The Unexpected Poet and the Next Event!

As you may remember, I cajoled a couple of people into performing at the open mic event last month because I was worried about the turnout.

I actually didn’t need them to perform, numbers-wise, but I am glad they did because one of them has developed an interest in poetry as a result.

Not only have they started writing a piece of their own but they have also borrowed a second book of poetry to read through.

Such is the magic of words!

I have also been spending a little time this month explaining why we’re not having an event in September – it’s great that people enjoyed it but from our point of view we need time to work on new poems and performances.

However, the advert is now out for October, the night has been double checked for emergency meetings! and we are building up some more support for the writing group.

Roll on next time – and here’s hoping another person gets struck by the wordy bug!

Happy writing,

EJ

🙂

 

Read Full Post »

Back to it!

Well, after a lovely long weekend celebrating a family wedding, I am back to the grind with the preparation for tomorrow’s open mic night.  I have a pile of poems ready to go, and a group of people now putting their hands up to say they’ll take part – or, at least, turn up with a possibility of taking part!

I decided not to spend too long editing the work – partly because there’s less time than I realised! But also because I will use the event to review them, so I can make adjustments as a result of what I hear.

As it’ll be a late night tomorrow I probably won’t tell you how it goes until Friday – in the meantime, wish me luck!

Happy writing,

EJ

🙂

 

 

Read Full Post »

Free Post Thursday – Preparing

I’ve been at writing group tonight, and inevitably much of the discussion was about our open mic night.

I have written the spooky poem but I think it needs a concluding stanza, so we discussed that.  I don’t think the others were in quite the same headspace as me though; there was a push to make it funny!

I also talked about the start of my Wild Swans poem, although that isn’t one for the open mic.

I was working on it at lunchtime today, and I am happy with the way it is coming together.  The quote got me thinking about mindless drones and that has informed my approach.

I won’t say anything more yet but I hope to share the finished article with you all.

Finally, I helped another writer with their work.  I have a very different writing style and approach to them, but I can help with the editing process – identifying discrepancies in rhythm, rhyme schemes which alter unexpectedly, and so on.  It’s a really important part of the group, such as it is, to share what we have learnt in our work .

In the spirit of sharing, this is an old technique that often gets forgotten: always read your work out loud.  You can hear if a line sounds right, or a word is too hard, a syllable extra needed and so on.

This applies particularly to poetry, but other writing can also be improved by listening to it. Try it and see if it works for you!

That’s all for today.  It’s just gone midnight and my coach turned into a pumpkin…

Happy writing,

EJ

🙂

Read Full Post »