Don’t forget our next meeting will take place on Tuesday, 09 March 2021 at 19:00 in Zoom.
If you would like to join us, please either join our Telegram Group or send an email to freiburgwritersgroup[at]gmail[dot]com.
Last time, we talked about revision and knowing when a piece is done. This time, we’d like to try something within that realm. Please bring some small piece of writing you think is finished, and we’ll work with it.
We look forward to seeing you there!
We had another very lovely online meeting last night! We welcomed two new people, both of whom had very interesting things to share. We wrote and we talked. It was great.
After saying our hellos, we spent 15 minutes writing to prompt #74: True Feeling from Brian Kiteley’s book The 3a.m. Epiphany. That prompt asks the writer to “describe intensely and exhaustively an exchange of true feelings between two characters,” “in language that is simple and straightforward.” (The prompt says quite a lot more than that, actually, and you really should buy yourself a copy of Kiteley’s book.) Our conversation started out about how we dealt with the prompt, but very quickly became about revision and how to know when a piece of writing is “done.”
padumachitta talked about how a piece feels alive and knowing she’s gone too far in revision if it stops feeling alive.
Blagost talked about respecting the person who wrote the “old” thing now being revised, but also trusting the “new” person doing the revising and what that person has learned in the time between drafts.
Shawn promoted artistic cannibalism (i.e. using bits and pieces of older things that weren’t necessarily working to make new things that do work), and
Kim swore she would never, could never cannibalize her own artistic children.
Marlene talked about going back to old pieces of writing that did work to remind herself that if she could write well then, she most certainly can write well now.
Everyone agreed that there’s no one right way, but that we each need to find the process that best works for us.
A couple of people, who will remain nameless, had trouble finding the “raise hand” function in Zoom, so here’s an illustrative photo:
Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, 09 March at 19:00 and probably still on Zoom. Please let us know if you’d like to join!
As per usual, we will be meeting on the second Tuesday of the month. That, of course, is Tuesday, 09 February 2021. Our meeting will begin, again, as usual, a 19:00. We will meet on Zoom.
If you would like to join us to talk about writing and things around writing, please either send an email to freiburgwritersgroup at gmail dot com (before 17:00 on the day of the meeting) or join our Telegram group (where a link will be posted)!
I think we’ll spend some time writing to some prompt or another and then talking about our experiences writing to that prompt. Also as per usual.
I look forward to seeing you there!
Our meeting last night was, as usual, lovely. Thank you all for coming! Even though we each saved the chat individually, so we’d have access to the various and sundry links contained therein, I still think all of that information should be made “public” to readers of this blog (just in case they were unable to join us last night, etc.).
What I find amusing about sharing the chat here is the complete lack of context. So much of what was written was written in response to something spoken. Obviously, all the spoken bits are missing.
Anyway and without further ado, here’s the chat. I have removed all last names.
19:02:19 From Kim to Everyone : i had great achievements
19:02:52 From Adriana to Everyone : Congrats, Kim!
19:05:03 From Kim to Everyone : Borkum
19:05:13 From Kim to Everyone : for mums close to burnout
19:05:25 From Charlie to Everyone : Rejuvenation center
19:07:18 From Tracey to Everyone : No snow in Freiburg.
19:08:53 From Kim to Everyone : wing bag?
19:09:21 From Tracey to Everyone : Wingback chair
19:09:21 From Tracey to Everyone : Ohrensessel
19:09:35 From Kim to Everyone : u are a WIndbeutel?
19:17:12 From Tracey to Everyone : Kelly, a Master’s Thesis is also a writing goal!
19:18:51 From Kelly to Everyone : bothy
19:24:53 From Kim to Everyone : where
19:29:43 From Kim to Everyone : wat is the STrasbourgh competition ?
19:29:54 From Adriana to Everyone : http://sxb-write-a-story.org/about-the-competition/competition-rules/
19:30:31 From Marlene to Everyone : Sign up for Submittable
19:30:39 From Adriana to Everyone : The link above is for the Strassbourg competition
19:31:04 From Adriana to Everyone : A few more links:
19:31:34 From Charlie to Everyone : Duotrope
19:31:38 From Marlene to Everyone : Duotrope?
19:31:39 From Kim to Everyone : thx
19:31:46 From Adriana to Everyone : https://bathflashfictionaward.com/rules/#fnr
19:32:17 From Adriana to Everyone : Submission Grinder is free and can also keep track of things
19:33:26 From Adriana to Everyone : https://thegrinder.diabolicalplots.com/
19:42:32 From Adriana to Everyone : https://www.fishpublishing.com/writing-contests/
19:43:32 From Adriana to Everyone : https://irishwriterscentre.ie/collections/novel-fair/Novel-Fair
19:43:47 From padumachitta to Everyone : okay everyone quitt talking about shawn
19:43:51 From padumachitta to Everyone : he’s back
19:44:41 From Adriana to Everyone : https://www.yeovilprize.co.uk/
19:45:13 From Marlene to Everyone : Why is the library website not https?
19:45:41 From Marlene to Everyone : That’s a shame
19:46:48 From Adriana to Everyone : Just a few links to contests I’ve encountered.
19:46:59 From Marlene to Everyone : Thank you, Adriana!
19:49:20 From Adriana to Everyone : Yes, joy in writing! So important not to forget it.
19:53:56 From Kim to Everyone : another publisher that you could try?
19:54:19 From Kim to Everyone : i feel you, as I had to apply 5 time suntil a got my study place as an arts teacher
19:54:40 From Tracey to Everyone : https://www.firstpagesprize.com/guidelines-and-termsconditions
19:54:53 From Adriana to Everyone : It’s so brave that you are sending stuff out, guys.
19:55:07 From David to Everyone : yes, agree!
19:56:23 From Adriana to Everyone : Mr. Norrel and Jonathan Strange — the second protagonist doesn’t enter before page 200
19:56:49 From Kim to Everyone : yes, and being turned down isn’T the end of it. I did 3 rounds of applying and got 3 rejections and made it with the 4th. get your self estemm together and reconsider what your heart tells you
19:59:02 From Kim to Everyone : i would end this today without writing and REFind my writing book.
20:01:32 From Kim to Everyone : bananana pirates
20:02:34 From Kim to Everyone : Glommy
20:04:13 From Kim to Everyone : Bad Dürkheim
20:05:16 From Kim to Everyone : Tamlyn
20:06:18 From Tracey to Everyone : I found it.
20:06:20 From Tracey to Everyone : http://www.bananapirates.de/00_home.htm
20:06:33 From Kim to Everyone : http://www.bananapirates.de/00_home.htm
20:06:36 From Kim to Everyone : yes
20:08:26 From Kim to Everyone : spelling
20:10:56 From Donald to Everyone : Mr Fuckerere
20:12:07 From Kim to Everyone : sounds latin
20:14:15 From Shawn to Everyone : https://anyminorworldthatbreaksapartfallstogetheragain.wordpress.com
20:16:14 From Kim to Everyone : Its if you want to display your diary …inot the WWW
20:16:33 From Kim to Everyone : i used to have a travel diary
20:17:52 From Kim to Everyone : you could password protect it , to informa larger group
20:19:35 From Kim to Everyone : i had a blog for class:
20:19:37 From Kim to Everyone : https://unarrangedmarriage.wordpress.com/chapter-summaries/
20:21:18 From Adriana to Everyone : sleep?
20:21:31 From padumachitta to Everyone : rreeeeaad
20:23:44 From padumachitta to Everyone : Jane Rule…Autobigraphical fiction…
This is a gentle and friendly reminder that our next meeting will take place on Tuesday, 12 January 2021 at 19:00 on Zoom.
We will spend some time writing and then talking about the experience of that writing. We will also discuss any other writerly concerns anyone has. Perhaps, since it is our first meeting of the year, we might also discuss the setting of writing goals and planning!
If you would like to attend the upcoming meeting, please either join our Telegram Group or send a mail to freiburgwritersgroup[at]gmail[dot]com before 17:00 on the day of the meeting.
I said it last night, and I’ll say it again today: The 2020 Winter Reading was super great! It was wonderful to see everyone there: regulars and new faces alike! And I thought the online format worked just fine. Sure, it wasn’t the gemütliche Bibliothek with mulled wine and cider and a buffet of cookies, but it was still somehow cozy and friendly and warm. Thanks for being there!
Six people read fantastic things (I’d be happy to add titles, if you’d like to send them to me):
Thanks again for coming. We look forward to seeing old friends and new on 12 January 21!
Please join us on Tuesday, 08 December 2020 at 19:00 for our annual Winter Reading! Because pandemic, this year’s reading will take place online instead of in the CSH Library.
If you would like to attend the reading, please send an email to freiburgwritersgroup[at]gmail[dot]com before 17:00 on 08 December! Also indicate in that email if you would like to read something.
If you would like to read something, please keep that something under five minutes!
We’re really sorry we won’t be able to provide mulled wine or apple cider or Christmas treats this year. It is therefore highly recommended that you provide your own! We very much look forward to seeing you there!
First and foremost: Our regular attendee Tracey shared with us the fact that a limerick she wrote received honorable mention in a Saturday Evening Post limerick contest! Congratulations Tracey! The winner and other honorable mentions (including Tracey’s!) can be found here: https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2020/10/july-august-2020-limerick-laughs-winner-and-runners-up/
We also managed to talk about response yesterday evening, and I feel as though it worked really well. Here’s what we did:
0. We talked about the quotation from Matthew Goulish which can be found at the end of this blog post, and about how, in order to understand anything, we must first approach it. In the sciences, this means one thing, but in art and writing, it can mean virtually anything at all. Every approach is valid. Every understanding is valid.
1. Each person in the meeting grabbed the book nearest them.
2. Shawn rolled a die and multiplied that number by ten.
3. Everyone opened their books to page 60.
4. Shawn rolled the die again.
5. Everyone looked at line 8 on page 60.
6. Each person individually read out their line, Shawn rolled the die again and assigned the line to another person.
7. Each person wrote for 15 minutes in response to their assigned line.
Because each of these lines was taken completely out of its original context, we each had to find a way to approach it, understand it, and write. When we discussed our writing, I got the impression that everyone had found an approach, an understanding, and had created a response. Some responses were read out loud by their authors. They were wonderful.
Shawn then spent some time talking about one of his favorite topics. There are no rules in art. This could, perhaps, use a little explanation: There are no universally agreed-upon rules in art. No one can say to you: This is how to make a good story. However, the moment you start creating something, you make–for yourself and your creation–a set of rules to which you more or less adhere until you are done creating. Because you are the rule maker, you can also be the rule breaker. Because the only rules are rules you yourself set, there are–until you start creating–no rules in art.
Our next meeting will be on 08 December 2020, and will also be online. Because we cannot have a Winter Reading in the CSH Library this year, please bring something to read aloud in the online meeting!
The Carl-Schurz-Haus and the GABC will present an online workshop on the above theme
Tuesday, 17 November @ 13:00
Blake Boles (US) will share his real-life experiences and the lessons he’s learned through crowdfunding. Additionally, he will speak to his journey of becoming a self-published author.
This is an online event via zoom. Registration: https://bit.ly/3jvIC2Z
We can talk about this at tomorrow’s meeting, but here is some more information.
