Cleckheaton Writers Group, meeting 15 August 2022

Cleckheaton Writers Group (CWG) met on Monday 15 August at Cleckheaton Library with Alice, Gemma, Karen, Michelle and Kathy in attendance, Sandy, Cassie and Barbara having passed on their apologies.

Alice had brought 4 thesaurus books (The Emotion, The Conflict, The Positive Traits and The Negative Traits) to show CWG members and a kindle copy of Take off your Pants by Libbie Hawkes, another writing advice book.

The meeting started with an introduction by Alice to Michelle as they had not met previously and the minutes from the last meeting were passed.

WIP updates: In her absence, Barbara informed the members that she has been working on a new story series that she hopes to share at an upcoming meeting. Alice has been planning her upper MG and made progress with direction. She has been beta reading for 2 people and has a plan for a picture book with more energy, her soft toy comes alive. Gemma has been editing. Kathy has been working on a snapshot of the priests picking out what they did for the church in their residency and she has written a drabble (100 words). Michelle has also written a drabble and both ladies had brought them to share for feedback. Karen has taken part in the #JWPitchFestival with her romance, MG, YA and crime pitches. She has edited chapters 5 chapters of her crime novel, chapters 1-32 of her rom com and written a new opening chapter for her MG fantasy. She has also found out her SCBWI Slushpile entry is one of over 100 to be sent to the agent and today she has pitched 2 RS pitches for #PitchHound which runs until Thursday this week.

CW comps/workshops/events: @serenemaria open for YA and MG queries, , Searchlight Awards close 22 August (2 competitions – fee to enter and 29 Aug – 2 September ProWritingAid Sci-Fi week, Bloodhound Books #PitchHound 15-19 August twitter – pitch your adult novel in 100 words or less, Professional Writing Academy Set The World To Write Festival 5-9 September 2022. The whole week costs £49, or each event is £10.

Also The inaugural Patricia Eschen Prize for Poetry 2022 is open for entries. Patricia Eschen Prize for Poetry 2022 Poems can be on any subject, up to a maximum length of 40 lines. Entry is free and limited to one entry per person. First prize is a massive £1,000, second prize is £500 and third prize is £300. Closing date is Friday 30th September 2022. 

The Secret Life of Data Short Story Competition is being run by Bristol University. The website says, "this secret life of data – the traces, bits, and fragments of personal information that we leave behind us online – is the focus of this short story competition." The Secret Life of Data Short Story Competition Maximum word count is 4,000 and any style or genre is acceptable. Prizes are: 1st - £1000, 2nd - £500, 3rd - £250. The ten shortlisted stories will be published in the Secret Life of Data Anthology in both print and ebook formats plus there will be an Awards Ceremony in Bristol. Closing date 9am (BST) Monday 12th September 2022 and entry is free.

Feedback sessions: Michelle shared her drabble for the August writing challenge Holidays theme entitled 'A backpackers guide to all that can bite you and the one thing that did' which was very visual and was inspired by her travels to Australia. Because of the length, Kathy suggested entering it into the Grindstone Literary Competition as stories can be 144 words in length, explaining microfiction can be anything under 100 but some competitions are up to 250 words and flash is up to 1k words.

Kathy shared her drabble which was complete at 100 words. It was well received and Michelle commented she had also thought about writing something similar. This led to a discussion about drabbles, dribbles and anthologies and it was suggested that CWG could put together an anthology of drabbles and dribbles. Each CWG member agreed to the challenge of writing a whole years worth of drabbles and dribbles, helped by monthly themes, a selection of which would go into the anthology to be published on Amazon next year. Genres would include horror, ghost, romance, sci-fi, fantasty, crime/detective, erotica, thriller, comedy, action, adventure, thriller, fairytale, historical, speculative and visionary, to name but a few, and members discussed themes.

Writing plans: In her absence, Barbara passed on that she will be working on a new short story series. Karen will be editing and attempting a dribble or a drabble. Michelle will be working on an article to go in a magazine and will be editing her drabble. Kathy will do more work on the priests synopses and will write another, potentially rhyming, holidays drabble. Gemma will be editing and potentially write a drabble. Alice will finish planning and write a drabble.

Writing challenge: August's theme is still Holidays but the September theme will be Fall.

Because of the Bank Holiday, the next meeting will be held on Monday 5 September 2022, 5.30 - 7pm at Cleckheaton Library. New members always welcome.