Tuesday 24th February

Apologies were received from Lorna, John Mac, Joyce and Joan. Present were Sandra M, Sandra R, Hilary, John H, Brian, Irene, Morag, Marilyn, Jacky and Rob

Title for the day was ‘The Story of the Song’ - a Desert Island Discs generated ‘this is the last record you would save from the surf were you to be overcome.’ Each piece was accompanied by the title track with ‘Big John Hughes’  acting as the resident DJ.

Sandra M opened proceedings with “We’ve Only Just Begun’ by the Carpenters  describing her early married life with the much loved and missed Donnie in Zimbabwe. This was followed by a creative piece from Hilary based around the song ‘Solitaire’ this time sung by Andy Williams. It described the case of a single man, obviously well off, who had to resort to playing solitaire on a card table whilst nursing a glass of bourbon, his partner having left. Sandra R followed with a poem written at a time in life when ‘I Want To Break Free’ by Queen was all the rage and Irene weighed in with a reflective, sentimental piece surrounded by the Beatles ‘When I’m Sixty Four’. It was entitled ‘True Romance’ and it was interesting to note that when one actually LISTENED to this song rather than had it on as background music, one realised what a clever and timeless song it is.

Brian gave us the history behind and an analysis of one of the Eagles least known songs ‘The Last Resort’, an outcry against the despoiling of the continent whilst in pursuit of the American dream. I think Marilyn surprised everyone by her choice ‘Driving Home For Christmas’ by Chris Rea, with memories of long drives on the M6 between Portsmouth and Glasgow. It resonated very strongly with me and I shivered as the word Shap was mentioned! It was Marilyn’s longest offering thus far and, to my mind, her best. Rob followed with the Strawbs’ ‘The Hangman and the Papist’ as being the archetypal song from the Folk Rock genre and Jacky weighed in with another Eagles track ‘ Hotel California”. Call me ignorant or naive but I hadn’t realised it was a prison  until Jacky pointed it out. John H completed the afternoon with a song ‘The Garden of Remembrance’ by Fish, an evocative piece which brought him many precious memories.

A very pleasant afternoon. More homework for next week’s title ‘Constants in the World of Change’.

 Tuesday 17th February

Apologies were received from John M, Joan, Morag and Joyce. There was a turn out of ten and proceedings began with a word about John Spence,  much loved and respected Secretary of Erskine Writers who passed away towards the end of last week. A hugely talented writer in many genres (I’m sure we all remember Chancer, Santa’s Glaswegian reindeer!!), he was also an honest and helpful mentor to those of us who joined the club under his secretaryship and our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.

As anticipated, Hilary’s “Magic Mixtures” provided us with an entertaining and challenging afternoon’s workshop. Using cuttings from a variety of publications and with an exhortation to concentrate on the effect such pictures had on our senses we had two exercises to complete roughly in the genre of Flash Fiction - one which we have come to know well recently! Hilary was also insistent that we begin our pieces with a strong opening sentence, the hook, which catches the reader encouraging them to ‘read on’. It was a very pleasant afternoon which was helped by humorous  readings and memoirs from Sandra R, Irene and John H and bolstered by Marilyn’s homebaking of pasties and sausage rolls.

Just a quick note - I have sent an email regarding the challenge set by the Scottish National Theatre and a reminder that a final competition has been placed - a short story based on ONE of the following titles “The Fugitive”, “S.O.S” or “The Stray”. Entries to be emailed to Morag by midnight on 31st March. 

 Tuesday 10th February

After the last three hectic weeks when our attention was concentrated on the judging of the SAW Flash Fiction entries, it was good see normal service resuming. We had a handful of call-offs and apologies were received from Joan , John H, Irene and Sandra R.

We received the results of the current session’s final in-house competition - humorous writing - as adjudged by David Ross. It was interesting to note that he gave a general critique to the club as a whole, the crux of which was that often humour lies within a spirited and pacy dialogue rather than something written in the third person. There were fourteen entries in total and the winner was Rob with ‘Inconsequential Lifeblood’ - an excerpt from his longer piece ‘Double Decker Dialogue’. John H came second with ‘Laughing Through the Bruises’, a cautionary tale about a  National Lottery entry with third place being awarded to John Mac’s slightly irreverent story ‘Holy Sweeties from Hegarty’s Bar’. David awarded TWO highly commended - John H’s ‘Revelations’ about the dangers of using a smart phone during a pub quiz and Morag’s tale ‘Communication Achieved’ about a conversation between a Glasgow lady and someone she mistook to be a medical student. 

Other offerings were Jacky’s ‘Two Men and a Dug’, Hilary’s ‘A Human is Not Just For Christmas’, Lorna’s ‘Clean and Tidy’, Brian’s ‘Skyline Pigeon’, Morag’s ‘Hand in Hand’ and Rob’s ‘Christmas in Stepford’. We look forward to hearing other entries later in the session.

The rest of the afternoon was given over to hearing tales whereby a well-known fairy tale or legend was brought up to date. We heard Joan’s ‘Ashley’, Hilary’s ‘The Predator’, Lorna’s retake on ‘Humpty Dumpty’, Marilyn’s clever play on ‘Little Miss Muffet’ and her smart phone (!) Rob’s ‘Myddfai Re-visited’ and John Mac’s  retelling of an old Slavic folktale which warned against giving a face to a homemade doll! It was a very pleasant afternoon.

Next week we have an in-house workshop based around Hilary’s ever-popular ‘Magic Mixtures’ and that is something to anticipate with joy.

Rob

 Tuesday 3rd February

Again there was a good turn out bolstered  by Brians’s Kit Kats and doughnuts. Apologies were received from Joyce, Margaret and Joan.

This was our final workshop on Flash Fiction adjudication in readiness for the SAW Conference in March. It has been a tough job, whittling down seventy entries to a final five - first, second and third, along with a Highly Commended and Commended. Also each member had to afix their own critique to the scripts consigned to their care. In many ways it has been a very refreshing exercise - seeing how other members of the creative writing fraternity went about their business, the ideas they came up with (and there were many!) and their finished article. In my opinion, it brought our club closer together as we worked on our own, in pairs and groups and eventually discussed the merits of those entries which were considered prize winners and worthy of commendation. All members are to be thanked for their commitment to this task and the time which they devoted to it and should feel proud of their efforts.  We have therefore arrived at our answers and the prizes go to…………….ah, no….that will have to wait until next month!

We are back to normal next week when members will hear entries to our final competition of the year - humorous writing - winners of the previous competition which are yet to be read - a turning point in your life - and, if there is time, a modern day reworking of a well known fairy story or legend so it should be quite enjoyable

 Tuesday 27th January.

Given the severity of the weather there was an excellent turn out of members and it was important as we returned with our reactions and critiques of the SAW Flash Fiction entries we had been allocated. It was another afternoon when they were to be scrutinised as members paired off to work as a team, getting a second opinion on those deemed worthy of being put forward for another appraisal. An interesting guideline from Sandra was that members put forward entries for a second consideration which “they were willing to fight for” and this was, for me at least, a useful yardstick. It was a busy afternoon with mumbling and talk, laughter and astonishment and eventually our original seventy entries were whittled down to two dozen scripts which formed our ‘long list’ for placement and commendation. The task continues.

Lorna gave an update on the meeting she and Rob had had with EngageRenfrew on the quest for further funding and, again, this is ongoing. The application form is near completion and will soon be submitted.

Rob

 Tuesday 20th January

There was a good turnout of  fourteen members today and, although there is very little to report which is tangible, it was a very hardworking meeting. 

We began with Lorna highlighting the plan which we intend taking forward to Renfrew Council in our search for a grant. It is built on a two-pronged approach - the welfare and mindfulness of our current members, using the discipline of writing in order to aid mental health and the promotion of reading and writing within local schools - both primary and secondary. The form will be submitted following a further meeting this coming Friday which both Rob and Lorna will attend.

The rest of the afternoon was taken up with ‘dry runs’ in the adjudication of the SAW 2026 Flash Fiction competition. We have 70 entries in all to read - each to be adjudged and to have a written criticism by club members. It was an intense afternoon and, hopefully, everyone returned home reassured in the way in which to go about it and armed with entries which are subject to their consideration. I would be grateful if all members could email me the titles of their allocated pieces of work so that we can ensure that nothing falls between the floorboards. We intend to replicate the afternoon’s activities next week.

 Tuesday 13th January

Following on from the flu ravaged meeting of last week, there was a healthy turn-out for our ‘Book Review’ session. Apologies were received from Joyce, Joan, Jackie, Marilyn and Linda.

The meeting opened with an in-depth discussion as to our responsibilities as this years adjudicators for the SAW ‘Flash Fiction’ Competition and plans were put in place as to how we accomplish the task. It was agreed that part of our normal syllabus may have to be re-structured and that completed adjudications along with the necessary crits would need to be completed by 3rd March. As a rule of thumb our guidelines should be that each entry should fulfil the following criteria

1. Have a noticeable beginning, middle and end

2. Be of an excellent standard

3. Have an identifiable thought

4.Well drawn characters

5. Be no more than 250 words

A further discussion was held as to our application for funding from Renfrewshire and it was agreed, in general, that our approach should be based on encouraging reading within the school population  of the area along with providing a ‘wellness’ avenue for retired folk. Rob and Lorna are meeting to plan out application to take forward to a meeting on January 23rd.

The real business of the day began with Sandra M’s offering “The Shapeshifter’s Daughter” by Sally Magnusson, a novel based in Orkney around the magical Maeshowe, a book benefitting from a good, well written story and a striking cover design. Brian followed with ‘Anam Cara’ by Fr John O’Donohue, an appreciation of the spiritual wisdom from the Celtic world. Morag gave us ‘Thge Island of Missing Trees’ by the Anglo-Turkish author Elif Shafa, a story set in Greece about a love affair between a Muslim Cypriot and a Greek Orthodox Christian. It is interesting to note that one of its ‘characters’ was an aged fig tree. Rob gave us his interpretation of the poetry of R S Thomas and Sandra talked about her book ‘The Women’ by Kristen Hannah. Irene was somewhat disappointed by ‘Caledonia Road’ by Andrew O’Hagan feeling it took too long for her to get ‘hooked’ and that it was over-populated. Nevertheless, she encouraged us to read it regardless of the somewhat bleak picture it painted of modern Britain. John H extolled the virtues of John MacDonald’s fourth book but was mindful not to give too much of the plot away and we ended with Hilary offering us ‘Edgelands: Journeys into Englands True Wilderness’ by Paul Farley and Michael Symmons Roberts, a somewhat quirky book about the glories of a post industrial and urban landscape covering a variety of media.

A busy meeting, therefore.