Two more successful Thoughttree writing workshops to
celebrate, both held at The Village Paintpot Café in Elloughton. (Our thanks to
them, as always, for fab coffee and cake!)
In June we kicked Writer’s Block into touch with some inspiring
writing tasks and lots of tips on technique – we even wrote with our eyes wide
shut!
On a recent Friday in July we huddled around the ‘painting
table’ – welcoming several new faces to the gathering – to Kick-start our
Creativity. How? By creating ‘tension at the dinner table’ (or wedding,
funeral, birthday party - any claustrophobic get-together will do!)
So, one way of revealing more about your characters is to hold
them captive together for a while and see what happens. The breakfast, dinner or
tea table scenario is ideal for exposing relationship issues. It is a mostly static
setting, where harmony and disfunction can operate in turn, revealing niggling
resentments, buried conflicts, laughter and tears - and the possibility of consequent
dramatic action. We looked at how some of our great contemporary writers –
Carol Shields, Ann Tyler, Ian McEwan – effectively exploit the potential of the
dinner table scene. Then we wrote our own - and it was fun!
As author Evie Wyld says: ‘…writing fiction is a bit like
organising a party – you can decide who to invite…but you can’t tell them what
to talk about…’ So why not give it a go in your own story? You never know where
your characters may take you.
Check our website for details of the next Thoughttree
Writing Workshop – coming soon.
Deb x
