**NEWS ITEMS FROM PREVIOUS YEARS ARE ARCHIVED BY THE WEBSITE EDITOR**
March 2023
March 19th
COMPETITION RESULTS:
Short Story - Title: 'The Way Ahead'
1st Jane Ashton
2nd Sue Russell
3rd Martin O'Donnell
Poem - "Tomorrow"
Winner - Julian Clarke
March 19th
COMPETITION RESULTS:
Short Story - Title: 'The Way Ahead'
1st Jane Ashton
2nd Sue Russell
3rd Martin O'Donnell
Poem - "Tomorrow"
Winner - Julian Clarke
February 2023
February 23rd
COMPETITION RESULTS:
Short Story - Title: 'The Night Shift'
1st Ruth Waterhouse
2nd Sue Russell
3rd Steve Baker
Poem - "Dancing in the Dark"
Winner - Sara Sykes
February 8th
Annual General Meeting
Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the Llandudno & District Writers
Held on 8/02/2023, at Trinity Community Centre, Llandudno, at 2pm.
Present
Iona Evans, Ruth Waterhouse, Jane Ashton, Julian Clarke, Geoff Hart, Andy Keep, Duncan Smith, Chris Hirst, Julie Bowker, Steve Baker.
1 Apologies for Absence
Received from Sara Sykes, Pam Crane, Maxine Burton, Sue Russell, Marlene Oliver.
2 Minutes of the AGM held on 9/02/2022
These had been circulated soon after the meeting and no comments received. The secretary apologised for having sent the wrong version in preparation for this meeting. These were accepted : proposed Chris Hirst, seconded Geoff Hart, unanimously.
2 Matters Arising
There were no matters raised.
3 Chairman’s Report
Andy Keep observed that it was a pleasure coming out of the Covid restrictions into the new normal. Embracing the new technology (Zoom) had been a lifeline which enabled the club to survive where many others had foundered. Thanks are due to Sara Lodge for providing the facility using her company’s Zoom licence.
Indeed, in some respects we had come out stronger with entries in the monthly competitions for both short stories and poems at an all-time high. Thanks are due to our judge, Ewen Arnold, for the quality and promptness of the judging, and to Pam Crane who for so long undertook the liaison role for the entries – a role now taken over by Geoff Hart. The quality of writing within the group is high with many members also having success in writing/publishing their own books or in external competitions and activities.
The club continues to fill a weekly short story spot on Bayside Radio (Wednesdays about 2.20pm): experience shows that not all short stories are suitable for transmission - sometimes due to content but also formatting- what works when read not always working when heard. Thanks are due to Pam Crane for fulfilling the liaison and editing roles from inception to recently. This role now undertaken by himself.
The pandemic had also led to changes in the venues for both the monthly general meetings and the critique group, both proving generally satisfactory.
The monthly general meeting has been a good balance of external and internal speakers and thanks are due to Duncan for arranging these and to those members who have put their time into the preparation of, and leading, sessions both in the past year and in the upcoming months.
Thanks generally to the committee and the new members - Jane Ashton taking over the production of Moving Finger from Geoff Hart, and Iona Evans coming on board as general member without specific responsibilities as yet.
Andy Keep reiterated the thanks to Pam Crane for all the work she has single-handedly undertaken over the last decade, roles now divided between three committee members. The committee expressed delight in her intention to continue maintaining the club website/ facebook page and taking as active a part as possible in the club activities. Pam Crane said she has hugely enjoyed contributing to Llandudno Writers Club for the past 12 years, and will do what she still can to support it.
Finally he thanked all members for their involvement in the club meetings and activities which make the club so successful.
4 Treasurer’s Report
Due to the change in the Membership year, the financial year now covers parts of two membership years. When taking into account the expected expenditure and income in the coming months before membership renewals are due, the income and expenditure should be roughly in balance, leaving a balance higher than the £500 anonymous donation received the previous year when it seemed that the club might be going into the red during the pandemic zoom meetings period.
The club Income and Expenditure for the year is attached.
Income and expenditure include Zoom meeting fees due and competition prizes not yet paid out at the time of last year’s AGM and annualised competition entry fees received to bring the timing of these in line with the membership fees.
Transferring the donation to our competition judge’s nominated charity in Sri Lanka incurred unexpected high costs, so future donations will be paid into his account in the UK, the second six monthly payment has been delayed whilst the IMF finalise a bail out for Sri Lanka which is likely to involve losses to Sri Lanka residents’ bank balances.
A final observation, a member led session leads to a positive income on the day of typically £24+, an external speaker typically to a net expenditure on the day of £20-. (both excluding hall costs)
5 Secretary’s Report
Both membership at 19 and attendance at monthly general and critique group meetings has remained healthy.
6 Programme Admin Report
Thanks to earlier reports this was short, Duncan expressed his thanks to the speakers who had led sessions in the last year, both internal and external. The external speakers having brought different aspects from their working environment into the club. Especially noteworthy was Emyr John from Theatre Clwyd who had continued his involvement with some members writing plays following on from his session.
Duncan expressed the wish that members would provide feedback promptly on sessions so that these opinions could be added to his own when he thanked speakers. Finding new speakers and topics for sessions was an ongoing task, and any suggestions from members would be welcome.
It was suggested that if our competition judge was ever visiting in the area that he might be approached to do a session on “character development”.
It was discussed whether our poets were being short changed – no sessions having been arranged on this topic. Steve Baker observed that relatively few members entered the monthly poem competition and when several years ago occasional sessions had been held they had been poorly attended. Though the membership had changed considerably in recent years. He wondered whether the poets would like to set up a group similar to the current critique group which does not cover poems. There were too few regular poets present to discuss this.
7 Bayside Radio Liaison
The management of our broadcasts is now with Andy, after a very rewarding couple of years working with Rev Jeff. Our stories have gone down well with the Bayside listeners.
Pam Crane is still happy to read if required.
The club short story slot on Bayside radio (unfortunately) falls on a Wednesday afternoon, (about 2.20pm) with similar sessions on football and fishing on the Tuesdays and Thursdays. This has been running successfully, though apart from, from Jeff who runs the afternoon shows on the radio, there is apparently no listener feedback. It was raised whether Jeff could be asked to solicit feedback at the end of the story rather than just going onto the next piece of music. Andy Keep has a common interest in football with Jeff and now has made face-to-face contact rather than just by phone and will discuss with him the way forward.
8 Moving Finger:
In June 2022 Pam Crane edited her final issue and handed the MF over to Geoff, who kindly took over for 6 months. Now Jane has edited her first issue, which is looking really good, and Pam wishes her all the best for many more to come.
9a Website:
As access to the club website is via Pam Crane's own account, she will carry on managing it as long as the club wants her to; please will members send her their news, meeting reports, competition results, etc. and she will post them online.
9b Facebook Page:
This is under-used. It could be a very active forum if more club members joined.
9c Competition Co-ordination
Pam Crane wrote: Geoff is now running the competition, liaising between members and his friend Ewen Arnold, our judge. We have enough subjects for the next couple of years. Ewen continues to greatly enjoy critiquing our stories and poems.
10 Election of Committee
Andy Keep introduced this topic by explaining if anyone wanted to become involved in running the club there was always the possibility to, by becoming a committee member without a specific task as he himself had, this year Iona Evans is doing this and Jane Ashton taking on responsibility for Moving Finger. There are also other role changes between existing committee members making the proposed committee:
Chairman/ Bayside Radio Liaison: Andy Keep
Secretary/Treasurer: Steve Baker
Programme Admin: Duncan Smith
Competition Co-ordination: Geoff Hart
Moving Finger Editor: Jane Ashton
General Member: Iona Evans
Proposed: Chris Hirst, Seconded: Ruth Waterhouse, elected en-masse unanimously.
11 Membership and attendance fees – 2023/24
The Committee proposal is to maintain membership and attendance fees at current levels subject to there being no change in venue costs -
proposed: Jane Ashton, seconded: Duncan Smith, was carried unanimously.
12 Venues
The Trinity Community Centre room is more spacious than the room in the Llandudno Library used before the pandemic and parking is easier. There have been occasions on which music from the Line Dancing group has been intrusive. They meet every second week so our meetings clash until there are three Wednesdays in the month , then don’t clash until there are again three Wednesdays in the month when clashes resume. There was also a clash with a further group which meant Line dancers had nowhere for their post session refreshments. We were approached to see whether we could rearrange our sessions to always alternate with the line dancers. The committee agreed to do so and the hall has been booked on this basis until July. The Secretary will circulate the meeting dates to all members. The committee will review then whether this has had an impact on attendance.
Alternative venues are hard to find, many were looked at as covid restrictions were being relaxed and no others suitable found. The Rhos on Sea Golf club room normally used by the critique group is not suitable for the general monthly meeting.
13 Future Programme
This had been discussed under the Programme Admin report earlier.
14 Internal Competition
The committee proposal was to maintain the entry fees and prizes for the monthly competition and the charitable donation to the judge’s charity at current levels, proposed by Geoff Hart, seconded by Ruth Waterhouse, carried unanimously.
The topics for the monthly competition are defined for the upcoming year. It was agreed that the entry date for the competition should remain the second Wednesday of the month, not the date of the monthly general meeting. This will need to be made clear to members and on the website.
13 Any Other Business
14 The meeting closed at 15h10.
February 23rd
COMPETITION RESULTS:
Short Story - Title: 'The Night Shift'
1st Ruth Waterhouse
2nd Sue Russell
3rd Steve Baker
Poem - "Dancing in the Dark"
Winner - Sara Sykes
February 8th
Annual General Meeting
Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the Llandudno & District Writers
Held on 8/02/2023, at Trinity Community Centre, Llandudno, at 2pm.
Present
Iona Evans, Ruth Waterhouse, Jane Ashton, Julian Clarke, Geoff Hart, Andy Keep, Duncan Smith, Chris Hirst, Julie Bowker, Steve Baker.
1 Apologies for Absence
Received from Sara Sykes, Pam Crane, Maxine Burton, Sue Russell, Marlene Oliver.
2 Minutes of the AGM held on 9/02/2022
These had been circulated soon after the meeting and no comments received. The secretary apologised for having sent the wrong version in preparation for this meeting. These were accepted : proposed Chris Hirst, seconded Geoff Hart, unanimously.
2 Matters Arising
There were no matters raised.
3 Chairman’s Report
Andy Keep observed that it was a pleasure coming out of the Covid restrictions into the new normal. Embracing the new technology (Zoom) had been a lifeline which enabled the club to survive where many others had foundered. Thanks are due to Sara Lodge for providing the facility using her company’s Zoom licence.
Indeed, in some respects we had come out stronger with entries in the monthly competitions for both short stories and poems at an all-time high. Thanks are due to our judge, Ewen Arnold, for the quality and promptness of the judging, and to Pam Crane who for so long undertook the liaison role for the entries – a role now taken over by Geoff Hart. The quality of writing within the group is high with many members also having success in writing/publishing their own books or in external competitions and activities.
The club continues to fill a weekly short story spot on Bayside Radio (Wednesdays about 2.20pm): experience shows that not all short stories are suitable for transmission - sometimes due to content but also formatting- what works when read not always working when heard. Thanks are due to Pam Crane for fulfilling the liaison and editing roles from inception to recently. This role now undertaken by himself.
The pandemic had also led to changes in the venues for both the monthly general meetings and the critique group, both proving generally satisfactory.
The monthly general meeting has been a good balance of external and internal speakers and thanks are due to Duncan for arranging these and to those members who have put their time into the preparation of, and leading, sessions both in the past year and in the upcoming months.
Thanks generally to the committee and the new members - Jane Ashton taking over the production of Moving Finger from Geoff Hart, and Iona Evans coming on board as general member without specific responsibilities as yet.
Andy Keep reiterated the thanks to Pam Crane for all the work she has single-handedly undertaken over the last decade, roles now divided between three committee members. The committee expressed delight in her intention to continue maintaining the club website/ facebook page and taking as active a part as possible in the club activities. Pam Crane said she has hugely enjoyed contributing to Llandudno Writers Club for the past 12 years, and will do what she still can to support it.
Finally he thanked all members for their involvement in the club meetings and activities which make the club so successful.
4 Treasurer’s Report
Due to the change in the Membership year, the financial year now covers parts of two membership years. When taking into account the expected expenditure and income in the coming months before membership renewals are due, the income and expenditure should be roughly in balance, leaving a balance higher than the £500 anonymous donation received the previous year when it seemed that the club might be going into the red during the pandemic zoom meetings period.
The club Income and Expenditure for the year is attached.
Income and expenditure include Zoom meeting fees due and competition prizes not yet paid out at the time of last year’s AGM and annualised competition entry fees received to bring the timing of these in line with the membership fees.
Transferring the donation to our competition judge’s nominated charity in Sri Lanka incurred unexpected high costs, so future donations will be paid into his account in the UK, the second six monthly payment has been delayed whilst the IMF finalise a bail out for Sri Lanka which is likely to involve losses to Sri Lanka residents’ bank balances.
A final observation, a member led session leads to a positive income on the day of typically £24+, an external speaker typically to a net expenditure on the day of £20-. (both excluding hall costs)
5 Secretary’s Report
Both membership at 19 and attendance at monthly general and critique group meetings has remained healthy.
6 Programme Admin Report
Thanks to earlier reports this was short, Duncan expressed his thanks to the speakers who had led sessions in the last year, both internal and external. The external speakers having brought different aspects from their working environment into the club. Especially noteworthy was Emyr John from Theatre Clwyd who had continued his involvement with some members writing plays following on from his session.
Duncan expressed the wish that members would provide feedback promptly on sessions so that these opinions could be added to his own when he thanked speakers. Finding new speakers and topics for sessions was an ongoing task, and any suggestions from members would be welcome.
It was suggested that if our competition judge was ever visiting in the area that he might be approached to do a session on “character development”.
It was discussed whether our poets were being short changed – no sessions having been arranged on this topic. Steve Baker observed that relatively few members entered the monthly poem competition and when several years ago occasional sessions had been held they had been poorly attended. Though the membership had changed considerably in recent years. He wondered whether the poets would like to set up a group similar to the current critique group which does not cover poems. There were too few regular poets present to discuss this.
7 Bayside Radio Liaison
The management of our broadcasts is now with Andy, after a very rewarding couple of years working with Rev Jeff. Our stories have gone down well with the Bayside listeners.
Pam Crane is still happy to read if required.
The club short story slot on Bayside radio (unfortunately) falls on a Wednesday afternoon, (about 2.20pm) with similar sessions on football and fishing on the Tuesdays and Thursdays. This has been running successfully, though apart from, from Jeff who runs the afternoon shows on the radio, there is apparently no listener feedback. It was raised whether Jeff could be asked to solicit feedback at the end of the story rather than just going onto the next piece of music. Andy Keep has a common interest in football with Jeff and now has made face-to-face contact rather than just by phone and will discuss with him the way forward.
8 Moving Finger:
In June 2022 Pam Crane edited her final issue and handed the MF over to Geoff, who kindly took over for 6 months. Now Jane has edited her first issue, which is looking really good, and Pam wishes her all the best for many more to come.
9a Website:
As access to the club website is via Pam Crane's own account, she will carry on managing it as long as the club wants her to; please will members send her their news, meeting reports, competition results, etc. and she will post them online.
9b Facebook Page:
This is under-used. It could be a very active forum if more club members joined.
9c Competition Co-ordination
Pam Crane wrote: Geoff is now running the competition, liaising between members and his friend Ewen Arnold, our judge. We have enough subjects for the next couple of years. Ewen continues to greatly enjoy critiquing our stories and poems.
10 Election of Committee
Andy Keep introduced this topic by explaining if anyone wanted to become involved in running the club there was always the possibility to, by becoming a committee member without a specific task as he himself had, this year Iona Evans is doing this and Jane Ashton taking on responsibility for Moving Finger. There are also other role changes between existing committee members making the proposed committee:
Chairman/ Bayside Radio Liaison: Andy Keep
Secretary/Treasurer: Steve Baker
Programme Admin: Duncan Smith
Competition Co-ordination: Geoff Hart
Moving Finger Editor: Jane Ashton
General Member: Iona Evans
Proposed: Chris Hirst, Seconded: Ruth Waterhouse, elected en-masse unanimously.
11 Membership and attendance fees – 2023/24
The Committee proposal is to maintain membership and attendance fees at current levels subject to there being no change in venue costs -
proposed: Jane Ashton, seconded: Duncan Smith, was carried unanimously.
12 Venues
The Trinity Community Centre room is more spacious than the room in the Llandudno Library used before the pandemic and parking is easier. There have been occasions on which music from the Line Dancing group has been intrusive. They meet every second week so our meetings clash until there are three Wednesdays in the month , then don’t clash until there are again three Wednesdays in the month when clashes resume. There was also a clash with a further group which meant Line dancers had nowhere for their post session refreshments. We were approached to see whether we could rearrange our sessions to always alternate with the line dancers. The committee agreed to do so and the hall has been booked on this basis until July. The Secretary will circulate the meeting dates to all members. The committee will review then whether this has had an impact on attendance.
Alternative venues are hard to find, many were looked at as covid restrictions were being relaxed and no others suitable found. The Rhos on Sea Golf club room normally used by the critique group is not suitable for the general monthly meeting.
13 Future Programme
This had been discussed under the Programme Admin report earlier.
14 Internal Competition
The committee proposal was to maintain the entry fees and prizes for the monthly competition and the charitable donation to the judge’s charity at current levels, proposed by Geoff Hart, seconded by Ruth Waterhouse, carried unanimously.
The topics for the monthly competition are defined for the upcoming year. It was agreed that the entry date for the competition should remain the second Wednesday of the month, not the date of the monthly general meeting. This will need to be made clear to members and on the website.
13 Any Other Business
14 The meeting closed at 15h10.
January 2023
January 16th
COMPETITION RESULTS:
Short Story - Title: 'The One and Only'
1st Ruth Waterhouse
2nd Sara Sykes
3rd Andy Keep
Poem - "Unique"
Winner - Pam Crane
January 11th
Ten members met at the Trinity Centre on 11th January for a session led by Sara Lodge. This proved to be a challenging and exciting presentation, rooted in Sara’s training in psychotherapy. She explained the ‘drama triangle’ and the way that characters morph and develop within the three roles of victim, persecutor and rescuer. It was noted by members that this approach seemed to fit with other presentations we’d received rather than contradict it. It also supported the basic premise that lead characters need to develop and change as a story progresses.
James Bond was used as an illustration! Several members indicated that they intended to use and develop some of the writing during exercises at a later date.
January 16th
COMPETITION RESULTS:
Short Story - Title: 'The One and Only'
1st Ruth Waterhouse
2nd Sara Sykes
3rd Andy Keep
Poem - "Unique"
Winner - Pam Crane
January 11th
Ten members met at the Trinity Centre on 11th January for a session led by Sara Lodge. This proved to be a challenging and exciting presentation, rooted in Sara’s training in psychotherapy. She explained the ‘drama triangle’ and the way that characters morph and develop within the three roles of victim, persecutor and rescuer. It was noted by members that this approach seemed to fit with other presentations we’d received rather than contradict it. It also supported the basic premise that lead characters need to develop and change as a story progresses.
James Bond was used as an illustration! Several members indicated that they intended to use and develop some of the writing during exercises at a later date.
December 2022
December 20th
COMPETITION RESULTS:
Short Story - First words: 'There were only three left.'
1st Ruth Waterhouse: "Our Lady of the Coats"
2nd Pam Crane: "After the Fox"
3rd Jane Ashton: "Steph"
Poem - "Just One More"
Winner - Sara Sykes
December 14th
Today was the annual Christmas Social with quizzes and refreshments, much enjoyed by all present.
December 20th
COMPETITION RESULTS:
Short Story - First words: 'There were only three left.'
1st Ruth Waterhouse: "Our Lady of the Coats"
2nd Pam Crane: "After the Fox"
3rd Jane Ashton: "Steph"
Poem - "Just One More"
Winner - Sara Sykes
December 14th
Today was the annual Christmas Social with quizzes and refreshments, much enjoyed by all present.
November 2022
November 14th
COMPETITION RESULTS:
Short Story - Theme: DNA
1st Ruth Waterhouse - "Buddug"
2nd Andy Keep - "DNA"
3rd Iona Evans - "Cracking the Shell"
Poem - "Who Do You Think You Are?""
Winner - Euwan Hodgson
November 9th
At today's monthly meeting of the club, Duncan Smith and Andy Keep led the session for members (there were eleven present.)
First, Duncan led us on the topic of 'writing compelling dialogue’. As well as group discussion, he provided a detailed handout as a guide. Working together members then analysed a scene from Duncan’s play to try to determine what guidance a director might give actors interpreting the various roles. The group found this challenging but rewarding.
Andy's session focused on ‘writing action sequences’. Again there was good input from members on the topic, drawing on their considerable experienced. Andy referred to information from a ‘Masterclass’ session and noted that many of its key points had been identified by the group. An exercise to supply an alternative ending to a short story from Chris Hirst was undertaken with gusto and provided a wide range of appropriate scenarios.
November 14th
COMPETITION RESULTS:
Short Story - Theme: DNA
1st Ruth Waterhouse - "Buddug"
2nd Andy Keep - "DNA"
3rd Iona Evans - "Cracking the Shell"
Poem - "Who Do You Think You Are?""
Winner - Euwan Hodgson
November 9th
At today's monthly meeting of the club, Duncan Smith and Andy Keep led the session for members (there were eleven present.)
First, Duncan led us on the topic of 'writing compelling dialogue’. As well as group discussion, he provided a detailed handout as a guide. Working together members then analysed a scene from Duncan’s play to try to determine what guidance a director might give actors interpreting the various roles. The group found this challenging but rewarding.
Andy's session focused on ‘writing action sequences’. Again there was good input from members on the topic, drawing on their considerable experienced. Andy referred to information from a ‘Masterclass’ session and noted that many of its key points had been identified by the group. An exercise to supply an alternative ending to a short story from Chris Hirst was undertaken with gusto and provided a wide range of appropriate scenarios.
October 2022
October 23rd
Ewen, our competition judge, has written for us a most helpful piece on poetry.
Here it is:
Things that can ruin a good poem
A good poem is a coherent whole. It must hang together. Not incidentally, this makes writing long poems harder than writing short ones! And also not incidentally, this applies perhaps even more to free poems than rhyming ones.
What does it mean ‘to hang together’? What does it mean to be a coherent whole? I’m using the word coherence in a non technical, non linguistic sense. It means something about the way the parts work together, connect together, to make a whole. And I’m using the word parts pretty loosely too. Parts could mean the metaphor(s), the alliteration, the stanzas, the vocabulary, the rhymes, the meter, the topic, and so on. For me, as I say some poems out loud there are things which jar, which stick out as different (and not deliberately) This could be a word (its meaning, its feel, or connotations don’t seem appropriate), the rhythm of a line or stanza, a rhyme, etc. This will hopefully be clearer in what follows.
I found this beauty which you may enjoy!
So what can ruin a good poem?
1 Awkward Alliteration
Alliteration can be awkward if it doesn’t roll off the tongue. It can even become much more like a tongue twister, which, I would argue, has little place in poetry, although it can be great fun, especially with kids. There is a delicious discussion of this at Jangle as a Jay, where he uses the term awful alliteration! Unless alliteration is the point of the poem, it should be ‘natural’. My own rule in my own poetry is the less the better!
2 Rhymes that don’t work
Rhymes and near rhymes form a pattern and help the poem cohere. If you use rhymes they should either be absolutely perfect, or clear and appealing near rhymes. And they should be used consistently, (unless for effect, eg humour). I have noticed quite a few poems which start off with a rhyme scheme and then abandon it half way through.
3 Mismatched parts
Formal parts. The form chosen for the poem doesn’t match the topic, the theme clashes with the rhythm, the metaphors don’t match each other, or are inappropriate, etc.
Less formal parts. Allusions that aren’t appropriate to the topic (what the story is ‘about’) or theme (why the story is important),
4 Irregular meter
Some forms demand a specific and exact meter. Many forms don’t, but they should still flow. Again exceptions should be deliberate and for effect.
5 An unclear topic
The topic should be clear, interesting and there should be a point to the poem, one which relates to the purpose of the writer.
We can ask ourselves: Why am I writing this poem? To practice something? To impress myself or others? To inform? To entertain myself or others? To tell a story? To capture a moment? To persuade someone? To describe something? To teach? It might be worth asking whether a poem is the best vehicle for what you want to do.
6 Faulty Forms
If we adopt a particular form for our poem, it should follow that form exactly. (With the possible exception of forms imported from other (very different) languages, such as haiku – the Japanese language conveys less information per syllable than English, so strict adherence to the form can result in ‘overloaded’ haiku).
7 Changing horses midair
Starting with one metaphor and extending throughout the poem until suddenly it changes for no apparent reason.
8 Things that stick out like a sore leg
This is actually what a lot of these points here are about. And this can apply to any aspect of the writing, grammar, choice of vocabulary, writer’s viewpoint, style, etc. Of course, you may choose to make part of what you are writing contrast sharply for effect with the rest of a passage, and that can be really startling, but I’m talking about things which are different in tone, or mood, or feel from the rest and do not appear to be there for effect. To give an example at word level, the piece of writing is generally at this point negative, pessimistic and gloomy, and then the word tingling is used to describe an aspect of the atmosphere. It doesn’t fit. It has all the wrong connotations.
9 Clichés
As one writer I consulted on this said ‘Avoid it like the plague’, ‘Off with its head!’.
10 Jarring sounds
Poetry is made to be read out loud. It should therefore sound good to the hearer/speaker. Say your poems out loud to feel how they sound. Poetry is akin to music not lecture.
11 Telling too much
What’s the difference between “A high window let in alley light/ to a two-room apartment” and “Our home situation was dingy/ and constricted”? Let the reader see/feel what you are trying to convey rather than telling them. As with story writing, concrete details win the day. (This example from https://joanneepp.com/2011/how-to-ruin-a-perfectly-good-poem-and-why/ )
October 19th
COMPETITION RESULTS:
Short Story - Title: 'Killing Weather'
1st Jane Ashton
2nd Sara Sykes
3rd Duncan Smith
Poem - "Storm"
Winner - Sara Sykes
October 12th
Today, Ruth Waterhouse gave us a workshop on Magical Realism.
We looked at the history and meaning of Magical Realism. We noted that the term was first used in the 1920s to refer to a movement within the visual arts and was later adopted by writers to refer to a literary genre where realistic narrative is combined with the surreal, the magical and the fantastic. A key characteristic is that magical elements of the story are presented as normal and taken for granted. The settings are familiar, but events take place which do not accord with everyday expectations.
The Argentinian author, Jorge Luis Borges, is one of the first to write in this way. Many Latin American writers have been attracted to the genre partly because it gives an opportunity for social and political criticism. Writers such as Isabel Allende and Gabriel Garcia Marquez fall into this tradition.
Magical Realism is a challenging but rewarding genre.
Neil Gaiman’s ‘The Ocean at the End of the Lane’ might provide a good starting point for readers.
Writers might like to research the topic via the internet. There are many interesting workshops available.
October 23rd
Ewen, our competition judge, has written for us a most helpful piece on poetry.
Here it is:
Things that can ruin a good poem
A good poem is a coherent whole. It must hang together. Not incidentally, this makes writing long poems harder than writing short ones! And also not incidentally, this applies perhaps even more to free poems than rhyming ones.
What does it mean ‘to hang together’? What does it mean to be a coherent whole? I’m using the word coherence in a non technical, non linguistic sense. It means something about the way the parts work together, connect together, to make a whole. And I’m using the word parts pretty loosely too. Parts could mean the metaphor(s), the alliteration, the stanzas, the vocabulary, the rhymes, the meter, the topic, and so on. For me, as I say some poems out loud there are things which jar, which stick out as different (and not deliberately) This could be a word (its meaning, its feel, or connotations don’t seem appropriate), the rhythm of a line or stanza, a rhyme, etc. This will hopefully be clearer in what follows.
I found this beauty which you may enjoy!
So what can ruin a good poem?
1 Awkward Alliteration
Alliteration can be awkward if it doesn’t roll off the tongue. It can even become much more like a tongue twister, which, I would argue, has little place in poetry, although it can be great fun, especially with kids. There is a delicious discussion of this at Jangle as a Jay, where he uses the term awful alliteration! Unless alliteration is the point of the poem, it should be ‘natural’. My own rule in my own poetry is the less the better!
2 Rhymes that don’t work
Rhymes and near rhymes form a pattern and help the poem cohere. If you use rhymes they should either be absolutely perfect, or clear and appealing near rhymes. And they should be used consistently, (unless for effect, eg humour). I have noticed quite a few poems which start off with a rhyme scheme and then abandon it half way through.
3 Mismatched parts
Formal parts. The form chosen for the poem doesn’t match the topic, the theme clashes with the rhythm, the metaphors don’t match each other, or are inappropriate, etc.
Less formal parts. Allusions that aren’t appropriate to the topic (what the story is ‘about’) or theme (why the story is important),
4 Irregular meter
Some forms demand a specific and exact meter. Many forms don’t, but they should still flow. Again exceptions should be deliberate and for effect.
5 An unclear topic
The topic should be clear, interesting and there should be a point to the poem, one which relates to the purpose of the writer.
We can ask ourselves: Why am I writing this poem? To practice something? To impress myself or others? To inform? To entertain myself or others? To tell a story? To capture a moment? To persuade someone? To describe something? To teach? It might be worth asking whether a poem is the best vehicle for what you want to do.
6 Faulty Forms
If we adopt a particular form for our poem, it should follow that form exactly. (With the possible exception of forms imported from other (very different) languages, such as haiku – the Japanese language conveys less information per syllable than English, so strict adherence to the form can result in ‘overloaded’ haiku).
7 Changing horses midair
Starting with one metaphor and extending throughout the poem until suddenly it changes for no apparent reason.
8 Things that stick out like a sore leg
This is actually what a lot of these points here are about. And this can apply to any aspect of the writing, grammar, choice of vocabulary, writer’s viewpoint, style, etc. Of course, you may choose to make part of what you are writing contrast sharply for effect with the rest of a passage, and that can be really startling, but I’m talking about things which are different in tone, or mood, or feel from the rest and do not appear to be there for effect. To give an example at word level, the piece of writing is generally at this point negative, pessimistic and gloomy, and then the word tingling is used to describe an aspect of the atmosphere. It doesn’t fit. It has all the wrong connotations.
9 Clichés
As one writer I consulted on this said ‘Avoid it like the plague’, ‘Off with its head!’.
10 Jarring sounds
Poetry is made to be read out loud. It should therefore sound good to the hearer/speaker. Say your poems out loud to feel how they sound. Poetry is akin to music not lecture.
11 Telling too much
What’s the difference between “A high window let in alley light/ to a two-room apartment” and “Our home situation was dingy/ and constricted”? Let the reader see/feel what you are trying to convey rather than telling them. As with story writing, concrete details win the day. (This example from https://joanneepp.com/2011/how-to-ruin-a-perfectly-good-poem-and-why/ )
October 19th
COMPETITION RESULTS:
Short Story - Title: 'Killing Weather'
1st Jane Ashton
2nd Sara Sykes
3rd Duncan Smith
Poem - "Storm"
Winner - Sara Sykes
October 12th
Today, Ruth Waterhouse gave us a workshop on Magical Realism.
We looked at the history and meaning of Magical Realism. We noted that the term was first used in the 1920s to refer to a movement within the visual arts and was later adopted by writers to refer to a literary genre where realistic narrative is combined with the surreal, the magical and the fantastic. A key characteristic is that magical elements of the story are presented as normal and taken for granted. The settings are familiar, but events take place which do not accord with everyday expectations.
The Argentinian author, Jorge Luis Borges, is one of the first to write in this way. Many Latin American writers have been attracted to the genre partly because it gives an opportunity for social and political criticism. Writers such as Isabel Allende and Gabriel Garcia Marquez fall into this tradition.
Magical Realism is a challenging but rewarding genre.
Neil Gaiman’s ‘The Ocean at the End of the Lane’ might provide a good starting point for readers.
Writers might like to research the topic via the internet. There are many interesting workshops available.
September 2022
September 20th
COMPETITION RESULTS:
Short Story - First words: 'S/He had always known s/he was special...'
1st Sue Russell 'Amsterdam Hilton 1969'
2nd Andy Keep 'If Only ...'
3rd Pam Crane 'Lucy In The Sky'
Poem - "Sun"
Winner - Iona Evans
September 14th
Of course we had no meeting or competition in August, so today was the start of our new Meetings Year. And it was very well attended, with only three absences due to a much-needed holiday or other commitment. And we had a visitor, too, who was made very welcome, and we hope will return.
A sense of normality is coming back; none of us wore masks this month or worried too much about social distancing. Fingers crossed!
Our speaker was Ciron Gruffydd, who took us through the necessary steps of Writing for Television, with an emphasis on children's entertainment. Ciron works for Rondo Media who produce the S4C TV series Rwnd a Rwnd, so he is well qualified and experienced. First, we all talked about the books or films that had fired our imaginations in childhood; then he really got us going , asking us each to create our own superhero. This exercise generated more discussion and a lot of amusement. Ciron had prepared handouts on the steps to take when planning and writing stories to be broadcast, and we ended the afternoon with a very useful conversation on the difference between writing for a reader and writing for a radio audience (our Chairman had promised this ... we needed it as we now work every week with Bayside Radio!)
So it was a very interesting and enjoyable meeting, and I'm sure everyone would be very happy to welcome Ciron again.
September 20th
COMPETITION RESULTS:
Short Story - First words: 'S/He had always known s/he was special...'
1st Sue Russell 'Amsterdam Hilton 1969'
2nd Andy Keep 'If Only ...'
3rd Pam Crane 'Lucy In The Sky'
Poem - "Sun"
Winner - Iona Evans
September 14th
Of course we had no meeting or competition in August, so today was the start of our new Meetings Year. And it was very well attended, with only three absences due to a much-needed holiday or other commitment. And we had a visitor, too, who was made very welcome, and we hope will return.
A sense of normality is coming back; none of us wore masks this month or worried too much about social distancing. Fingers crossed!
Our speaker was Ciron Gruffydd, who took us through the necessary steps of Writing for Television, with an emphasis on children's entertainment. Ciron works for Rondo Media who produce the S4C TV series Rwnd a Rwnd, so he is well qualified and experienced. First, we all talked about the books or films that had fired our imaginations in childhood; then he really got us going , asking us each to create our own superhero. This exercise generated more discussion and a lot of amusement. Ciron had prepared handouts on the steps to take when planning and writing stories to be broadcast, and we ended the afternoon with a very useful conversation on the difference between writing for a reader and writing for a radio audience (our Chairman had promised this ... we needed it as we now work every week with Bayside Radio!)
So it was a very interesting and enjoyable meeting, and I'm sure everyone would be very happy to welcome Ciron again.
July 2022
***This month our judge Ewen sends his apologies for only ranking the entries; he is on holiday without his computer, so has been unable to add the usual commentaries to our work.
COMPETITION RESULTS:
Short Story - Title: "Adam and Eve"
1st Pam Crane
2nd Iona Evans
3rd Steve Baker
Poem - "Ancestors"
Winner - Euwan Hodgson
July 13th
Our speaker today was Sian Northey on 'Transforming Real Life Events into Fiction'. It was attended by members in the room and on Zoom. Sian very kindly did her best to connect the two groups by turning the laptop so that they could see each other, but it didn't improve the sound, which in the Trinity Centre room is very echoey, making all speech apart from the Speaker difficult to follow by Zoom participants. We spent the afernoon on a number of exercises, writing events in our own lives or known history as fictional pieces. Some were read out, but there wasn't time for all of us.
***This month our judge Ewen sends his apologies for only ranking the entries; he is on holiday without his computer, so has been unable to add the usual commentaries to our work.
COMPETITION RESULTS:
Short Story - Title: "Adam and Eve"
1st Pam Crane
2nd Iona Evans
3rd Steve Baker
Poem - "Ancestors"
Winner - Euwan Hodgson
July 13th
Our speaker today was Sian Northey on 'Transforming Real Life Events into Fiction'. It was attended by members in the room and on Zoom. Sian very kindly did her best to connect the two groups by turning the laptop so that they could see each other, but it didn't improve the sound, which in the Trinity Centre room is very echoey, making all speech apart from the Speaker difficult to follow by Zoom participants. We spent the afernoon on a number of exercises, writing events in our own lives or known history as fictional pieces. Some were read out, but there wasn't time for all of us.
June 2022
June 28th
At a Committee Meeting held via Zoom today, it was confirmed that Geoffrey Hart will take over as Editor of The Moving Finger as from the July 2022 iaaue, Pam Crane having stepped down after eleven years, owing to pressure of work.
COMPETITION RESULTS:
Short Story - To contain the word 'rainbow'
1st Pam Crane - 'Spectra'
2nd Andy Keep - 'On the Shoulders of Giants'
3rd Duncan Smith - 'Somewhere Over ...'
Poem - "Rainbows"
Winner - Pam Crane
June 8th
Our speaker at the June meeting was Emyr John onWriting for the Stage.
Emyr has been Creative Engagement Associate at Theatr Clwyd for sixteen years, and runs writing workshops. He proved to be an engaging and inspiring speaker, taking us through the break-down of a stage play into its themes, its worlds, and the relationships that generate the drama. He made very clear the different requirements of plays written for theatre, radio, and film/TV, and the freedoms available to the stage dramatist that TV writers for example didn't have. He's a man on a mission to encourage new Welsh playwrights, as there are currently so very few, and urged us to send directly to him any stage play we might write, as it would most assuredly be welcomed and read, with feedback. A 3-act play is a better dramatic structure than a 2-act piece; its 'worlds' need to be kept simple so that set designers are free to do their job, and text needs no instructions for the actors - they need to be free to interpret and develop character. Above all, the would-be dramatist needs a viewpoint, something we really want and need to say, especially if it's different and risky. There are stories everywhere that beg to be turned into plays! Then we need to present the issues without 'wagging a finger' at our audience.
Emyr reiterated his offer to read and feed back any play written by members. It is best to avoid the subjects of Covid or dementia/Alzheimers as topics, as so many were written during lockdown. His advice is to submit a complete play, not a synopsis or even the first of two acts. Length is not particularly important, since there are plenty of opportunities out there for one act plays of say 40 minutes, as well as two act plays. But anything really short is unlikely to get a worthwhile message across. It should be in standard playwright format - look this up on the web. An excellent afternoon.
June 28th
At a Committee Meeting held via Zoom today, it was confirmed that Geoffrey Hart will take over as Editor of The Moving Finger as from the July 2022 iaaue, Pam Crane having stepped down after eleven years, owing to pressure of work.
COMPETITION RESULTS:
Short Story - To contain the word 'rainbow'
1st Pam Crane - 'Spectra'
2nd Andy Keep - 'On the Shoulders of Giants'
3rd Duncan Smith - 'Somewhere Over ...'
Poem - "Rainbows"
Winner - Pam Crane
June 8th
Our speaker at the June meeting was Emyr John onWriting for the Stage.
Emyr has been Creative Engagement Associate at Theatr Clwyd for sixteen years, and runs writing workshops. He proved to be an engaging and inspiring speaker, taking us through the break-down of a stage play into its themes, its worlds, and the relationships that generate the drama. He made very clear the different requirements of plays written for theatre, radio, and film/TV, and the freedoms available to the stage dramatist that TV writers for example didn't have. He's a man on a mission to encourage new Welsh playwrights, as there are currently so very few, and urged us to send directly to him any stage play we might write, as it would most assuredly be welcomed and read, with feedback. A 3-act play is a better dramatic structure than a 2-act piece; its 'worlds' need to be kept simple so that set designers are free to do their job, and text needs no instructions for the actors - they need to be free to interpret and develop character. Above all, the would-be dramatist needs a viewpoint, something we really want and need to say, especially if it's different and risky. There are stories everywhere that beg to be turned into plays! Then we need to present the issues without 'wagging a finger' at our audience.
Emyr reiterated his offer to read and feed back any play written by members. It is best to avoid the subjects of Covid or dementia/Alzheimers as topics, as so many were written during lockdown. His advice is to submit a complete play, not a synopsis or even the first of two acts. Length is not particularly important, since there are plenty of opportunities out there for one act plays of say 40 minutes, as well as two act plays. But anything really short is unlikely to get a worthwhile message across. It should be in standard playwright format - look this up on the web. An excellent afternoon.
May 2022
COMPETITION RESULTS:
Short Story - Title: "Dead Ringer"
1st Sue Russell
2nd Martin O'Donnell
3rd Pam Crane
Poem - "Twins"
Winner - Martin O'Donnell
May 11th
Today we welcomed Helen Lee to our monthly meeting. She has worked for a number of years with BBC radio as a producer, mainly on factual programmes such as Woman's Hour, You and Yours and Kaleidoscope, and gave us a most interesting interactive workshop on 'Writing for Radio.' She suggested that we each bring with us a 300-word piece about our own life, which proved to be quite a challenge and resulted in much helpful discussion. Points raised included these: we need to remember we are painting a picture in words, and as the listener doesn't fully tune in until the second line or so of a story, we need to craft our first sentences with care, slightly delaying the most attention-grabbing words until just after the opening. Radio is a very intimate medium; we need to write as if we are speaking to just one person, and in short sentences that are more easily followed (and help the reader with breathing!) Nobody wants to be struggling through labyrinthine sentences full of sub-clauses and redundant adverbs. Likewise, in dialogue, there should be little need for 'he said' or 'she exclaimed' etc, as a good reader will distinguish between voices. Without the constraints and distractions of a visual medium like film and TV, the writer is free to be far more spontaneous and imaginative. We were all encouraged to read aloud everything we write as this can only improve our writing skills; and to consider sending stories in to the BBC Writers' Room, as they are always on the hunt for new material. https://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom
Thank you, Helen, for a most enjoyable and rewarding afternoon!
Pam Crane
COMPETITION RESULTS:
Short Story - Title: "Dead Ringer"
1st Sue Russell
2nd Martin O'Donnell
3rd Pam Crane
Poem - "Twins"
Winner - Martin O'Donnell
May 11th
Today we welcomed Helen Lee to our monthly meeting. She has worked for a number of years with BBC radio as a producer, mainly on factual programmes such as Woman's Hour, You and Yours and Kaleidoscope, and gave us a most interesting interactive workshop on 'Writing for Radio.' She suggested that we each bring with us a 300-word piece about our own life, which proved to be quite a challenge and resulted in much helpful discussion. Points raised included these: we need to remember we are painting a picture in words, and as the listener doesn't fully tune in until the second line or so of a story, we need to craft our first sentences with care, slightly delaying the most attention-grabbing words until just after the opening. Radio is a very intimate medium; we need to write as if we are speaking to just one person, and in short sentences that are more easily followed (and help the reader with breathing!) Nobody wants to be struggling through labyrinthine sentences full of sub-clauses and redundant adverbs. Likewise, in dialogue, there should be little need for 'he said' or 'she exclaimed' etc, as a good reader will distinguish between voices. Without the constraints and distractions of a visual medium like film and TV, the writer is free to be far more spontaneous and imaginative. We were all encouraged to read aloud everything we write as this can only improve our writing skills; and to consider sending stories in to the BBC Writers' Room, as they are always on the hunt for new material. https://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom
Thank you, Helen, for a most enjoyable and rewarding afternoon!
Pam Crane
April 2022
COMPETITION RESULTS:
Short Story - Title: "Eleonora"
1st Steve Baker
2nd Jane Ashton
3rd Sue Russell
Poem - "Girl"
Winner - Iona Evans
April 13th
Karen Ankers was our very welcome speaker for April, her theme, Shaping Plot Lines.
She led the Writers Group through a very informative session on the subject, whether for short stories or novels. Opening with a discussion on whether people are ‘Plotters’ – those who plan the piece in meticulous detail beforehand – or ‘Pantsters’ – those who let the story develop intuitively, the group explored the pros and cons of each approach.
The core of the session concentrated on the use of the 3 Act structure advocated by Jessica Brody. Act 1 is the Set Up which introduces the main character revealing their major flaw or conflict. Act 2 is the reverse of Act 1 detailing how the central character tries to deal with the flaw or conflict, only to make it worse and Act 3 moves towards how the character finally tries to resolve the flaw.
Using a number of interactive exercises which included members ‘hot seating’ a main character with key questions about themselves, writing a critical incident for a main character and penning a ‘redundant’ notice to their personal ‘writing guru’, the group enjoyed applying the various principles and processes of plotting story lines. A very informative and highly practical session thoroughly enjoyed by everyone.
Duncan Smith
It was great to welcome Karen back to our April meeting. As a previous judge of our monthly competition for over two years it was excellent to see her and hear a little about the PhD in creative writing that she intends to submit in July.
As someone who has seen two full-length novels through to the end I would have gained immensely from hearing her presentation on developing plot lines before starting either! She went though the principles of the Three Act structure without making it seem like a straightjacket. There was room, she said for those who plot and those who don’t.
As might be expected she was keen to involve all the group, including those online, in a number of exercises. Her questionnaire for principal characters is certainly something I’ll use if I start novel number three.
Andy Keep
COMPETITION RESULTS:
Short Story - Title: "Eleonora"
1st Steve Baker
2nd Jane Ashton
3rd Sue Russell
Poem - "Girl"
Winner - Iona Evans
April 13th
Karen Ankers was our very welcome speaker for April, her theme, Shaping Plot Lines.
She led the Writers Group through a very informative session on the subject, whether for short stories or novels. Opening with a discussion on whether people are ‘Plotters’ – those who plan the piece in meticulous detail beforehand – or ‘Pantsters’ – those who let the story develop intuitively, the group explored the pros and cons of each approach.
The core of the session concentrated on the use of the 3 Act structure advocated by Jessica Brody. Act 1 is the Set Up which introduces the main character revealing their major flaw or conflict. Act 2 is the reverse of Act 1 detailing how the central character tries to deal with the flaw or conflict, only to make it worse and Act 3 moves towards how the character finally tries to resolve the flaw.
Using a number of interactive exercises which included members ‘hot seating’ a main character with key questions about themselves, writing a critical incident for a main character and penning a ‘redundant’ notice to their personal ‘writing guru’, the group enjoyed applying the various principles and processes of plotting story lines. A very informative and highly practical session thoroughly enjoyed by everyone.
Duncan Smith
It was great to welcome Karen back to our April meeting. As a previous judge of our monthly competition for over two years it was excellent to see her and hear a little about the PhD in creative writing that she intends to submit in July.
As someone who has seen two full-length novels through to the end I would have gained immensely from hearing her presentation on developing plot lines before starting either! She went though the principles of the Three Act structure without making it seem like a straightjacket. There was room, she said for those who plot and those who don’t.
As might be expected she was keen to involve all the group, including those online, in a number of exercises. Her questionnaire for principal characters is certainly something I’ll use if I start novel number three.
Andy Keep
March 2022
March
COMPETITION RESULTS:
Short Story - Theme: "Invasion"
1st Sue Russell - 'Invasion'
2nd Ruth Waterhouse - 'Moth Traps'
3rd Chris Hirst - 'Invasion'
Poem - "Invasion"
Winner - Iona Evans
March 9th
This month's session on Memoirs, led by Geoff Hart, took place on 9th March ’22 at the Trinity Centre. It was the first face to face meeting since the previous November.
Geoff is well qualified to lead a session on memoirs, having published two such volumes with a third, ‘Cricket, My Brother and Me’ due out later this year.
After establishing the difference between memoirs and autobiography, Geoff led the group through a number of aspects of memoir writing, including; humour, the role of fiction and emotion and the reliability of memory. All members had been given homework to identify an area they might write about and the group size enabled a number of interactive sessions for members to write and speak on the topic.
Even though there was little experience of memoir writing within the group, the session brought out many examples of suitable areas and themes that individuals could develop further if they wished.
It was a most enjoyable and revealing session.
Andy Keep
March
COMPETITION RESULTS:
Short Story - Theme: "Invasion"
1st Sue Russell - 'Invasion'
2nd Ruth Waterhouse - 'Moth Traps'
3rd Chris Hirst - 'Invasion'
Poem - "Invasion"
Winner - Iona Evans
March 9th
This month's session on Memoirs, led by Geoff Hart, took place on 9th March ’22 at the Trinity Centre. It was the first face to face meeting since the previous November.
Geoff is well qualified to lead a session on memoirs, having published two such volumes with a third, ‘Cricket, My Brother and Me’ due out later this year.
After establishing the difference between memoirs and autobiography, Geoff led the group through a number of aspects of memoir writing, including; humour, the role of fiction and emotion and the reliability of memory. All members had been given homework to identify an area they might write about and the group size enabled a number of interactive sessions for members to write and speak on the topic.
Even though there was little experience of memoir writing within the group, the session brought out many examples of suitable areas and themes that individuals could develop further if they wished.
It was a most enjoyable and revealing session.
Andy Keep
February 2022
February 15th
COMPETITION RESULTS:
Short Story - First words: "I had always wanted ..."
1st Ruth Waterhouse
2nd Duncan Smith
3rd Andy Keep
Poem - "Wishes"
Winner - Iona Evans
February 9th
Our AGM was held on 9th February 2022 at 14.00h by ZOOM.
The Secretary will circulate the minutes and officers' reports to all members by email.
Chairman Andy Keep reiterated his sincere thanks to Sara Sykes for the use of her licence for this and other zoom meetings, to Steve Baker for the organisation of all the meetings and, with his wife, for the Bayside Radio initiative, to Pam Crane for her many-faceted editorial efforts, to Geoff Hart for his work as treasurer, and to Sue Russell - now retiring as publicity officer - for her enthusiasm and contribution to the club activities as a whole.
Treasurer Geoff Hart said it it had been a challenging year keeping track of the finances during the pandemic. An anonymous donation had been received which will help to keep the club on a sound financial footing.
Secretary Steve Baker said that the club had remained very strong, with an active membership of 17 contributing to meetings, monthly competitions and the radio stories.
Editor Pam Crane made a request for entries to the monthly competition to be submitted earlier than the deadline date if possible, and that entrants spend plenty of essential time checking on formatting and overall accuracy. Sticking to formatting rules (see the February 2022 Moving Finger editorial) ensures the anonymity of the authors. A change in closing date had been considered, but that would not resolve the problem of everything coming in at the last minute and putting pressure on the editor.
Chris Hirst expressed the opinion of all that Pam Crane deserved also a massive vote of thanks for all her work on the Moving Finger and Radio stories as well as the competition.
Reshuffles are popular at the moment! Our Committee is seeing some changes.
Sue Russell is stepping down as publicity officer for personal reasons and Geoff Hart - having acted as treasurer for three years - feels it's time for a change, and will step into her shoes.
Duncan Smith had expressed interest in joining the committee, so roles have now been approved as follows:
Chairman - Andy Keep
Secretary/Treasurer - Steve Baker
Programme Admin - Duncan Smith
Editor - Pam Crane
Publicity Officer - Geoff Hart.
It was agreed that fees should go up, as they had been so very low for years on end, and we now had extra expenses to cover.
The membership year will now run from August to July inclusive.
The annual membership fee increases to £25, (£2 per month for part years)
Re the internal competition, our new judge sponsors a charity in Sri Lanka, called the Godwin Memorial Fund, which supports many women with children but without a partner. The club will make a modest monthly donation to this good cause. Geoff Hart has a link to the charity website.
Competition entry fees will now increase to £2 per ad hoc entry, and £22 annualised entry fee, with immediate effect.
The annualised entry fee will be harmonised with the new membership year, requiring an interim payment of £12. Prizes stay at £10 for the winning short story and £5 for the best poem.
The future programme will be determined by the resumption - or not - of face to face meetings, and/or finding speakers who can hold zoom sessions. A number of ideas were discussed before the meeting closed just after 3pm.
February 15th
COMPETITION RESULTS:
Short Story - First words: "I had always wanted ..."
1st Ruth Waterhouse
2nd Duncan Smith
3rd Andy Keep
Poem - "Wishes"
Winner - Iona Evans
February 9th
Our AGM was held on 9th February 2022 at 14.00h by ZOOM.
The Secretary will circulate the minutes and officers' reports to all members by email.
Chairman Andy Keep reiterated his sincere thanks to Sara Sykes for the use of her licence for this and other zoom meetings, to Steve Baker for the organisation of all the meetings and, with his wife, for the Bayside Radio initiative, to Pam Crane for her many-faceted editorial efforts, to Geoff Hart for his work as treasurer, and to Sue Russell - now retiring as publicity officer - for her enthusiasm and contribution to the club activities as a whole.
Treasurer Geoff Hart said it it had been a challenging year keeping track of the finances during the pandemic. An anonymous donation had been received which will help to keep the club on a sound financial footing.
Secretary Steve Baker said that the club had remained very strong, with an active membership of 17 contributing to meetings, monthly competitions and the radio stories.
Editor Pam Crane made a request for entries to the monthly competition to be submitted earlier than the deadline date if possible, and that entrants spend plenty of essential time checking on formatting and overall accuracy. Sticking to formatting rules (see the February 2022 Moving Finger editorial) ensures the anonymity of the authors. A change in closing date had been considered, but that would not resolve the problem of everything coming in at the last minute and putting pressure on the editor.
Chris Hirst expressed the opinion of all that Pam Crane deserved also a massive vote of thanks for all her work on the Moving Finger and Radio stories as well as the competition.
Reshuffles are popular at the moment! Our Committee is seeing some changes.
Sue Russell is stepping down as publicity officer for personal reasons and Geoff Hart - having acted as treasurer for three years - feels it's time for a change, and will step into her shoes.
Duncan Smith had expressed interest in joining the committee, so roles have now been approved as follows:
Chairman - Andy Keep
Secretary/Treasurer - Steve Baker
Programme Admin - Duncan Smith
Editor - Pam Crane
Publicity Officer - Geoff Hart.
It was agreed that fees should go up, as they had been so very low for years on end, and we now had extra expenses to cover.
The membership year will now run from August to July inclusive.
The annual membership fee increases to £25, (£2 per month for part years)
Re the internal competition, our new judge sponsors a charity in Sri Lanka, called the Godwin Memorial Fund, which supports many women with children but without a partner. The club will make a modest monthly donation to this good cause. Geoff Hart has a link to the charity website.
Competition entry fees will now increase to £2 per ad hoc entry, and £22 annualised entry fee, with immediate effect.
The annualised entry fee will be harmonised with the new membership year, requiring an interim payment of £12. Prizes stay at £10 for the winning short story and £5 for the best poem.
The future programme will be determined by the resumption - or not - of face to face meetings, and/or finding speakers who can hold zoom sessions. A number of ideas were discussed before the meeting closed just after 3pm.
January 2022
January 20th 2022
COMPETITION RESULTS:
Short Story - "Goat"
1st Pam Crane
2nd Andy Keep
3rd Iona Evans
Poem - "New Year"
Winner - Euwan Hodgson
January 12th 2022
The Monthly General Meeting was held from 2pm - 4pm on Zoom. It was very well attended; the screen was filled with the smiling faces of friends we hadn't seen for the past five weeks.
Elaine Walker was our welcome speaker on the subject, "Gripped from the start - writing a strong opening". For the entire two hours she kept us busy writing, and we were on pretty good form.
We were first challenged to begin with a sentence presenting two contrasting ideas; and then to build on the phrase she gave us - 'Where were you last night?' The read-around got off to a bizarre start, as two of us had come up with the almost identical scenario of a rock band struggling through its gig without a drummer!
The following task was to pick up any printed document we had to hand, open it at random, and build a narrative on the first sentence that caught our eye. Your editor had the misfortune to land in an unread magazine on the start of a short story by Penelope Lively! So Elaine's next request, to re-structure the text without the found sentence was nigh on impossible.
Next we were invited to start our story right in the middle of the action - quite a bit of high drama here which we all enjoyed.
And lastly Elaine asked us to write the start of that same narrative but this time setting the scene that led up to it. Everyone was able to read what they had written, and clearly we had all benefited from the afternoon's coaching.
Thank you so much, Elaine, for a most enjoyable afternoon!
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________---
January 20th 2022
COMPETITION RESULTS:
Short Story - "Goat"
1st Pam Crane
2nd Andy Keep
3rd Iona Evans
Poem - "New Year"
Winner - Euwan Hodgson
January 12th 2022
The Monthly General Meeting was held from 2pm - 4pm on Zoom. It was very well attended; the screen was filled with the smiling faces of friends we hadn't seen for the past five weeks.
Elaine Walker was our welcome speaker on the subject, "Gripped from the start - writing a strong opening". For the entire two hours she kept us busy writing, and we were on pretty good form.
We were first challenged to begin with a sentence presenting two contrasting ideas; and then to build on the phrase she gave us - 'Where were you last night?' The read-around got off to a bizarre start, as two of us had come up with the almost identical scenario of a rock band struggling through its gig without a drummer!
The following task was to pick up any printed document we had to hand, open it at random, and build a narrative on the first sentence that caught our eye. Your editor had the misfortune to land in an unread magazine on the start of a short story by Penelope Lively! So Elaine's next request, to re-structure the text without the found sentence was nigh on impossible.
Next we were invited to start our story right in the middle of the action - quite a bit of high drama here which we all enjoyed.
And lastly Elaine asked us to write the start of that same narrative but this time setting the scene that led up to it. Everyone was able to read what they had written, and clearly we had all benefited from the afternoon's coaching.
Thank you so much, Elaine, for a most enjoyable afternoon!
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________---
