Leading My First Workshop...

I have survived.

Previously I've done short writing sessions for the writers' club- when needed- but never actually done a workshop for the evening meeting (it came out to about 90 minutes or so).

Of course all the fears and thoughts of inadequacy passed through my mind before the start, even though I'd been preparing the materials across the previous twelve days.

Flip-pads are
useful...

It was a simple mind-mapping exercise using a chosen image as the starting point to inspire the story idea and hopefully discover suitable characters.

All the images were mine from a variety of places over the last ten to twelve years. A few of them have even appeared on this blog.

When I was choosing which pictures to include in the workshop, I had two criteria; was it a good enough image, and how many ideas could I think of for each one. I ended up with forty pictures!

It seemed a lot, but there had to be enough variety. Some had only one central object, others had lots of scope for choice. There were animals, summer and winter scenes, plants, buildings and landscapes, street scenes, and random items.

A few pictures not chosen...

There were at least 16 people and they all found a picture they liked. Animals and landscapes seemed popular...

The members and visitors were engaged, and by the end of the evening when we went round the attendees, there were a variety of partial stories read out, many ideas, and a poem.

I've received some positive responses today from a couple of members, so I'm pleased.

Yes, there are a few adjustments I'd make if I ever did it again, but you only discover that when you've tried it.

A few more...

Now the Book Festival is Over...

The display of members'
published works...

I spent Saturday (24th) at the last day of the Lowdham Book Festival, with other members of Nottingham Writers' Club.

Sadly my cork board display was too large for the three-legged stand (height-wise), and if I'd had time to try it out the night before I would have realised- not that I could have done anything about it!

In the end the board rested against the stand by the table...

At least this year we were able to display flyers for books by a number of members- and not just mine.

There were a lot of small publishers in the hall this year, and out in the marquee there were plenty of second-hand books, but only a few were really old, so I didn't come home with any useful books this time.

But I did add to my postcard collection with a few old postcards. Two stable scenes; both postcards were images of painting by John Morland (1763-1804) and immediately appealed to the historical romance writer in me.

You can see the images used on the postcards here and here. Though the image had been coloured for printing, so the contents of the wheelbarrow becomes green and yellow, and the stable lad's face becomes very distinct, as does the jar on the window ledge.

The strange thing was that these two postcards had been sent to the same person by two connected individuals (sisters?) and sent from Plaistow in 1905 both on the 4.15 post on the 17 JU (June or July?).

The one from Beatie is affectionate but short with the lines well spaced- she's thanking the sender for the book she's sent, whereas the second, while neatly written, each line is close together. It mentions that 'Beatie is putting a new braid on the bottom of her dress'.

Postcard messages can be as inspiring as the image on the front. Over a century later their moment in time messages remain, leaving the reader to wonder, and the writer to create...