Tag: rules

Away Day at the Crown Spa

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On Saturday 20th May, several circle members enjoyed a day in the company of bestselling author, Margaret Graham, who charmed us all with her warm and lively personality as she led us through the components of the common structural form of the short story, expanding this into novel writing and publishing.

The Plotline used for guiding writers was based on the Cinderella story and the structure of this enabled us to identify plot points within the writing we produced on the day, to aid us with future writing, and indeed to apply to any work in progress.

The day was full of fun and laughter, with a balanced mix of teaching and interaction. There were lots of tips for how to vary content within the plotline to make it effective and how to keep the reader interested.

It was a great experience writing as a group in a different setting other than our usual monthly 2-hour session at Scalby Library and it gave us a chance to get to know one another a little better.

Members came away feeling they had learned something valuable from Margaret and enjoyed her company to boot!

It would be good to repeat this practice, perhaps in a different venue, and we will look at the possibility of that at the AGM in November, depending on available funds.

Submitted by Julie Fairweather, Member

Photos courtesy of Ros Jones, Member

Margaret asked that her fee be donated to Motor Neurone Disease

ADDED BONUS

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Whose point of view is it, anyway?

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On 11th April, sixteen writers attended the circle’s writing craft session led by author Kate Evans. Her most recently published books are A Wake of Crows and Drowning Not Waving, the first two crime novels in what will be a series of three. The third, No Justice, is due to be published in hardback in June 2023.

Members were informed that ‘the point of view in writing is the perspective from which the story is being told’ and that ‘having a compelling point of view hooks the reader and keeps them coming back for more’.

Kate set three short writing exercises as an opener. Members were invited to write the same paragraph in 1st person (I), then 3rd person (she/he/them) and, finally, 2nd person (you). An interesting discussion ensued regarding the different effects these had on the writing, the writer and the reader.

Further guidance was offered in choosing povs for particular types of writing, depending on what the writer wanted the reader to experience. The pros and cons of each pov were elaborated on by Kate and she suggested experimenting with different povs when approaching a piece of writing.  For example, if a writer usually uses 1st person, she suggested trying it in 3rd person to gauge the best fit for the effect the writer was trying to achieve. A lively discussion ensued around this.

After the break, Kate answered numerous questions from the group about using pov and writing in general until the meeting closed with her reiterating that, in short, the choices for pov perspective are single character viewpoint; multiple viewpoint; second person singular and omniscient. She distributed a handout to remind us of the evening’s content.  

It was a buzzing session enjoyed by all.

The next session will be held on Tuesday 9th May, 7.15 pm (to approx. 9.30pm) at Scalby Library, 450 Scalby Road Scarborough, YO126EE. Dorinda Cass will take the lead on ‘Romance’. Do come along to learn more about this interesting theme. If you think you don’t write romance, you’re in for a surprise. There’s a lot more to the genre than you think!

Report submitted by Julie Fairweather, SWC Member

July at the Circle

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The July meeting of the Scarborough Writers’ Circle focused on writing craft, specifically dialogue. It was a lively discussion covering how dialogue adds pace, how it can be used to add depth to characters and how ellipses and the ‘Em dash’ can be used to increase drama and tension in a story. We concluded the evening with a demonstration of a story plotting plan and how it had been used in planning a novel.  

Our next meeting will be at Newby and Scalby Library and Information Centre on 9th August at 7:15. It will be a poetry workshop facilitated by local poet, Felix Hodcroft.  The Shirley Waite Poetry Competition will be opened and guidelines for submissions announced.  

Attendance is £4.00 for non-members – but membership is open and we very much look forward to welcoming new members and non-members alike. For more information and our year timetable browse this website.

Nikki Barker Competition

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Nikki Barker Competition
‘All in a good cause’
My intention is to encourage passion for some burning issue out there that really fires up individual members. I would like to see some background knowledge, research and campaigning.
It could take the form of
· a plan of campaign,
· an account of an achievement for the cause
· a story about a campaign, fact or fiction
· an article for the media
· or anything else you want to make of it
Please feel free to add illustrations, no more than three, and any words on these will not be included in the total word count and indicate under ‘market’ where you intend it for.
Go on, move me to tears, to signing up or, even more difficult, to putting my hand in my pocket!

1,000 words; normal competition rules apply (see website)
Entries in: 13 May 2014
Results and reading of entries: 27 May