Social! 6th April - Mafia theme!

Hello Creative Writing bloggers!
So it's come to that time when our computer keys are eroding away and the 'delete' button has been worn away completely, which means that it's the end of term! Hoorayyyy
SO! We're celebrating with our first CW Social 2011! We're starting off in the FCH SU Bar at 8.30 for pre-drinking, then we'll move onto the Frog and Fiddle at 9.00, Spoons at 10 and then onto MooMoo at 10.45! It's free entry if you go in fancy dress, so the theme is Mafia, so come dressed as gangsters! Get out your trilbeys, gold bling and fake revolvers 'cause the Creative Writing society is going to TOTALLY beat the sports lot at Blue&Blue! Feel free to write book quotes in blue pen up your arms to match the blue theme etc.
Any questions, drop me an email or Facebook message and I'll talk you through what's going on! There'll also be a Facebook event so add yourselves to that through the group =]
Also, the next society meeting - 29th March - will just be a break from assignments after Martin's deadline, so we'll spend the time just chilling out and planning outfits for the social!
Love and peace,
Becca
CW Soc President!
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Open Mic Night

So last night was the first Open Mic Night at the FCH SU. I'd say it was a success, yes?
Congrats and thanks to everyone who organised it.

It was a great turn-out (had to be at least 30 of us, which is awesome) and the pieces read out were great (by very brave people too, lol.)

Shame it got so loud in there, what with other people's socials. But what can you do, eh?

I did ask Mike when the next one was, but he said it's on the students to sort out. So I guess the lovely people that organised it the first time around will sort it out again, yes?

Thinking about it, I'm sure I heard someone say they'd create a facebook page for it. We'll have to keep our eyes open for that.

Anyway...good night, yes? GOOD TIMES.

R x

Poetry people

Hey guys, with deadlines approaching quite rapidly, I've found myself really struggling to get any inspiration for poems. I asked Nigel and one of his suggestions was to find a poem and write a response to it. This was such a brilliant idea. I wrote a 24 line poem in about 20 minutes in response to an Adam O'Riordan poem and I'm working on something inspired by Seamus Heaney. Even if you don't write a direct response, just lines and themese of your favourite poems can be a really great way to get something going if you're really stuck.

So if anyone else is panicking about poetry like I was, try this technique. It's brilliant.

Also, while I'm here, Anna mentioned a site to help you get the writing flow going. This is for everyone; not just poetry people.

http://writeordie.com/

Scroll down to the 'Write or Die online' feature and give it a go.

Hoping to see everyone at the next meeting, which is Tuesday 22nd March.

Emma

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Meeting Tomorrow

Hey Mobsters.
So, it's been a week since the last blog post. Sorrrrryyyyy. We suck.
But anyway. There's two things I wanna talk about today.
First off - Tomorrow. SU Bar. FCH. 6pm. You know the drill. Be there or be square etc etc :)

But secondly, I was just on the Tone radio UoG website (and spent a few minutes listening to Chloe and her co-presenters fyi - all's I'm gonna say is CHILLI'S lol)...and I saw an advertisement.
The ad was for a band night at The Frog and Fiddle on the 24th of March (which is next Thursday) - Bands/artists performing are Stella Dawes (Screamo/Hardcore), Sleepwalkers (Screamo/Heavy Metal) and Hermes (Alt/Rock/Indie).
Doors open 8pm and it's £3 entry.
Anyone fancy it?
R x

Reminder

Hey Mobsters,
Just a reminder about tonights meeting.
SU Bar. FCH. 6:00pm.
Be there, or be square :P

Rea xx

Clearing the wall that is more commonly known as 'writer's block'

Hi Gang!
My boyfriend is doing Creative Writing at De Montfort University and has been brain washed into thinking there's 'No such thing as writer's block'. To that, I say - excuse my forthcoming swearing - bollocks. If there was no such thing as writer's block, what do you call that painfully frustrating moment when you've been writing for a while and you then run out of ideas for your story/poem/play, and feel as though whatever you write next is going to read as word vomit, which brings your writing to a grinding halt?
Call it what you want, I know that it's a pain in the bum when I'm trying to write and suddenly run out inspiration and things to put in a piece of writing, despite trying my hardest to think of more words, phrases, metaphors that will help me to carry on writing.
SO, for those of you who, like me, suffer with this 'condition-that-must-not-be-named', here are a few hints and tips I've come up with to try and help me with my writing.

• Have a break. If you simply can't carry on for fear of punching your computer screen, go and make a cup of tea, have a walk, listen to some music or do anything non-writing based and then come back to it later
• Go back to your original idea and write a brief plan of what's going to happen in your story/poem/play. If you have a clear idea of where your piece is going to go, it'll make life a lot easier. 
• Following on from the previous point; if you divide your prose into sections when you're writing, you might find it's easier to leave one section and start writing another section instead. E.g. if you're writing a story about a penguin who gets lost from his mother and meets up with her again a year later, the plan would be: Part 1 - Penguin gets lost; Part 2 - Penguin is cold and upset; Part 3 - Penguin copes with life; Part 4 - Comes back to original setting one year later; Part 5 - Finds mother and is happy; Moral? We all have to grow up at some point, sometimes quicker than expected! 
• Similar to the second point, write a character profile for however many characters are in your prose/play. Draw up a Facebook profile template and add your characters details - where they live, are they interested in men or women, do they like penguins etc.
• Try some free writing. Sometimes sitting in front of your computer with distractions like Facebook and Twitter and Youtube and iPlayer and Google will jar your concentration and may make you lose focus on your writing.
• Try typing out some passages from your favourite book/poetry collection/play. This will help you get used to the writer's style and may inspire you to write something similar to their work. Pick out parts that you really like - highlight similes, metaphors, personification, strong dialogue etc.
• Finally - make sure you care what you're writing about. If you don't have an interest in whatever you're writing it's bound to bring you to a halt at some point. 

Hope this helps - see you at the meeting!

Love and peace,

Becca 

CW Society President 

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJ3K16n4jQM

Our first video blog - enjoy!
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Live reading - 21st March, 7.30 SU Bar FCH

Hey Guys!
I know this on a Monday but Mike wanted us to get behind it, and I don't see why we shouldn't - it'd be a great opportunity for us to get our work out there and hear some of the other CW's from the older years work.
We'll talk about it more on Tuesday (8th March), but I reckon if we write something working up to this it might be something to put towards our assignments.
Hope to see you there!
Becca
xx

Meeting days/time/place!

Hello everyone!
As you have seen, Rea has been a star and set up the blogsite for us, as I have no idea how to do anything that involves technology, software etc!

OK, so here's my proposition. We meet up every Tuesday evening at about 6pm, as this seems a reasonable time if we've got lectures/nights out to get to the next day/later in the evening, although nothing really happens on a Tuesday anyway so this shouldn't be a problem! I propose we meet up for an hour every week, and we'll have different themes each week. I want to get this under-way as soon as possible, so if you guys can please please please sign up as soon as you can to the SU that'd be fantastic =] (although you won't get scolded for not having an SU card - not by me anyway! But if we want to go on trips and stuff you need it and blah blah blah). 

SO, Tuesday 8th March will be our first session! Theme to follow soon! Meeting place - I guess for now, we'll meet in the SU at 6, just to run through things until I can find a permanent place for us all to meet.

Tuesday, 8th March, SU bar, FCH =] 

lots of love and peace!

Your Society President

Becca

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WELCOME.

So, here we are. We're an official society now. (Pauses for raucous cheering and whooping).
The Creative Writing Society at UoG - henceforth known as the 'Mob' - because that's just how we roll.
You all basically know what this blog is for. To suggest good books, give critique and help to other people's work if they want it, but mainly to organise Socials :)
So, check this baby out every now and then. Comment on posts (if that means you need to make a Blogger, DO ITTTTT). And generally just peruse at your leisure whenever you see fit :)
That is all.

P.S. We've just had a thought. If you guys are the Mob, does that make us the Don? We are the powerful holders of the Blog password and what not...that makes us the Marlon Brando in this joint, right? MUHAHA *cough*. Anyway...