forWORDS (The Forres Writing Group)

Meeting on TUESDAY 15th August: We will, as usual meet outside the Community Centre at 7:00pm.  Our main focus on this occasion will be the pieces members have produced, following any of our 'outdoor excursions' over the summer. Bring your copy and bring a notebook.

This week we’re changing the day we hold our meeting. The time will be the same as usual 7:00pm, we’re meeting up outside the Community Centre, BUT THE DAY IS CHANGED TO WEDNESDAY FOR THIS WEEK ONLY. Hopefully this will permit Charlotte and Laura to join us (as they’re having trouble with Tuesdays at the moment).

We intend to go up to Sanquhar Loch and walk around. Hopefully you will find something of interest to write about, as the possibilities are limitless: wildlife of all sorts (animals or plants), the weather, the area, people you meet or observe, etc. Any of these could be used to spark a factual article or a poem or a short story for example. Let your imagination run wild. Is that person behaving strangely? What did that woman say to her companion as you walked past? Is that crow following us? Remember the, What if … question when looking for inspiration/ideas.

Hope you can manage and that we see you on Wednesday 2nd of August. Remember a notebook.

The forWords Programme

Once a Month we have a two-hour-long, ‘Workshop Session.’

Every other week of the month we follow a ‘three activities’ format:
•   Session 1: Intro. (approx 15 mins.) for news, business and introductions, etc.
•   Session 2: Members writing. (approx 1 hour) A reading, feedback, comment and advice Session, with a maximum of 15 mins. per reader, which includes feedback time.
•   Session 3: (approx. 45 mins.) A programme of writing related activities – details for the next 5 weeks are outlined below

The Session 3 activities for the next five weeks:

9th May:   Monthly ‘Workshop Session’  This time this will be a poetry workshop on the poetic form ‘Pantoum,’ delivered by Andy

16th May:   ‘Help a Member’ Session: assisting Hollie. This activity gives a member an opportunity to share a current writing project with those present or to highlight a perceived ‘difficulty’ or ‘problem’ and ask for advice/assistance/suggestions that may help.

23rd May:   Discussion about Days Away/Writing Retreat:
•   Discussion about a possible ‘retreat’ or ‘weekend away’ with focus on where we’ll go and who to invite as a tuitor
•   Possible ‘Day-trips’ as subject-matter or inspiration for writing
•   Summer Evening Meetings – Inside? Outside? Dates?

30th May:   Discussion on a Member’s Question (from Hollie):  How do you obtain an agent? How do you get published?

6th June:   Question & Answer Session: with Danny Cameron, a recently retired police officer. Danny has kindly agreed to come and talk to us. The main focus will be a question and answer session. This will give those members who are interested in writing ‘crime fiction’ an opportunity to ask about police procedures and/or any other crime/police related questions they may wish to raise.

Please note, a date has yet to be set for Danny’s visit, so this activity may well be placed in a different date-slot than the one indicated here. This programme will be updated once a firm date has been set.

It was decided at Tuesday's meeting that we should move to a new venue at the Community centre. Meetings will continue to be on Tuesdays and the times will remain the same. First meeting in 'The Green Room' will be on Tuesday 11th October, 2022.

BLOCK 1 (until the Christmas/New Year Break):
This version was updated/revised: 21st September, 2022)

As agreed, our weekly meetings will be divided into 3 'sessions.' Session 1 will be 15 minutes for any business, news, introductions (new members and/or visitors). Session 2 will last an hour and will be reading and feedback/comment sessions. The activities listed below are our timetable for Session 3 (8:15pm - 9:00pm) - various writing related activities. The programme below also lists our once-a-month 'workshop' activities.
All sessions listed below will be held during the last forty-five minutes of our Tuesday meetings, with the exception that, usually, on the first meeting of every month the whole two-hour meeting will be given over to a writing workshop aimed at improving members skills and/or knowledge of the craft. The timing may vary and this may not be the first week of the month if it is necessary to accommodate the writer who is delivering the workshop.

If there is something you would like to have included in the programme, you have two options:
•   Put forward your suggestion (to Andy) for inclusion in the next block (this is being planned during the next few weeks)
•   Bring up your suggestion at one of the ‘Quick Question’ sessions. Anything brought up at one of these sessions will be added to the forthcoming main programme as a specific topic and have more time dedicated to it, if those at the ‘Quick Session’ think it warrants more time.

14th September   Writing Prompts Session: Tez’s Magic Boxes
20th September   Writing Prompts Session: a quick hearing of last week’s outcomes followed by a new ‘prompt’ from Tia
27th September   Quick Questions Session - bring your questions on any writing genre or any writing-related topic. Be prepared to ‘chip in’ with advice and suggestions, concerning the questions posed, if you can.
4th October Monthly Workshop   Once a Month Workshop – Fiction (both long and short fiction) The subject for this particular session is “Story,” what it is and how vitally important it is to understand ‘story’ from a writer’s perspective (which is quite different from that of a reader). Failure to understand ‘story’ is cited by many editors and agents as the main reason for failure by ‘apprentice writers’.
11th October   Discussion & Advice Session: (at Hollie’s request) Editors and Literary Agents
18th October   Writing Prompts Session: Patricia's Surprise
25th October   Quick Questions Session - bring your questions on any writing genre or any writing-related topic. Be prepared to ‘chip in’ with advice and suggestions, concerning the questions posed, if you can.
1st November Monthly Workshop   - Scriptwriting - Still waiting for subject and detail still to be determined.
8th November   Discussion & Advice Session: (necessary for the group) Moving to another venue. A discussion on ‘Membership Fees’ for the coming session (April 2023) as already touched on at the meeting on 14th September (but there was a low turnout then).
15th November   Writing Prompts Session: using photographs as prompts for writing (Tez).
22nd November   Quick Questions Session - bring your questions on any writing genre or any writing-related topic. Be prepared to ‘chip in’ with advice and suggestions, concerning the questions posed, if you can.
29th November   Discussion & Advice Session: (at Brian’s request) Understanding and Embracing Self Publishing Options
6th December Monthly Workshop - Poetry - Looking at a poetic form: The Villanelle
13th December   Christmas Party