Thoughttree are delighted to announce that they are working with York Adult Education to offer a new course in Creative Writing, led by Ali. www.thoughttree.co.uk for more details and how to book.
www.yortime.org.uk
01904 552806
email: york.learning@york.gov.uk
Thursday, 28 January 2016
The Loney. So nearly great.
Congratulations to #TheLoney for being almost the Costa Winner this week - loved this book - most of the way through. #Hurley creates a world full of threat and foreboding; we are kept delightfully - and in most sinister fashion - on the edge of our readerly seats.
How does he do it? The page eggers are the sense of menace personified; look at the language as they arrive: 'crawled'; 'nightmare'; 'grotesque'; 'savage'. They are so effective because the the threat they bring with them is never quite realised - and this is important in Gothic writing where the thrill lies in terror, not horror. More of that in a moment!
This novel has echoes of Fay Weldon's Puffball. But Weldon (arguably true ruler of domestic Gothic) achieved something that Hurley has not: she stepped back from an overwritten ending to leave us with a sense of delicious wonder that the ordinary can appear so menacing/sinister. The Loney descends into farcical horror: the sacrificial baby? With 'shrivelled yellow face' and 'mangled claw'? Really? Horror, not terror.
And the miraculous recovery of Hanny? Oh please.
Its reductive, and a shame. So nearly great!
How does he do it? The page eggers are the sense of menace personified; look at the language as they arrive: 'crawled'; 'nightmare'; 'grotesque'; 'savage'. They are so effective because the the threat they bring with them is never quite realised - and this is important in Gothic writing where the thrill lies in terror, not horror. More of that in a moment!
This novel has echoes of Fay Weldon's Puffball. But Weldon (arguably true ruler of domestic Gothic) achieved something that Hurley has not: she stepped back from an overwritten ending to leave us with a sense of delicious wonder that the ordinary can appear so menacing/sinister. The Loney descends into farcical horror: the sacrificial baby? With 'shrivelled yellow face' and 'mangled claw'? Really? Horror, not terror.
And the miraculous recovery of Hanny? Oh please.
Its reductive, and a shame. So nearly great!
Thursday, 21 January 2016
creme egg on the face!
Greetings bloggers all - glad to report that we are coming up to speed for the New Year (yes I know it's almost February!)
Important things first - hot topic: tried the first Cadbury's #Creme Egg of the season today. Result: horrid. You have cheapened the chocolate, Cadbury! First and last Creme Egg for me and definitely a case of egg on the face for Cadbury.
Creme Egg, anyone? No thanks.
Important things first - hot topic: tried the first Cadbury's #Creme Egg of the season today. Result: horrid. You have cheapened the chocolate, Cadbury! First and last Creme Egg for me and definitely a case of egg on the face for Cadbury.
Creme Egg, anyone? No thanks.
Wednesday, 6 January 2016
Happy New year from Thoughttree!
Greetings from Thoughttree!
The festive season is behind us - the last chocolate sneaked from the box, decorations packed away, a trail of pine needles leading to a naked tree, lying prostrate on the damp patio...
Time for New Year's resolutions!
We're hoping that yours includes enjoying more Thoughttree Creative Writing Workshops in 2016!
Watch this space for the next session, coming soon.
And it's not too late to enter our Flash Fiction competition - title: Snow Globe. Word limit: 150. (Sounds easy, eh?)
Deadline: this Friday (8th Jan). Submit on-line. Winning story will be featured on our website and read on West Wolds Radio, the creative writers' radio station.
Best wishes
Deb and Ali
Monday, 14 December 2015
A 'who is he?' poem for Christmas
We've been working on metaphor poems with our young writers - always fun and you can still spot the learning in there (how many of us are falling back on word searches as the end of term approaches? What is the point of these things? They are so DULL!)
So here's a festive 'who is he?' poem (one I made earlier :P) to share as we head into the final week of pre-Christmas term time mania... copyright Ali, this time (its fun writing with the kids, after all...)
He is a mighty throne, draped in rich, twisted silks of crimson and gold.
The soaring, spreading palm tree fresh-fruited with fine dates.
A lone camel that plods across the searing, heat-shimmered dunes.
He is Arabian moonrise, yellowed and heavy in the evening sky.
The promise of starlight on the far horizon.
He is exotic spices haggled over in desert souks.
A precious jewelled casket; a gift of gold.
Who is he?
(One of the!) Wise Men, of course.
Happy Christmas from Thoughttree to all you slightly frazzled by now teachers - you will have earned your Christmas by the end of this week!
So here's a festive 'who is he?' poem (one I made earlier :P) to share as we head into the final week of pre-Christmas term time mania... copyright Ali, this time (its fun writing with the kids, after all...)
He is a mighty throne, draped in rich, twisted silks of crimson and gold.
The soaring, spreading palm tree fresh-fruited with fine dates.
A lone camel that plods across the searing, heat-shimmered dunes.
He is Arabian moonrise, yellowed and heavy in the evening sky.
The promise of starlight on the far horizon.
He is exotic spices haggled over in desert souks.
A precious jewelled casket; a gift of gold.
Who is he?
(One of the!) Wise Men, of course.
Happy Christmas from Thoughttree to all you slightly frazzled by now teachers - you will have earned your Christmas by the end of this week!
Wednesday, 9 December 2015
Christmas Writing with Kids
Phew - the world is such a difficult place right now. How lovely then to be able to share some of our young writers' seasonal descriptive writing and escape into fantasy. This extract is by Faye, Year 6. We were working on sentence starters - using a preposition, and replacing 'I see' starters. Faye's original 'fox' sentence began 'I see a fox slipping on the ice...' Together we decided that 'A fox slips...' is much stronger. Well done, Faye.
Flying in Snow writing by Faye
The snow blanket covers the wonderful rooftops below.
I spy twinkling light from the windows of awake children
hoping to sneak a glimpse of the beloved Father Christmas.
I spot trees in the darkness of night.
A fox slips on the ice and plummets towards the prickled,
frost covered bushes. And it is gone.
Below me, the icy sea looks like a puddle because we’re up so
high.
As we dash through the clouds, an angel soars through the
windy winter skies.
Tuesday, 1 December 2015
Christmas is coming...
We wanted to say a huge 'well done!' to one of our regular workshoppers, Sarah, who wrote 50,000 words in November! That's 50,000! Sarah, you are brilliant!
December is now upon us... and you'll soon be too busy with the turkey to think about much else. But look out for us in the New Year, when we'll be publishing details of our January workshop and we'll have some exciting announcements to make about new Thoughttree Writing Courses!
Just need to get a tiny something else off our chests... every time the phone rings this internet connection fails! Anyone else have this problem? Grrrrr!
December is now upon us... and you'll soon be too busy with the turkey to think about much else. But look out for us in the New Year, when we'll be publishing details of our January workshop and we'll have some exciting announcements to make about new Thoughttree Writing Courses!
Just need to get a tiny something else off our chests... every time the phone rings this internet connection fails! Anyone else have this problem? Grrrrr!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)