We were curious to see what sorts of topics for short stories were being searched for online. Google's predictive text provides an answer. Sort of. Animals feature three times. But love continues to conquer all.
Wednesday, 24 August 2022
Wednesday, 17 August 2022
Next Meeting : Thurs 1 Sept & Potential Open-Mic Session
Next meeting of Dalston Writing Group will be Thurs 1 Sept at Dalston CLR James Library, 6.00 to 7.30pm. Stay tuned for details on the topic.
We are also looking to run an 'open-mic' session over the next couple of months, date TBC.
This would be an opportunity for those working on longer pieces (novels, novellas, short stories etc.) to read an excerpt (up to 2,000 words) to the group and get some immediate feedback.
We are thinking of allotting each writer 20 - 30 mins, so the piece can be introduced, put into context, and any particular issues the author has can be highlighted.
If you'd like to submit something, please get in touch via the comments box here on the blog. (Just over there, on the right.)
Thursday, 4 August 2022
Escape!
Our theme for August's session is 'escape'. Whether internal or external, literal or psychological, we're coming up with stories about characters busting out of their chains TO BE FREE!
See the prompts below...
2/ Your character is a massive fantasy fan - they love books, movies, comics, games. As they face a critical moment in their life, they retreat deeper into their favourite escapist fantasy, until it starts to seem dangerously real…
3/ Write a piece of flash fiction showing that your character is trapped by the past.
4/ Your character has spent years in a job or relationship saying 'Yes' when they long to scream 'No!'. Describe the moment they escape that pattern of behaviour, and embrace the freedom of saying what they really mean.
5/ What does your character think of when they hear the word ‘freedom?’
6/ Your character is trying to escape an emotion or impulse they do not wish to acknowledge or act on.
(This theme forms part of the story in A Room with A View by EM Forster, in which Lucy Honeychurch, who is engaged to someone else, is on holiday in Italy with a chaperone, and trying to resist the attraction she feels.)
7/ At last! Your character is on the holiday they’ve been dreaming of for the last three years. As they head out of the airport and into the blinding sun of a new country, they relish the prospect of escaping reality for two weeks. Then they spot someone by the taxi rank…
8/ Describe the moment your character realises they are trapped.
(And what if it’s somewhere that most people would consider paradise…?)
9/ Message on screen: 'Press the Escape button if you wish to leave.'
What happens next?
10/ “You can escape anytime you like,” he said. “You think you’re in prison. But you built this prison yourself.”
Use this as an opening, or adopt it as a theme.
See the prompts below...
1/ Write the most relentless, action-packed chase sequence you can imagine.
(If this sounds too much like a Jack Reacher novel - and there's nothing with that - try making your character a child. Then have them recall this incident as an adult. What has triggered the memory…?
2/ Your character is a massive fantasy fan - they love books, movies, comics, games. As they face a critical moment in their life, they retreat deeper into their favourite escapist fantasy, until it starts to seem dangerously real…
3/ Write a piece of flash fiction showing that your character is trapped by the past.
4/ Your character has spent years in a job or relationship saying 'Yes' when they long to scream 'No!'. Describe the moment they escape that pattern of behaviour, and embrace the freedom of saying what they really mean.
5/ What does your character think of when they hear the word ‘freedom?’
6/ Your character is trying to escape an emotion or impulse they do not wish to acknowledge or act on.
(This theme forms part of the story in A Room with A View by EM Forster, in which Lucy Honeychurch, who is engaged to someone else, is on holiday in Italy with a chaperone, and trying to resist the attraction she feels.)
7/ At last! Your character is on the holiday they’ve been dreaming of for the last three years. As they head out of the airport and into the blinding sun of a new country, they relish the prospect of escaping reality for two weeks. Then they spot someone by the taxi rank…
8/ Describe the moment your character realises they are trapped.
(And what if it’s somewhere that most people would consider paradise…?)
9/ Message on screen: 'Press the Escape button if you wish to leave.'
What happens next?
10/ “You can escape anytime you like,” he said. “You think you’re in prison. But you built this prison yourself.”
Use this as an opening, or adopt it as a theme.
Saturday, 30 July 2022
August and July Meetings
Next meeting will be Thurs 4 August, 6.00 to 7.30pm at Dalston CLR James Library. Our theme for this one will be 'escape.'
The session after that will be at the same time, Thurs 1 Sept.
Pick 'n' Mix Stories
In July we used the grid below to kickstart some stories.
The results were spectacular! We ended up with pieces about a compulsive volunteer with a haunted leather jacket, an author trapped in one of their own stories, and the eeries tale of a couple's arrival in village where the birds devour each other. See what you can come up with...
The results were spectacular! We ended up with pieces about a compulsive volunteer with a haunted leather jacket, an author trapped in one of their own stories, and the eeries tale of a couple's arrival in village where the birds devour each other. See what you can come up with...
Thursday, 23 June 2022
Next Meeting: Thurs 14 July 2022
We'll be cracking our pencil cases open once again on Thurs 22 July, 6.00 to 7.30pm at Dalston CLR James Library. As yet, the theme for this session remains tantalisingly undecided. But we'll keep you posted. If anyone has any thoughts on a topic they'd like to cover, post 'em in the comments!
Wednesday, 8 June 2022
Hackney City of Stories Home Celebration Event: Thurs 30 June 2022 at Stoke Newington Library
Come along to this special free event celebrating the launch of the City of Stories Home Anthology featuring talented new writers from across London, alongside published authors.
Take part in a relaxed creative writing workshop - aimed at those who would like to give writing a go or those who are already writers, hear local authors read their stories and pick up your own free copy of the Anthology. You can sign up to attend the creative writing workshop, the reading or both!
Take part in a relaxed creative writing workshop - aimed at those who would like to give writing a go or those who are already writers, hear local authors read their stories and pick up your own free copy of the Anthology. You can sign up to attend the creative writing workshop, the reading or both!
We're delighted that author Lorraine Brown (The Paris Connection, Sorry I Missed You) will once again be running the session at Stoke Newington Library.
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| Author Lorraine Brown will be running a special workshop at Stoke Newington Library on 30 June |
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