Elle

I’m sorry this is a sad piece. Perhaps this has something to do with why I’m feeling emotional about my writing.

Love the Scotsness of it (made up a word). The now, right enough, a wee bit.
My favourite bits of the I remember are the bus that didn’t come and his old hands cradling nothing.

I’ve used I remember for character, and I’m planning to do it again for my brand new novel in gestation.

I love this, Bella. I wonder – if you’d been asked to write about that incident without doing it as an ‘I remember’, do you think it would have turned out differently in other ways than simply not starting each sentence with that phrase? I agree it’s like a poem, and I especially like the line about Glenn’s mum who also ‘remembered’.

This is wonderful! I remember kissing a photo of David Cassidy which my friend had stuck to the mirror in her bedroom. (Donny Osmond was hers.) And there’s nothing wrong with wearing a bra AND a vest now – but there would have been then!

Aw @hilary that’s lovely! Sending you lots of hugs and tea!! I think the idea of being given prompts and free writing is such a liberating feeling, especially if other writing is proving a struggle. And being able to do so in a group makes the whole writing thing feel less lonely, I find. I know I have been really struggling with the urge to just…[Read more]

I never found out, he ran off yelling something in Gaelic!

These are gorgeous, Sea. I love the image of the pineapple seller, and picking the car lock with your fingernail! So many different childhood emotions encapsulated here with deceptively simple phrases, really nice.

This is so evocative and sweet! I totally agree re bananas in custard – ugh. But isn’t Glenn’s mum a gem! Like @squidge says – interesting to see it worked into a kind of story, it gives it almost a prose poetry feel to it.

Good luck!!

Well. I’ve read the Le Guin and Burroway chapters and have had a strong emotional reaction. Not to the gorgeous passages. But to the prospect of this whole MA, to notebooks and journals and free-writing, and sharing with you lot and telling the stories that matter to me. I’m sixty years old and I’m sitting here crying! Don’t worry – I won’t use…[Read more]

Right! Write! Read! I have 2.5 hours this morning, so I’m diving in. Splash!

Noice. I like how the I remember sequence in this case tells the story – I’ve only ever used it as disjointed memories previously, all loosely connected to a theme. This puts a totally different spin on the exercise. I had a similar experience, but in my case it was tapioca… 😉

Thank you! I have to admit I developed a bit of a soft spot for wee Jonny!

I’ve only ever used the I Remember exercise for finding a character’s voice before so it felt quite different doing it for myself. I still think doing it for a character is more useful for any actual piece of writing. But I guess this is good for simply getting yourself…[Read more]

Blimey – you did well to get all that dialogue down, Raine! Loving the accent in it. And I remember is so poignant – some of what you’ve written seems so matter-of-fact, yet it is still so full of emotion. Like it.

I’ve always got a soft spot for Kipling’s style – it is so much fun to read aloud to small people. As for the really strong dialect sample (not got my book with me so can’t remember which one that was – about the frog!), I can admire it and enjoy its differentness … but for anything beyond flash length, I’d really have to care about the…[Read more]