Sunday 23 May 2010

GREENACRE WRITING AFTERNOON 17th July 2010 2-5pm

The Greenacre Writers invite you to a Creative Writer’s Afternoon:

POINT OF VIEW
Saturday 17th July
2.00pm - 5.00pm
Finchley,
London N12

Choices have to be made about the narrator of a story, learn how to use various points of view clearly and confidently. The aim of the afternoon is to meet with fellow creative writers, to work on creative writing exercises, share your work to receive supportive criticism and ideas in a friendly and stimulating environment.

Writing exercise 1 - Fairy Stories: Re-writing in First Person
Writing exercise 2 - I Am The Walrus (or indeed anything else)
Refreshments.
Writing exercise 3 - Three in One: All different points of view

Comments from the writing afternoon:

'I found this session instructive and entertaining.'

'Most enjoyable, thank you.'



Monday 10 May 2010

Our First Birthday!


Finish That Novel is now over a year old with the original 4 members joined by another 5. Two members have left owing to other committments. One member has completed her novel and is now at the point of looking for an agent. The rest of us are at various stages of our work, from writing early chapters to re-working and editing the completed novel.

The group meetings provide members with a huge incentive to get on and 'finish that novel' as well as giving useful feedback and support. The bonus is we all get to read some great novels! We cover different genres from light-hearted comedy to drama.

For me, the whole experience has been invaluable, not only in shaping my writing and critiqing skills, but in giving me the motivation to carry on writing. As many writers will tell you, it can be a solitary business that non-writers often don't appreciate. If you tell someone you are a writer they usually respond with: 'What have you had published?' If in your early days your response is: 'Nothing' they don't consider you as a writer. But let's face it, all writers were once unpublished!

Pitch - An Anthology of Work - Literary Festival 2003


An early extract from my novel Ways of Remembering was published in Pitch. This was an anthology of work from the MA Writing (Prose Fiction) Programme, Volume 3 - Spring 2003. I liased with Sue Gee (Programme Leader) and the rest of the MA Writing students to ensure everybody's writing was proofread and sent to the publishers in time.

Sunday 9 May 2010

Creative Writing Afternoon Saturday 8th May 2-5pm

We met at my house in Finchley for the Greenacre Writers Creative Writing Day. The theme was characterisation. We did four exercises which were very useful. The last was one was writing a diary entry as one of your characters. Ellie, my main character, who has psychogenic amnesia, wrote about the first night at her mother's house on the Isle of Wight, how she missed the hospital and felt lonely and frightened.



I was joined by fellow organiser Lindsay; and writing guests Lyn, Linda and Jan (unfortunately two others couldn't make it) . It was great meeting other writers and I especially enjoyed the cakes. It was a very enjoyable afternoon and I came away knowing more about my character and itching to write more.

Saturday 1 May 2010

GREENACRE WRITING AFTERNOON 8th May 2-5pm

The Greenacre Writers invite you to a Creative Writer’s Afternoon:
CHARACTERISATION
Saturday 8th May
2.00pm - 5.00pm
Finchley,
London N12

'When I approach my characters, they tremble like leaves.' Nabakov

Discover how to get to know your characters and create memorable narrative. The aim of the afternoon is to meet with fellow creative writers, to work on creative writing exercises, share your work to receive supportive criticism and ideas in a friendly and stimulating environment.

Writing exercise 1 - Brainstorm: favourite characters
Writing exercise 2 - Interviewing your character
Refreshments.
Writing exercise 3 - Garbology: What does your character throw away
Writing exercise 4 - Your character's secret diary

Comments from the writing afternoon:

'I really appreciate the opportunity to focus on a specific writing.'

'Very helpful, thank you.'