Category Archives: Writing Groups

Darlyn's Events, Scribblers Sharing Info, Writing Groups

Sewing Holes Book Club Discussion Topics

Art in the Garden

As more and more book clubs meet to read and discuss  Sewing Holes, here are some questions to get the discussion started:

  1. The protagonist of Sewing Holes, Tupelo Honey Lee, is bullied by a neighbor child named Kat. What caused Kat to be a bully? How did Honey choose to handle the bullying? Was it effective?
  2. Honey’s cousin Susie comes to live with the Lee family, and Honey has to deal with her own feelings of jealousy. How does this lead to Honey seeing how a bully might feel? Discuss how their new, non-traditional family structure leads to Honey learning that hearts are big enough to hold love for many people.
  3. The role of children in families has clearly changed from the 1970’s to the present. Were female children valued by the various characters in this book? How was it similar or different in your family?
  4. Honey’s family is torn apart due to differing opinions on the Vietnam War conflict. What is the nature of patriotism? Does it take cowardice or courage to refuse to fight?
  5. After a series of incidents, Honey comes to believe she can heal people through prayer. Then she is unable to save her own father, which results in a crisis of faith. How do different people react differently when things don’t go their way? How do some people find hope in the midst of despair?
  6. After her father dies, Honey tries to limit her mother’s grief and return things to “normal.” Instead, she makes things much worse. How important is it to let people be who they are, instead of trying to control them?

If your book club develops additional topics or questions, please send them to Darlyn Finch Kuhn at https://darlynfinchkuhn.com/contact/ .

 

What's Happening, Writing Groups

The Long Short Story – MAD about Words Presents a Workshop Led by Philip F. Deaver

philip-f.-deaver-250px

 

MAD about Words invites all Scribblers:

The idea is to write a long story, 3000 words or more, so that writers in the group can experience submersion in their own fiction. Many times, when we write short stories, we write them just to be done with them. With the long story, there is an effect of “going into” the story wholeheartedly and staying there for days, even weeks.

We’ll meet twice. In the opening session, we’ll do some free writing to muscle up for the task. By the time that day is over, you will have carved out a draft. In the following weeks, you’ll work on the draft on your own and share challenges in an online discussion group. In the fourth week, you’ll share your story with the group, and in the fifth week, at our second meeting, all the stories will be discussed in a day-long workshop.

At the end of this process, you’ll have a draft workshopped by the group and critiqued by Philip and ready to be polished.

PHILIP F. DEAVER was born in Chicago, IL, and grew up in the Midwest. He is the author of the Flannery O’Connor Award-winning story collection Silent Retreats, and the poetry collection How Men Pray. His poems have been featured several times on The Writer’s Almanac with Garrison Keillor. His stories have appeared in The Missouri Review, The Kenyon Review, The New England Review, and elsewhere; and have been anthologized in O. Henry Prize Stories, Best American Catholic Short Stories, and the baseball anthologies Anatomy of Baseball and Bottom of the Ninth. His book Forty Martyrs will be published by Burrow Press in 2016. He is a Professor of English and Writer in Residence at Rollins College in Winter Park, FL.

Limited to 10  participants. Advance registration is required to reserve your seat.
  • When:  Two Saturday meetings: January 23 & February 27, 2016 |  9 AM – 4 PM
    We’ll break for lunch. Brown bag it, or eat at a near-by place.
  • Where: MAD’s Condo Community Clubhouse in Winter Park FL
    (address provided upon registration)
  • Fee: $189.
Calls for Submissions, What's Happening, Writing Groups

OCLS Writers Group

The Orange County Public Library wants all Scribblers to know:

Sunday, November 8, 4 p.m. Orlando Public Library, Magnolia Room Join your fellow writers for critique, discussion, and camaraderie. Writers of all genres and experience are welcome. We will be critiquing at this meeting. If you have a piece (less than 1200 words) to be critiqued, please email it to Sarah no later than November 3rd. Remember: In order to be eligible for critique, you must have attended at least one Writers Group meeting in the past. If you would like to receive the critique pieces to read before the meeting, please email Sarah by November 3rd. Register. (Not required, but encouraged)