The Writers’ Nook is a place where we, as a group, can provide a safe and positive environment in which to encourage one another and hone our own writing skills.
This will be our Annual Christmas Party
We are still isolating due to covid-19 so our Christmas Party will be a ZOOM meeting. Bring your own wine and cheese to the party, or your favourite hors d’oeuvre and favourite drink — don’t worry, we won’t let you drive home.
Come to the meeting prepared to tell us about your all-time favourite book. Was it plot-driven or character-driven, or both? What was it about the writing that appealed to you; why did you like it? It will help all of us to find a great novel to read over the holidays. Don’t forget to send me a pdf copy, we’ll post them here as reading tips for the rest of our members.
In the meantime, stay safe, be kind. If you don’t know how to go about attending our ZOOM Christmas meeting, contact us. We’ll send you a link.
RESPONSES to All Time Favourite Book will be discussed at the Christmas meeting.
My Favourite Book by Shirley DeKelver
My Favourite Book by Ernie Briginshaw
My Favourite Book by Joyce Adrian Sotski
My Favourite Book by Phillis Jeffrey
My Favourite Book by Karen Bissenden
OUR CHALLENGE to be completed before the next meeting on January 14, 2021: Find a piece of writing that you think is an example of Bad Writing. A few paragraphs will suffice; copy it out (bad letters from relatives don’t count). Do not include the author’s name or the title. On the same piece of paper, rewrite the Bad Writing to make it Good Writing and send it in as a pdf file to share with us. Contact us and if you’re not sure where to send it.
RESPONSES TO THE CHALLENGE:
Bad Writing made Good by Karen Bissenden
Bad Writing Example 1 by Ernie Briginshaw
Bad Writing made Good Example 2 by Ernie Briginshaw
Bad Writing Response by Shirley DeKelver
Writing Made Better by Joyce Adrian Sotski
Shirley: Life of Pi is one of my all-time favourites too. I think that the two things I liked most in this story were:
1) Martel’s ability to weave a totally believable yet utterly fantastical story, and
2) His descriptions of places and beings were so vivid that I could see them. Even when I saw the delightfully animated film, I recognized the scenes and fictional creatures from his descriptions.
This book held me spellbound when I was reading it and stays with me even now. Can’t believe it’s been 18 years since he wrote it and since I read it.
Ernie: I think the two sentences in your discussion that make me feel like reading your favourite book, The Art of Racing in the Rain are, “I like books that communicate on multiple levels. The story can be quite simple, but there’s so much more going on.”
Phillis: When you said, “I missed him a lot when I had finished reading the book and I still think about him occasionally and hope he’s doing okay,” that was the sentence that spoke to me and made me think there’s something in this book that I might find worth while reading.
Karen: Your description of The Invention of Solitude is intriguing. It makes me feel like I’d have to work to read this book and that it would probably be worthwhile doing so. Your whole description of the book makes me want to read it.
I found my broken down version of the book Invention of Solitude, here’s a quote; After his father dies he keeps many of his belongings. “I have begun to read time by his watch, I wear his sweaters, I drive around in his car. But all this is an illusion of intimacy… My father has vanished from them, he has become invisible again.” In part two, “For once a solitude has been breached, once a solitude has been taken on by another, it is no longer solitude, but a kind of companionship.”
Another Book: Strange and Familiar Places by Kenneth Radu. Very character driven. The story of a Protestant minister married to a woman who disregards monogamy. The woman, in spite of the ongoing “mischief” is curiously likable in her infidelity (there is little sexual description)… her husband is tortured, because he knows, but through prayer keeps trying to figure out how to forgive her. The utter imbalance in their marriage offers a different window.
Karen, Bad Writing, Good Writing: Your version of this piece of writing is certainly more polished and makes a nice read. The only place I disagree with you is regarding the word ‘dust’. I might have wanted to keep it in some form, “The mountain ridges are dusted with snow…”. It’s like the top of a bundt cake that’s been dusted with icing sugar — but that’s my only criticism.
Ernie, Bad Writing Example 1: You make a really good point.
Ernie, Bad Writing Example 2: You have mentioned this before and I agree with you. Using beats is a very good topic for discussion at one of our meetings.
Shirley, Bad Writing Response: I hear you and I bite my tongue. I should not have been so cheeky. I should have chosen a more appropriate set of words because I never meant to demean anybody’s writing. I believe that there are as many ways of saying something as there are writers, and that every writer, regardless of how good they are, sometimes writes things that could be improved upon; according to somebody. With that thought in mind, I am purposely choosing a well-respected writer to comment on. It is a paragraph by ——— ——————— that I had difficulty with and I am going to attempt to say it in a different way.