February 14th Session - getting ready for our anthology!

Nobody can escape it – the year of the Blakenhall Writers Anthology is here! We want to take every opportunity to give our members the chance to create some really compelling content ready to submit to the anthology, so we are tailoring our sessions to the theme of our identity, and our local community.

For February’s session, we decided to respond to the group’s request for further work on character development and dialogue. We gave it a local twist by using some old photos of residents of Wolverhampton from the past. There were schoolchildren, factory workers, and even the head of the workhouse, who were just waiting for us to give them a Blakenhall makeover.

First, we did a bit of work to turn these pictures into characters.  We tried to answer some questions about the characters, including ‘what do they like to do on a Saturday?’ ‘Describe the most important person in their life’ and ‘What is it like where they live?’

This exercise meant we could really get inside the character’s head, as well as giving us some good ammunition for writing a short story. But now we had some ideas brewing, we had to give our characters a voice.

We learned that dialogue has a purpose in a story; to show the relationship between characters, to move the story on, or to build tension. It’s important that this is effective, or your work will not be believable.

We explored some dialogue techniques, including the importance of the word ‘said.’ Did you know, that if you try to use lots of different words to describe how your character is feeling, you lose the impact of the words? Using ‘said’ is a sure-fire way to maintain a neutral playing field and let the words themselves do the talking (so to speak!)

Then we tied it all together by writing a scene for a story in which the character we built in the first exercise was speaking to another character, to practice the techniques we’d just discussed. You can find some good tips here.

I hope this has given everyone a starting point for a story they might like to submit for our anthology! Try to work on your piece for next month’s meeting and bring it along for some feedback.

Don’t forget, you need to submit some work for our feedback session to the Blakenhall Writers email address by the date of our next meeting (March 14^th). Please send up to 3 poems or up to 400 words of prose that you would like some constructive comments on. We will distribute them to the whole group to review, and bring our comments in to the April session.

January 10th Session & January Writing Task - with the fabulous Roz Goddard and Poetry on Loan!

Well we truly started 2015 with a bang! We had the pleasure of welcoming former Birmingham Laureate Roz Goddard to our group to lead us in exercises on writing poetry from prompts.

We were lucky enough to welcome some new faces, as well as familiar faces from other writing groups, and our group friend Jane Seabourne - who had masterminded the session in conjunction with Poetry on Loan -  joined us too.

Roz started with a little game to introduce everyone in the room. She had laid out a variety of objects on the table, including playing cards, a mobile phone, a necklace, a shaving brush and various other items. We each had to choose an object which we connected with in some way and describe our connection with it, so we learned a little something about everyone around the table.

We first of all loosened up our writing minds with a bit of freewriting – or, ‘hotpenning’ – where the writer does a stream of consciousness exercise without considering grammar or other editing. Roz gave us the starting phrase: ‘It always happens. I can feel my heart racing…’ and we continued writing non-stop for 5 minutes.

Once we were nice and limber, Roz asked us to do a visualisation exercise. We chose an object - either from the table or another one we had thought of that we wanted to write about – and we all closed our eyes as Roz talked us through a surreal scenario where we buried the object in the ground! She promised we would pick this up again later in the session but we moved on to another exercise.

Roz had brought with her a selection of postcards which she distributed around the table for us to look at. We picked ones we were drawn to, and then answered a series of questions about the pictures, such as ‘What time of day is it in the picture?’ and ‘What is happening out of shot?’. As we brought all of these answers together, a poem started to form! We had a bit of time to work on them and read them aloud to the group. There were lots of great interpretations of the prompts, and lots of potential for some strong poems.

Then we returned to our buried items from earlier in the day. We did another visualisation where Roz talked us through returning to the place where we had buried our items a year on, to find that a tree had grown from our items! We had to imagine what a tree which had sprouted from an inanimate object would look like, and write about it. This exercise we took away with us to finish over the month and share it at February’s meeting.

These exercises really helped us to understand how we, as writers, can be inspired from everyday objects, and gave us a great kick-start to the year’s activities. It was lovely to meet Roz, who was an excellent teacher, and to reinvigorate our creative juices with some new writing exercises. Many thanks to Roz, Jane Seabourne and Poetry on Loan for enabling Blakenhall Writers to host such a useful session.

January Writing Task

If you want to join in the task this month, imagine a tree which has grown from an inanimate object, and share your thoughts with us in February! You can pick any object you like.

December 13th Session & December Writing Task

December marked our last session of the year, when we traditionally have a ‘reading session’, and discuss a book we’ve read that year. We brought in some food and had a great time talking about our reading lists. Here are the books the group brought in and our thoughts on them:

Cherry - Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

 

An ageing writer becomes obsessed with his 12-year-old stepdaughter, who he calls Lolita. This controversial book is beautifully written, although the language can be quite complex at points. It has an unreliable narrator and plot twists.

Roma - The Shock of The Fall by Nathan Filer 

A teenager called Matthew suffers from a mental illness following the loss of his brother. This award-winning novel was well-researched and the narration demonstrates Matthew’s skewed vision of the world.

Richard - The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

A man charts his life and relationships and reflects on the effects of a suicide. This Man Booker Prize-winning novel makes you want to read the story over again. It is written well and even people who don’t usually read will enjoy it.  

Kuli - The Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde

This story introduces children to important life lessons using the selfless actions of a swallow and a statue he meets on his travels. It is a poignant and emotional story which can be enjoyed by all ages.

Nirmal - Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K Rowling/ Luis Suarez biography  

The schoolboy wizard continues his adventures in the second instalment of the series, battling a giant serpent in the chamber of secrets. / An insight into Suarez’s most notorious moment on the field, and the events in his life which led up to it. A thought-provoking biography which elicits empathy.

Anne - When God was a Rabbit by Sarah Winman

The story of a young woman growing up, and the relationships she forms along the way, particularly with her brother and best friend. Award-winning and well recommended, the storyline is more ‘woven’ than linear, which adds a nice complexity to the story.

Des – Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer

Teen vampire romance novels, detailing the burgeoning relationship between a human girl and her undead lover. Recommended for lovers of romance and horror, these books are easy reading.                                                    

Michael - The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 

These well-known thrillers featuring England’s most famous detective are well-written and exciting. They created many of the standards for modern detective stories and there are many interesting tales behind the writing. They have been adapted and modernised many times, but the original stories stand the test of time despite their age.  

It was very interesting to see what people had been reading during the year, and we have a lot of new recommendations for our reading lists.

December Writing Task

We did a small exercise to take away and use for our writing task. We took a piece of paper and wrote down a potential novel title. Then we swapped pieces of paper so nobody ended up with their own. The idea is to use the novel title to inspire a poem/short piece of writing. When we reconvene, we will compare the original idea behind the title and the interpretation by the recipient.

Don’t forget that next month we will be joined by Poetry on Loan’s Roz Goddard, who will be leading our session for us on poetry! Look forward to seeing you all there!

Holocaust by Anne Ryan-Thomas

Grey surrounds me, somehow filtrating into my stomach and exiting as nausea. I am lost. I rest a minute, leaning against the nearest surface which absorbs the chaos from my head and body. I pull myself off and tackle the ground ahead which resembling corrugated iron now rewires my stomach to my feet as they ebb and flow along.

I'm alone yet walk alongside other confused and disoriented people. Most of us wander around in silence although one bedraggled looking woman shouts out for someone called Eva, maybe her daughter. No-one stops to help.

We walk mainly parallel to each other like chess pawns, imagining the multitude of ways the enemy can strike. A cylinder accidentally shoots at me as I turn a corner but misses as I retrace my last step. The man catches his intended target.

I've lost all my family in here. Dispersed. Will I find them again amongst these walls? I must do, we came here together and must leave together.

The clouds break, I see a distant haze of blue gradually getting stronger.

The pounding in my ears keeps in time with that of my heart and feet and the nausea slightly subsides. The grey remains in the form of structures which cast regular, almost regimented shadows. Light follows shadow, then light again. Patterns: I grasp their safety. Youths huddle in twos and threes, gaining their safety from togetherness. Shutting the rest of the world out: they forget where they are.

The air is suddenly still. I stop. The ground remains uneven beneath. I find a level patch and place myself firmly. I catch my breath. The sky is completely clear now, so near to feel it's breeze again yet still too far. I carry on, desperate to find the others. Hushed voices and even children's laughter echo around but none of them are theirs.

I see trees ahead; the breeze suddenly feels stronger. The shadows becoming shorter. I stop. Straight ahead I can see a gap. My hands tremble as I realise I could get out here. I need to locate my family but also need to get away from this place. I reach the gap.

I see them straight ahead, they have found this exit also. They sit on a low grey plinth eating ice cream and laughing. They have saved one for me but it has melted. I place myself back in reality: Holocaust Memorial. Berlin. August 2013.

Our member's books available on Amazon

One of our members, Michael Hill, now has some books available to download from Amazon for Kindle.

Death in a Bus Shelter is a detective mystery surrounding a young girl’s murder which explores the detective’s relationship with the murder victim.

Thoughts of a Poet is a collection of poems touching on various aspects of Michael’s life.

Check them out here and here if you want to purchase a copy.  

Nice November

For this month's session, three of our members brought some items which kick-started the group's imagination and inspired them to write poems and stories. These items were collected from India, the Philippines and the UK. They include:

~ a figurine of the Taj Mahal
~ a real peacock feather
~ a figurine of an Indian goddess
~ a booklet of Tagalog instructions of how to pray with a Rosary
~ a bottle of eucalyptus-scented oil
~ an oyster shell
~ a charm bracelet from the 1940s
~ a piece of broken pottery found in a beach
~ and some horse brasses

Our members came up with different and interesting drafts. We had a poem about a potter, a poem about letting go and moving on, an interesting piece about a man who goes to church to 'cleanse' himself, a piece about the beauty of a peacock, and many more.

We definitely had a great time writing and we hope to post some of our finished works here soon. Watch out for that! :-)

Launching kulikohli.co.uk!

Our member Kuli Kohli is riding high following the success of her debut collection, Rag Doll. This week, she has launched her website, packed full of information about her life and writing.

Kuli’s life has been full of challenge and adventure in equal measure, and her work reflects this dichotomy thoughtfully. Now there’s one central place to learn about all things Kuli!

We’re very proud to have Kuli as a regular and leading member of Blakenhall Writers, and wish her all the best in her continued success.

Why not take a peek at her website and learn more about this inspiring woman?

The lovely Kuli - picture courtesy of Kuli Kohli