Wednesday's Meeting

On a hot Wednesday in Mil Palmeras we had an excellent couple of hours.  There have been criticisms in the past about people not actually writing and reading what they have written.  There is no demand to do anything, but as this is a writing group there surely has to be a need, even a compulsion to write something.  The same can been said of some who have not made any contributions in commenting upon items that have been read, in making suggestions and in giving feedback.  Now I can say that we had great pieces being read, followed by suggestions, advice with some items creating an atmosphere for discussion.  There was so much positivity and this could persuade them to 'put pen to paper' more often and to have their voices heard.

With this latter point in mind and with our members traveling to cooler climes they should be prepared to email their work so that it can be read in their absence.  How about that for a challenge and to fill the time on a cool English summer's day!  Also, if the blog is maintained then our 'overseas' members can comment and still be informed of our mornings.

Now to this morning.  Sue, one of our regular contributors, brought Andrea and introduced her to the group.  Maureen's exercise on punctuation will now be discussed next week.  ( How many times have you read something that could be better punctuated and also contains mistakes?)

Margaret started with Billy, the OCD man, versus his ever loving domesticated wife Sally, and that was until she had been damaged too much.  The knife came out and was put in. This subject of 'domestic abuse' is a re-occurring one that always stimulates writers and discussion.  There was a multitude of comments that praised the story, on the whole, and some particular lines specifically.
One such as 'Sally's face gripped her' as she looked at herself in the mirror and comments like 'mind games' and 'he still loves me' were mentioned.

Phil stated that there is a site controlled by Ruben Wooley that deals with abuse with the title 'I am not a silent poet'.  Something to refer to.

John then read a lengthy story on 'Where do screams go to?'  It was a venture into the unknown with gushing earth water and collected screams.  Descriptive scenes and the images he created were spoken of.  The sign of the 'pig bench' is something to watch out for and be afraid of.  There was death on every page and with tormented screamers being invited to leave us.

Another John(he with an S.A. accent) gave us a piece of poetry about a lottery winner or not.  All good rhyme with some excellent combinations and such fun!

Anne was stimulated by the TV programme ' Homes under the Hammer'.  Enunciated in a very good rhythm that made it all flow.  It was that good as not all the rhymes were obvious.

Phil followed this with a beautiful piece created about fishing with all the technical terms and a story of apparent well being and not-so-well-off.  We liked the turn at the end and like other good readings you can have your own ending.  I won't say anymore because as for other items you can ask for them and read via Email. Why not?

All these were on the theme of 'Beyond Belief' and so was Sue's.  She always brings an extra dimension to her writing and in this was able to combine the work of ants with The Crucifixtion. This prompted Christina to dive into her file and bring out one from April 2004 that simply dove-tailed into the previous one.  Both were deep and thoughtful with the latter asking is 'God Good?'. Adaptability or not?

Ian stayed with the theme and in his poetic style gave us a rhyming version and with a repeating line echoing the theme.  I think that this will be a blog entry and so I will say nothing else.

Maureen' contribution was to read part of her travel blog and asking for comments.  More of this bit or less of this?  The comments flowed.
Tony staying with the theme came with an unfinished piece and asked for suggestions.  He got them and has now much to chew upon.  It is a simple story really of about two rural friends who were summoned by Kitchener to go to war.  It is a good advert for our group that any member can ask for advice, mull it over and go away and write more.  We will see what transpires.

We ended the morning smartly on time and ended with two of Phil's 'A Woman Scorned' and 'The Witch was Right'.  It was totally political and why not?  By them my note taking was minimalistic and so I will ask to read them.

I think that there is so much value in maintaining this blog, not only for the obvious reasons but to ensure that we all stay focused on our writing.  It is an exercise in itself and if any one else would like to write one then do so.  I will be asking because it is a group effort.

The theme for next week is 'The Wedding Party'!  May the writing, reading, feedback and discussion continue.  It is effort that will win in the end.

Comments please.

John Edwards 9th June