Writing Room: Hi.
Writing Room is our online writing group.
We post a prompt. Once you’ve written your piece, post it in the comments box below. Anyone is welcome to take part and it’s an opportunity to post work plus give and gain feedback.
Today, we are introducing ourselves to our characters.
As writers, we spend a lot of time with the people we create in our imagination but how well do we know them? How much you know your characters will depend on what kind of writer you are and what planning you do before you begin. Today’s exercise is about asking your characters questions about themselves and getting to know them better.
Ask three of your main characters the five questions below. You can choose to either share your answers in the comments box below or simply tell us whether this exercise helped you and why.
Ask your characters the following:
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Book News: Graeme Simsion
The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion is the follow-up novel to the fantastic, The Rosie Project.
I loved The Rosie Project and completely fell in love with Don and Rosie. I was lucky enough to attend an author session with Graeme where he told us a little about this new novel and I have been looking forward to its release ever since.
The Rosie Effect is due to be released by Michael Joseph on 25th September 2014 and is available to pre-order in hardback and e-book.
About The Rosie Effect:
With the Wife Project complete, Don settles into a new job and married life in New York. But it’s not long before certain events are taken out of his control and it’s time to embark on a new project . . .
As Don tries to get to grips with the requirements of starting a family, his unusual research style gets him into trouble. Continue reading
by Courses and Competitions: The Writers’ Workshop Writing Course.
Creative Writing Flying Start is a four-week online course aimed at beginners.
This is a course which aims to shed light on the whole creative process. The course helps you get those words from head to heart and onto page or screen. The first few exercises are designed to stimulate creativity and to get you into the writing habit. Above all this is about having fun, about letting your imagination fly.
The course will include an introductory period followed by four weeks of study which will look at Self, Other People, Language and Writing the Story.
It’s being hosted by The Writers’ Workshop and the course is £195. The next available course dates are 2nd September and 4th November. Continue reading
by News: Unseen Charlie and The Chocolate Factory Chapter Released.
Puffin.
Roald Dahl’s classic, Charlie and The Chocolate Factory turns 50 in October.
It is certainly one book that has stayed with me from my childhood and that is why I am excited about the Roald Dahl estate releasing a previously unreleased, unused chapter.
This chapter was not used in the 1964 published book. According to the chapter, there are two new children and another two are referenced but none of which feature in the published novel. These children are Tommy Troutbeck, Wilbur Rice, Augustus Pottle and Miranda Grope.
The characters in this chapter visit the Vanilla Fudge Room in Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory.
The draft chapter which was featured this weekend in the Guardian, reveals that in earlier versions of the novel, there were as many as ten golden tickets and ten children as opposed to the five children we are familiar with – Augustus, Veruca, Violet, Mike and of course, Charlie. Also in early drafts, it’s been indicated that Charlie was accompanied to the factory by his mother and not Grandpa Joe.
Y0u can read this unseen chapter at www.theguardian.com
by September’s Book Corner – A Girl is a Half-formed Thing by Eimear McBride
Book Corner is our monthly online book club.
How it works…
We love books and we love chatting about them even more. Anyone can take part in our book club. Every month, we pick a new book for discussion. We will post a question to kick things off and then you can talk about any of your thoughts about the book in the comments box below.
This month, our pick is A Girl is a Half-formed Thing by Eimear McBride.
About the book:
This experimental debut novel tells the story of a young woman’s traumatic coming-of-age in rural Ireland, as she struggles with her abusive family and clings to her relationship with her terminally ill brother.
(Published by Faber & Faber. April 2014.)
Buy from Amazon in paperback and e-book.
by Book Club
