Ely Writers meeting 13, April 2023: review

This meeting marks our first anniversary since we recommenced our meetings after renewed interest in the Ely Writers Facebook group.

Thank you to everyone who has come to at least one of our meetings: without you, there’d be no group. I’m truly grateful to you all, especially those of you who keep coming back. You make it worthwhile, and you gladden my heart.

Free writing

This month, I took out my ever-popular bag of goodies to prompt our free-writing session. At least one of our members has found that what they wrote as a result of the object they chose useful in their current work. Feedback like this fills me with great pleasure.

Alas, I chose the character who is still languishing in his world of misery. The very last sentence I wrote before the given five minutes were up perhaps suggest a way out. I can always hope.

Workshop

We celebrated our first anniversary in the only way we, as writers, know how: by looking at how to write celebrations, parties and festivals.

We worked through Eva Deverell’s advice [1] for writing about these types of events, starting with why a celebration or party might be held. Coming up in the UK calendar in the next weeks and months are such events as Easter, Passover and the coronation of King Charles III.

Next, we looked at what the writer can use a party for, such as bringing characters who don’t usually meet to mingle and exchange information that might have otherwise been difficult to make known to the protagonist/reader.

Finally, we looked at questions to ask ourselves about the event, such as who was there and who wasn’t there – what does this tell us about the relationships between the characters?

Once we’d all digested this information, we each had a scribble chat with one of our characters about the last event they’d been to.

Most of us found this helpful – most of us are familiar with scribble chats by now – but there was a new face who struggled with the concept. Perhaps his journalistic writing doesn’t work with scribble chats or – more likely – I didn’t explain it well enough and began with more complicated concepts than I should have for people new to scribble chats. I’ve learned a lesson there.

I also learned two things about the baddie of my story:

  1. He’s got a thing for his boss’s secretary, who he objectivises. I’m not sure how I’m going to get this out of him because he’s not a point-of-view character, but it’s something to think about.
  2. He’s jealous of an American rival, who is also keen on the secretary.

If I were the secretary, I’d keep them both at arm’s length.

Any other business

A Facebook group doesn’t necessarily encourage chat amongst its members, so, now that Meta has added the ability, I’ve created a couple of chats in Messenger that we can use.

One is to arrange writing meet-ups, whereby we sit and write together in a café or other such public place. Another is to contact admin privately. I plan to create one for off-topic conversation.

The group rules still apply in all the chats, except the one about staying on-topic in the off-topic chat. I hope that makes sense!

Next meeting

In a temporary change of schedule, our next meeting is not on the first Wednesday of May, but the second (10 May 2023).

References

  1. https://www.eadeverell.com/celebrations/