Cleckheaton Writers Group (CWG) met on Monday night 5.30-7.00 pm at Cleckheaton Library with Barbara, Karen, Molly and Reuben in attendance, Kathy and Paul having passed on their apologies.
The minutes from the last meeting were passed and a discussion had about how to find Paul's book (search for Pervert in the Hills by J. P. Holzer) and Karen's which was released in paperback on Thursday (search Christmas Evie by Karen Naylor and it is the one with the green cover).
WIP updates: Karen has pitched Half-lands for an MG Hub event, pitched Half-lands, Digital Heroin and The Pallbearer for #PitDark, subbed her romantic suspense to Provoco Publishing and received a full MS request! Christmas Evie was published in paperback on 6 June, she attended the Authors at the Armories event in Leeds at the weekend, has made an up-to-date author profile on Amazon and has been giving her MS an editing check/read through before sending it to Provoco Publishing. Karen has also run three successful writing workshops at a local Primary School. Reuben has received some feedback on his WIP from David and noticed a couple of things that have been mentioned before when receiving feedback so he will be changing chapter 2, or lengthening it, and chapter 3. His WIP is now at 13k words (1,900 per chapter on average - between 1,500-2,300). He now has a floor plan as a layout for the building scenes and his first chapter is chronological, though he may add more on Astrid, and 4 chapters are 2 each for Justine/Vanessa. Molly has attended the Nabeela Ahmed workshop and written a poem during it. She has also finished the Beth Kempton book with prompts and has submitted 3/4 poems to a magazine. Barbara has written a short story that she brought along for the feedback session and has sorted her technology out thanks to her grandchildren. She has also worked out a formula for her Valetta story.
CW comps/workshops/events: Writer's Digest £1k Creative Writing competition, deadline 30 June (see Karen’s blog: 3 June post), Magma Poetry Pamphlet competition Magma open poetry pamphlet competition 2024 - Magma Poetry and holistic writing class for women* https://nadiacolburn.com/free-holistic-writing-class/
Ink Spill Poetry Workshop (Letters) – Friday 21st June –
7pm at the Head of Steam pub
The poetry event group Ink
Spill will be hosting another free evening of creative workshops and a
literature-specific open mic. This month’s optional theme is ‘Letters’.
Attic Stories – Wednesday 26th June – 7:45pm at Lawrence Batley Theatre
A monthly night of words, shared
spoken and sung. Back with her hosting hat on, Rose welcomes poets Aqeel Parvez
and Keith Fenton as special guests. Book your ticket via the following link: https://www.thelbt.org/what-s-on/spoken-word-and-talks/attic-stories/
Writing plans: Karen plans to give her WIP a full editing check/read through before submitting the full MS to Provoco Publishing and perhaps submit another couple of her books to other publishers/agents. Barbara will be taking her map book on her holiday to the Cotswolds as she will be without a satnav and hopes there may be a story generated from this. She will also carry on her Valetta story and has started a writers journal. Molly plans to keep putting in submissions and keep writing. She is planning a solstice poem and a possible redraft of a current poem, as well as possibly attending the next Nabeela Ahmed workshop. Reuben will be working on his PHD report and perhaps a Justine chapter.
Feedback sessions: Barbara shared No chips here, try next door which was well received. There was excellent humour and memorable characters through dialogue. She shared that it was inspired by a real town, Earthlingborough, which was featured in Kinky Boots. Members felt that the MC was a bit of a drifter and they liked the way the twist was dropped in which made you think about what came before in the story. Molly shared her poem currently entitled Moon cycle(s) which had great alliteration and a natural flow from one season to the other. Members felt it was a great and an unusual decision to start the seasons from Autumn which would make it stand out. Molly explained that there are 13 moon phases with a blue moon every 3/4 years. Molly also shared another poem she had shared before, which in feedback Dave thought wasn't finished, so she had added an extra verse. Members thought that the extra verse really added to the poem and brought it full circle.
This led to a discussion by Reuben on his WIP as he was wondering about the chronology as he had figured out the first 15 chapters and the ending for chapter 2 as it was quite abrupt and he might end up changing this. In chapter 2 he might make changes but not necessarily based on the feedback. As he has been asked by several people whether the location of the Astrid chapter tied in with where the first Mary chapter took place in the clearing in the ruin, he is pleased with this connection.
Karen then began to start sharing the beginning of her WIP but sadly, there was not enough time left before the library closed.
Writing challenge - June theme: Solstice and/or election.
Next meeting: Monday 24 June 2024 at 5.30pm, Cleckheaton Library. Karen has passed on her provisional apologies due to an early morning flight arrival.
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