Yet another small meeting with a new face to many and an old
face to me popping in for the evening. It was lovely to welcome Clem to the
fold for the night. Clem is a member of the Verulam Writers Circle based in St.
Albans, as was I many years ago. It was inspirational to hear his comments on synopsis
writing which is the bane of many writers. I will be using his insight tomorrow
when I attempt to write a synopsis that is a synopsis and not just another telling
of the story. I do so struggle with this aspect of the submission process.
We have a few more entries in our submitted – accepted and accepted
& paid for book. This is now totalling 17 submissions. The aim of the book
is to inspire the group to think of ways of getting their work out in the
public domain and if possible be paid for it. In doing this you get to share
the pain and delights that come your way with the group.
This week Alan started the show with a much improved version
of his picture book text. He has worked hard on getting the syntax and rhyme
right with this. There are a couple of tweaks needed just to make to a few of
the stanzas but once that is done he will be submitting his first piece.
Sanjit was next up with the next excerpt of his WIP Malabar
Spice. This again was emotive. It was beautifully written with some evocative sections.
It was felt however that there were moments when the view point altered, if
only briefly, and there needed to be a little more of the thoughts and feelings
from Mamet as we are seeing the story through his eyes. I wanted a little more
about the situation within the building and the bumps in the cart to be shown.
This could all be easily be put right.
Clem then read some of his piece – Colin. This was solidly
in the pov of his protagonist. It was humorous, slightly rude, very blokey, and
had everyone engaged. He is a master of unique lines and beautiful sentence
structure. Throughout the piece there was the peaks and troughs of tension,
sex, inner thoughts and the introduction of the unexpected were nicely crafted
into the work. It was interesting to hear everyone’s view on how the story
would finish. We may never know; it all depends on when we next have Clem’s
company around the table. I for one would love to see where he takes it from
where he left us hanging.
Then it was my turn. I read my awful synopsis and thankfully
everyone hadn't fallen asleep at the end of it, but it wasn’t good. Through
discussion, I now have a better idea of how I will approach and this tomorrow I
will settle down and give it a go.
Over all it was a good session. We missed Lucy, Marc and
Nicki but hope they will be with us next time.
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