INKSPILL 2013 – Thanks and Credits

 

Thanks to everybody who has dipped in or taken part in the INKSPILL Online Writing Retreat 2013. It has been a very successful initial venture and awritersfountain will definitely host an annual INKSPELL event.

 

The initial idea came when I found out about Iyanla_Vanzant’s Wonder Woman Weekend.

 

I couldn’t afford to go, although it would have been a great event to attend, I decided I could facilitate my own special weekend in place of this.

And Inkspill was born.

You voted for the name (although it was my favourite choice) and some of the content of the weekend and statistics show that this has been the busiest weekend all year, somewhere at the beginning of the life of the blog (February) we hit 116 as the busiest day, this was slam dunked with 162 hits/ visitors on the first day of INKSPILL and it hasn’t dipped much since.

We hope that everyone who came has gained something from their visit. Many of you will have produced new writing or discovered something new. Made connections or found some great websites and resources.

 

Many thanks to everyone who kindly gave permission to have their work reproduced and sites linked to the INKSPILL event.

 

 

We would appreciate you spending a few minutes to feedback here

Until next year…

INKSPILL – Comes to a close, with the inevitable feedback form!

MONDAY 28th October – DAY 4 BONUS EXTRA DAY

As with all events, retreats and workshops your feedback is valuable. So now INKSPILL comes to a close the final posts are over to you.

Over to You – Polls, Testimonials and more.

Please could you leave a short statement in the comments, just a few sentences about what you have enjoyed over this weekend.

By commenting – you allow permission for us to use your words/ or part of – as testimonial quotations in advertising next year’s INKSPILL event.

And finally a poll…

Feel free to click as many answers as are relevant but only complete the POLL once. The Poll will be active for a week. Your feedback is important.

Many thanks

INKSPILL – INKWELL – Session 3 Writing Comedy

MONDAY 28th October – DAY 4 BONUS EXTRA DAY

 

 Inkwell 3 – How to write Comedy – your questions answered.

This article was previously published on the blog. Again whilst trying to work on some comedy writing, I used my research to write a helpful ‘How to’ article.

comedy writing tips

INKSPILL – How to Write a Short Story

MONDAY 28th October – DAY 4 BONUS EXTRA DAY

 How to Write Short Stories

 

Earlier on this year the Sunday Times ran their annual short story competition, I decided to enter. In the end I ran out of time and struggled to finish by the deadline.

However, along the way I completed lots of valuable research and wrote a couple of articles about writing short stories.

These posts have proved amongst the most popular on the whole blog, achieving daily viewing stats.

So here, on the final extra BONUS day of Inkspill is a link to the most popular writing article on my blog.

There is a link at the end for part 2.

writing short stories

narrative structure and the writing process

INKSPILL – 10 Good Reasons to Write Short Stories

MONDAY 28th October – DAY 4 BONUS EXTRA DAY

 10 Good Reasons to Write Short Stories

 

1 It’s fun.

 

2 It doesn’t take long.

 

3 Through the internet you can now find readers far more easily than a writer ever could before.

 

4 Modern printing technology means that you can, if you wish, publish your own work in printed form at dramatically

less expense than you could even five years ago.

 

5 If you have ambitions to be a novelist or a screenwriter, learning to master the short-story form will be excellent

training.

 

6 If you do manage to get published in one of the small magazines, you may be approached by a literary agent. This

is, believe me, a far more effective method of making contact with them than writing to them direct.

 

7 There are numerous competitions for short-story writers, some of which offer substantial prizes and have

some standing in the literary world.

 

8 A short story can be about absolutely anything. It can be set in this world or the next, or on a planet ten light-years

away; the chief character can be a contemporary Englishman or a prehistoric dinosaur; the ending can be tragic,

comic, or anything in between. In other words, the author of a short story enjoys total freedom in the choice of

subject matter, setting, timescale, final effect, and any other factor that you care to mention. You don’t have to

take orders from an editor, producer, or director.

 

9 If you have a yearning to perform on a public stage, you can give readings of your work.

 

10 To make a start, you really don’t need anything more than a pad of paper and few pens. Although, these days,

access to a computer and some technical skill with same is going to be a great asset.

 

Three Basic Requirements

 

In order to write short stories you need a minimum of three things:

 

1 Materials. This means that you need some story ideas – something to write about.

2 Technique – a method of converting the original idea, or inspiration, into a story.

3 A facility with words. In short, you need to be able to write effective English prose.

INKSPILL – Writing Everyday

MONDAY 28th October – DAY 4 BONUS EXTRA DAY

 

Ideas for writing everyday. (Participation for the 4 mornings of INKSPILL)

 

Hopefully this morning you have already completed a free write of 5, 10 or 15 minutes, if you haven’t taken part in Inkspill yet, follow the link.

Writing Everyday

 

Ideas for Writing Everyday

This is something I want you to do everyday before you log into Inkspill.

You may find it beneficial to continue this practise after the retreat, maybe for a week, or a fortnight, month or more. Early morning journaling is not a new idea and some of you may already do this.

This writing is JUST FOR YOU. You needn’t share any writing from journaling activities unless you want to. If you cant manage to do it first thing, do it in the first available moments you can snatch in the morning before you log onto the day’s programme.

 

The morning free write is all about finding the beginning of your voice.

Remember don’t aim for brilliance… aim for free – it is amazing what writes out of your mind.

A link that explain more about this technique.

https://awritersfountain.wordpress.com/2013/10/26/inkspill-freewriting-information/

 

 

 

INKSPILL – Good Morning and Welcome to your BONUS day!

MONDAY 28th October – DAY 4 BONUS EXTRA DAY

Good morning! We are delighted to welcome you to an extra day of the INKSPILL writing retreat!

Thanks to everyone who has dipped in or actively taken part, we hope you have found it a beneficial and fun experience. We are already planning to facilitate INKSPILL 2 next year.

 

So what’s in store today?

 

Ideas for writing everyday. (Participation for the 3 mornings of INKSPILL)

 

 10 Good Reasons to Write Stories

 

 How to Write Short Stories (Links to previously published articles)

 

 Inkwell 3 – How to write Comedy – your questions answered. Research, polls and questions posted on the blog in the summer. (Links to previously published articles.)

 

Over to You – Polls, Testimonials and more.

 

 Final Feedback & Thank You/ Credits