writers' Guild may do so at a cost of $12.
Our next meeting is Sunday, September 26th. Diane will be leading.
Please don't forget about the Brian Henry “Writing for Children” ~ And for Young Adults - the world’s hottest market ~Saturday, October 2, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. at Tweedsmuir Presbyterian Church, 6 John Street, Orangeville.
Fee for members of the Headwaters Writers' Guild:$35.40 + 13% hst = $40 paid in advance or $42.48 + 13% hst = $48 if you wait to pay at the door.
Fee for the general public: $38.94 + 13% hst = $44 paid in advance or $42.48 + 13% hst = $48 if you wait to pay at the door.
To register, please make out a cheque to Brian Henry and mail it to:Brian Henry, 110 Reiner Road, Toronto, ON M3H 2L6To reserve a spot now, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca
Please register A.S.A.P. We need the numbers and don't want to have to cancel.
Gloria's new book has been published. It is called Dream Quest Dictionary: Find the Meanings of Your Dream & Life Symbols. It retails at $19.95. A launch will be announced soon. If you would like to purchase a copy of Gloria's book directly through her, members of the Headwaters Writers' Guild may do so at a cost of $12.
Our next meeting is Sunday, September 26th. Diane will be leading.
Please don't forget about the Brian Henry “Writing for Children” ~ And for Young Adults - the world’s hottest market ~Saturday, October 2, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. at Tweedsmuir Presbyterian Church, 6 John Street, Orangeville.
Fee for members of the Headwaters Writers' Guild:$35.40 + 13% hst = $40 paid in advance or $42.48 + 13% hst = $48 if you wait to pay at the door.
Fee for the general public: $38.94 + 13% hst = $44 paid in advance or $42.48 + 13% hst = $48 if you wait to pay at the door.
To register, please make out a cheque to Brian Henry and mail it to:Brian Henry, 110 Reiner Road, Toronto, ON M3H 2L6To reserve a spot now, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca
Please register A.S.A.P. We need the numbers and don't want to have to cancel.
Monday, August 23, 2010
"Writing for Children" Workshop by Brian Henry
The Headwaters Writer Guild presents…
“Writing for Children” ~ And for Young Adults - the world’s hottest market ~
Saturday, October 210 a.m. - 4 p.m.Tweedsmuir Presbyterian Church, 6 John Street, Orangeville.
Whether you want to write the next best-selling children’s books or just want to create stories for your own kids, this workshop is for you. Learn how to write stories kids and young adults will love, and find out what you need to know to sell your book.
Special option: Bring a sample of your children’s writing - 1,500 words absolute max, but 800 or fewer works better. If you’re not currently working on a children’s story, don’t worry, we’ll get you started on the spot!
Workshop leader Brian Henry has been a book editor and creative writing instructor for more than 25 years. He is also the author of a children’s version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Tribute Publishing Inc).
Fee for members of the Headwaters Writers' Guild:
$35.40 + 13% hst = $40 paid in advanceor $42.48 + 13% hst = $48 if you wait to pay at the door
Fee for the general public: $38.94 + 13% hst = $44 paid in advanceor $42.48 + 13% hst = $48 if you wait to pay at the door
To register, please make out a cheque to Brian Henry and mail it to:
Brian Henry, 110 Reiner Road, Toronto, ON M3H 2L6
To reserve a spot now, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca
“Writing for Children” ~ And for Young Adults - the world’s hottest market ~
Saturday, October 210 a.m. - 4 p.m.Tweedsmuir Presbyterian Church, 6 John Street, Orangeville.
Whether you want to write the next best-selling children’s books or just want to create stories for your own kids, this workshop is for you. Learn how to write stories kids and young adults will love, and find out what you need to know to sell your book.
Special option: Bring a sample of your children’s writing - 1,500 words absolute max, but 800 or fewer works better. If you’re not currently working on a children’s story, don’t worry, we’ll get you started on the spot!
Workshop leader Brian Henry has been a book editor and creative writing instructor for more than 25 years. He is also the author of a children’s version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Tribute Publishing Inc).
Fee for members of the Headwaters Writers' Guild:
$35.40 + 13% hst = $40 paid in advanceor $42.48 + 13% hst = $48 if you wait to pay at the door
Fee for the general public: $38.94 + 13% hst = $44 paid in advanceor $42.48 + 13% hst = $48 if you wait to pay at the door
To register, please make out a cheque to Brian Henry and mail it to:
Brian Henry, 110 Reiner Road, Toronto, ON M3H 2L6
To reserve a spot now, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Meeting Minutes March 21, 2010
First of all, thank you to everyone for their well wishes this past week on the loss of our uncle. It was hard coming to the meeting and concentrating enough to take notes, but it was even harder staying home. I was glad to be with you all and share some laughs as well as meet two new members to the group: Sandy and Ruth. For those of you who missed it, Ruth is also a writer with a piece in the Stories of Prayer and Faith book that Nancy and I are included in and received some copies of after the meeting. (Edited and compiled by our own Gloria Nye!)
Clare led the meeting and had some interesting prompts which I'll post at the bottom. No rushing off ahead to peek, you might miss something along the way!
Jayne warned us about parking in the Organist's spot in the lot. Apparently, she is very "predatory" about her spot. Harry agreed that we definately did not want to "strike the wrong chord with her."
We all introduced ourselves, including Laura who got a "daypass" from her family to attend. She announced that she would write more if Diane would quit writing so much. She is a fabulous editor though and I can never thank her enough. Especially when my books finally get published!
Richard brought up the fact that people don't take the time to comment on blog entries. He has been added to our list of contributors now. We are all glad his writer's block and other issues have been resolved.
Jayne showed us the back cover of the Presbyterian Record (www.prebyterianrecord.ca). Her novel Caught Dead: A Dean Constable Mystery is going to be published on their website beginning April 5. There will be a new chapter every week so make sure to mark it under your favourites and enjoy it!
We also discussed the Anthology that we would like to do. Gloria presented us with a publishing proposal that we will talk about at the next meeting. She had two plan options but Richard suggested a third - that we seek a sponsor to subsidize the book. He will look into that and get back to us next meeting. We decided against a theme for the book since that will limit our creativity. We would just call it something like The Headwaters Writers' Guild Collection. You are welcome to bring any other ideas to the April 11 meeting.
Since the last Brian Henry workshop had very low response, we cancelled it an moved it to Oct 2. The two options we had for topics were How to Make Yourself Write and How to Write for Children. Since a lot of us have no problems with actually doing the writing, we selected the writing for children option. Even if you don't want to write for children, it will teach you how to streamline your writing and simplify.
About half of the group had items to read this time. Gloria gave us food for thought with her short story The Author's Dinner. We had to all rush home to look up words like gelid and sapid. June read more from Death Spiral. Richard read to us from the second book of The Ostiary: Silent Semper (hope I got that right). Caitlyn, who was brave enough to rejoin us after the last meeting, read a wonderfully descriptive piece about a woman visiting a psychic. We can't wait to see what she does with it! Harry read The Garden Tale a great one for the kiddies.
Nancy read a piece about the "R" word and how words have the power to affect people. This led to a discussion of how the meanings of words have changed through history for example: faggot, special, retarded, the list goes on.
The prompts Clare brought were interesting. Laura had a piece about a man humming and cleaning a bloodstain off the floor. Richard had to know what he was humming. Guesses ranged from Hi, ho, hi, ho, It's off to work we go to Zippity-Do-Dah. Nancy read a piece that included the words "blank you". Richard HAD to check to make sure that was what she wrote and not her infamous "f" word. It was!
I found out after the meeting that Laura is going to be published in In the Hills for Kids. Her article is called Bundle of Joy? Way to go Laura! You can find a preview of the story on www.kidsinthehills.ca/blogs/in-the-hills/bundle-of-joy.
Okay, you've waited long enough. For anyone who couldn't make the meeting, here are the prompts courtesy of Clare:
1) A chunk of bologna and gob of mustard fell from his sandwich.
2) Coffee perked cheerily on the back of the kitchen woodstove.
3) The red traffic light sparkled off the icy intersection.
4) Peering into the darkness, she stood with her arms crossed.
5) He was the only customer in the coffee shop at 3 in the morning.
6) "Bonjourno," he clucked, stroking his crop of silver hair. (buon giorno Laura corrected the spelling)
7) I burst out laughing when -------------
8) "HI! I usta be a Wal-Mart greeter."
9) As I looked at --------- all that I could think was ---------.
10) He was nothing more than a smelly old man.
Okay, my work here is done for a day or two. Hope you all enjoy the wonderful rain and keep on writing.
Clare led the meeting and had some interesting prompts which I'll post at the bottom. No rushing off ahead to peek, you might miss something along the way!
Jayne warned us about parking in the Organist's spot in the lot. Apparently, she is very "predatory" about her spot. Harry agreed that we definately did not want to "strike the wrong chord with her."
We all introduced ourselves, including Laura who got a "daypass" from her family to attend. She announced that she would write more if Diane would quit writing so much. She is a fabulous editor though and I can never thank her enough. Especially when my books finally get published!
Richard brought up the fact that people don't take the time to comment on blog entries. He has been added to our list of contributors now. We are all glad his writer's block and other issues have been resolved.
Jayne showed us the back cover of the Presbyterian Record (www.prebyterianrecord.ca). Her novel Caught Dead: A Dean Constable Mystery is going to be published on their website beginning April 5. There will be a new chapter every week so make sure to mark it under your favourites and enjoy it!
We also discussed the Anthology that we would like to do. Gloria presented us with a publishing proposal that we will talk about at the next meeting. She had two plan options but Richard suggested a third - that we seek a sponsor to subsidize the book. He will look into that and get back to us next meeting. We decided against a theme for the book since that will limit our creativity. We would just call it something like The Headwaters Writers' Guild Collection. You are welcome to bring any other ideas to the April 11 meeting.
Since the last Brian Henry workshop had very low response, we cancelled it an moved it to Oct 2. The two options we had for topics were How to Make Yourself Write and How to Write for Children. Since a lot of us have no problems with actually doing the writing, we selected the writing for children option. Even if you don't want to write for children, it will teach you how to streamline your writing and simplify.
About half of the group had items to read this time. Gloria gave us food for thought with her short story The Author's Dinner. We had to all rush home to look up words like gelid and sapid. June read more from Death Spiral. Richard read to us from the second book of The Ostiary: Silent Semper (hope I got that right). Caitlyn, who was brave enough to rejoin us after the last meeting, read a wonderfully descriptive piece about a woman visiting a psychic. We can't wait to see what she does with it! Harry read The Garden Tale a great one for the kiddies.
Nancy read a piece about the "R" word and how words have the power to affect people. This led to a discussion of how the meanings of words have changed through history for example: faggot, special, retarded, the list goes on.
The prompts Clare brought were interesting. Laura had a piece about a man humming and cleaning a bloodstain off the floor. Richard had to know what he was humming. Guesses ranged from Hi, ho, hi, ho, It's off to work we go to Zippity-Do-Dah. Nancy read a piece that included the words "blank you". Richard HAD to check to make sure that was what she wrote and not her infamous "f" word. It was!
I found out after the meeting that Laura is going to be published in In the Hills for Kids. Her article is called Bundle of Joy? Way to go Laura! You can find a preview of the story on www.kidsinthehills.ca/blogs/in-the-hills/bundle-of-joy.
Okay, you've waited long enough. For anyone who couldn't make the meeting, here are the prompts courtesy of Clare:
1) A chunk of bologna and gob of mustard fell from his sandwich.
2) Coffee perked cheerily on the back of the kitchen woodstove.
3) The red traffic light sparkled off the icy intersection.
4) Peering into the darkness, she stood with her arms crossed.
5) He was the only customer in the coffee shop at 3 in the morning.
6) "Bonjourno," he clucked, stroking his crop of silver hair. (buon giorno Laura corrected the spelling)
7) I burst out laughing when -------------
8) "HI! I usta be a Wal-Mart greeter."
9) As I looked at --------- all that I could think was ---------.
10) He was nothing more than a smelly old man.
Okay, my work here is done for a day or two. Hope you all enjoy the wonderful rain and keep on writing.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Since Diane wasn't at the last meeting, very few notes have been posted. (Diane we can't function without you!)
We welcomed possible new member Della Gurnik to the group.
There was much discussion about the blog - please check regularly, please comment on posts, please contribute.
We discussed the importance and benefits of graphing novels, a method of plotting your novel out in advance of writing it.
Jayne recommended a book by Jack Bickham - Scene and Structure (available at Amazon for $13.46). The same author has written another book entitled Elements of Writing Fiction - Scene and Structure (available at Amazon for $12.05).
Richard shared with us an article he received from Melrose Books. The Reader's Report consisted of a rave review of Richard's yet-to-be-published book The Ostiary. Richard told us how happy he was with this review until a few days later he received an email from Melrose Books asking him for X dollars to publish his book. A lesson to be learned here. Beware!
Coming Soon:
The Headwaters Writers’ Guild presents…
“Writing with style” ~ with guest author Jean-Rae Baxter ~
Saturday, March 13, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Tweedsmuir Presbyterian Church, 6 John Street, Orangeville
Email Brian Henry directly to register. Further information was posted previously.
Our next meeting is this Sunday, February 21st, 1:00pm at Tweedsmuir Church. Hope to see you there!
We welcomed possible new member Della Gurnik to the group.
There was much discussion about the blog - please check regularly, please comment on posts, please contribute.
We discussed the importance and benefits of graphing novels, a method of plotting your novel out in advance of writing it.
Jayne recommended a book by Jack Bickham - Scene and Structure (available at Amazon for $13.46). The same author has written another book entitled Elements of Writing Fiction - Scene and Structure (available at Amazon for $12.05).
Richard shared with us an article he received from Melrose Books. The Reader's Report consisted of a rave review of Richard's yet-to-be-published book The Ostiary. Richard told us how happy he was with this review until a few days later he received an email from Melrose Books asking him for X dollars to publish his book. A lesson to be learned here. Beware!
Coming Soon:
The Headwaters Writers’ Guild presents…
“Writing with style” ~ with guest author Jean-Rae Baxter ~
Saturday, March 13, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Tweedsmuir Presbyterian Church, 6 John Street, Orangeville
Email Brian Henry directly to register. Further information was posted previously.
Our next meeting is this Sunday, February 21st, 1:00pm at Tweedsmuir Church. Hope to see you there!
Sunday, January 24, 2010
January 24, 2010 Meeting
We had an interesting meeting today. We were glad to see Alex back with the group. We've missed him while he's been in French River and beyond for the past several months.
The meeting started off with a few limericks courtesy of Pat, Clare and Judy, who led our meeting today.
I finally sat down to write
Much to my muse's delight
But I wrote silly stuff
Twas not nearly enough
To cure my writer's block plight.
Pat
And a couple from Judy:
There once was a poet named Harry
Whose talent was extraordinary
His words flowed like milk
from a tongue made of silk
And soothe the bile of the contrary
There once was a woman named Nancy
When she could't write she got antsy
So she talked to God
and he did the job
And she won the accolades fancy
Okay, on with the show! I'll post some more limericks later.
Harry read us a piece he is working on with a fellow poet. They will present it in support of a new art centre in Collingwood - date to be announced.
Nancy's article from the Globe and Mail called I Love to Drop the F-bomb has placed 6th in the Globe and Mail's most popular facts and arguments article of 2009. If you haven't read it, you can find it at www.theglobeandmail.com/life/facts-and-arguments/i-love-to-drop-the-f-bomb/article1262227/ Nancy also reminded us that it is a gift to be able to read your work aloud to others and feel like a REAL writer.
Jayne showed us an article she had published in The Presbyterian Record this month. It is called Ghana: Boogie to the Front and is about her trek to Ghana last year. It is a nice article about the people that touched and inspired her and some of their struggles. It has a few of the wonderful pictures that she took. You can check it out at www.presbyterianrecord.ca. Jayne will have another article in the next issue. The Presbyterian Record also plans to publish one of her novels - one chapter per issue. Congratulations, Jayne!
Clare also made us laugh with a story about an irate nurse with a hypodermic needle in one hand and a suppository in the other.
We also got into a discussion about Haiti which led to Ron writing a thought provoking article that we hope he will finish and submit.
Jayne brought up that she ordered a course from The Great Courses www.getgreatcourses.com. The one she is currently doing is called Building Great Sentences: Exploring the Writer's Craft. We hope she will give us the short version. Today we discussed cumulative syntax. Creating strong sentences by removing conjuctions. Simplifying your work. One of the names that came up as an example was Hemingway.
While on the topic of writers we enjoy, the name Robert B. Parker came up. I had brought a couple of his books along for Nancy to read and someone mentioned that he was dead. I checked it out when I got home and found his obituary online. Robert B. Parker died Janary 20, 2010 at his desk in his home. He died doing what he loved: writing. He was influenced by Hemingway, Faulkner, and Scott Fitzgerald.
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/books-obituaries/7038200/Robert-B-Parker.html
Also a reminder that the Brian Henry workshop has been moved from March 6 to March 13, 2010.
AND our next meeting is February 7, 2010. Richard will be leading.
The meeting started off with a few limericks courtesy of Pat, Clare and Judy, who led our meeting today.
I finally sat down to write
Much to my muse's delight
But I wrote silly stuff
Twas not nearly enough
To cure my writer's block plight.
Pat
And a couple from Judy:
There once was a poet named Harry
Whose talent was extraordinary
His words flowed like milk
from a tongue made of silk
And soothe the bile of the contrary
There once was a woman named Nancy
When she could't write she got antsy
So she talked to God
and he did the job
And she won the accolades fancy
Okay, on with the show! I'll post some more limericks later.
Harry read us a piece he is working on with a fellow poet. They will present it in support of a new art centre in Collingwood - date to be announced.
Nancy's article from the Globe and Mail called I Love to Drop the F-bomb has placed 6th in the Globe and Mail's most popular facts and arguments article of 2009. If you haven't read it, you can find it at www.theglobeandmail.com/life/facts-and-arguments/i-love-to-drop-the-f-bomb/article1262227/ Nancy also reminded us that it is a gift to be able to read your work aloud to others and feel like a REAL writer.
Jayne showed us an article she had published in The Presbyterian Record this month. It is called Ghana: Boogie to the Front and is about her trek to Ghana last year. It is a nice article about the people that touched and inspired her and some of their struggles. It has a few of the wonderful pictures that she took. You can check it out at www.presbyterianrecord.ca. Jayne will have another article in the next issue. The Presbyterian Record also plans to publish one of her novels - one chapter per issue. Congratulations, Jayne!
Clare also made us laugh with a story about an irate nurse with a hypodermic needle in one hand and a suppository in the other.
We also got into a discussion about Haiti which led to Ron writing a thought provoking article that we hope he will finish and submit.
Jayne brought up that she ordered a course from The Great Courses www.getgreatcourses.com. The one she is currently doing is called Building Great Sentences: Exploring the Writer's Craft. We hope she will give us the short version. Today we discussed cumulative syntax. Creating strong sentences by removing conjuctions. Simplifying your work. One of the names that came up as an example was Hemingway.
While on the topic of writers we enjoy, the name Robert B. Parker came up. I had brought a couple of his books along for Nancy to read and someone mentioned that he was dead. I checked it out when I got home and found his obituary online. Robert B. Parker died Janary 20, 2010 at his desk in his home. He died doing what he loved: writing. He was influenced by Hemingway, Faulkner, and Scott Fitzgerald.
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/books-obituaries/7038200/Robert-B-Parker.html
Also a reminder that the Brian Henry workshop has been moved from March 6 to March 13, 2010.
AND our next meeting is February 7, 2010. Richard will be leading.
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