Monthly Archives: February 2017

Bird’s eye view

On the first page of Graham Greene’s The Power and the Glory, Mr, Tench, a dentist stands in the blazing Mexican sun. Looking up he notices vultures watching him from a roof, ‘with shabby indifference: he wasn’t carrion yet.’   Greene uses a vulture to give a panoramic view of the setting.   ‘One rose and flapped across the town: over the tiny plaza, over the bust of an ex-president, ex-general, ex-human being, over the two stalls which sold mineral water, towards the river and the sea.”

This week’s challenge from Alex: Take one seagull and fly this seagull over a city, countryside, a town or a street and describe it from the bird’s view.         Note to self: Find old copy and read The Power and the Glory again.

 

Islands

This week’s prompt by Jude.

 

Try a different genre. Write a story for younger children set on an island. Make it cheery and include a dog. Or write an opening to a  contemporary  YA novel  about life on an island where everything is changing, domestically and politically.  Less cheery, but a dog can still be included.

 

If you want to learn more about one children’s fiction author’s journey to publication, come to Hall and Woodhouse cafe in Bath  in April and hear a talk by Tracy Darnton, a graduate of Bath Spa University’s Writing for Young People MA. Tracy has recently secured a book deal for her YA novel. Booking open via paypal or any card. £26.

Books and more books

Prompt from Alex: A pot of good coffee (for free) , a comfortable chair and a great bookshop (Toppings in Bath) = Pleasure.

Write about the first book you read as a child that made an impression. How old were you? Where were you? Were you given the book? Or did it come from the library? As an adult what do you think it was about that particular book that spoke to you? Are there any themes from that  book you recognise in in your own writing today?

Update on available places. 2 left on the 22nd March Get into Print workshop and still places on Writing Young Adult and children’s fiction on 26th April. Booking and more info on website or contact us.

Used car

This week’s prompt by Jude.

Was your first car new or used?  Describe the car and its particular features. Mine was a Morris 1000 split-screen. Moss grew on the window seals. The driver’s door kept flying open. It had a crank-handle for when the battery went flat. Write about an adventure you had when you owned your first car. Adventures can be large or small.

(Want to get into print this year? We’ve two spaces left on our March workshop talk  on self-publishing by the Self Publishing Partnership Bath and, at the moment, several on our April talk by children’s writer Tracy Darnton  on her Road to Publication. Book soon.)