If possible, I’d like to bring the next writing group meeting forward one week so it will be held at 7pm, Tuesday, 2 September (I’m home alone with children on the second Tuesday). It’s going to be at my place, which is:
64 Cook Rd
Centennial Park NSW 2021
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=64+Cook+Rd,+Centennial+Park,+NSW+2021&sll=-33.867139,151.207114&sspn=0.031679,0.052743&ie=UTF8&z=17&iwloc=addr
Homework for the last meeting (apart from the usual of adding stories, comments to the website) is to check out http://www.musik-therapie.at/PederHill/Structure&Plot.htm and either write a story that follows the 3-Act story arc or analyse a previous story and see how it follows the 3-Act story structure.
There’s a bit of parking near my house (we’ve got a spare parking spot behind so first dibs to that one).
Hope to see you all there – if you have any issues please give me a call on the mobile 0424 622 534.
Just a reminder of tomorrow's meeting at 29 Ivy Street, Darlington from 7 onwards. I probably won't be there till 7.30 though.
Rather than putting up homework I thought (if people are interested) we could discuss plot.
Check out http://www.musik-therapie.at/PederHill/Structure&Plot.htm for an interesting discussion of plot.
And consider the thesis that there are only a limited number of plots (overcoming the monster, rags to riches, the quest, voyage and return, comedy, tragedy and rebirth for example are considered the seven basic plots by author Christopher Booker). Do you agree?
Well, we had our first proper writer's meeting last night at Peter's house (a jewel in the depths of Darlington) and had our appetites whetted with the beginnings of three stories, "The Pay Back"; "The House of Mirrors" and "The Bottle". All writers have committed to expanding these tales for the next meeting.
The exercises are a great way of getting pen to paper (or words to screen or chisel to tablet if that's your thing) but remember that this group is about getting YOUR stories out to an audience (even if it's as small as our meeting and this forum - although I expect that we all have greater ambitions) so don't feel too restricted by them. I do think that Kate's suggestion of writing naked should be tried by all though.
I encourage everyone to get some comments up on the site as this is very encouraging for new writers and also, as always, keep writing.
As discussed last meeting we plan on having the meetings on the 2nd Tuesday of each month so next time will be on 12 August (we'll be at the same location next time (29 Ivy St) but can try another venue for future meetings).
Looking forward to seeing you next month.
Sax
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"the writer is delegated to declare and to celebrate man's proven capacity for greatness of heart and spirit—for gallantry in defeat, for courage, compassion and love. In the endless war against weakness and despair, these are the bright rally flags of hope and of emulation. I hold that a writer who does not believe in the perfectibility of man has no dedication nor any membership in literature."
That Tremendous Genius ...
Excercises for the next meeting.
Hi all, I won't be able to make the Tuesday 8 meeting because I have work committments but both PJ and Sax will be there.
I have prepared some homework however, with excercises that people can work on.
Great work from Peter this month with three stories posted - keep it up!
1. Visit a nearby cemetery. Sit down besides the most unusual tombstone you can find and write about the person lying beneath you
2. Chronicle the longest amount of time you've ever gone without sleeping
3. Write about an incident that could be used against you if you ever ran for political office.
4. According to the Florida Department of Corrections, more than 100 people have registered to a waiting list to see an execution. Write about one of these people
Writing tip - write naked
When you sit down to write every day, what are you wearing? Corporations have found that dress codes have a direct result on the attitudes and productivity of their employees (hence casual Fridays). If clothing can affect major companies, you can bet that it's affecting your writing. James Michener liked to dress in baggy Bermuda shorts, oversized t-shirts and floppy sandals. He once observed: "I have grown to feel wonderfully at ease in that uniform; it restricts me at no point and leaves my arms and hands free to move easily." Sue Grafton on the other hand arrives at her desk in a freshly-pressed business suit. ("I don't work in my jammies," she told one reporter. "This is a professional job.") The French novelist Victor Hugo fell somewhere between these two - he often wrote in the nude.
Next time you sit down to write, alter your typical routine and try dressing down up - a la Sue Grafton - or dressing down, like James Michener. And if your home is warm enough Victor Hugo's style my prove to be inspirational!
A good start I thought to the new writing group and thanks to everyone that attended.
Follow on business:
The next meeting is on 8 July at Peter's house
29 Ivy Street, Darlington
We agreed that the meetings would be the second Tuesday of every month so if you could put that in your diaries that would be great
Kate sent out the writing exercises t'other day and we've all committed to writing s'thing and putting it up on the website - great start so let's keep it up.
Due to the machinations of PJ and Kate it has been decided that we will be reviving the Writer's Island.
The first meeting will be occurring at:
7:30pm, Tuesday, 23 June 2008
The Pacific Penthouse @ The AB Hotel, 225 Glebe Point Road, Glebe
<< The Penthouse will be reserved for us this Tuesday, it's upstairs at the AB >>
We're hoping to follow a similar format to years gone by with budding writers reading samples of their work for general critiquing and various homework assignments to get our arses into gear.
We also recommend that you upload your work to the website for online commentary (hoping that PJ can keep the SPAM in check this time round).
The idea is to get writing regularly and we do ask people to commit to putting work up on the site. As one writing teacher said to me - what do writers do? They write!
For further info please call Kate (0405 766 434) or myself (0424 622 534).
We've got some fresh blood who'll be attending but hoping that anyone who is still on the distribution list will take the opportunity to reunite (and reignite the writing fires).
I'm aware we haven't had a meeting for some time, so I'm suggesting that we put Thursday 6th October in our diaries as the next potential meet. Let me know if you have a particular problem with that date.
We'll be meeting at The Tripod Cafe in Redfern, which is 262 Abercrombie Road. Come out of Redfern station, turn left, walk to the lights and turn left again, the cafe is about 50 yards up on your left.
I'll send a reminder out closer to the time. To spur everyone on, I've posted up my second chapter of 'Clay', and I'll expect to see a few more postings in the next few weeks!
Thanks to everyone who came round for lunch on Sunday - a very successful meeting with a few old and new faces - just the way it should be!
Mark brought us a darkly comic office saga in the form of play which meant everyone could participate in reading it. Hopefully Mark is going to post another version of it up prior to the next meeting.
We also discussed the first chapter of my work - thanks very much for the feedback everyone, it's encouraged me to finish the second chapter and I'll be posting that up soon.
As we all know Sax is off to pastures new and in the next meeting will be held at Tripod Cafe in Redfern - I'm going to talk to the owner and will give everyone at least four weeks notice of the next meeting. I was thinking of a Thursday after work, but if Thursday doesn't work for certain people then please let me know.
We also discussed people being more active at posting stories and how it was a good idea to put work that was only at the half-way stage up on the site to get some feedback when you are at the stage. There's a feeling that people only want to put stuff up when they feel it's finished and that means we don't have as much stuff to discuss as we would like.
I'm going to send out gentle reminders two weeks before the next meeting to try and get as many LostSheep writers as possible to post a piece of work up prior to meetings.
just a reminder that a literary lunch is on the cards for this Saturday - I've always wanted to host a literary lunch!
A couple of things on the agenda:
I intend to post a three-chapter first draft of a story up in the next few days for discussion - if you have anything up to discuss then please post it in the next few days
A new venue for the writing group. I have found a new central and neutral venue for the writing group in Redfern in a room above a cafe - let's discuss if that works for people at the lunch
Getting more active. I'd like people to commit to putting stuff up on the website
Address is flat 1, 182 Arden Street (near the Palace) arrive for 2am to have a late lunch.
If people could let me know if they are coming that would help PJ with numbers as he's making lunch
As most of you know, Sax is off next month to the wilds of Canada and we thought as a goodbye for the next meeting we could have a lunch chez Kate and PJ one weekend in July to say cheerio, read some new work that will be going up on the website and also talk about a new meeting place.
I suggest we meet at our place on Sunday afternoon on 17 July - we live at flat 1, 182 Arden Street, Coogee - and we can make it a late lunch, say around 2pm?
Please let me know if this date doesn't work for you and if enough people can't make it then we can shift the date.
I'm hoping to post something new on the site in the next two weeks so hopefully that will encourage others among us to get some work up there before the next meeting!
Very successful meeting last night with readings of Mark's murder-mystery 'Rest In Peace' (http://www.lostsheep.com/writing/stories/31555rest_in_peace.doc) and Kate's Great Gatsby inspired take on power struggle relationships amongst the rich and idle in 'The Afternoon Party' (http://www.lostsheep.com/writing/stories/13362The_Afternoon_Party.doc). A fair turnout was enhanced by the presence of my favourite writing teacher, the elusive Carol Major, who also brought along a new recruit, Tony (who didn't seem too fazed by us, which is always a positive).
Forgot to issue homework last night, and it is that you post your comments to the site (I would also encourage anyone who wasn't present last night to read the stories and give your comments as well). The more active the site is the better.
As some of you know I'm relocating to Canada at the end of July but I'll be keeping up with the group through the LostSheep website.
I'm hoping to have another meeting some time in July but it doesn't have to be on a Wednesday night. PJ and Kate have offered to host the next one (they are at Coogee) if required. If there's any other central location that we can use let me know and can people please give me their preferences as to what is the best day for them and we'll work around the consensus.
2005 Writer's Group Meeting - #2!
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Dear All
The next writing group meeting will be held on Wednesday, 11 May 2005 at:
The Garret
Level 2, 168 Bridge Road
Glebe NSW 2037
I'm thinking a half six to seven o'clock start.
We will be discussing Kate's new masterwork, title unknown, that concerns itself with the dynamics of human relationships. If anyone else has something ready for discussion please upload to the site.
For the next meeting can I ask that everyone brings their own copies?
See you then.
Sax
Welcome and thanks to Fran and Emma who brought themselves and their stories to The Garrett last night. I think it was a pretty successful start to the year but we can always have more people.
The next meeting will be held in 6-8 weeks (probably at The Garrett again) again so we hope to see a few of the regulars. There were a few who sent me mails explaining that Thursday is not the most convenient day for them so perhaps we can reschedule to something better for everybody. Let me know via saxifrage2020@gmail.com what your preferred day is and we can try to accommodate the most people.
Also, PJ has promised to upgrade the news page so that attachments can be added to the site.
In order to get the website a bit more active the attendees last night agreed to post their comments and analysis from yesterday's stories up on the site so all and sundry can get a bit of an idea of what was discussed at the meeting (the idea of minutes for a creative meeting is probably a bit OTT).
For future meetings I'll announce the stories that we'll go over (probably no more than two) and I'm going to ask for everybody to bring their own copies.
2005 Writer's Group Meeting
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Hi Everyone
It's been a while since we've had a writing group meeting and I've been hassled by certain members to organise another one.
My suggestion is Thursday, 17 February 2005. If anyone would like to suggest another date I'll be happy to accommodate.
Once again, I'll can host the event but if anyone else would like to take it on I'm happy to let them.
My address is:
The Garret
Level 2, 168 Bridge Rd
Glebe NSW 2037
I'm very close to Glebe Point Road but I think most of you have been there before anyway. If anyone needs help finding the place you can get me on 0413 764 342.
Please submit your stories to the website prior to meeting so we can be prepared for the discussion. If anyone needs any assistance with doing this you can contact me or PJ for help.
Look forward to seeing you all next month.
Best regards
Sax
The Good Reading magazine editor has kindly delivered us some new release literature for reviews.
The books are as follows:
Nicholas Angel Drown Them In The Sea
Todd McEwen Who Sleeps With Katz
Andrew O’Haglan (Editor) The Weekenders – Adventures in Calcutta
Dave Hill Man Alive
Jillian Watkinson The Hanging Tree
Sid Smith A House By The River
Patricia Duncker Seven Tales of Sex and Death
Maile Meloy Liars and Saints
Craig Silvey Rhubarb
The reviews should be approximately 220 words (so it’s not going to be too taxing on our time) and the rating system used is:
* Disappointing
** Worth a read
*** A good read
**** Highly recommended
***** Outstanding, an exceptional read
I’ve told Mark that he’ll get first choice as he was the first of us to get a submission accepted but let me know which one you’d like to read/review and I can either post it out to you or you can pick it up at our next meeting (currently scheduled for 14 October).
Saw this link and thought the group may find it of interest. People were asked to write a very short story - 70 words or fewer, all with the title 1974.
Hi everyone
I've had a couple of requests to reschedule the next meeting.
Hope it's okay with everyone to make it the week afterwards, Thursday 14 October 2004, at the same time of 19:00.
Also, I'm as guilty as all of you but I strongly recommend that some of us use this extra week to submit a book review to 'Good Reading'. My boss (married to the publisher) told me that nobody from our group has submitted anything yet. He has volunteered to provide a prize of some sort (I'm just guessing here but I think it will be a book) to the first one published so get on it.
Also, we're still on a drive for increasing memberships so bring along your friends, relatives or heck, do what Kate did and bring along some stranger you met on the bus!
Regards
Sax
Hi all
We had a very successful meeting last Thursday with Kate driving the growth of our group by bringing along Carrie (who brought some needed diversity to our group).
Kate's dialogue driven saga of mother-daughter relationships in the Scottish isles gave us something to ponder the Scottish accents produced on the night certainly would have made Kate pine for the old country.
Assigned homework was to submit one of your stories to the 2SER writing competition. Unfortunately, the due date was yesterday (15/08/04) so I hope you were more diligent than me. Another little assignment to develop writing skills is to submit a short review to the 'Good Reading' magazine. You can submit straight to the editor at editor@goodreadingmagazine.com.au.
I would suggest we have another meeting shortly in a few months (7 October 2007 if it's cool with enough people).
Once again, I'm happy to host at:
2/168 Bridge Rd
Glebe NSW 2037
New stories up on the site are some revised versions of Roger's 'Ned' and 'Winning In Turn' and PJ's short film script, 'Ruff Night'. I have a few WIPs and hopefully should have something up on the site before the next meeting.
I'll post a reminder closer to the date.
Happy writing everyone.
Regards
Sax
Hello Everyone
It’s been far too long between meetings. My social schedule has been thrown out by work commitments and whilst they’re not completely under control I believe that a writing group meeting
Unfortunately, I have relocated from my old address at Chippendale due to the rather baffling insistence of my former landlords. However, I’m still in the neighbourhood, having moved to:
2/168 Bridge Road (up the spiral stairs)
Glebe NSW 2037
This is near the corner of Glebe Point Road and Bridge Road. I still think I’m probably the most centrally located member but if anyone else would like to host the meeting I’d be very happy to oblige.
I’m proposing to schedule the meeting on 12 August 2004 at 19:00 and the piece of work we’ll be reviewing is Kate’s play, Island Girls.
Can you please RSVP to me via phone (0413 764 342) or email (Sax.Čučvara@optus.com.au) as I’ve lost most of your emails during my transition to a new job.
Best regards
Sax
1. News & Announcements now go to everyone as well as the News Page.
2. Everyone is automatically informed if a new story is uploaded.
3. If a comment is made on one of your stories, you will automatically be emailed a copy of it.
I have been very busy with work commitments for the past few months therefore have not been able to organise a meeting. I hope some of us have been able to work on their stories (it appears that Mark is taking over the website his ozlit).
I'm thinking 15 April 2004 at 18:30 would be a good date to start. It's far away enough in the future for people to be able to plan for it and not too far that it will be forgotten.
Unless anyone else would like to volunteer to host the meeting I'm very happy to have it at my house again. I'm probably the most central for most people so if you guys are willing to brave the badlands of Chippendale we can tentatively site the meeting at:
10/38 Dangar Place
Chippendale NSW 2008
The plan for the meeting will be to discuss Mark's latest story(ies). Although we will probably go through them on the night it would be advisable to read them beforehand.
Also, if anyone wants their own stories to be reviewed please put them up on the site. And, once again, there is an open invitation for anyone else who's interested in writing to come along. Some of us have been doing other courses so it would be great if you could mention it to them.
There's not been a writing meeting for a while now.
We've decided to schedule one for Thursday, 13 November 2003 at seven o'clock at:
10/38 Dangar Place
Chippendale NSW 2008
Items of discussion will be:
- Results of Roger's writing competition
- Any new stories for submission (there haven't been any new ones up on the site for a while - I'm suffering from a block at the moment but will endeavour to have something up there by the next meeting)
I look forward to seeing you in a couple of Thursdays. Remember, you can invite others outside of our group.
Haven't had a meeting for a while now. We've been a bit lapse on the meeting front for a while but there is another one scheduled for Thursday, 7 August 2003 at seven o'clock at:
10/38 Dangar Place
Chippendale NSW 2008
Items of discussion will be:
- Madeleine's story 'Bound'
- Short stories for HQ Magazine competition
- Stories for schools comp
Last week we discussed Chifley's new story (which I'm not sure has been uploaded yet) and saw Mark's award-winning short film.
I look forward to seeing you in a couple of Thursdays. Remember, you can invite others outside of our group.
Best regards
Sax
PS - Not that I want the group to descend into a film group but some of you may be interested in seeing PJ's ShootOut guerilla music video that was in the top 10 of the competition and won the best music category. The film is on the LostSheep website here:
http://www.lostsheep.com/film/bagofcocaine.rm
Notes from the meeting last week. These are the new projects to be undertaken in preparation for next month's meeting;
1. HQ Magazine Short Story Competition
Deadline: Friday, 29 August 2003
Eligibility: Anyone who has not had a novel published
Story Length: Less than 3,500 words
Form: Typed, double-spaced A4
Prizes: $3,000, Five runners-up receive $100 worth of literature, Shortlist eligible for Varuna Fellowship
At the next meeting we will review the short stories written by group members and offer constructive criticism.
2. School Short Story Writing Competition
Roger's company sponsored a short story writing competition with two categories (Years 10 to 11 and Years 7 to 9) with the rules that the story had to be less than 1,000 words and it would start with "
'She (or he) felt a cold draught as the door slammed behind her (or him)......... "
The stories have been submitted (there are about a dozen or so) to Roger and we plan for them to be judged by our group at the next meeting (or perhaps the subsequent, pending on the time we have).
Writing Group Meeting - Thursday, 12/06/03
I know it's late notice to be putting this message up here but most of you will have already been notified by email.
Meeting is at 18:30 at:
10/38 Dangar Place
Chippendale NSW 2008
