Cleckheaton Writers Group met virtually last night with Sarah, Gemma, Karen, Sam and Neil in attendance, Daniel and Alice having passed on their apologies.
The minutes of the last meeting were agreed as a correct record.
WIP updates: Karen has written some new scenes for her romantic comedy WIP and sent the first three chapters and book plan to agent Kate Nash. Sadly this was not successful. She has also submitted her first RS MS to Avon Books and received feedback on her WIP Quantum Worlds from the NE SCBWI which she will now be using to edit. Karen has also secured a slot for the Virtual Open Days for Northern and Scottish Picture Book Writers and Illustrators with Hachette in October. Sarah has now written up to 30k words of book 3 and has had a positive response on Book 2 from an agent who wishes her to revise and resubmit. She will be making 120 amends including to the beginning, ending, backstory and the career of the MC. Sarah has also received a rejection as well as she chased up the fifteen outstanding submissions of her MS. Gemma has been watching Jericho Writers videos and making notes on these. She was intrigued by a session on voice, e.g. stutter, which she may use for a character in her WIP. Gemma has set a writing challenge for one of her other writing groups to break down the main elements of a well-known fairy tale and re-write it but keeping the mid reversal, dark night of the soul and all is lost the same but rewriting the others. Sam has planned the third chapter of his WIP and hopes to complete it at his last writing session on Thursday before going off to University next week in York. We wish Sam all the best at University and are pleased that he hopes to be able to attend the CWG virtually whilst there. Neil has added more words to his ghost story and decided he is going to add another point of view.
Feedback sessions: Sarah had shared her first chapter of Book 3 which was well received. Karen enjoyed it and felt it set up the MC well. With a great first line that hooks you in and makes you ask questions. There were a lot of 'had's' in the chapter but there were some evocative descriptions and the introduction of the Indian gambler was done subtly as he appears to be a minor character yet will be a major one later in the story. Karen felt the backstory was added to the story well and liked the humour of the ferrari water-soaking scene as it seemed like an extra punishment for making the wrong decision. The 'just asking to be mugged' line made her worry he was going to recoup the money that way but it was a weird irony that he was just judging them for their bad decisions. Nice touch that the MC gave the homeless man 50p despite his money worries and felt this was good foreshadowing for later. The ending sets up his desperation for yet more bad decisions. Sam felt the chapter was gripping from the start and left the reader with questions throughout. It was descriptive and played on emotions, feeling real and gave a good introduction to the Indian man. The cliffhanger at the end was great as it made him wonder what that last line will lead to. Intriguing. Gemma felt immediately invested in the MC and wanted to know what had led him to gamble his rent money. She liked the introspection and him struggling with his decisions. There were vivid descriptions but 'around the block' was a cliche that should be taken out. A lot of sentences started with 'he' yet she enjoyed the tension and the last line. She felt that it could do with more menance or higher stakes. Neil had not read the piece yet but would do so and email his feedback to Sarah. Despite her absence, Alice let the members know that she would do the same. Sarah then explained the new book and asked advice about titles. The group felt it might be good to play around with some gambling terms or something that made the reader think of dead bodies or organised crime.
Karen shared two scenes from her RC WIP. Sam thought there was great characterisation with realistic emotions. He felt that Karen had tagged the dialogue better so that he could follow who was speaking easier. Sam enjoyed mischievous Georgia and liked the dual POV in that the reader could see that each character was nervous but thought the other was not. He loved the humour. Sarah also enjoyed the humour, the MC putting her dates in hospital, and asked how old Eveline was. Karen said she saw her as late 20s/early 30s but that sometimes Georgia's younger way of speaking rubbed off on her. Sarah felt that the line 'the crockery sounded out his nerves' would sound better with betrayed rather than sounded out. She felt it had good characters, clean prose and she liked that it dealt sensitively with issues around gluten and dairy free. Gemma liked the humour and distinctive characters. She agreed that she had picked up on Eveleine sometimes emulating Georgia's way of speaking as she does the same and suggested that Nate just ask Eveline out simply. Sarah liked the idea of something happening that means he has to go to hospital because of Eveline and that she has to drive him there. Neil had not read the piece yet but would do so and email his feedback to Karen. Despite her absence, Alice let the members know that she would do the same.The group encouraged Karen to keep writing the RC WIP despite the rejection from Kate Nash.
Courses/comps: Gemma mentioned the virtual workshop by Elizabeth Haynes, author of Into the Darkest Corner and Myriad publishing as they have an editing service and regular competitions. The Jericho Writers virtual workshops are still available to view, as are the Budleigh Salterton Literary Festival ones. Sarah recommended Harper North for submissions.
Writing plans: Sarah will be rewriting her novel for its 5th draft. Sam will be finishing chapter three and making a start on chapter four. Gemma will be conducting more resesarch. Neil will be finishing his ghost story. Karen will be editing QW, HoA and TP, plus writing more on the RC WIP.
The next meeting will take place virtually on Monday 5 October.
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