You Are Emerald Green

Deep and mysterious, it often seems like no one truly gets you.Inside, you are very emotional and moody - though you don't let it show.People usually have a strong reaction to you... profound love or deep hate.But you can even get those who hate you to come around. There's something naturally harmonious about you.

http://www.blogthings.com/whatcolorgreenareyouquiz/">What Color Green Are You?

Review4U

I have started a new blog called Review4u. it is my intention to review books , magazines and websites for writers but not exclusively so.

If find a site that is worth tell ing you about or may of general interest i will include it on the blog. Please feel free to drop by and leave your comments.

Great Website

I have to tell you about a great web site I came across. www.greenmetropolis.com it is superb for all book lovers. it has thousands of titles for sale , all at £3.75 with the majority postage free.

The site gives the seller £3.00 and retains 0.75p for costs. 0.05p of every transaction goes to a charity to plant trees. Recycling old books and planting trees at the same time .

What a concept. Do your self a favour and visit the site, you never know you may even make some money while clearing a space on your own book shelves.

A more indepth look at the site can be found on my new review blog.

On Writing by Stephen King

Stephen Kings sub title is " A Memoir of the Craft". The book is written in two sections the second part is stuffed full of gems from the writer on the craft of writing. I would recommend you read the book cover to cover as you would a novel. Having enjoyed this then take the time to re-read the second section with a highlighter in hand. Doing this will highlight the gems of advice.

"If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others:read a lot and write a lot."

" Every book you pick up has its own lessons"

Common sense yes but when seen in black and white from as prolific a writer as Stephen King the snippets make sense.

Mr King also spreads a little comfort in " No one can be as intellectually slothful as a really smart person; give smart people half a chance and they will ship their oars and drift...dozing to Byzantium,you might say" So I am not lazy just really smart. Well that's my take on it anyway.

He goes on to say that stories and novels consist of three elements,narration,description and dialogue. Its hardly rocket science or anything mysterious. The method in which he lays out the book makes for a very informative and enjoyable read.

Highly recommended.

Latest update

Hello to anyone stopping by. If you take the time to stop by do me a favour and leave a comment good or bad so i know you have stopped by this way.

It is just over three weeks since I last updated the blog . Apologies to anyone who has been waiting on the update with bated breath. If this you, take it from me you need to get more. During that time I have been ill. What started as cold and chest infection turned into Bronchitis. Two antibiotics and a lot of drowning sensations later I am on the mend. As a result the blog shall now grow out of all recognition, allegedly.

During my forced absence I have read to keep myself occupied. I will recommend Stephen Kings book on writing. His honesty and irreverance make for both an enjoyable and educational read. My next blog may just be a review of this book.

In the past I have mentioned Julia Cameron I will review one of her books as well. I really like her easy style. The exercises she provides at the end of each chapter are worth following. Above all her greatest gift is her three pages a day philosophy. More of that in the review.

I have missed several classes as a result of the illness but have been keeping in touch by e-mail. The current exercise is to write a piece on a chance encounter. The resultant piece should be entered in a short story competition. More of that to follow on competion update.

So Loads to follow. if having read this blog there is something may like to see included or indeed have suggestions of any kind please leave a comment and contact details.

Future of the blog

It has been a few weeks since the last update of the blog. As I have said previously,this blog was established for the use of students attending the creative writing class in the Dunlewey Centre in Belfast. While the standard of writing is exceptional in some cases, the ability to commit to the blog is another issue. Some members have found the experience of going online a bit daunting. From this point I will continue the blog as a personal endevour. Should any of the class wish to have their writings posted I would be happy to do so.

The blog will be expanded to take in areas of interest to writers of all backgrounds. I will concentrate on literary events in Northern Ireland and ~Belfast in particular. It is my intention to attempt to establish a "Literary Trail" in Belfast for walkers and visitors to the city. The trail will combine areas of interest and have the walkers safety as one of the main criteria. Places like the Linenhall Library, Queens University, Ulster Museum, Queens Film Theatre will all be included. Places to stay along the route will also have their details included. ~If there is anything ~I have missed and you would like included please drop me a line on my email or leave a comment.

The Height of Nonsense

Paul Clements has now agreed to take classes at both Whiterock and Dunlewey Centre. Paul has also launched his personal blog/website at www.cocktailoftravel.com . This site includes some gems like the top ten book shops in the world(according to Paul of course). It would make an interesting travel article , travelling around the world visiting bookshops. I wonder if my good lady would let me away with it.

Paul has also included some lecture dates for 2007. I know its a personal opinion but I would highly recommend the events if you can manage it. Details on the site.

Paul is pictured at the summit of Slieve-na-Calliagh or Hill of the Witch. This is the highest point in County Meath and one of the sites visited in his book mentioned earlier "The Height of Nonsense".

Another great class.

Another Wednesday Another great class from Paul. Almost a full class with the exceptions of Ellen. I need my fellow blogger back.

Paul set a piece of work last week. this was to write about St Georges Market in Belfast. Jane and Eugene were unable to get to the Market but produced pieces of great quality in any event. i shall take each in turn.

Jane.

Jane wrote about the Christmas Continental Market which took place outside Belfast City Hall. Her piece captured the feel of the market with ,German sausage , a pig on a spit, and lavender from a French stall. All with the soft sounds of Christmas Carols in the background. it gave a real feel for the atmosphere.

Margo

Margo wrote about the Friday market and included some great scenes like the Chinese bartering with the fish mongers. The differing tastes available in the wide range of foods , listing all the available fresh fish although there had been storms all week. Margo also discussed the changing faces at the market. What at one time was a purely Belfast affair there are are now faces from all over Europe and beyond.

Christine

Christine's piece was hilarious she chose to contrast a trip to the market as a very young child with her trip on Saturday morning. Christine has a knack of capturing Belfast characters and their accents. She talked about newspaper in her school bag to carry home the bruised fruit. A scene of using a chamber pot behind the stall was pure Christine. I must persuade her to post this piece. it was Brilliant.

Eugene

Eugene wrote a piece of playing hurling in Belfast Falls Park. He described having cycled from North Belfast to do so with his Hurley and boots on his handle bars. Kids now are reluctant to use a bus never mind cycle anywhere.


Bernadette.

Bernadette had not been at the class last week but read a piece about a Spanish Square and the "beautiful people". She discussed how the square came to life at sunset with traders set up around the edge of the market. She discussed some of the people she could see in the square. A girl with deformed feet, a blind man tapping his way and Bernadette wondered if he could identify sounds that she could not. She described an elderly couple holding hands and still very much in love. These she said were the really beautiful people.


Pauls point today in class was to use the introduction to capture the readers attention. We discussed what Paul described as "Going from the panoramic to the particular" in Jonathon Rabans writing about the Mississippi, I even got the spelling right.
He also discussed a writer called William Least-Heat-Moon who wrote a book on travelling the back roads of America and people he met on his journey. There were some great lines
in the opening paragraph of the book "Blue Highways",The opening line is "Beware thoughts that come in the night" , " How to begin a beginning" .

This was followed by Paul Theroux who wrote "The old Patagonian Express" the opening few paragraphs took place on a commuter train. As he was setting off for Patagonia everyone else was going about their routine lives.


This weeks task is to write about a place we know well. The point is to pay attention to the opening paragraph.

New Year

Classes started back again yesterday. Paul Clements took the class for Hilda who is still ill. We all wish her a speedy recovery. Paul is a travel writer and journalist. He gave the group a flavour of this genre which was excellent. I have included a picture of one of Paul's books. It is available both with Waterstones and Amazon.

We discussed various styles and Authors especially Jan Morris a travel writer of long standing with a personal history as interesting as her writing. Jan began life as a James and underwent a sex change in the seventies.

Other writers included Bill Bryson, Bruce Chapman, and Christopher Rush. A look at styles of writing included the humorous through to the "quest" type of writing.

Paul set the group a task for next week. He asked that we write appox 200 words on St Georges Market in Belfast. This market has been providing a service for several hundred years. Paul asked that we use our own style to convey a feeling of the Market using descriptive writing.

A handout of pointers was included. Some of the points to consider are;

is the writing compelling?

Is it evocative?

authenticity

structured

Using these guide lines to produce the piece should help keep us on track. However when the subject of expenses was brought up Paul was to quick to decline which was the only disappointing element of the day. Look forward to the next couple of weeks exploring this type of writing .

Members who attended included Eugene, Jane, Margo , Christine and myself. Hopefully we will have full contingent next week.