(Written by Annie posted by Rob)
We
met on 23rd November at Annie’s house. It was rather a select group as Tony was
not with us and Chris had sent his resignation via email since the previous
meeting. We were so sorry to hear that work commitments made it impossible for
Chris to attend any longer. We send him our warmest wishes and look forward to
an invitation to his book launch. It was also agreed that in the New Year we
would like to organise a meal to give Chris a proper send off.
News:
Izzy
had reviewed some candles on her blog and organised and launched her first ever
blog competition the prize being some of the scented candle she was reviewing.
Rob
has completed 36,000 words during National Novel Writing Month and is on track
to complete 50,000 words by the end of November.
Linda
had no news to report.
Annie
had taken part in ‘The Hook’ event at the SCBWI conference and had found it a
very useful process and had received plenty of feedback and ideas from five
different agents.
Linda
was submitting a chapter from her novel, the working title being ‘Winchelsea
Beach’. The chapter was called ‘The Viewing’. Or to be more precise Linda
described it as only half a chapter that she had managed to throw onto the
page. As usual the quality of the writing was so high that no one had any
sympathy for how busy Linda had been.
The
chapter tells of how Lorna is showing her work at a swanky art exhibition and
has taken Bill, her rather down market and scruffy fisherman boyfriend along
with her. As soon as she arrives she can see that Bill is going to be something
of a fish out of water and so dismisses him for the evening.
I
love the fact that the woman welcoming them at the gallery was called Jelly.
Bill didn’t believe her and told her so. She then revealed it was short for Angelica
and shortly afterwards Lorna made it clear she had enough of him for one night.
The descriptions of the people at the viewing were well-drawn - ‘a coven of
elderly women grouped in one corner… heavily made up, they gave the impression
they were in a theatrical production, which in a way they were.’ It was also
easy to imagine the ‘fashionably dishevelled men scrutinising the paintings and
dropping ash from their cigarettes onto the Paisley carpet’.
Jane
felt that the characterisation was good and she felt sorry for Bill and could tell
that Lorna was charming yet devious. When Bill falls in love with Lorna it says
that he had considered changing his boat’s name. I thought this to be an
excellent way of showing rather than telling how Bill feels about her. In the
next paragraph though Rob thought that there was a little bit too much tell. A
handsome French stranger has caught Lorna’s eye by buying one of her expensive
paintings as he is supported by his wealthy parents. Rob thought it better to
let these details come out more slowly.
For
the ending of the chapter Bill has spent the evening back at Lorna’s house but
leaves before she arrives home. As he leaves he sees a 2CV with Lorna in the
passenger seat heading in the opposite direction. We thought it might work out
best if Lorna wasn’t mentioned at this stage as it does rather give away what
happens in the next chapter.
An
excellent piece of writing that really moved the story forward in terms of plot
and character. It was a fabulous read that had us all gripped.
Next meetings:
Tuesday,
15 December is our Christmas outing to Stourport for a curry.
Our
first meetings in 2016 are:
January
11th at Tony’s house and Tony will be submitting.
January
25th at Rob’s house and Annie will be submitting.
February
8th at Izzy’s house and Izzy will be submitting.
I
wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy and productive 2016.
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