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Detectives
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SF Fantasy
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Glass Mountain
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Glass Mountain
Writers
A few weeks ago, I
declared the second of the two novels I’ve been writing finished. I’m not
going to add anything to it, just make technical changes (mainly SPAG)
suggested by my proof readers.
Now comes the job of
trying to sell them.
One of the first steps
on this journey is to meet other people who are writing and so I decided to
try and join a couple of writer’s groups. With minimal research on the web,
I found that the Glass Mountain group met on a Thursday at 2.00pm in the
Crystal Peaks Library. As it was already currently Thursday at 1.00pm, I
had a quick shower, leapt in my car and went round.
Basically, each week,
the group leader gives out a topic and everybody goes away and writes
something on that topic. They then bring this piece along and read out and
the rest of the group critiques it. A number of things were particularly
noticeable.
-
The number of people
there (there were 14 on that first visit)
-
The standard of the
work is very high.
-
The criticisms were
all constructive and supportive
-
No single person
dominates the group
Everything I write falls
into two categories, either getting information across or telling a story.
If I’ve managed to do this, then the piece is a success. What visits
to this group are teaching me is that the words I use matter and that in some
styles of writing, choice of words is all that matters. I find writing in
this way challenging and, as Mrs. McGinty might say, I love a challenge.
You can find their work
here.
Here are the pieces I’ve
written recently
Months
This was written on the
spot on my first visit. The topic was months.
Rising, Elevation
Ray Hearne, a local
writer was visiting on this day. The chosen topic was to be uplifting,
so rising or elevation was a title. I wrote about a lift.
Change in South
Yorkshire
This topic was chosen by
the Bard of Barnsley. This session was filmed for the South Bank Show,
and I've written about it here.
Riddles and their
Solutions
A local school were
doing a project on Riddles and wanted some samples to show them what to do.
After the Funeral
Ian MacMillan set this
as a task for us. Showing my usual diverse approach to the task, I
wrote something that it's impossible to read out.
After the Funeral
This was my attempt at
something that could be read, but I was never really happy with it.
Diary
I wrote this because I
wanted to, but it fit in well with the task. This is why I watch
football, and those that don't will never experience this.
Time
I still have this clock.
It's not quite as grandiose as described and I genuinely don't hear it
chime.
Sheffield Floods
This is not the sort of
thing that I usually write, but I enjoyed doing it and was very pleased with
the finished product.
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