Friday 30 January 2009

Our Meetings

Sapphist Writers meetings are about enjoyment, support, sharing our work and ideas, developing creativity, embracing diversity. We’re not about literary elitism, genre snobbery or competition regarding publishing success. Some of us have had some writing success, some are absolute beginners.

We take it in turns to lead meetings, and generally we will read some of our work and also have a go at writing something “on the spot”. This free-writing is great for loosening up our writing and encouraging us to share without spending hours honing the work in private. Of course, no-one has to share what they’ve written if they don’t want to!


Example of a Free-Writing Exercise

This free-writing exercise was suggested by Pam. The prompt was ‘write for five minutes only on the subject of something within your line of sight.’

Pam: Inspired by a notice reading “this machine is emptied every night”

This machine is emptied at night. During the day the coins are pushed and fall, a piling store of golden treasure. This machine is emptied of its rich ground coffee granules gradually through the busy day. Fuelling workers, visitors, passers by.

With huge hot lumps of engineering in a humid tropical coffee plantation the journey begins. Growing, harvesting, processing the beans is Janwine. She works 12 hours through the day and feeds her family with her meagre wage. She gets home to cook, clean, do laundry and hold her children until it’s time for sleep. By the time she climbs into bed she is completely emptied.

Nicki: My eyes fell on a concert poster for "A Sea Symphony" by Vaughan Williams

It starts with a calling to the sky,
nothing to divide the two except a familiar glistening.

A rising and falling, helped by the sun.

Distance can't be understood here. Certainly not speed.
I've never developed the need for sea legs,
not had to wrap my head around knots.

Who would want to sail solo around the world?

I simply want to walk out onto that ocean
towards the light,
onwards, always.

Be my own siren.

The water would never come higher than my knees.
That's how certain I can be I'll keep going.

I have direction now.

Viv: Unfinished poem inspired by the word “workspace”

so does this space work for me
to work productively
create design produce each line
of carefully crafted words

work within my solitary cell
draw inspiration from a well
the words and meaning gently leading
my reader to my soul

my workspace closely lined with books
and files and papers often looks
chaotic or perhaps demonic
not the place to sculpture verse

or worse…

Sandy: Dialogue inspired by a poster entitled “Have your say”.

‘Talk, talk, talk, it’s all everyone does around here.’
‘Yeah but – ’
‘This ain’t a democracy, ya know.’
‘But –’
‘My day, everyone just put up and shut up.’
‘I know, but – ’
‘You’ve gotta just get on with it, right?’
‘I see what you’re saying – ’
‘It’s no good complaining when nuffin’s ever gonna change.’
‘Look, will you – ’
‘Quite the mouthy one, aren’t you?’
‘I’m sorry, have I – ’
‘There you go again!’
‘ – got this right – ’
‘All talk, never stop …’
‘You are the Customer Complaints Officer here … aren’t you?

Rachel: Inspired by the words “3 ways…”

Walking along the road I was thinking...There are three ways I could handle this. I could just come straight out with it, sit her down, get the coffees in and say "I've got something to tell you..." I can see her face now, sudden anxiety, possibilities running through her mind as to what could follow my blunt and clumsy opener. Nothing good ever comes after those words.Ok, on to the second option, skirting round the houses "You know that girl we used to know..." and hope she sees the relevance. No, that's too obscure. Right that leaves the third way. I'll write her a note, leave it in her bag to find when she gets home, give her time to digest it all. But what if she never speaks to me again. There must be more than three ways...

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