Cleckheaton Writers Group (CWG) met on Monday 2 September at Cleckheaton Library with Barbara, David, Karen, Kathy, Molly and Reuben in attendance, Michelle having passed on her apologies.
The minutes from the last meeting were passed and Karen double-checked which members wished to see notes from the conference, so she can send them along.
WIP updates: Karen has edited chapters 5-48 of her WIP, applied for a table at Denby Dale Book Fair in November, pitched during #UnhingedPit garnering a like for one of her MSs and applied for several jobs. David has been concentrating on Pastures Old and made a good start. Molly has written a poem. Reuben has worked on the Vanessa chapter and sent a pdf of his chapters to a friend in India for feedback and has worked on a floor plan for two locations plus started on an Astrid chapter. Kathy has been busy working. Barbara has written two stories and brought one to share for feedback. She confirmed to members that after her previous chapter sharing, she has decided Valetta moved back into her parents house after they passed away in chapter one and has written chapter two.
CW comps/workshops/events: Chicklit and Prosecco Festival 19-22 September on Facebook, 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/ National Poetry Competition that Michelle mentioned. Submission deadline is 31 October 2024. 1st prize is £5,000, first entry costs £8, subsequent entries are £5. Any theme. Anna Chilvers writing courses (see pages 3-5) Budleigh Salterton Literary Festival 18-22 September: https://budlitfest.org.uk/, Birmingham Literature Festival 28 September - 19 October https://www.birminghamliteraturefestival.org/, Beth Kempton Summer Light (self paced) information on FB or Insta, 10 week creative writing course Bradford Libraries September 2024, Write Your Novel Course 6 weeks Shipley Library 19 September and Bradford Open Mic 4 September (see Karen's blog post on 19 August for full details)
Writing plans: Karen has four chapters to finish of her edit, then will start on her next MS request submission, followed by her other two. Barbara hopes to work on chapter two of Valetta and progress with that, plus she has half formed a plan to compile a series of short stories. Kathy will work on a flash fiction and go back to look at her Tobias MS. Reuben will be working at a conference and on his research fellowship application to Cambridge. Molly will keep trying to write/work on the story; she will type up from the beginning and see if that prompts something. David will continue tidying up his WIP and has spoken to an ex-English teacher for Changing Tastes and Done to Death stage scripts for feedback and started Pastures Old, which he had brought the first two pages of for feedback, and a poem for the August holidays theme.
Feedback sessions: Barbara shared an excellent short story entitled Ariel meets Wurzle Gummidge. Feedback was positive including the hippo noises image and the false eyelashes, the brown hair billowing out to the sea which was great foreshadowing and the sarky line about bingo being cancelled. A couple of suggestions were made as there were two 'last night's' too close together and that Ariel is the little mermaid not the princess from Frozen. Dave shared Pastures old and members felt it was autobiographical/historical in feel. The two chapters are like opposites and readers go from knowing nothing to everything. Dave explained it was set in both 1918 and 2019 and about a great grandfather who goes missing in the Somme, using first person POV and bringing in Bradford Pals Royal Field Artillery. The poem he shared for the August theme was in dialect and was reminiscent of old-fashioned holidays. Molly shared her poem about swallows which was as yet untitled. Members loved the repetition and rhyme which flowed similar to the sweep of a bird and felt the theme was about rebirth. Members suggested taking the repeated line Up Below the Eaves as the title.
A discussion took place about some television programmes and The Letter on Prime was recommended.
Writing challenge: September theme King or Earth, Wind and Fire
Next meeting: Monday 16 September 5.30-7pm at Cleckheaton Library. New members always welcome.
No comments:
Post a Comment