At last week's meeting, we wrote a storm through our characters' senses with attention to imagery and even personification of the storm itself. I think it went well. I'd like to do more of these description exercises in the future.
Then we read what people brought. I had some scenes from Orphan Wars, Rachel had some from The Legend of Mura, Amber had one from her new superhero/vampires story, and Barbara had one about a French girl and her mother. Good work all around, everybody. I'm glad to see everyone's been productive and kept up with writing, even with school going on.
Next week (err... tomorrow) we'll be meeting at Rachel V's house. I'll get directions out to everyone through email. Sorry again for the late notice! I'll try to stay more on top of this stuff. I think we'll have some special celebratory writing exercises for 09/09/09. Fun times, for sure. Bug people to come! We need members!
Also this week, I talked with Ms. Parrish (you know, from T-ville) and she gave me some suggestions for what we can do in our writing group. One of the things she suggested was reading books on writing, such as Eats, Shoots, and Leaves. With my track record with books, I might struggle with something like that, but maybe having a book club aspect to our group will help me. She also suggested we do writing exercises like going to a public place and listening in on conversations to get a better grip on realistic dialogue. This is something we could do on a TRAX venture, probably. Another thing she mentioned was giving out writing assignments for during the week, like using a certain fab vocab word realistically in a scene, or having a focus on dialogue, or whatever. Good ideas, all.
For now, though, come to the meeting tomorrow, and we'll have some fun with the number 9. See you there!
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
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"With my track record with books, I might struggle with something like that[...]"
ReplyDeleteIf you're referring to lack of interest in a non-fiction book like that, I can attest that they're actually a lot more interesting than you'd think. I've read a book or two on writing and a whole spiel of books on photography/digital retouching, and I'll tell you this: when it's a subject you enjoy or find interesting, it isn't hard to make it through. Rather than holding your attention with characters, plot, and literary devices, it holds your interest by inspiring you and giving you things to try.
I think reading a few books on writing is a great idea. Also, sorry I've only been to... well... one meeting. Stuff kept coming up, and I just got busier and busier. But we'll see what happens.
I love reading books on writing. I do it all the time! But I have to do it at my own pace. Novels are even worse, and this is what I usually mean when I say stuff like that. My "pace" usually ends up being maybe one page every month. I just meant that it would be hard to read it for someone else. Outside of school, I would have almost zero motivation, most of the time...
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