The Parisot Writing Group

It has been a great year so far for The Parisot Writing Group.  Amanda Hodgkinson came back to do a weekend workshop with us in April.  In May, Jacqueline Yallop, did a workshop with the group on sub-plots.  This week Tracey Warr did a workshop on creating probable worlds by using maps, places and objects.  One member of the group commented that she still has so much to learn.  I think as a writer you never stop learning and it is this journey of discovery and being part of a coterie of kindred spirits that, for me, makes the writing process fun.    

Finding the Plot

The Parisot Writing Group met last week for a morning workshop on plot development with Jacqueline Yallop, the author of Kissing Alice, Obedience and Marlford.  We are lucky that, in this small area of rural France, we are surrounded by so many creative and talented people.  Among the topics we discussed were the different plot structures, including the string, the mirror and the seesaw.  We were then given a short paragraph and asked to plot either the beginning, middle or end of the story.  We finished off the session by attempting to write a story in only 140 characters.  We then re-wrote the story using 100 words and it was amazing how long 100 words suddenly seemed!  We all enjoyed the session and agreed that the time passed far too quickly!