June – Week 1 – Teaser

I have been busy actually WRITING this week, hence my effort to stay offline, I have managed to produce and submit some new work and am currently writing as a result of the Workshop with Jean Atkin and the Tea Project with Tara Buckley. I have also spent some time researching websites and preparing to write more material for submission, now a week away from deadline.

I have also enjoyed some time off from performing Spoken Word, my first gig is next week that will be after nearly a fortnight away from the mic.

I have blog posts to write (which I hope to post tomorrow) – especially reviewing the Tea Project and meeting Carol Ann Duffy, last Thursday.

Mr G and I spent last night out watching Voodoo Rooms, Jimi Hendrix Experience/ Cream cover band. It was a good night out.

I have also recently organised to review Sarah Hymas and her latest Poetry Pamphlet which I have read several times, need time to format a proper review. WATCH THIS SPACE!

Writing 101: Day 5 – Be Brief

Writing 101

Day 5: Be Brief

You discover a letter on a path that affects you deeply. Today, write about this encounter.

And your twist? Be as succinct as possible.

You stumble upon a random letter on the path. You read it. It affects you deeply,

and you wish it could be returned to the person to which it’s addressed.

Write a story about this encounter.

 

Today’s twist: Approach this post in as few words as possible.

 

None of us will ever know the whole story in other words. We can only collect a bag full of shards that each seem perfect.

— From 100 Word Story‘s About page

 

Brevity is the goal of this task, although “brief” can mean five words or five-hundred words.

You might write a fifty-word story, as writer Vincent Mars publishes on his blog, Boy in the Hat.

Or you might tell your tale in precisely one-hundred words, like the folks at 100 Word Story – an approach that forces you to question every word.

For writers who tend to write more, a longer word count may be considered concise, too. At Brevity, writers publish nonfiction of seven-hundred-fifty words or less: there is space to develop a piece, yet a focus on succinctness.

For inspiration, browse two fifty-word stories — on the silence between a husband and wife, or a story on time and a missed connection – or these one-hundred words by H. Edwards to see how others write clever concise tales.

 

 

The letter was full of gratitude, personal, exposing. Only the eyes it was meant for should have read it.

I tried to make out the smudged address, I wondered about posting it back in the box,

but thought the postman had dropped it to save himself that job. The stamps were franked, it had been sent from Yorkshire.

I didn’t know how to pretend, how to erase what I had seen, scan the memory and press delete. It wasn’t that easy and now my fingerprints were all over it too.

 

 

I have had a few formatting issues with this post.

 

 

Writing 101: Day 4 – The Serial Killer

Write about a loss: something (or someone) that was part of your life, and isn’t any more.

This doesn’t need to be a depressing exercise; you can write about that time you lost the three-legged race at a picnic. What’s important is reflecting on this experience and what it meant for you — how it felt, why it happened, and what changed because of it.

Today’s twist: Make today’s post the first in a three-post series.

Our blogs are often made of standalone posts, but using them to take readers on longer journeys is an immersive experience for them — and you. It allows you to think bigger and go deeper into an idea, while using a hook that keeps readers coming back.

A series can take many forms:

• Recurring features of the same type of post, like The Stakes’ Game of Thrones recaps or Chronicles of an Anglo-Swiss’ responses to daily prompts.
• Posts on the same topic, where each builds on the last, like Literature and Libations’ multi-part posts on becoming a beer writer.
• Fiction, where each post gives readers the next chapter or a new story, like the work at Flashes in the Pan and 300 Stories.

We also have advice that might help. If you decide to go serial, we’ve got days scheduled for parts two and three, so don’t worry about writing everything now or having to shoehorn the other posts in.

A Loss:

I have lost so many things, I could write some dark material from this prompt. My mind immediately heads to people I have lost first, then things, of which I have lost many pinnacle material items, then parts of myself – I have lost along the way, battles I have lost, people I have lost who are still very much in the world, pets I have lost, beliefs I have lost, lessons I have discarded.

I am trying to gain material from joining Writing 101 – the main focus is writing practice – a daily dose and beyond that a hope of up-cycling something, even if it’s the odd sentence or idea. This is my reason for trying to stay positive, that and it is better material for you to read than all the things I have survived, I am sure.

When I was thirteen I started to write to people all over the world through a pen pal scheme. I loved receiving letters and getting to know people in other countries. A few of us are still in touch which means the world to me and some I have since used the internet to search for. Enjoying the irony of meeting back up online (now we have pretty much killed the postal service, if it wasn’t for ebay/ Amazon orders) – I have always been unsuccessful in finding them, many were girls and probably have different surnames by now.

I remember the first time I lost a penfriend though, because we were still very much in communication and suddenly the letters stopped coming. This worried me, Melinda lived in the Philippines and I had no way of knowing if she was okay. We had grown up together and we were turning 17, maybe she had got tired of writing, but knowing her as I did- I know she would have sent a card to tell me she didn’t want to keep writing letters anymore.

I have never been able to trace her and the letters just stopped. Nothing. I don’t know why it happened. Perhaps her college studies had taken all her time. I think about her often and the different culture she was brought up in.

I lost interest in writing letters for a while, Melinda was one of the first and she was no longer sending me mail. I then realised that as far as other pen pals were concerned, I had now disappeared too, so I started writing letters again.

I still enjoy writing letters and fortunately have a few friends in this Country and others who like to write back. The joy of having things in the post which aren’t bills or statements is a wonderful thing.

 

 

Catching Up with My Blogging Assignments: Day 3 Commit to a Writing Practice

It has been a busy week and I haven’t been online to post my assignments. Thank goodness there are no weekend assignments so I can catch up!

DAY 3: Commit to a Writing Practice

Write about the three most important songs in your life — what do they mean to you?

Today, try free writing. To begin, empty your mind onto the page. Don’t censor yourself; don’t think. Just let go. Let the emotions or memories connected to your three songs carry you.

 

Today’s twist: You’ll commit to a writing practice. The frequency and the amount of time you choose to spend today — and moving forward — are up to you, but we recommend a minimum of fifteen uninterrupted minutes per day.

The basic unit of writing practice is the timed exercise.

– Natalie Goldberg

 

There have been many times when music has carried me through painful parts of my life. Powerful medium that it is. But I don’t really want to write about negative points in my life today some I am choosing music from other times.

When I was a teenager I stopped listening to popular music as the charts were filled by bad pop, I was interested in the 60s (the whole culture of the time) I started getting interested in my first hero, John Lennon. My parents had always had vinyl records, my dad had a lot of The Beatles.

The three important songs are;

The Doors – Crystal Ship

The Beatles – Hey Jude

Bob Marley – Redemption Song

 

The Doors – I have been a Doors fan since I was a teen, this is my favourite Doors song, there are numerous times I have listened to it when I have been in need. The familiarity of a song which can take me right back to a previous time in my life, with ease. Music I can always get lost in.

When I had finished my A-Levels I went to camp in France with other similar aged people. There was a beer tent where we all met in the evening, there were multi-languages, young people from all over Europe and beyond. This song was played by the guitarists and everyone sang along (to the chorus at least) despite language barriers – it was a moment of unity. Powerful. I loved the fact that it was The Beatles bringing us together, especially a generation who never knew them.

Bob Marley – got me down from the Eiffel Tower, now this may sound trivial – but when I first climbed up it, I had no idea I suffered from vertigo – it took two good friends and the whole of the song repeated many times over to get to the bottom of those metal (see the world through) steps. It took hours. We were performing street theatre in Paris at the time, the rest of the college group had to wait for ages for me to come down. The thought of this memory, still makes me feel sick.

 

Author Natalie Goldberg says to “burn through to first thoughts, to that place where energy is unobstructed by social politeness or the internal censor.” Here are some of her rules of free writing practice from Writing Down the Bones, which we recommend you keep in mind:

• Keep your hand moving. (Don’t pause to reread the line you’ve just written. That’s stalling and trying to get control of what you’re saying.)
• Don’t cross out. (That is editing as you write. Even if you write something you didn’t mean to write, leave it.)
• Don’t worry about spelling, punctuation, grammar. (Don’t even care about staying within the margins and lines on the page.)
• Lose control.
• Don’t think. Don’t get logical.
• Go for the jugular. (If something comes up in your writing that is scary or naked, dive right into it. It probably has lots of energy.)

Jorge Luis Borges said: “Writing is nothing more than a guided dream.” So, what are you waiting for? Get writing. Fifteen minutes. Go. And then, do it again tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after.

I am committing to a 10 minute free write a day as I have a diary full of writing that I am currently working on and know that I can stick to 10 minutes, whereas 15 seems unobtainable, on the days when I have time I will write until 15 minutes passes.