Bad Writing

Check out this documentary entitled "Bad Writing". Might be neat to do a screening on one of our writing nights. Thoughts?

and your free gift is...

As a post-Christmas-gift-to-myself-because-I-didn't-get-what-I-asked-for I purchased a subscription to Writer's Digest magazine. With my subscription came a free copy of an ebook entitled "Do I Have What it Takes" (Cue mystery instrumental - Du Du Duuuuu)

The book is formatted in a series of questions and answers. I laughed out loud when I read the following correspondence.


How can I be sure I really have creative writing ability?
You'll never be sure. 

That pretty much made my entire $29.95 well spent. The editor, Jane Friendman, goes on to say:

It's best to believe in yourself and keep moving forward. Most writers cycle between periods of self-doubt and periods of confidence.

I suppose with the New Year approaching I'll be making the same resolution I've been making for the past few years. To write more, to finish (and start) the novel, to make an honest commitment to explore this craft and see if there's actually something in it that I need. It beckons me.

And so I pass the floor on to you. Will you be making any writing related resolutions this year?

Writer's Digest Subscriptions - $29.95

To clarify...

Jill just wanted to let folks know that the assignment is for us to avoid using any of the PERSONAL pronouns but that you can use any other pronouns in the writing assignment. She had trouble posting anything to the blog and said to pass this on. Happy New Year!

Buckets of

From Jill:


The inspiration for the January 11th meeting with be "Buckets of". This phrase should occur somewhere in your piece of writing. Here's the catch; you can't use personal pronouns: A word that takes the place of one or more nouns. eg. I, he, she, etc.


Here's a link to a more complete list of personal pronouns.


Write whatever you can read in five minutes or so and get creative! Happy New Year... See you in 2011!

December Meeting Wrap Up

And so comes the end of the year. 2010 came in with a fury and flashed before our eyes. The Writers met one final time this year and enjoyed the exploration of character.

The assignment was to come up with a character that possessed an idiosyncrasy and have that obsession get them into trouble.

The warm up exercise built on the existing assignment. Writers were given a fictional situation to place their character in. Here's a link to a character questionnaire if you're interested in developing your characters further.  A wise woman once told me "You know 100% of your character, but you may only decide to tell the audience 10%".

Now lets face it, if you make up a character that's quirky you're going to get some laughs; this evening was certainly no exception. We were in the company of a compulsive liar, a kleptomaniac, a compulsive eater/adulterer, picky coffee connoisseur, a coaster collector, and a hoarder to name a few; there were a lot of nuts in there! It's true, ladies and gentlemen, idiosyncrasies like these can have you talking to the health inspector, missing your train, getting clocked between the eyes, embarrassing yourself in front of the media, getting berated by friends, and killed.

I've enjoyed playing master of my characters this session, I hope you have too. Merry Christmas.. I challenge you all: let's keep this blog busy over the holidays. If you have any ideas or inspirations, please do share! Health & Happiness to you all!

My regrets for not making it last night folks. I will catch up on Cabin Fever Daze stuff with you this week. I enjoyed doing the homework Nicole and can only imagine the shared stories last night. Have a Merry Christmas break everyone!

Luanne Armstrong Workshop Pictures

Inspired by Character

This assignment is for the meeting on December 14, 2010.

We will introduce a character and put them in a predicament. This character could be one you've made up in the past or someone brand new. Tell us about them in all some of their glory.

KEY COMPONENT: Give this character an idiosyncrasy that will become relevant to the story line. The predicament or conflict they get into will be a direct link to this idiosyncrasy. Essentially we want their idiosyncrasy to "get them into trouble".

An Example: ((From Building Believable Characters in Creative Fiction)) Do you know one of those people who have an annoying ability to remember everybody's birthday, anniversary, death and goodness knows what and loves sending cards of congratulations. (Well, maybe not for the deaths!) Think of how this obsession might have a bearing on the story. Maybe they sent wedding anniversary cards to two couples, but put them in the wrong envelopes. What trouble could that cause? What if they saw an obituary of a distant acquaintance and sent a card of condolence only to find that it was not really the friend just someone with the same name? Imagine someone who loves to use long or obscure words. What if someone overhears what a character says, gets the wrong end of the stick and acts upon it?
Read the Entire Article

These examples are spin offs into longer stories so try to keep it short; whatever you can read in less than ten minutes. No need to complete the story unless you can in reasonable amount of time. I'm hoping this exercise will help us develop character, introduce conflict and leave the reader craving more...

Oh, and for the poets; feel free to write poetry on this topic.

This will be our only meeting in December so we will have *WINE* Also, bring an appetizer. Should be fun!

Isolation Meeting Wrap Up

Nina hosted a great meeting last night that turned out to be a small and welcome lecture on poetry. Isolation and humour crept into a warm up exercise full of Synquain's, Quatrain's, Haiku's, and Limerick's.

We moved into the main event and one by one a glimpse of isolation was unveiled. To some of us isolation was as welcome as solitude. Isolation came in forms where family was missing and where individuals were alone. Isolated nations, isolated people. Isolation sprinkled with depression and isolation observation. A rich topic that proved to be a great leaping point for inspiration.

A snowy morn...

Really enjoyed the group last night gang! I appreciated, as always, the willingness to 'put it out there' with our writing and explore some known and unknown territory. Some laughs, some teary eyes, some poetic justice and injustice. (Dick is still a dick) Looking forward to delving into some rich characters for next time and don't forget a christmas nibblie!