Windmill Writers, Hertfordshire write up 09/03/2016

Update on the Windmill Writers, Hertfordshire meeting on Wednesday 9^th March.

It was a fun night. Everyone read and once again improvements had been made. Lots of constructive criticism was given and some great ideas on how to make improvements or offers of trying to find somewhere to place work.

The night started with Marc finishing off his short story Inheritance. I have missed some of this but the piece he read was well structured, had good pace and was full of great imagery. There were a few tweaks that needed to be done, and just a couple of extra aromas were needed to give the reader that complete all-encompassing experience. I feel that with one last edit this short would be ready to find a home outside of the group.

Sanjit followed with another short piece from his current WIP – Malabar Spice. This is shaping up to be a great novel. The concept is convoluted and I can’t wait to hear more. This writer has a way of conjuring up images that feel natural, well balanced and steeped in authenticity. A few area’s need to be lengthened which will give greater depth to the characters within the story. A bit more grit and grunt perhaps!

Lucy read us a chapter of her children’s novel from the PoV of Hendrick. This was a very interesting piece. As always Lucy’s voice is strong.  However, there was a little confusion around the actual PoV. On occasion it felt that the narrators voice was coming through and not that of the character. I believe there is a way to sort this and next week I will pass the idea to Lucy who can try it out.

The penultimate reading came from Alan with another chapter from Skirmisher. As always the descriptions of were detailed. The view point was safely through the main character’s eyes. There were areas that needed more depth but some very nice touches with the pilfering of the personal belongings after the battle.

Then it was my turn. I read two of my picture book texts that I have submitted. They went down well and I was reasonably pleased with them. However, in one of the texts I spotted an error, two missing words, and this is the version I sent off, so I can’t expect to get anywhere with that one. A lesson to learn here, and I should have known better – check and check and re-check before you submit.

Unfortunately, we didn't have Nicki with us tonight and we missed her and her ability to find things in the work read that many of us just don’t see.

With half an hour left we did a few writing tasks to get our creative bones working. We started with a session using stream of writing techniques. This inspired some interesting pieces. The idea is to continue writing once the speaker says and write after taking you on a journey of some sort. 

The second challenge was to be a child and be in a place that looks normal but everything you touch or see ends up being completely different. This was harder but once again produced some interesting scribbles.

Over all a great evening.