Meeting Report: 20th August 2012

On Monday 20 August it was competition results time once again. This time, our challenge had been to write a story all in dialogue.  Our guest judge was Dr Elizabeth Allen, a former lecturer in literature and cultural studies, who has judged competitions and run workshops for us previously.

     Elizabeth started by identifying some of the difficulties of writing dialogue for fiction.  For example, in a dialogue-only piece, there is the problem of differentiating between the characters – giving each a recognisable ‘voice’. Real-life dialogue is full of pauses, hesitations, and random digressions which are hard to portray convincingly.  Finally, effective dialogue has to make every word count, and keep the story moving without getting bogged down in too much detail and information.

     She felt the entries were of a very high standard, and singled out four for special mention:

     In fourth place was ‘The Voice of Reason’ by Stephen Martin.  This was a dark, intense piece about a young man with mental health difficulties.  In complete contrast, the third place entry, ‘Single to St. Leonard’s’ by Richard Holdsworth was a comic dialogue between two women on a bus – but making some telling cultural and political points. In second place was ‘The Second Tyranny’, by Mike Walsh. Set in the 1940s, this was another intense piece about a psychiatrist interviewing a multiple murderer.  The winner was the very unusual ‘Soldier’s Story’ by Jill Fricker.  Set in the Greek Antiquities Room of the British Museum, it described a conversation between a British soldier who had just returned from fighting in Iraq and a torso of the god Apollo.  The piece was both moving and chilling, and a worthy winner.

     We all expressed our thanks to Elizabeth for her hard work, and for her wise words of guidance and encouragement.

The Group meets fortnightly at the White Rock Hotel. If you are interested in joining (there is currently a waiting list), or in finding out more about our activities, please contact the Membership Secretary, Amanda Giles, on 01424 442707 or e-mail membership.hwg@gmail.com You can also visit our website at www.hastingswriters.co.uk

Report compiled by Steph Gaunt

Meeting Report: 6th August 2012

It was good to see so many members dragging themselves away from watching the Olympics to attend our meeting on Monday 6 August – or maybe people had just given up trying to understand the rules of the Women’s Omnium cycle event!  

The meeting was one of our regular Manuscript Evenings, where a small number of members read out extracts from their work in progress to gain helpful feedback from their colleagues. 

First up was Alex Willis, with the first part of a detective thriller novel, ‘Poetic Justice’, starring the gritty Inspector Jack Buchanan.  Alex hopes to produce a series of Jack Buchanan books, all set in Eastbourne. The Group felt that Alex had made a positive start with a gripping story line, and looked forward to hearing more in the future.

Next, to give our minds a rest, Janet Kates read us a short story, ‘Greek Music’.  In 2011, this story won third prize in the Group’s annual flagship competition, the Catherine Cookson Cup. We all agreed that this tightly written, atmospheric piece would set a high standard for our 2012 entries to measure up to.

Eileen Masters read us the closing pages of her autobiographical memoir, ‘Prayers for an Infidel’.  The work combines fascinating stories about Eileen’s work in war-ravaged Afghanistan with memories of her own childhood.  The Group made a number of suggestions to Eileen about how such a powerful piece of writing could best be finished off, and we look forward to reading the final version.

Lastly, Amanda Giles presented a further extract from her radio play, ‘Moondance’.  At our last Manuscript evening, Amanda had asked us to take different parts for a reading of the play, and on this occasion, we obliged again.  As the characters are mostly Welsh, with a London rock-star thrown in, our efforts were predictably hilarious.  Even so, Amanda felt that having real people read the play was a very helpful exercise for her.

The Group meets fortnightly at the White Rock Hotel. If you are interested in joining (there is currently a waiting list), or in finding out more about our activities, please contact the Membership Secretary, Amanda Giles, on 01424 442707 or e-mail membership.hwg@gmail.com. You can also visit our website at
www.hastingswriters.co.uk.

Report compiled by Steph Gaunt