I must confess something. I'm absolutely thrilled even 24 hours after our first meeting of the Calgary Writing Collective. Everyone spoke their minds about what they wanted from the group and what they didn't want. In summary, all in attendance said they wanted to share their writing, get honest feedback and practice writing styles en mass with simple, brief, thought-provoking exercises.
Our next meeting is on Tuesday, July 8.
Here's what to expect from future meetings of the Calgary Writing Collective:
- Meet the second Tuesday of each month, 7 p.m. @ the Auburn Saloon (bottom of the Calgary Tower, 163-115 9 Ave. S.E.)
- We'll start with a quick writing exercise presented by a different writer each month. This allows each writer to put a different spin on the exercise.
- Exercises can be shared and discussed afterwards, if desired.
- The Calgary Writing Collective will not assign homework.
- Each writer is encouraged to progess on their own writing projects outside of the Calgary Writing Collective.
- Each writer will have an opportunity to share/read approximately 10 minutes of their work every monthly meeting. Ten minutes = approximately one minute per each double-spaced page.
- Feedback will be offered if requested. Feedback will be encouraging, but may contain critical questions or suggestions, which the writer can choose to respond to at the meeting or not.
Thanks to the seven people who came to the first meeting, you know who you are! And thanks to the handful of you who wanted to come but had prior engagements. I hope to see you next time!
I'll be leading the first exercise, so if you have any ideas or requests, please send them to alisonbracegirdle@gmail.com.
See you next month on Tuesday, July 8 at the Auburn Saloon.
-Alison
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Monday, June 2, 2008
Join us on June 10th to launch the Calgary Writing Collective
Welcome to the Calgary Writing Collective's blog. Our first meeting will be Tuesday, June 10, 2008 at 7 p.m. at the Auburn Saloon (bottom of the Calgary Tower, 163-115 9 Ave. S.E.)
We want this group to inspire and encourage creative writers but also to provide creative accountability for the progress of our individual projects; be they short stories, screenplays, novels or something in between.
We will be publishing works from the collective here on this blog and there will be a semi-annual publication of our collective's writing as well.
Here's what the Calgary Writing Collective is all about:
Dates
Second Tuesday of every month with the first one on Tuesday, June 10.
Location
Our first meeting will be at Calgary's theatre bar, the Auburn Saloon (bottom of the Calgary Tower, 163-115 9 Ave. S.E.).
Nature of the collective
We'll be alternating the activities of our collective every other month so that time can be spent preparing to write, sharing our writing and publishing our writing. The first month we'll come up with a creative theme to write about and writing exercises will be available for those who want them.
The next month we'll compare notes on our work, whether it was based on the previous month's theme or your own ideas. This allows you to have at least a month to work on your writing and time to get feedback from the group, if you wish.
Our blog
We will publish some of our brainstorms, stories and works from members who wish to publish on this blog. This will also be a place to check out local literary events and writing competitions.
Our publication
After our first meeting we'll plan out how often and in what format we'll publish collections of our work.
Our events
The Calgary Writing Collective's meetings, local literary events and tons of writing competition deadlines will be published on the blog's calendar. If you have any to add, please send them to alisonbracegirdle@gmail.com
Alison Bracegirdle's brief bio
I'm just beginning my foray into fiction having recently been a journalist/editor/producer with CBC, Avenue magazine and the Calgary Herald. I work at iStockphoto.com as a writer and editor and I've been writing short stories and attempting screenplays for about 6 months (or more, if you count childhood novellas and plays written in my tree fort on a clunky typewriter).
I hope to see you on Tuesday, June 10. Please RSVP to alisonbracegirdle@gmail.com, so I have an idea of how large a table to reserve.
We want this group to inspire and encourage creative writers but also to provide creative accountability for the progress of our individual projects; be they short stories, screenplays, novels or something in between.
We will be publishing works from the collective here on this blog and there will be a semi-annual publication of our collective's writing as well.
Here's what the Calgary Writing Collective is all about:
Dates
Second Tuesday of every month with the first one on Tuesday, June 10.
Location
Our first meeting will be at Calgary's theatre bar, the Auburn Saloon (bottom of the Calgary Tower, 163-115 9 Ave. S.E.).
Nature of the collective
We'll be alternating the activities of our collective every other month so that time can be spent preparing to write, sharing our writing and publishing our writing. The first month we'll come up with a creative theme to write about and writing exercises will be available for those who want them.
The next month we'll compare notes on our work, whether it was based on the previous month's theme or your own ideas. This allows you to have at least a month to work on your writing and time to get feedback from the group, if you wish.
Our blog
We will publish some of our brainstorms, stories and works from members who wish to publish on this blog. This will also be a place to check out local literary events and writing competitions.
Our publication
After our first meeting we'll plan out how often and in what format we'll publish collections of our work.
Our events
The Calgary Writing Collective's meetings, local literary events and tons of writing competition deadlines will be published on the blog's calendar. If you have any to add, please send them to alisonbracegirdle@gmail.com
Alison Bracegirdle's brief bio
I'm just beginning my foray into fiction having recently been a journalist/editor/producer with CBC, Avenue magazine and the Calgary Herald. I work at iStockphoto.com as a writer and editor and I've been writing short stories and attempting screenplays for about 6 months (or more, if you count childhood novellas and plays written in my tree fort on a clunky typewriter).
I hope to see you on Tuesday, June 10. Please RSVP to alisonbracegirdle@gmail.com, so I have an idea of how large a table to reserve.
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