I sort of mooted this the other week, but I wasn't sure whether it would be popular. The poetry seminar group is full and very active, so I was wondering whether a prose version might be possible. Perhaps with an experienced writer as group host, setting short, useful exercises to help develop our writing skills. Would this be to anyone's liking? We have loads of groups for posting and commenting, but none to my mind for setting exercises, other than the poetry seminar and, I suppose, the flash groups.

Darren

I think I would prefer this -- I am not really oriented right now toward putting out full works for comment, but certainly would like the opportunities for writing exploration that a fiction seminar could generate.

If we create such a group, I would be up for it. Would make me more active on site. We could take what we do there and apply it to our works in progress.

Ani

I love the idea of this. I like the idea of exploring techniques and styles. The problem, for me, is lack of time. If we can be relaxed about timescales, I would be very interested.

Dee

That makes three of us, anyway. Still, it's enough. Others can join in.

David - please can we have our group?

(Note: I am going on holiday today but will be back next weekend!)

I think I'd be interested in this.
Naomi

Anything happening with this??

Umm, anyone? Or is this idea dead already?

If this idea is still going I would be interested. Keeps the brain ticking over between novels.
Kat

I sure do hope it's still going.

If we're going to do it I suppose we should have a group moderator, but I think it would be especialy helpful (and less of a burden on the group leader) if we took it in turns to set exercises.

What do others think?

Ani

Apparently Darren is away at the moment, so maybe we can make a start when he gets back. And Pete has started a similar thread, so we can join forces with him.

In the meantime, does anyone have any ideas for exercises?

Dee

I've got a zillion.

Just flipping through, this one caught my eye. It follows an article called "Time and Order: The Art of Sequencing" (from Fiction, a writer's anthology edited by Julie Checkoway).

Exercise:

Write a story in which the scenes and episodes take place in reverse order.

(For our purposes this could be very short.)

Here's the bit about writing in reverse order from the article:

You may decide to move the entire story in reverse order, marching the characters into the past as Lorrie Moore does in "How To Talk To Your Mother (Notes)", which traces the relationship between mother and daughter, beginning years after her death and ending with a childhood memory. This technique depends upon the power of the story behind the story and is sometimes used in novels, such as Charles Baxter's First Light. Once again, the backward shape works best when it works with the writer's subject matter. Martin Amis said that he wrote his novel Time's Arrow in backwards chronological order because looking backward was "the only way to understand the Holocaust".

I think this is a very good idea. Shall I set this up for you then? Any volunteers to host? I think it would be best to have a reasonably experienced host, so perhaps mull it over amongst yourselves and let me know.

Brilliant! Thanks David.

Dee

Does this need a host and a group? Could it just be looser and a one-off that we might then repeat? No worries either way, just asking.

Pete

Yes, yes, let's set it up!

I don't think we need to wait for a host to set it up - we can get the ball rolling on our own.

Re the question: Do we need a host. Do we? Yes, it would be helpful to have someone moderate, but I don't know if we need someone to say what's right or wrong -- if we're exploring and experimenting, that may well defeat the point. But then again, an experienced writer as host would have that much more to contribute, and a moderator would help keep us on the rails, lest we dwindle off....

What do we think?