October was a busy month for our writers but many managed to
make THREE meetings! Our meet-ups were busy with critiques,
writing prompts, lessons and lots of discussion. Thank goodness we have such a versatile group
and were able to fit it all in nicely.
Things started off with Paul’s first novel submission and
critique. As this was only our second
novel to review, it was quite brave of Paul to put his up for scrutiny. He definitely set the bar high for the rest
of us as he handled the critique session, which ran too long (completely my
fault) with utter patience and gratitude.
Congratulations to him for taking another step forward in the writing
process and working on his rewrite. We are all learning a great deal from this
process!
Another interesting topic was our character analysis
discussion. Character development is
crucial in novel writing but also difficult to do sometimes. We filled out character profiles and wrote
stories from the character writing prompt
list which we shared during a meeting.
We have some really creative writers and not only were entertained but
also given some good advice from our more experienced authors. Please take a look at a few of these stories
under our creative writing submissions tab.
October brought the beginning of a recurring lesson on how
to analyze your writing. This has been
led by Dennis who has put in some extra time for our Bayou Writers and given us
some great information along with handouts!
In our first lesson we discussed the three elements of a story; Plot,
Characters and Drama. We broke down the differences
between a novel and a short story. Then
last but not least, we discussed the rules of Narrative (show don’t tell) and
Dialog (be specific and precise) which is still a discussion in progress. We will try to get the handouts posted on the
blog bulletin board soon.
Another treat for October was our first glimpse at Allen’s
manuscript. He brought in his first two
chapters (or first two days of Hurricane Katrina) for us to critique. We have implemented a few rules such as
timing each person’s response so we don’t run too long. We are not allowed to repeat comments that
have already been made about the manuscript.
Once everyone has had a turn to speak then we open up for a fifteen
minute discussion where even the author can participate. Allen’s short piece worked perfectly for this
format. It was honest, useful and
positive for all. He did an amazing job. Congratulations to
Allen on his work so far!
Needless to say it was a busy month for us and things don't seem
to be slowing down as we approach the holiday season! We continue to welcome new members and look
forward to them joining our humble meetings. You don’t want to miss out because we have
some new and exciting things coming soon for the BWC!
As always, it is incredibly inspiring to spend a couple of
hours with new friends and discuss writerly things. I am looking forward to seeing everyone
Thursday!
Until then... Happy Writing,
L
