Meeting Notes and Prompts February 18, 2017

At the next meeting (March 5th) we will be holding a Blind Book Exchange. Each attendee should bring two books wrapped in wrapping paper, newspaper, brown paper bag, comics, whatever. Anything that makes the book unrecognizable. Both of your books should be wrapped in the same paper so you know which books are your's. You don't want to end out taking home your own books.

The purpose of this is two-fold. One, to possibly introduce each other to new writers and/or genres. Two, we would like reviews of these books to be posted on this blog.

If all goes well with this Blind Book Exchange, we will arrange another one and expand it outside the group.

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Prompts:

1. What if your pillow collected your dreams and you could plug it in too your laptop and watch them over and over again?

2. My spouse made me coffee this morning and winked at me when he/she handed me the cup. I've never before been more scared of a drink in all my life.

3. I believe there comes a time when everything just falls in line.

4. She was grateful to be living in her very own version of happily ever after.

Keep in mind the possibility of future publication when writing from prompts this year.


"There is freedom in being a writer and writing. It is fulfilling your function. I used to think freedom meant doing whatever you want. It means knowing who you are, what you are supposed to be doing on this earth, and then simply doing it." - Natalie Goldberg, Writing Down The Bones

Next Meeting with Blind Book Exchange:

Sunday, March 5th, 1:30pm, Leader: Nancy

Meeting Minutes November 27, 2011

This was our last meeting for the year since the church (and all of us) will be busy with Christmas for the next month.
Our leader today was Nancy.
We also celebrated Ron's upcoming 80th birthday on Dec 10. We sang Happy Birthday and ate chocolate cake for such a momentous occasion!!!  Happy Birthday, Ron!

Business:

A reminder about the Christmas luncheon on Dec 11 at Noon at Kelsey's Restaurant.
Members will be responsible for paying for their own meals and we hope for a great turn out! Please contact Patricia if you haven't responded yet.

Marilyn asked about the Artist's Way group that had been discussed on Oct 16 & 30th. While the group did respond about where and when we meet, we have met each Friday since Nov 11 and will be closed to new members due to the nature of the discussions. In case you haven't read the book, the discussions are very personal and follow the exercises laid out by Julia Cameron. A certain degree of trust and discretion have already been established in those three weeks that would be disrupted by newcomers.  If there is demand, a new workshop may run in the spring.

Ron reminded us about the group he's been involved with Women Writing for a Change. He will send further information.

Diane announced an upcoming show put on by students at ODSS on Dec 15 and 16 at 7pm called "Deadline" about "budding writer, Alex Wilcox, as he struggles to meet an ultimatum set by his father to become published within three weeks." Tickets are available at the door at a cost of $8 per adult and $6 per senior/student.
Sounds like a great event to support an amazing school and fellow artists!

Readings:

Joe got a lot out of Marilyn's premise exercise from last meeting and wrote a premise for his book. He did a great job of it.

Marilyn wrote "The Art of Writing" which stated that "even if it only pleases you, it is good writing." She will post it to the blog for all of us.

Nancy read "Reflections from The Artist's Way" and asked "why do we compare our art with seasoned artists?" and "why can we always hear the negative, but put aside the positive."

Clare passed around pictures about an article he has coming out in the spring issue of Sideroads. The article is about Birds of Prey and he had some amazing photos of a bald eagle and falcon he had the opportunity to meet. There were also pictures of a tree in his yard that he had cut to a stump that was 5 feet tall. He plans to carve it and has already made a dent in it - so to speak.

Shirley is having hip surgery Nov 28th. We all wish her well and hope she has a speedy recovery.

Prompts:

Nancy's writing prompts for this week were plays on movie or book titles:

1) A Few Bad Men (A Few Good Men)
2) Alive Again (Dead Again)
3) The World According to _____________ (my mother, my sister, me, my husband, etc.)
4) It's a Crappy Life (It's a Wonderful Life)
5) Murder in the Writing Group (Murder in Hum Harbour by our own Jayne Self!)

OR let's start at the beginning when I took my first writing workshop with the late Ed Wildman (we base our format on his workshops that he learned from Natalie Goldberg):
1) What I don't remember is....
2) What I remember is....
or 3) The last thing I remember is....

Marilyn made up new titles and premises to books and movies.
Sonja wrote "Lord of the Fries", an interview with Ronald McDonald.
Danielle told us about "The World According to my Daughter."
Trina read the beginning of a good mystery called "The Potato Chip Girl."
Kelli used the prompts "What I remember is..."
Jayne wrote "It's hard to put into words what I don't remember because I can't remember." To which Patricia told us that'd she'd posted a message "How do you know you're not seeing it if you're not seeing it?" Anyone confused yet?
Judy wrote "Murder in the Writing Group."
Patricia did some personal writing based on her learnings in The Artist's Way and used the prompt "It's a Crappy Life."
Nancy wrote "In another life, I'd be queen of the whole world." She also read a poem by the late Janet Bellinger called "In Another Life."
I read my piece called "The World According to Brady" which is part of another novel called "The Bakery Lady."
Ron wrote "It's a Wonderful Crappy Life" and thanked us all for the cake and well wishes. He was very touched by it all.
Clare made a play on "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" and came up with "The Good, The Stupid and The Sexy." He also made us all laugh!
Joe didn't use any of the prompts, but made a commentary about the Internet.

As they say in showbiz, Th-th-th-that's all Folks! See you all in 2012!
We'll be back for our next meeting on January 8th, 2012.
Diane will be leading and will gladly hand over the reins to anyone else who would like to take meeting minutes for the next year!!!


Merry Christmas, everyone!


Diane

Another Assignment for Those with Nothing Better to do . . .

I was reading Nathan Bransford's site earlier and he posted a question to his readers.
Which book do you with you had written?

For me, that's an easy answer: Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones, which is the book we use in the HWG as our blueprint for writing. Not to say that we follow it to the letter, but we recommend it to EVERYONE! I've actually had my copy since 1993. It was a Christmas gift from my brother-in-law and his then wife. I cherish it, dog-ears and all.

In years since, I've read most of Ms. Goldberg's books. I've also been fascinated by New Mexico, where she teaches, and in true Goldberg fashion have been known to walk in the rain just to record all the sensations of raindrops falling down my face and soaking my clothes.

So, fellow writers, I throw down the gauntlet. Which book do you wish you had written?

Meeting Minutes March 7, 2010

I'm posting this a little later than usual. I was abducted by a friend this morning and taken on a road trip. Aside from that, I've been busy writing and submitting. No good news yet, but there are 5 more agents who've heard my name. LOL.


We had a large crowd on Sunday and most of them brought things to read, which was fabulous! This means we're all writing! We spent a lot of the meeting reading, except Richard who said that he slammed his head in a door and thought he had an epiphany, but discovered it was really a concussion. Let's hope it jarred something and you put the pen to paper again. We're anxiously awaiting Book 3.


Nancy reminded everyone to register for the Brian Henry workshop on March 13 if we haven't already done so. You can contact Brian via his link on the side of our webpage.


We also decided to make a donation of $100 to the church twice a year. Possibly at the end of April and the end of Oct/Nov.


Nancy got Diane (a.k.a. me) to read a couple paragraphs from Natalie Goldberg's Old Friend from Far Away. There had been some questions in the group as to what was best to write with so we think we have that question answered: (I hope!)

Begin to work those muscles. Just like you'd go to the gym every day, or at least three or four times a week, pick up the pen and to these ten-minute exercises. Choose a cheap notebook, in which you are not afraid to make mistakes. Use a fast pen. Try out different ones. Find what suits you. The mind is faster than the hand. Don't slow the hand down more wiht a ballpoint or a pencil. Cover both sides of the page.

But I like a pencil, you say.

Then use it.

What about a computer?

Use that if you like. Only know that handwriting and pressing the keys with your fingers are two different physical activities and a slightly different slant of mind comes out from each one. Not better or worse, just different.

But remember: there are no excuses not to write. You can't say, but I'm in the woods and don't have my computer with me. Learn to be comfortable with the most simple tools. What if you can't afford to pay your electric bill? You should still be able to write.

Often people who use a computer at work prefer handwriting for memoir to create a boundary between their professional and personal writing. Many writers I know do handwritten first drafts. Then they take it to the keyboard.

We all initially learn to handwrite. Arm connected to shoulder, chest, heart. Come back to the beginning. But maybe that's not true anymore. You might be part of the generation that used a computer as your first way to begin to write. If that's so, then use what you know naturally.

We introduced ourselves to Caitlin, a friend of Jayne's who joined us today. She submitted her novel to Humber School for writers, but the teacher doesn't read her genre which is gothic/horror.

Clare announced that his cross to bear is Nancy. The sunny day, and spring fever, made us all a bit crazy.

Judy read "The Bank of Paper Bag" which she had published and showed us at the last meeting.

Harry reminded us that April is National Poetry Month. His group in Owen Sound will be doing poetry readings at the Grey Roots Museum on April 24. Their theme is: Climate Change and Ecology.

Pat read a story called "Retribution" about a lucid dream she had.

June read from an old story she dusted off. Something she wrote years ago.

Richard wondered if there are contests to submit novel manuscripts. If anyone hears of any please pass the information on or post it on the blog.

Alex read a piece about how we are all becoming bland like "Kraft Dinner." We need to be free and "all used up at the end of our lives. To live and be alive.

Clare talked about his Meanderings column and how it was cut from 900 words to 500 or so. It was about the Creole pig in Haiti. That led to a discussion about censorship in writing and art. We talked about Gary Larsen's unpublished cartoons.

Sonja read part of her novel that we are all looking forward to reading someday.

Anita read a wonderful poem by a young friend of hers named Josh. I am adding it to our blog with his permission:

The Colour Red

Red sounds like a Canadian flag waving in the wind.

When red is bright, it's as smooth as silk, but when it's dark, it bursts with anger.

Red tastes like a sweet strawberry that you should savour in your mouth.

Red smells like a young rose on a bright sunny day.

At any time, red can be contained in a heart to symbolize love.

by Josh W. (Age 10)

What a wonderful poem, thank you for sharing that with us Josh and Anita.

THANK YOU to Dorothy as well for the decadent, scruptious, dripping with sugar squares that we all made disappear in record time! WE LOVE YOU AND YOUR TREATS!

We also discussed a group anthology. We began to write one a couple years ago before Len's death and decided this might be a great time to work on it again since we have a whole new group to include. Gloria Nye has offered to edit and put it together for us. We won't have a real theme and every author will maintain full rights to their work (plus get a publishing credit!)

Glenn has moved to Alberta for a few months and won't be with us for a while. If anyone wants to keep in touch, contact Nancy or Diane for mailing information. Nancy will send him our meeting minutes and updates on a regular basis (as regularly as I get them on the blog anyway!) so you can sent notes or whatever via Nancy's mailout.

In closing, Nancy asked if I can post her prompts from this meeting as well. Most of these are very basic prompts from Natalie Goldberg and always good for getting your pen moving when you slam your head in a door and your concussion needs inspiration (right Richard?)

1) What I don't remember is...

2) There are eight good reasons for men to lie.

3) When I die, I'll miss...

4) How poor were you?

Poetry or whatever flows:

Metaphors for a poem: a pitcher of bitterness, a taste of sacrifice, a house of delight, a course of sorrow, a spoonful of delight, a knot of hate. Courtesy of: http://www.creativewritingprompts.com/#

Thanks for the giggles.

See you all at the next meeting March 21, 2010 Clare will be leading.

READING ALOUD

”It’s important to read aloud what you write. In writing groups, I ask
people to write and then immediately afterward, ask them to read.
It is apart of the writing process, like bending down to touch your toes
and then standing up again. Write. read, write, read.

If you don’t read aloud, the writing tends to fester like an infected
wound in your notebook.”

Natalie Goldberg – Wild Mind

On October 25, 2001, the late Ed Wildman read the whole chapter of Reading Aloud at the first workshop I attended. I knew without a doubt that I’d have to read my raw writing. I’d been writing for five years and I’d only shared my writing a couple of times to my dream group, (that’s where I met Gloria).

Ed utilized writing practice that he learned from Natalie Goldberg when he took a workshop with her in Taos, New Mexico. He advised that if you used this method of writing practice, you’d never experience writer’s block again.

Check out the writing practice on our website: http://www.owg.netfirms.com/

He started with the prompt, what I don’t remember is . . .

When I wrote what I don’t remember in my journal, I held on to the pen so tight that my fingers started to cramp. Oh God, please don’t take me there. A memory from my troubled family home had surfaced. I fought it. I wrote out what I don’t remember is . . . at least five times.

For the last five years, I’d been writing morning pages (The Artist Way by Julia Cameron) and I’d become accustomed to going where the pen took me. I knew if I didn’t go with “flow” that I’d experience writer’s block. So I wrote the dreaded memory.

I’d listened to the others read their writing. Most of it contained phrases like what I don’t remember is what I went upstairs for …”

“Nancy,” Ed said. “Would you like to read your piece?”

My voice shook. “I didn’t what to write what I wrote because I knew that I’d have to read it. But I went where the pen took me.”

To be continued …

Writing Prompts

Don't get all excited now, I'm not putting in a list of actual writing prompts.
Someone asked me the other day where to get some good prompts from. Just thinking off the top of my head, I told him try using song lyrics (okay, so I write song lyrics). Then I started to think of the various ways people in our group do come up with ideas for prompts.

There are various books available that will give you some great ones. Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones has several ideas. You can get ideas from:

lines from songs

sentences from books and magazines

quotations

use weird words from the dictionary

photographs or pictures from magazines

newspaper headlines

phrases you overhear in the coffee shop

things your kids have said or done

In short, life is one big prompt. Ideas for prompts should be simple so the writer can feel free to run with whatever crosses their minds and not feel restricted.

There is always something to write about.

Contests, Classes and Calls for Submissions!

Contests!

Act quickly or this one will be gone: Grand prize is a free Sony Reader Pocket Edition, and second prize is an evaluation of 20 pages of your work by Rachelle Gardner, Literary Agent. Check out the Words that Move Me contest on Rachelle's blog, Rants & Ramblings on Life as a Literary Agent. Contest Deadline: Friday, December 11, 2009.

Freelance Switch brings you this list of Holiday Giveaways, Freebies and More! Included are seasonal drawings and files and $7000 worth of giveaways from AppStorm.

Found on the Practicing Writing blog, the First Annual Spirit First Meditation Poetry Contest. Poetry submissions may be of any length and any style but must have a theme of meditation, mindfulness, stillness, or silence. First prize is $150. Contest deadline: January 31, 2010.

Do not forget to check out the Creative Writing Contests blog for lots more contests to enter.

Calls for Submissions!

Dream of Things is accepting essays on a variety of projects. Themes include holidays, awe-inspiring travel stories and role models. They will consider previously published essays, especially if they've never appeared in an anthology.

Classes!

Linda Formichelli from The Renegade Writer offers a free writing teleclass every month. This month, the class will take place on Tuesday December 15th from 8:30pm - 9:30pm ET. The topic is Secrets to Essays that Sell with Amy Paturel.

Breadloaf Writers' Conference readings and lectures are available for free! on iTunes. If you don't have iTunes on your computer, you can download that (for free!) too. Thanks again to Erika at Practicing Writing for sharing this.

Not really a class, but still a learning tool: About Freelance Writing shares this video about writing by Natalie Goldberg.