Our second Spiderplant Christian Writing Circle started with a reflection on I Corinthians 13, the well-known 'love' chapter.
Apologies for absence: Joe Story, Vanessa Knight, Sam Weller
Present: Rosalie Weller, Donald Burling, Jo Leatherland, Fay Rowland, Steve Dawson,
Merlyn N Gray.
Joe's MOT for writing
All agreed that Joe's MOT available from his website unboring.network under his booklet "Great Aspiriations" was an inspiring concept. The analogy was great! For more sophisticated self-editing, two programmes available are Grammarly and ProWritingAid.
2. Jo gave a stirring presentation on "Memoir". She challenged us to state the difference between biography, autobiography, memoir and diary. Jo is following an online course by Marion Roach Smith on writing memoirs to kick her into action with progress on her own memoir which she has been working on for eight years.
a) Memoir is not about what you did but the message that accompanies your life events.
b) We all have an area of expertise. It's what you know after you've been through something.
c) Memoir writing follows the fiction model of three acts.
1. What's at stake
2. What you tried
3. What works.
d) Marion uses the example of a Grief Memoir where she learns that grief is a process not an event.
Jo challenged us with, "If you were to write a memoir what would you write?" Her own memoir is modelled on an Aesop's fable about the struggle of the sun and the wind.
Rosalie informed the group that another writer had expressed an interest in joining the group when it is face-to-face. John Flanner MBE is a writer who is blind and has written three books. He can be found at johnflanner.co.uk
3. Several members brought pieces for critique.
Donald submitted "When the saints go marching on", a piece he had published in the church newsletter. It was well received. Particularly challenging was his idea that we can all pray.
Steve submitted a beginning of a mystery/thriller. All acknowledged the intrigue of the piece.
Merlyn read the beginning of a sci-fi, which had great potential.
Rosalie presented her idea for her second novel based on the life of the wife of Oliver Cromwell, Elizabeth Bourchier. It was well received.
Fay reported sales of her latest book, "God is with us - Everywhere, A rhyming nativity play" were going quite well. She can be found at fayrowland.co.uk. Her blog is a well known resource for work with children "The Reflectionary".
The next meeting was scheduled for Saturday 12 December 2020 at 10.30 am
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