Night and Days of the Long Knives (and the Short Knives too) in Plymouth creative writing

Writers Groups should be treated with caution. That is my headline statement. The majority of people in the room will not want to hear your work, only their own. The chances are they will also be members of other writers groups who are likely to be competitive for many reasons. The first is publicity. The majority of people write for pleasure. The step on the first rung of the ladder with a writers group will be reading your work out to a bunch of strangers who will all have very different opinions on your work to you. If you are reading an extract from a Science Fiction draft you can bet your bottom quid the romantic novelist in the room will switch off. You can also bet the poet sat across the table, will be incandescent with rage that you have brought Star Trek-ish Klingon claptrap into their precious creative time. Then there are the 'Lady Bountifuls'. The mature women who float from writers group, to poetry group, to play group to U3A group; ambitious in their retirement years to 'be somebody' and criticise your work perhaps a little to over-enthusiastically. They will also, like a delicate gold Lady Sheaffer pen being dropped on the soft Axminster carpet, launch in quickly a tout for their writers group as a form of advertising the building they hold it in and how well its doing. That means it isn't. That means its probably linked to a charity balancing a precarious financial act of hanging on by the threads of its threadbare Marksies pants and is desperate for new members to bolster the books. (Not the literature books .... the accountants). Watch out for these Lady Bountifuls. They migrate as chiffon ectoplasms about the creative community eagerly promoting their work in the background while being totally dismissive of yours. They are the smiling assassins of the writers group in any community. And of course there are the weirdo journalists. Those Hacks who rub by for a few quid on the local rag (I mean newspaper) and develop a personaility complex about not being recognised as journalists. If they were that good they would have elevated up from journalism decades ago and be running a publishing house somewhere. Such Hacks get hacked off if creative writers don't go down on bended knee in libation to them or their newspaper, begging for a line or two in the local rag. Grovel, grovel. It becomes far worse when they become addicted to Open Mic events where they sit in the front row with furrowed brow, cheap Bic pen in hand and dog-eared notepaper at the ready to 'score' the speaker about their work. You may have won a national competition first prize on your poem but if you aren't amenable to what they want, you will be erased from the entire evening and never see light of day in their local rag. So don't join a writers group where a local journalist circles like a scrawny shark. They are in it for themselves. They have an ego as big as the sky. Take all writers groups lightly. Because there are few genuine friendships there. You may find that when you vanish to have a cancer operation or two (fact) you will never hear from any of your fellow writers. You may be under the long and the short knives of the surgeon but your writing 'friends' will be so busy burning off the next chapter they are very likely to forget your predicament (fact). They will be too busy sharpening their own knives in the dream of fame and recognition (and of course, money). Feel the footprints on your back. Tread carefully. Its a top tip. :)

National Association of Writers Groups - Plymouth Proprietary Library

Plymouth Proprietary Library continues its links with the National Association of Writers Groups. Thanks to Alan Grant for helping Plymouth continue with the tradition.

Next Writers Group Meeting at Plymouth Proprietary Library on Saturday 1 June 2013

The gathering of the Plymouth Proprietary Library Writers Group will take place on Saturday 1 June 2013 from 10:00 - 12:00. The outcome of the library's AGM on 18 June 2013 may dictate how and where the Writers will meet in future, as we will remain autonomous and not be connected in any way to any other institutions. Other venues have been offered to us if required but attendance and membership will be closely regulated to PPL members only. We will enact our own Conflict of Loyalties for the purpose of the Writers Group.

Thomas Hardy (Plymouth History) Walk on Sunday 28 April 2013

There will be a Thomas Hardy Walk around parts of Plymouth on Sunday 28 April 2013. Thomas Hardy's wife, Emma, was born in Plymouth and the writer himself often mentioned the city in his work. The walk will be led by Bob Mann, a Devon historian and people will meet outside Plymouth Railway Station at 11:15am. There is no charge and a gathering in the pub will follow.

Writers Group Update

Plymouth Proprietary Library Writers Group is receiving a phenomenal amount of interest at present. At the last session there were seventeen people in the room and more want to join us (bearing in mind we aren't accounting here for the people who were absent at the last session). This sudden interest may be fuelled by a supposed bid for Plymouth to become a city of culture but is not something we are involved with, or intend to support in any way. We work very independently of other artistic activities in the city and do our own thing. However, due to such popularity the issue now is time and space. I like to think Plymouth Proprietary Library Writers Group offers quality and not quantity. It is essential to work through as many people as possible and offer a democratic, constructive feedback. This is difficult with seventeen people and more. We are therefore building a waiting list of prospective members for the future. If you are interested in joining us then please get in touch but also understand you may need to be patient. However, please feel free to go and browse the library during its opening hours and talk to the staff about the literary delights we hold. The important thing is we are obviously doing something very right in creative writing for this area .... Thank you, Ruth

New Book by Matt Ewens

Well done to our member Matt Ewens for seeing his book: 'Devonshire With a Hint of Albanian' published. It is available on Amazon.

Lunchtime Lectures for Writers in Plymouth

Lunchtime Lecture on Friday 8 March 2013 - Angela Thirkell (Writer 1890-1961) Born in Australia in 1890, Angela Thirkell displayed a talent for writing. On moving to England in 1929, she worked as a journalist and also embarked on short stories, children's stories and novels. Many of her books are in print today. Described as 'having a keen social sense and lively eye for telling details of everyday life' - Plymouth Proprietary Library is pleased to welcome Jayne Vicarage, a member of The Angela Thirkell Society to give a talk on this very talented writer. To book a place please call the library on 01752 660515. The lecture starts at 12:00 noon. There is a small entry fee and refreshments will be served.