Trevor's Writing

A new food – CHARCOAL CHI KEN

1 Comment »2nd August, 2008; Category: Writing Hints

After 35 years in another life (as a primary school teacher) I guess I have always had a passion for correct spelling in anything written or published. I wince and groan at some of the errors that are allowed into final copies of our local newspaper. I would inwardly squirm when school newsletters were sent home with several spelling errors contained in the text. I delight (in horror what’s more) at spelling bloopers used in the captions on television programmes (‘programs’ for my North American friends).

When writing student reports while teaching I was especially careful to set a good standard. I remember one occasion when I sent print-outs of my reports to the deputy principal for checking. One came back with the following circled: ‘xxxx must check his spalling more carefully. Now that word spalling was accepted by my spell checker so I missed it. As it turns out, it is a building term and is also used in relation to sculpture. I learned a new word through my mistake. (Who says we never learn from our mistakes?)

A new kind of food delight

Sometimes a spelling mistake can lead to humour (“Humor’ me, my American fans.) Yesterday I was driving along Prospect Road in north Adelaide, South Australia. I had just seen several restaurants: a Vietnamese, Sri Lankan, Indian and several others.

Then I saw the following sign advertising a culinary delight they called:

CHARCOAL CHI KEN.

That’s strange, I thought. I’ve never heard of CHI KEN before. Must be some new Chinese food.

Then the penny dropped. As I drove closer I realised that there was a letter missing from their sign.

Good writing – and remember to check your spelling.

Writing success

No Comments »31st July, 2008; Category: Master of Arts course, Short Stories

This year I have not had much of my writing published (apart from this and my other two blogs). That is because I have been concentrating on the reading and assignments for my Master of Arts in Creative Writing course.

One of the units I studied last semester was called Creative Writing in the Christian Context. We were required to write a major poem of 50 to 100 lines. I received a High Distinction for my poem.

Another assignment was due at the end of the semester and this took the form of a major short story of 2500 to 3000 words. I worked hard on this story and it went through many drafts. In the workshop after each week’s lecture we worked in small groups, reading through each other’s writing and refining our stories. While this was somewhat confronting at first, I soon realised that having a group of people critiquing my writing was an excellent method of honing my skills. Some suggestions were accepted, some rejected.

I was delighted to receive another High Distinction for my efforts. Then just this evening I received an email from a faculty member asking me to submit the story for consideration for inclusion in the university end of year anthology of poetry and short stories. It is great when that happens.

Good writing.

Back at University

No Comments »30th July, 2008; Category: General, Master of Arts course

I started back at University today for the second semester for this academic year. For new readers to my blog I am currently a quarter of the way through doing my Master of Arts in Creative writing course at Tabor College in Adelaide, South Australia.

This semester I am studying three units as follows:

Themes in Australian Literature

Writing Prose

Writing Poetry

The first lecture today was on Australian Literature and was necessarily an introductory type session. Looking through the lists of texts and topics to be studied I am sure that I will enjoy this unit. It will require plenty of reading as well as writing assignments.

I have to complete three assignments as follows:

A tutorial paper of 1500 words
A major essay of 3000 words
A reflective journal on the reading I do during the unit of study – this is to be a minimum of 2000 words.

I plan to reflect on my studies on this blog – as time allows. Last semester I had intended doing this too, but the intensive nature of study tended to get in the way of too much blogging. We will see.

In the meantime – good writing.

Short Story Starters

2 Comments »29th July, 2008; Category: Short Story Starters

It has been quite a while since my last list of my ever popular short story starters. Here is another list to help you on your way writing those short stories. I hope you find something to inspire you. Perhaps you are suffering from ‘writer’s block’ and this is just what you need to get you going again.

Short Story Starters

As the small plane skimmed the trees lining the road, Peter could hear the sound of the engine. All was not as it should have been. He….
‘If you have one more drink tonight I’m outa here!’ Jessica glared at Tony. The raised glass was almost at his lips. He…
Janet slipped silently beneath the sheets. She could hear James snoring. Her guilt was suddenly dampened by relief. Had he…
Connor ripped open the envelope. No time now for finesse. He straightened out the letter and as he came to the end of the first line he gave….
Tanya paused before opening the door. This seemed to be a mistake but she couldn’t back out now. She….
If you take a right turn at the old church in Main Street you…
How anyone could have killed old Mrs. Wallis defied explanation. She was the sweetest, kindest and gentlest woman in the small village. All the villagers adored her – except one. Richard knew her dark secret. He…

You can find dozens more short story starters on other pages on the blog. Just click here to access them.

Good writing.

Conditions of use:

Feel free to use any of the story starters listed above. Change anything to suit your needs.

Give it your best shot.

Edit your work carefully before sending it off to a publisher or posting it on your blog.

Let me know in the comments section how it went.

If you publish your story on your web site or on your blog let me know so I can make a link to it for others to read.

What I am reading: “Paradise Lost”

No Comments »26th July, 2008; Category: Master of Arts course, Poetry, Reading, Reviews

One of the units I studied last semester included a reading of selected works from the classics of English literature. One of the works studied was John Milton’s epic poem ‘Paradise Lost.’

It had been many years since I’d last looked at this poem. It was like coming afresh to this monumental work of literature. At first I found the going a little tough, but the more I read the more intrigued I became. Over several days I actually read through the whole work. The lecturer and all of the other students in my tutorial group were most impressed. No-one else had read the entire work, including the lecturer. Several students chose to write their tutorial paper on this poem, but they only had to read and study a very small portion of several hundred lines.

I was so intrigued by this poem that I included it as one of the texts I referred to in my major essay. I was pleased with what I wrote in that essay but do not yet know my mark. I should receive the essay back next week.