Today’s online writing groups’ poetry and story exercises: 27 March 2015

Every weekday I post a set of poetry prompts on poetrywritinggroup.wordpress.com and a set of story prompts on the script, novel and short story blogs (and poems, script / novel extracts, stories at the weekends, when I get them). As you’ll see by the headings, you’ve missed a few but they’re listed on the relevant group’s Exercises page so you can always find them there…

Poetry Writing Exercises 574: Friday 27th March

Here are your four poetry exercises for today. Time yourself for 15 minutes per exercise, having a break in between each one or move on to the next.  When you’ve finished, do pop over to this blog’s Facebook Group and let everyone know how you got on.

Below are the four – you can do them in any order.

1. Keywords: destiny, come, going, earth, came
2. Random: an unusual-tasting cup of tea
3. Picture: what does this inspire?
4. One-word prompt: capture

Have fun, and if you would like to, do paste your writing in the comment boxes below so we can see how you got on! Remember though that it counts as being published so don’t post anything that you would want to submit elsewhere (where they require unpublished material).

See below for explanations of the prompts, they do vary…

• Sentence starts = what it says on the tin. You can use it at the beginning of the poem or include it later, and being poetry it doesn’t have to be exact – just be inspired by it.
• Keywords = the words have to appear in the poem but can be in any order and can be lengthened (e.g. clap to clapping).
• Single-word prompt = sometimes all it takes is one word to spawn an idea. Sometimes it easy, sometimes hard but invariably fun.
• Mixed bag = an object, a location, a colour.
• Picture prompts = nothing other than a picture. What does it conjure up?
• Title = The title for your piece.
• Haiku poem= 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables
• Random = whatever takes my fancy!

*

Story Writing Exercises 578: Friday 27th March

Here are your four story exercises for today.

Today’s online writing groups’ poetry and story exercises: 26 March 2015

Every weekday I post a set of poetry prompts on poetrywritinggroup.wordpress.com and a set of story prompts on the script, novel and short story blogs (and poems, script / novel extracts, stories at the weekends, when I get them). As you’ll see by the headings, you’ve missed a few but they’re listed on the relevant group’s Exercises page so you can always find them there…

Poetry Writing Exercises 573: Thursday 26th March

Here are your four poetry exercises for today. Time yourself for 15 minutes per exercise, having a break in between each one or move on to the next.  When you’ve finished, do pop over to this blog’s Facebook Group and let everyone know how you got on.

Below are the four – you can do them in any order.

1. Keywords: information, composition, help, answer, system
2. Random: fifty years ahead
3. Picture: what does this inspire?
4. Thursday Title: Some Key Questions

Have fun, and if you would like to, do paste your writing in the comment boxes below so we can see how you got on! Remember though that it counts as being published so don’t post anything that you would want to submit elsewhere (where they require unpublished material).

See below for explanations of the prompts, they do vary…

• Sentence starts = what it says on the tin. You can use it at the beginning of the poem or include it later, and being poetry it doesn’t have to be exact – just be inspired by it.
• Keywords = the words have to appear in the poem but can be in any order and can be lengthened (e.g. clap to clapping).
• Single-word prompt = sometimes all it takes is one word to spawn an idea. Sometimes it easy, sometimes hard but invariably fun.
• Mixed bag = an object, a location, a colour.
• Picture prompts = nothing other than a picture. What does it conjure up?
• Title = The title for your piece.
• Haiku poem= 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables
• Random = whatever takes my fancy!

*

Story Writing Exercises 577: Thursday 26th March

Here are your four story exercises for today.

Today’s online writing groups’ poetry and story exercises: 25 March 2015

Every weekday I post a set of poetry prompts on poetrywritinggroup.wordpress.com and a set of story prompts on the script, novel and short story blogs (and poems, script / novel extracts, stories at the weekends, when I get them). As you’ll see by the headings, you’ve missed a few but they’re listed on the relevant group’s Exercises page so you can always find them there…

Poetry Writing Exercises 572: Wednesday 25th March

Here are your four poetry exercises for today. Time yourself for 15 minutes per exercise, having a break in between each one or move on to the next.  When you’ve finished, do pop over to this blog’s Facebook Group and let everyone know how you got on.

Below are the four – you can do them in any order.

1. Keywords: exciting, ice, theory, series, serious
2. Random: fifty years in the past
3. Picture: what does this inspire?
4. Sentence start: In terms of…

Have fun, and if you would like to, do paste your writing in the comment boxes below so we can see how you got on! Remember though that it counts as being published so don’t post anything that you would want to submit elsewhere (where they require unpublished material).

See below for explanations of the prompts, they do vary…

• Sentence starts = what it says on the tin. You can use it at the beginning of the poem or include it later, and being poetry it doesn’t have to be exact – just be inspired by it.
• Keywords = the words have to appear in the poem but can be in any order and can be lengthened (e.g. clap to clapping).
• Single-word prompt = sometimes all it takes is one word to spawn an idea. Sometimes it easy, sometimes hard but invariably fun.
• Mixed bag = an object, a location, a colour.
• Picture prompts = nothing other than a picture. What does it conjure up?
• Title = The title for your piece.
• Haiku poem= 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables
• Random = whatever takes my fancy!

*

Story Writing Exercises 576: Wednesday 25th March

Here are your four story exercises for today.

Today’s online writing groups’ poetry and story exercises: 24 March 2015

Every weekday I post a set of poetry prompts on poetrywritinggroup.wordpress.com and a set of story prompts on the script, novel and short story blogs (and poems, script / novel extracts, stories at the weekends, when I get them). As you’ll see by the headings, you’ve missed a few but they’re listed on the relevant group’s Exercises page so you can always find them there…

Poetry Writing Exercises 571: Tuesday 24th March

Here are your four poetry exercises for today. Time yourself for 15 minutes per exercise, having a break in between each one or move on to the next.  When you’ve finished, do pop over to this blog’s Facebook Group and let everyone know how you got on.

Below are the four – you can do them in any order.

1. Keywords: resolve, currently, two, theory, result
2. Random: a matching dress
3. Picture: what does this inspire?
4. Tuesday Title: Shiny

Have fun, and if you would like to, do paste your writing in the comment boxes below so we can see how you got on! Remember though that it counts as being published so don’t post anything that you would want to submit elsewhere (where they require unpublished material).

See below for explanations of the prompts, they do vary…

• Sentence starts = what it says on the tin. You can use it at the beginning of the poem or include it later, and being poetry it doesn’t have to be exact – just be inspired by it.
• Keywords = the words have to appear in the poem but can be in any order and can be lengthened (e.g. clap to clapping).
• Single-word prompt = sometimes all it takes is one word to spawn an idea. Sometimes it easy, sometimes hard but invariably fun.
• Mixed bag = an object, a location, a colour.
• Picture prompts = nothing other than a picture. What does it conjure up?
• Title = The title for your piece.
• Haiku poem= 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables
• Random = whatever takes my fancy!

*

Story Writing Exercises 575: Tuesday 24th March

Here are your four story exercises for today.

Today’s online writing groups’ poetry and story exercises: 23 March 2015

Every weekday I post a set of poetry prompts on poetrywritinggroup.wordpress.com and a set of story prompts on the script, novel and short story blogs (and poems, script / novel extracts, stories at the weekends, when I get them). As you’ll see by the headings, you’ve missed a few but they’re listed on the relevant group’s Exercises page so you can always find them there…

Poetry Writing Exercises 570: Monday 23rd March

Here are your four poetry exercises for today. Time yourself for 15 minutes per exercise, having a break in between each one or move on to the next.  When you’ve finished, do pop over to this blog’s Facebook Group and let everyone know how you got on.

Below are the four – you can do them in any order.

1. Keywords: character, surface, total, dark, region
2. Random: dialogue-only piece about a new thing
3. Picture: what does this inspire?
4. Monologue Monday: Write a first-person poem – someone saw something unusual

Have fun, and if you would like to, do paste your writing in the comment boxes below so we can see how you got on! Remember though that it counts as being published so don’t post anything that you would want to submit elsewhere (where they require unpublished material).

See below for explanations of the prompts, they do vary…

• Sentence starts = what it says on the tin. You can use it at the beginning of the poem or include it later, and being poetry it doesn’t have to be exact – just be inspired by it.
• Keywords = the words have to appear in the poem but can be in any order and can be lengthened (e.g. clap to clapping).
• Single-word prompt = sometimes all it takes is one word to spawn an idea. Sometimes it easy, sometimes hard but invariably fun.
• Mixed bag = an object, a location, a colour.
• Picture prompts = nothing other than a picture. What does it conjure up?
• Title = The title for your piece.
• Haiku poem= 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables
• Random = whatever takes my fancy!

*

Story Writing Exercises 574: Monday 23rd March

Here are your four story exercises for today.

Author Spotlight no.402 – Gigi Sedlmayer

Complementing my interviews, today’s Author Spotlight, the four hundred and second, is of children’s author Gigi Sedlmayer. If you would like to take part in an author spotlight, take a look at author-spotlights.

Gisela (Gigi) Sedlmayer was born in May 1944 in Potsdam, a suburb of Berlin in Germany.
Her family escaped to the West just before the infamous wall went up. They moved around in Germany, following where her dad got work. That meant she had to change schools nine times. In the end, she never had friends again, for fear she will lose them again.

Finally they settled in Munich where Gigi studied architectural drafting and met Albert in 1965, marrying in December 1967. She worked as a civil draftsperson in various private consultancies in Munich.

Since her uncle was a writer, she tried to write short animal stories herself. Nothing further came of it, but she developed a love for the written word and started to consume books.

In May 1975, Gigi and her husband moved to New Zealand. Because of language challenges, she started a handcraft business. As a specialty, she made colourful parrots in several sizes of which she sold thousands in a few years.

In 1988, she and Albert decided to adopt and became parents two twin girls the year after. They lived in New Zealand for eighteen years and moved to Australia in September 1992.

Two years later, Gigi was diagnosed with cancer. After operations and radiation, she withdrew, thinking that she would probably soon be dead, like her friend who died of cancer, but her two little girls gave her the courage to keep going. After a few years, still among the living, her brain started to work again, so she thought, ‘Get a grip on yourself and do something good with your life’.

She remembered the time she wrote short stories and got inspired again, seeing her husband Albert writing the story of their adoption. Her English improved so she pressed on to develop her creative writing.

Albert taught her how to use a computer and Gigi wrote many short stories. She entered them in competitions and often received very good reports, which gave her the confidence to go on writing.

One day the idea for the TALON series came to her and she spent the next several years bringing the story and characters to life.

She now loves writing and spends most of her time at the computer, developing new story lines. She also loves travelling, 4×4 touring, swimming, gardening, handcrafting, reading, fossicking (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossicking), and enjoys good adventure DVDs or going to the movies.

*

And now from the author herself:

Today’s online writing groups’ poetry and story exercises: 20 March 2015

Every weekday I post a set of poetry prompts on poetrywritinggroup.wordpress.com and a set of story prompts on the script, novel and short story blogs (and poems, script / novel extracts, stories at the weekends, when I get them). As you’ll see by the headings, you’ve missed a few but they’re listed on the relevant group’s Exercises page so you can always find them there…

Poetry Writing Exercises 569: Friday 20th March

Here are your four poetry exercises for today. Time yourself for 15 minutes per exercise, having a break in between each one or move on to the next.  When you’ve finished, do pop over to this blog’s Facebook Group and let everyone know how you got on.

Below are the four – you can do them in any order.

1. Keywords: chance, look, way, observe, official
2. Random: in some detail
3. Picture: what does this inspire?
4. One-word prompt: approach

Have fun, and if you would like to, do paste your writing in the comment boxes below so we can see how you got on! Remember though that it counts as being published so don’t post anything that you would want to submit elsewhere (where they require unpublished material).

See below for explanations of the prompts, they do vary…

• Sentence starts = what it says on the tin. You can use it at the beginning of the poem or include it later, and being poetry it doesn’t have to be exact – just be inspired by it.
• Keywords = the words have to appear in the poem but can be in any order and can be lengthened (e.g. clap to clapping).
• Single-word prompt = sometimes all it takes is one word to spawn an idea. Sometimes it easy, sometimes hard but invariably fun.
• Mixed bag = an object, a location, a colour.
• Picture prompts = nothing other than a picture. What does it conjure up?
• Title = The title for your piece.
• Haiku poem= 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables
• Random = whatever takes my fancy!

*

Story Writing Exercises 573: Friday 20th March

Here are your four story exercises for today.

Last day to enter the Chipping Norton Lit Fest critique competition 2015

The Chip Lit Agent Pitch event is back!

Carole Blake (photo by Jack Ladenburg)

Seeking a way around the slush pile? Brave enough to have your manuscript critiqued in front of an audience? Whether you’re ready to throw your hat in the ring, or just want to pick up tips for your own writing, this event is one for aspiring authors everywhere.

Literary agent Carole Blake (pictured right) teams up with author of Wannabe a Writer?’s Jane Wenham-Jones (pictured below) – and me! – for this interactive ‘reality show’ event.  Submit the first 1,000 words of your novel in the form listed here by 20th March 2015 (entries over the 1,000 words excluding title will be disqualified) together with a strict 250-word maximum third-person biography (as if someone else is describing you) and strict 250-word maximum synopsis of your novel including the ending.

Submission confirms agreement with, and acceptance of, the terms and conditions listed here (with entry form).

Advice Carole gave to successful entrants in previous years includes…

• not having unrealistic (or too many!) coincidences in your plot where it helps solve a problem (e.g. your character has no money but then wins the lottery); and
• do make sure that your synopsis includes your ending!

We’ll invite five shortlisted writers to pitch their work to Carole. The audience will listen as Carole critiques each piece, before opening it up for audience question and answers. Based on the planned TV show Wannabe a Writer, this promises to be the Dragons’ Den of the literary world. Join in, if you dare.

Chipping Norton Literary Festival is a four-day celebration of books, reading and writing, with a host of author talks, signings, discussions and workshops.

Tickets on sale via 01608 642350, visit www.chiplitfest.com for the full programme or click here for the event itself.

Before you submit, if you’d like some tips on writing take a look at my Writing Tips page.

*

You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel The Serial Dater’s Shopping List, various short story collections and writer’s block workbooks) and If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating. Thank you.

For anyone looking for an editor and general feedback on your writing at a very reasonable rate, do take a look at Editing and Critique.

If you would like to send me a book review of another author’s books or like your book reviewed (short stories, contemporary crime / women’s novels or writing guides), see book-reviews for the guidelines. Other options listed on opportunities-on-this-blog. And I post writing exercises every weekday on four online writing groups.

Today’s online writing groups’ poetry and story exercises: 19 March 2015

Every weekday I post a set of poetry prompts on poetrywritinggroup.wordpress.com and a set of story prompts on the script, novel and short story blogs (and poems, script / novel extracts, stories at the weekends, when I get them). As you’ll see by the headings, you’ve missed a few but they’re listed on the relevant group’s Exercises page so you can always find them there…

Poetry Writing Exercises 568: Thursday 19th March

Here are your four poetry exercises for today. Time yourself for 15 minutes per exercise, having a break in between each one or move on to the next.  When you’ve finished, do pop over to this blog’s Facebook Group and let everyone know how you got on.

Below are the four – you can do them in any order.

1. Keywords: know, much, failed, criteria, orb
2. Random: sufficient graveness
3. Picture: what does this inspire?
4. Thursday Title: Other Smaller Ones

Have fun, and if you would like to, do paste your writing in the comment boxes below so we can see how you got on! Remember though that it counts as being published so don’t post anything that you would want to submit elsewhere (where they require unpublished material).

See below for explanations of the prompts, they do vary…

• Sentence starts = what it says on the tin. You can use it at the beginning of the poem or include it later, and being poetry it doesn’t have to be exact – just be inspired by it.
• Keywords = the words have to appear in the poem but can be in any order and can be lengthened (e.g. clap to clapping).
• Single-word prompt = sometimes all it takes is one word to spawn an idea. Sometimes it easy, sometimes hard but invariably fun.
• Mixed bag = an object, a location, a colour.
• Picture prompts = nothing other than a picture. What does it conjure up?
• Title = The title for your piece.
• Haiku poem= 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables
• Random = whatever takes my fancy!

*

Story Writing Exercises 572: Thursday 19th March

Here are your four story exercises for today.

Today’s online writing groups’ poetry and story exercises: 18 March 2015

Every weekday I post a set of poetry prompts on poetrywritinggroup.wordpress.com and a set of story prompts on the script, novel and short story blogs (and poems, script / novel extracts, stories at the weekends, when I get them). As you’ll see by the headings, you’ve missed a few but they’re listed on the relevant group’s Exercises page so you can always find them there…

Poetry Writing Exercises 567: Wednesday 18th March

Here are your four poetry exercises for today. Time yourself for 15 minutes per exercise, having a break in between each one or move on to the next.  When you’ve finished, do pop over to this blog’s Facebook Group and let everyone know how you got on.

Below are the four – you can do them in any order.

1. Keywords: belt, situated, marks, boundary, rocky
2. Random: outerwear
3. Picture: what does this inspire?
4. Sentence start: At this stage…

Have fun, and if you would like to, do paste your writing in the comment boxes below so we can see how you got on! Remember though that it counts as being published so don’t post anything that you would want to submit elsewhere (where they require unpublished material).

See below for explanations of the prompts, they do vary…

• Sentence starts = what it says on the tin. You can use it at the beginning of the poem or include it later, and being poetry it doesn’t have to be exact – just be inspired by it.
• Keywords = the words have to appear in the poem but can be in any order and can be lengthened (e.g. clap to clapping).
• Single-word prompt = sometimes all it takes is one word to spawn an idea. Sometimes it easy, sometimes hard but invariably fun.
• Mixed bag = an object, a location, a colour.
• Picture prompts = nothing other than a picture. What does it conjure up?
• Title = The title for your piece.
• Haiku poem= 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables
• Random = whatever takes my fancy!

*

Story Writing Exercises 571: Wednesday 18th March

 

Here are your four story exercises for today.