We talked about the Margery Allingham competition at our last meeting. Details here.
We talked about the Margery Allingham competition at our last meeting. The promise given, to share details, is now kept.
Should we run our own writing competitions? What do you think?
We met, we agreed and we’re going ahead. This is a short update to keep you informed.
Bring up to 200 words to share. This is about improvement, fun and writer-to-writer support. If you don’t want to share, that’s fine too. You are welcome.
Being a writer’s group, a blog about Thursday’s meeting is here, written by a Neuk member. All members are welcome to blog with us.
… and enjoy a pleasant evening with interesting people who are into writing?
If you wish, you can get involved in producing blogs for our site. There are other opportunities for Colinsburgh Library and, elsewhere in our community.
We will introduce a dyslexia-friendly approach. This may be accomplished by:
We’re looking into this and aim to find solutions. With the storm in November and low attendance we didn’t advance this. Let’s clarify and implement our plans.
What I found was not only a friendly bunch of like-minded people, but each one with a passion for the written word and a desire to share and receive ideas from others.
Here we are again. Some of us have the lurgy, others are recovering, one or two are in rude health and don’t even know what a lurgy is. Many may have been supping medicinal whisky (this being Scotland and all) … even if they didn’t have the lurgy.
Some of us couldn’t make it, others did. All in all we are growing and finding our feet.
Writer Andy Frazier joined us last night. He shares a few thoughts about the experience below. Thanks for this, Andy.
Although I have written numerous books on a wide range of subjects over the last ten years, I must confess, apart from a monthly magazine column, it has been just over two years since I last sat down to write in a professional capacity. During that time my focus has been on our other business, something which involves much more stress.
Reaching my wits end last week, I suddenly realised that I was becoming a slave to time, rather than its keeper, and months were passing by with a rushing sound usually reserved for cyclists.
So, on Wednesday morning when I sat at my desk, instead of the usual admin, I opened Scrivener, my writing ‘app’ of choice, and started scribbling. In amongst those files are a few pages of ideas, research, crazy facts and half written projects.
An hour’s distraction from the day to day problems around me was all I was seeking. Next thing I knew, it was getting dark outside.
On Thursday morning, by pure coincidence, I saw a poster on social media for Writers’ Neuk, who were due to meet that evening. I have to admit to having never physically been to a writers group before, although I do belong to a few online. Had it been any other day, I am not sure I would I have noticed it but, on this day, I decided to attend.
What I found was not only a friendly bunch of like-minded people, but each one with a passion for the written word and a desire to share and receive ideas from others.
Not knowing what to expect, I had taken with me my scribbles from the day before, which had been little more than an exercise I had set myself, to get the ‘juices’ flowing again.
After an hour of general discussions about our individual on-going projects the group asked me to share mine with them. © Andy Frazier
Come back soon and read Andy’s easy introduction to the Storyboard. Ed.
Want to blog with us? Get in touch via our contact form. Our community library and Writers’ Neuk need you.
Here we are, well into 2019 and you’d think nothing is happening, wouldn’t you.
It may not surprise you to learn my New Year started with the lurgy. Still, my head is clearing. Be still all those who ask has it ever been clear?.
As for you “man-flu” giggle-and-pointers. I remember a famous epitaph (Spike Milligan?) “I told you I wasn’t well.”
Whatever, we’re back. Forgetting the man-flu, Jenny has been poorly too and is recovering.
We will start meetings again on February 7th. At that time we’ll begin to plan our diary looking ahead whilst aiming avoid other writing group commitments people have, as far as practical..
Thinking of our programme, as a wee reminder … our areas of interest are here. This will help us flesh out a programme for the year.
We previously discussed interest strands, these are still live. Do you want to develop skills in:
Do you want to:
Are you interested in:
This is where we make our get togethers serve us as writers in ways that will foster and develop our talents.
We look forward to seeing you soon.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
The year is hastening by and we’ve just enough time to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. More information coming soon…
Explaining how much she enjoys writing, Merry shared some of the difficulties of being a writer…
For our inaugural Writers’ Neuk meeting in Colinsburgh Library we invited Merryn Glover, author of A House Called Askival, to speak to us about her book and about being a writer.
backgroundA House Called Askival is based upon her own experiences growing up in South Asia and upon the period following the Second World War, when India was partitioned. Born in Kathmandu, to missionary parents, Merryn was brought up in Nepal, India and Pakistan, before training as a teacher at an Australian university.
A House Called Askival is Merryn’s first published novel but she also writes short stories and poetry, which have been published in magazines and newspapers. Over a number of years, the BBC has commissioned her plays which have been broadcast on Radio Scotland and Radio 4. Her poem, Driving Lesson, is in the Autumn issue of Northwards Now.
Merryn read an excerpt from the first chapter of her book, which was greatly enjoyed by all.
Explaining how much she enjoys writing, Merry shared some of the difficulties of being a writer, namely ways of getting published. She enjoys writing every day and is greatly encouraged to do so, by family and friends. Askival was published by the now defunct Freight Books and she is currently in discussion with another publisher, with a view to having her second novel published.
There then followed a general discussion and questions on the writing process and getting work published. Merryn advised us, as budding writers, to:
A lively discussion followed as the focus moved towards getting writing out there.
Self-publishing can be a way forward for many writers. It has its drawbacks but it is one way of becoming known to readers and publishers.
We also discussed how publishers focus on a number of aspects of a writer’s work including:
Activities like these are becoming ever more important since many newspapers publish fewer literary reviews.
Merryn suggests that attending book festivals was a way of getting her novel highlighted and cited her own attendance at the Ullapool Festival as being a positive step in becoming more well known.
She approached several publishers with Askival and now appreciates that the number of times it was refused led to improvement in it, as she kept going and adapting and changing, according to their advice.
We discussed how research for a novel can prevent an author actually getting down to writing a story. Merryn suggested taking a break from the research and coming back fresh, for the next stage. Her advice was that there needs to be enough of a framework to help readers understand time, place and events but mostly they want to engage with the story.
Merryn now lives in the Scottish Highlands, where she is a high school librarian, relishing the challenge of encouraging teenagers to keep reading.
We very much appreciated Merryn coming along to speak to us and offering advice an inspiration.
We met, we agreed and we’re going ahead. This is a short update to keep you informed.
We met, we agreed and we’re going ahead. This is a short update, to keep you informed.
Bring up to 250 words to share and share feedback on. This is about improvement, admiration and fun.
Being a writer’s group, the first thing we planned is a blog about yesterday’s meeting, this is being written by a group member and will be posted soon. Blogging will be shared fun.
We will introduce a dyslexia-friendly approach. This may be accomplished by:
We’re looking into this and aim to have a solution by the end of the year.
Click here, bottom of the page
… a wee list of what people noted on our ‘Contact us, Write with us’ forms. Talk about a broad parish.
Here’s a wee list of what people noted on our ‘Contact us, Write with us‘ forms. Talk about a broad parish.
… a story is a story. Does one size fit all? Experience suggests that, in the end, we discover our own rules, as we crumple up our trash and throw stuff away with a snarl … OR as we give ourselves a big warm hug for a piece well written.
Yes, 22 rules, at least from Emma Coats, a former Pixar Storyboard artist. There are lots of rules for every waspaect of writing. The particualr focus of her list is what she learned from being a storyboard illustrator.
Still, a story is a story. Does one size fit all? Experience suggests that, in the end, we discover our own rules, every time we crumple up our trash and throw stuff away with a snarl … OR every time we give ourselves a big warm hug, for a piece well written.
If you want to let someone know about this, just send them a link to this page
This is the poster for our first event.
If you want to let someone know about this, just send them a link to this page short link just copy and send the bold text: https://wp.me/pae1nj-1j.
You can get more information here and generally explore our site.
The cartoon is “the Absent Husband Cartoon” from Pinterest.
Writers’ Neuk 