And now for something completely different...

At the last meeting, we discussed whether the group might take a new direction and introduce a little more structure and focus. We have tended to stick to what we know, but a group that is fearlessly prepared to try something new is a group that grows.

Instead of reading manuscripts every time, as we’ve always done, we considered having a planned programme of mss sessions interspersed with workshops and the occasional write-in. Workshops can be anything anybody would like to try – exercises, discussions, etc - and a write-in is a meeting where members bring something they want to work on and write in twenty minute bursts with five minute breaks in between.

Your democratically-elected committee has had a meeting to work out a programme for the next six months.

We drew up a list of all the dates of meetings for the first six months of next year and divided them between Mss sessions, Workshops and Write-ins, and then discussed what kind of workshops might be helpful to the group. Topics put forward were Characterisation and Plot, Site-specific Writing, Observation, Points of View, Discussion, Experience-based Writing and the Campbell Cycle.

We decided on five mss sessions and five workshops, but only two write-ins, as they are new to the group and something of an unknown quantity. The last meeting of the half-year will be 18th June, after which the present committee will resign and a new one, hopefully, will take over.

The programme
  • 8th January (Note change of date, to avoid clash with New Year) – Mss
  • 22nd January (ditto) – Workshop.  The Campbell Cycle, a talk by Clare.  The Campbell Cycle may be new to some of you, but it’s a basic story model which may prove helpful when writing stories and novels.   
  • 5th February – Write-In
  • 19th February – Mss
  • 5th March – Workshop.  Characterisation.  Discussion and examples.
  • 19th March – Mss
  • 2nd April – Workshop.  Alter the story.  A creative exercise in thinking on the spot.
  • 16th April – Mss
  • 7th May – Workshop.  Eyewitness.  An event from different points of view.
  • 21st May – Mss 
  • 4th June – Write-In, assuming the first one was useful and everyone wants another one.  If not, members’ choice.
  • 18th June – Workshop.  An image.  Bring in really interesting pictures to write about.
  • Bring a piece of work to each meeting in case there is time spare at the end.
Members will be notified before each workshop and given an idea of the kind of thing to
expect.  Nothing is set in stone.  Any session can be altered or re-interpreted.  The idea is that the group opens out a little and tries something new, but if a session doesn’t work or we don’t like it, we can change it.