A splendid snippet coming up from one of our young writers, Faye, who is a regular in a York primary school Creative Writing group with a Thoughttree tutor. Faye is Year 6 and needed a boost - we have been working on dynamic verbs, adjectives and keeping the 'self' out of descriptive writing, starting a sentence with a noun instead of the usual 'I can see...' that young writers sometimes produce. We love her short sentence to start, and her use of present tense:
'The sky dims. Suddenly there is an outburst of rain. The cliff looms above. The bold cliff guards a lonely church against the harsh winds.'
Well done, Faye. If you're in the East Riding of Yorkshire and would like a Thoughttree tutor working with your students why not get in touch? We're qualified and experienced teachers, after all...
And just in passing... look out for our Fiction Writing courses, coming in the New Year - and coming to York! Details on the website soon as we can!
Monday, 23 November 2015
Wednesday, 18 November 2015
On Matters of Talk...
Our second workshop focusing on dialogue was a hit with all who came - and it was a sizeable group that squeezed itself into the upstairs room at @Judsons_ Pocklington. Script writing was on the menu and we looked at ways to use silence in talk - fascinating. Ever tried writing dialogue where your character doesn't actually speak? We did!
Try this for size: married couple, getting ready to go out for the evening. He's tying his tie; she's putting on make-up.
'Mother's had false teeth put in,' he says.
She shrugs; reaches for the mirror.
'I mean. To have them all out at once! You should see her without them IN, Sal. Her cheeks! Bags like empty sacking, they are.' He sighs. 'Age. What it does to you.'
She shrugs again, but applies a second, thicker layer of foundation.
Speaks volumes!
Try this for size: married couple, getting ready to go out for the evening. He's tying his tie; she's putting on make-up.
'Mother's had false teeth put in,' he says.
She shrugs; reaches for the mirror.
'I mean. To have them all out at once! You should see her without them IN, Sal. Her cheeks! Bags like empty sacking, they are.' He sighs. 'Age. What it does to you.'
She shrugs again, but applies a second, thicker layer of foundation.
Speaks volumes!
Friday, 30 October 2015
Dramatic Dialogue!
Another fantastic thoughttree workshop coming up... look out for us at @Judsons_ on November 10th 6.30pm - 8.30pm. We'll be delving into the sticky matter of writing decent dialogue - full details on our website www.thoughttree.co.uk but hurry - places are limited!
Wednesday, 21 October 2015
Happy Birthday to us!
Thoughttree is one year old! We're celebrating, as we've now delivered 12 of our writing workshops to take us through our first year. What larks we've had!
With thanks in particular to our hosts at #Cave Castle; York Writers at #Brigantes,York; #Judsons at Pocklington; #Drewtons Farm Shop; #Fudge at Hull.
Want us to come and workshop at your place? Get in touch and let us know!
Plenty more to come... but for now, it's a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY and may there be many more workshops!
With thanks in particular to our hosts at #Cave Castle; York Writers at #Brigantes,York; #Judsons at Pocklington; #Drewtons Farm Shop; #Fudge at Hull.
Want us to come and workshop at your place? Get in touch and let us know!
Plenty more to come... but for now, it's a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY and may there be many more workshops!
With grateful thanks again - to Fudge, in Hull
We had a great morning in Hull's #Fudge - the second of our recent 'tightening tension' workshops - where we explored revelations - such as the moment the hound appears in Conan Doyle's famous Baskervilles tale, and the exquisitely handled moment of entrapment in Susan Hill's #The Man in the Picture. Workshoppers wrote some great atmospheric descriptive pieces in response to our 'Park in the Dark' writing task.
After coffee and cake (naturally!) we delved into issues with dialogue - how to say a lot without saying a lot - and chewed over an illuminating extract from John Williams' novel, Stoner.
Our group of writers enjoyed the experience - thanks once more to Fudge. And talking of chewing... gotta say: the cakes were just luvverly!
After coffee and cake (naturally!) we delved into issues with dialogue - how to say a lot without saying a lot - and chewed over an illuminating extract from John Williams' novel, Stoner.
Our group of writers enjoyed the experience - thanks once more to Fudge. And talking of chewing... gotta say: the cakes were just luvverly!
Friday, 16 October 2015
With thanks to York Writers!
We recently had a splendid evening visiting York Writers at #Brigantes, Micklegate, York. A truly Gothic Evening where we explored how some of the best Gothic Great writers do their stuff - and had a try ourselves at eerie atmospherics in descriptive writing.
Interesting to take a look at domestic, contemporary Gothic as well as some of the loved traditionals - thanks, York Writers, for making Thoughttree feel so welcome - we'd love to come back another day!
Interesting to take a look at domestic, contemporary Gothic as well as some of the loved traditionals - thanks, York Writers, for making Thoughttree feel so welcome - we'd love to come back another day!
Monday, 21 September 2015
Championing young writers
Our education system can fail to acknowledge or value true talent in our younger learners... Tom, early year 4, is struggling with primary literacy because his spelling is poor and his letters aren't joined. Or at least, that is how he is assessed in school.
But after working with us in a Thoughttree action writing session, his pen was flying across the paper! Tom wrote a whole page of an exciting chase scene in present tense, using short sentences. He instinctively used a light comic touch and patterning in his sentences. We say, Go Tom! Here's a snippet (spellings corrected by Ali, because frankly, we don't care much about that!)...
'Saturday morning. I am playing football in my street. Bob pushes me over. I run. He follows me. I run faster. I dash round a corner not knowing where to go next. I charge. I am surrounded by Bob's mates! 'Now what do I do?' I think...
...I run into my room. The window's open. Bob's seen me! I see a trampoline. I leap out of the window but Bob's after me. I land on the trampoline and Bob lands on me. I yell. Bob cups his hands over his ears. So I leg it!'
PS: Tom loved the idea of using 'leg it' as a synonym for 'run '!
But after working with us in a Thoughttree action writing session, his pen was flying across the paper! Tom wrote a whole page of an exciting chase scene in present tense, using short sentences. He instinctively used a light comic touch and patterning in his sentences. We say, Go Tom! Here's a snippet (spellings corrected by Ali, because frankly, we don't care much about that!)...
'Saturday morning. I am playing football in my street. Bob pushes me over. I run. He follows me. I run faster. I dash round a corner not knowing where to go next. I charge. I am surrounded by Bob's mates! 'Now what do I do?' I think...
...I run into my room. The window's open. Bob's seen me! I see a trampoline. I leap out of the window but Bob's after me. I land on the trampoline and Bob lands on me. I yell. Bob cups his hands over his ears. So I leg it!'
PS: Tom loved the idea of using 'leg it' as a synonym for 'run '!
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