Introducing the Writers’ Block Book Club (TWBBookClub): Where writers read

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Writers write. At the Writers’ Block we talk about writing a lot. We challenge ourselves to reach for new levels by receiving and providing critique on each other’s writing. We have a lot of amazing people in the group, and I’m grateful for all the selfless work they put in to help other people grow. Critiquing is also an incredible way to learn more yourself. How would I have said this? Why does this sentence work, why doesn’t it work?

Another way to learn more about writing, is by reading. It seems so obvious, but it’s not. There are very many different ways to read. Different goals to reach. Reading is relaxing, reading makes you travel to distant worlds, makes you forget your own problems for a bit. But reading can also benefit the writer, especially if they read a book as a writer. How does that work?

Reading for writers

 
As a writer, you play with words to get something across. The reader is in your mind, in one way or another. The more you practise being that reader, the better you will be able to understand what works for you. In this book-club, we will be focusing on books that do something that works, or perhaps doesn’t work, and we will be trying to figure out why. And how. Not just theoretically and just talking about that together – which is also very nice and a great advantage from having a group of dedicated and passionate writers around you, as is the case at @thewritersblock. But also by writing ourselves. No better way to learn something, than to practise it, by writing yourself.

“If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.” -Stephen King

It is important to mention that we will not be writing fanfiction. The story, the characters, the world and the setting, are not ours to play with. Instead, we will try to learn something about character arcs, style, techniques, creative burst of inspiration, and try to use those in our own writing.

What does the Book Club do?

 
Each month we’ll be reading one book, talking about it, and writing about it. You can write a non-fiction response, or a fiction response. Even poetic responses are welcome. That’s up to you. At the beginning of the month, we will announce the book of the month, and provide some questions to consider while reading, and a writing prompt based on the book.
Everyone can participate, sit out one month, or join at any moment.

You can join the @thewritersblock discord channel (see information at the end of this post) to participate in the conversation. And, most importantly, put your work in the queue to have it commented upon by other writers, to polish it until it shines, so to say. That way, you can only publish your best work online, for eternity to be your witness.

Book of the month February 2018: Yellow Wallpaper

 
This short 6000-word novella, freely available on the Gutenberg Project, was written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and first published in 1892. It is an interesting book in itself, because of the topic and the courageous nature of it for the time it was written in. But it is also a great example of a story told completely in a deep first person point of view (POV). It makes for an interesting read, where not all is as it seems from the beginning. I will not give you any spoilers, and I recommend not reading reviews on what the story is about, before you read it yourself. And as it’s not long, and freely available, that shouldn’t be a big problem.

Questions to accompany reading ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’:

 

• About the 1st person POV:
  Does taking this POV work? Why? Why not?
  Would another POV work as well? What kind of effect would it have to take another person’s POV? Or what would a 3rd person POV accomplish better, or worse?
• About your reader’s experience:
  Did you get frustrated, upset, moved, etc? Why? At what point?
  When did you start to appreciate the book? Why? At what point?

Writing prompt for ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’

 
Fiction: Answer the questions and use one of the elements that spoke to you or were new to you. Write a short story 500-1500 words that uses that technique. Think about what kind of story would benefit from the specific element you choose.

Non-Fiction: Write a post reflecting on reading as a writer. This can be a book review about the book itself, or can be more personal. Make sure you think about what you want to say, before you start writing. How will you get that main point across, what will you have to say to lead up to that point?

Poetry: Take another look at the deep 1st person POV used in ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’. Why does this lend itself to poetry? Use this approach to write about your own experience.

We are looking forward to seeing the responses in the queue, workshopping it together. At the end of the month we will hope to give you an update about our progress, what we have learned, and how book-club may progress in the future.
CU!

@nobyeni

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Are you a writer or keen to learn? Do you wish to join a community of like-minded individuals who can help hone your writing skills in the fields of fiction, non-fiction, technical, poetry, or songwriting? Join us at The Writers' Block by clicking the logo below.