Next Meeting: Thurs 29 Sept, 6.00 to 7.30pm

We know what you're wondering. When will Dalston Writing Group be back in action? What will we be doing? How can I join? 

Happily, we have the answers to all of those questions.

We'll be meeting at 6.00pm at Dalston CLR James Library on Thurs 29 Sept.

The plan for this session is to throw the doors open to local writers and give people an opportunity to share something they are working on outside the group, for feedback. 

If you'd like to bring something along to read aloud (2,000 words max), please let Jon know in advance, so we can ensure everyone has sufficient time.

Thurs 8 September 2022: Odd Couples

For this session we took as our theme a classic trope from literature and the movies: the odd couple.

Not the romantic kind. We're talking mismatched buddies, clashing co-workers, strange alliances and feuding flatmates. Think Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau in the classic movie. Or Holmes and Watson. Arnie and Danny DeVito in Twins. Maybe even Harold and Maude.

For more inspiration, check out the excellent storytelling resource TV Tropes and click on the 'literature' link towards the bottom of the page. For more from the movies, go here.

Here are some of the characters we put together. Pick one from each column and see where they take you...

Short Stories About...

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. 

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.)

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...

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.

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...