never knowingly without a pen
I'm gratified by the number of likes, comments and visits I received to my Not Quite a Post post! It just goes to show that, when you've said you're on a blogging schedule (in 2014 I've been trying to post at least once a week, usually on a Sunday) it's worth plonking your bottom down… Continue reading On the value of blogging.
Students began by reading their stories from last week when they'd placed one of their own fictional characters in a work setting they'd researched by interviewing other students. The writing was diverse and really interesting and included a man working in an all-female cleaning crew, a white Zimbabwean farmer advising on simulation exercises to a… Continue reading WordWeavers Session 4 – Writing Dialogue
A summary of what we did.... Last week, among other things, we talked about how a character's actions can reveal something, a mood or character trait, for example, to the reader. This week, continuing to think about what our characters do, we considered the world of work as a source of writing inspiration. The workplace… Continue reading Writing about Work – WordWeavers Session 3
We began by considering the following: writing what a character does is a way of revealing emotion or mood to the reader; it helps to know something about your character's background, their childhood, their desires, their fears, etc., as this is likely to influence their behaviour; tapping into your own memories and thoughts is a… Continue reading WordWeavers Session Two involving a carrot…
For those who couldn't make it…. A summary of what we did. Confession: I stole the warm-up exercises from Vicki Feaver and Hugh Dunkerley who used them on a Creative Writing module at Chichester University in the early 1990s. First, a quick warm-up exercise: write, in two minutes, a list of possible uses for this object Then, write… Continue reading WordWeavers at Trowbridge Museum – First Session
WordWeavers are writing workshops and classes run by Josephine Corcoran. These are interactive, participatory workshops for anyone interested in reading and writing poetry and short fiction. All materials, other than pens and notebooks, will be provided. Sessions will centre on the reading and informal discussions of a wide range of, mainly, contemporary texts and a… Continue reading WordWeavers – Creative Writing
This post outlines all the writing prompts and exercises used in my two-hour writing workshop. You might find it useful if you run writing workshops yourself (I have included all credits, where possible, so please acknowledge this blog if appropriate). You might like to use the exercises as writing prompts for your own writing or,… Continue reading Writing Flash-Fiction Workshop at Trowbridge Museum, 16th May, 2012
"Flash-fictions are short, short stories, small but perfectly formed, packing a huge punch in a small number of words. On 16th May, all over the UK, events will be being held to celebrate these tiny gems." National Flash-Fiction Day Trowbridge, a town with a population of about 28,000 people, in West Wiltshire, doesn't have a cinema (yet… Continue reading Trowbridge, West Wiltshire, is on the map for National Flash-Fiction Day on May 16th, 2012
For my final March workshop at Trowbridge Museum, on UNESCO World Poetry Day, March 21, 2012, we started by reading Paul Farley's poem 'I Ran All the Way Home' (after Joe Brainard) and used the repeated phrase "I remember" as a warm-up exercise to write memories, as detailed or as fleeting as the group wished.… Continue reading Workshop Three at Trowbridge Museum: Simon Armitage and other poets
As with the previous workshop, participants were varied in age and experience. My aims, again, were to introduce new poems to the group and to facilitate new writing. Here is a summary of poems read and writing prompts/exercises: Ted Hughes' 'Hands' was used as a prompt to write about someone by closely observing their hands.… Continue reading Writing Poetry Workshops at Trowbridge Museum: Workshop Two – Ted Hughes and other poets, March 3rd, 2012
Josephine Corcoran 