Jules

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, they say, and I certainly feel that way about Le Guin’s gorgeous passages. Some were more gorgeous than others. It’s all very subjective. But I have to say that your gorgeous is also my gorgeous. I absolutely loved that piece. “a clatter of kaleidoscope birds” – sublime.

The idea of this thread was also to have conversations about the readings/unit, so go ahead and post reflections here.

My dreams have been a lot worse over the last few nights. Think if I wrote THEM down, I’d be strapped to a psychiatrist’s chair… 😉 Thanks, Kaz and Hil x

@janeshuff – I think that’s a good idea. Maybe we should have a dedicated thread, called “Craft Seminar Class x : Diary” started by whoever’s first off the blocks?

When I’ve done courses in the past on other things as well as writing, we’ve often either kept a diary or shared ‘reflections’ on each section and what we thought we learned from it. I’ve found this very helpful both to clarify my own thoughts and to see what others gained. Plus it was interesting to see what different things people got from the…[Read more]

Good dialogue harvesting @squidge, and I especially liked the peas 🙂

I thought your ‘gorgeous’ para was really arresting and clear, it didn’t feel forced or unnatural at all and it was really vivid. What a dream! Beautifully captured.

YES about the detail. So evocative.

Sorry you’re feeling that way, Jane. It’s great that we can support one another with or without feedback – glad you posted anyway.

I love the bit of dialogue about the peas.
I found the listening exercise very hard. Tried it again the other day. I would need to be very close or the speakers would need to be very loud!
Interesting about trying to write ‘gorgeous’ when you don’t feel you normally do. A good exercise, though, to try a different approach. Scary dream!

Thanks both, especially for the kind words about how I currently write.

I do have very vivid dreams, which are full of this level of detail. Sometimes, they’re full of sensation too, but this one wasn’t – I was simply an observer in this one.

Why did it feel false to write? I think it was because I was consciously trying to make it ‘gorgeous’…[Read more]

I loved your overheard dialogue. Especially the one about the peas.

That was a pretty horrid dream, vividly described. I could imagine myself there. I was interested to hear it felt quite false and agree with JaneShuff that it might be interesting to consider why. It didn’t come across as false to me, although it did come across as much more like…[Read more]

Thanks both. Very, very much appreciated.

I’m glad I don’t have your dreams Squidge. Having read a couple of your books I would say that even if you don’t ‘try’ to write gorgeous, a lot of your writing is. I’ve always loved the way you describe Tilda’s world. I wondered what it was about this that felt different and whether there was anything you learned from it that might spill over into…[Read more]

Brilliant, Bella. I hate custard too. It is the only thing I cannot eat. I remember standing over my mum while she wrote a letter to the school saying I didn’t have to eat it.

Lovely I remember, Raine. So evocative. Reading everybody’s I remembers has really hammered home how much more important little authentic details are that overarching descriptions to bring a scene to life.

That made me cry. Beautiful, Hil.

And spark off similar memories for me!

Lovely, Sea. Amazing how little details conjure up the past.