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The 'Charcoal Hut' Electronic Playhouse; last post july 28th 2009
"Nightpeople" - a play; "Nightpeople 2" -  an unfinished play
http://thecharcoalhutplayhouse.blogspot.com

The 'Charcoal Hut' Electronic Playhouse; last post june 15th 2009
"Nightpeople" an unfinished play,
sketches, some finished, some ongoing.
http://thecharcoalhutplayhouse.blogspot.com

The 'Charcoal Hut' Electronic Playhouse; last post may 28th 2009
"Nightpeople" an unfinished play,
sketches, some finished, some ongoing.
http://thecharcoalhutplayhouse.blogspot.com

Hi everyone, hope you are all well, just taking five minutes to touch base with
you.

I would leave to hear what your current projects are...
mine is getting back into the habit of writing a little bit each day, and over
the next few weeks I really feel the need to do this with fiction writing, as
opposed to internal reflections.

Today the prompt I give you is...

"rumour of wars"

Best wishes
Shani

Hi everyone

Has spring and some of the beautiful sunshine we have been having recently
injected some energy into your prose?

I, as always, am chasing the clock, but have found time recently to finish off
some well overdue commissions and find my journal again..

I have also had an idea about how I can get prompts more "promptly" to you - via
twitter...

If you don't want to sign up, you don't have to, you can find the feed posted on
the front page of Writing in the Margins..

Enjoy and I am interested in some of the things you might be up to at present...

Best wishes
Shani

The 'Charcoal Hut' Electronic Playhouse; last post april 16th 2009
"Nightpeople" an unfinished play,
sketches, some finished, some ongoing.
http://thecharcoalhutplayhouse.blogspot.com

Hi - head above the water again today - I am writing about a

"pedant"  and exploring the different between romantic infatuation and enduring
love..

Please share your thoughts !!

The Charcoal Hut Playhouse
"Nightpeople" an unfinished play,
sketches, some finished, some ongoing. last post march 9th 2009
http://thecharcoalhutplayhouse.blogspot.com

Good Morning everyone.

I have come up again for a breathe of fresh air after finishing
another (and it has to be said rather overdue, missing several
deadlines, oophs factor) commission.

Thankfully everyone is happy, people can now progress with their jobs
and I am no longer part of, or even the cause, of the current
economic downturn !! (I do love it when editors/producers get snotty
and through their weight around - you know who you are !! - their
nasty emails should be a book in their own right !!)

Anyway that is enough of my snide remarks for one day and no doubt I
shall pay for this arrogance and flagrant disregard for the higher
authority later!!

This morning, I want you to consider your "ping" factor.

I won't say to much or explain to you what I mean, because it is one
of "those" terms which transition coaches (otherwise known as career
counsellors) use.

How do you present yourself to others? and what does your
writing/subject matter/interests/dress codes say to your chosen
audience (or sad victim in my case !!).

First thoughts and if you can create a small monologue in under 200
words, please post and there will be much happiness and communication
within the group !!

Now, what is my ping what...?

hugs everyone

Hi everyone, I have emerged from the abyss of an intensive writing
project, done some knitting and spinning, and am ready to return to the
world of inspiration - cuz I need some!!!

Can I offer you this thought:-

when we hear an English accent in an American Film it tends to hit our
ear more acutely because of the contrast.

This is an interesting concept that we can transfer to our writing...
I am currently reading a book by Anita Shreve - The Last Time we Met,
where all the dialogue is written in italic rather than encased in
speechmarks.   At first I found this quite confusing because you meet
the page in anticipation and bring to it expectations of convention...

But as I read on in the book I am finding this quite a liberating way of
reading and allows quite a flexibility in interpretation.

So what I am saying to you today is...... have a play with your writing
and especially when you are writing speech.

Do it differently - why not write speech in a different coloured pen? -
that is what I did this morning and found it really interesting holding
conversations in different colours - I was concerned when I reached for
the extreme violet/red colour I have though !!!

Here is a prompt for you - if you are looking at a bare page...

"Rendered more distinct by the contrast"

Go for it and I would love some feedback.

hugs everyone
Shani

We will MAKE this work !!  I can do late evenings, and archives will
be available.

I feel I let you down badly over the travelling notebook - not
enough time and trying to do too much - hence the radical rethink...

Hugs
shani
--- In writinginthemargins@yahoogroups.com, April wells
<awellsdba@...> wrote:
>
> Shani
>
> What fun... Chat worked for me... I'm the only one there... but it
worked
> great...
>
> Given that you are in the UK... I'm not sure exactly what the
details of
> joining your chat will be... it is 8 hours ago here... but I'm
willing to
> give it a shot... it sounds like fun!
>
> On Sun, Feb 1, 2009 at 4:23 PM, Shani Phethean-Hubble <
> shanihubble@...> wrote:
>
> >   Writing in the Margins Lounge <http://www.lingr.com/room/witm>
> >
> > As many of you know I have taken a sabbatical from running the
various
> > writing groups around the city - and as many of you (judging by
the emails
> > today!) don't know is that I won't be restarting them in the
near future,
> > despite anything which you may have been told by the various
venues !!.
> >
> > I made a decision last month that I need more control over my
writing
> > spirit.
> >
> > That said I have been experimenting this weekend with a chat
system, which
> > would allow me to hold "virtual" writing groups - if anybody is
interested?
> >
> >
> > What I had in mind was posting a work sheet on a regular day,
and then we
> > meet up at a regular time and day convenient to you.  We either
talk about
> > the work sheet, or you bring projects, queries etc., to the
table and I will
> > do all I can to assist.
> >
> > I can't unfortunately hold any of these surgeries during the
working day as
> > yet, but I am working on that one too !!  There is no reason why
I can't be
> > logged on my own computer during my lunch hour and I have the
space and time
> > to be able to do so.
> >
> > So - feedback please - if you are interested click on the above
link and
> > see if you can access the room - the code is
> >
> > witm
> >
> > (writing in the margins for short !!).
> >
> > Hugs everyone...
> >
> > shani
> >
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Some things must be believed before they can be seen
>
> April
>
>    \
>    /.(((
>   (,/"(((____,--.
>   __,_\  )__(  /{
> """"""""""""""""""
> http://reflectionsofmyworld.wordpress.com/
>

Writing in the Margins Lounge 

As many of you know I have taken a sabbatical from running the various writing groups around the city - and as many of you (judging by the emails today!) don't know is that I won't be restarting them in the near future, despite anything which you may have been told by the various venues !!.

I made a decision last month that I need more control over my writing spirit.

That said I have been experimenting this weekend with a chat system, which would allow me to hold "virtual" writing groups - if anybody is interested? 

What I had in mind was posting a work sheet on a regular day, and then we meet up at a regular time and day convenient to you.  We either talk about the work sheet, or you bring projects, queries etc., to the table and I will do all I can to assist.

I can't unfortunately hold any of these surgeries during the working day as yet, but I am working on that one too !!  There is no reason why I can't be logged on my own computer during my lunch hour and I have the space and time to be able to do so. 

So - feedback please - if you are interested click on the above link and see if you can access the room - the code is

witm 

(writing in the margins for short !!).

Hugs everyone...

shani

http://strandedyarns.blogspot.com/2009/01/let-go-of-blame-and-getting-
into-habit.html#links

I have just posted something on my blog about letting go of blame and
getting into habits..

Thought I would share this with the Group - how many good habits have
we let by the wayside and get on with the bad ones !!

Also how much do I blame my writing for not doing what it should do -
when in fact my writing just reflects my state of mind at that
current moment...

Please start a debate, ignore it - whateve, all I ask is that you
could perhaps bear it in mind today..

and then write a few things about what you expect of your writing...


I would also appreciate some feedback on what you would like me to
concentrate on over the next two months with the prompts and tips -
what are you working on - where do you need a nudge?

Best wishes
Shani

As a writer our world lives twice... once in our imagination and the
second time on the page.

There is no reason why the world can't live twice or even three times
on the page either.

When tackling a junction in a tale, write a couple of alternative
routes - nothing is ever wasted, you could use surplus pieces in
another story.

I share this tip with you, because I have just overhauled, quite
successfully, even though I say so myself, a rather tired and boring
tale using this technique.  At each junction of the tale, I explored
the different options the characters could take, through each of the
main character's eyes... interesting and exciting where the results.

I find as a writer if I am not excited by the tale, why should anybody
else - and am happy to report in this instance, even I didn't know
where it was all going until the end which magically revealed itself -
like a piece of weaving being cut off the loom...

So tackle your discarded tales today, with red pen or track changes on
the computer and see how this might alter things...

then let me know....

hugs everyone.

Shani

a fairly patient person on the whole, but today has been one of those
days and enough is enough.

I won't bore you all with the details, but I have decided to make some
radical changes to the Writing in the Margins concept.

This won't affect the adhoc prompts and links, but I am not going to
continue with running writing groups.  Life is too short and I have
enough on my plate without having to deal with negativity !!

Hugs
Shani

Hi everyone - again apologies for the absence of regular prompts and
tips as 2008 ends.  I think my New Year resolution will be to have a
good look at my guilt complex !!

I would commend to you as the New Year begins that this would an
ideal time to look at writing habits.

It only takes 12 times of doing something to make it a habit - so
perhaps you could think about identifying a small project you would
like to achieve at in the New Year and break it down into 12 regular
chunks to do?

That competition you wanted to enter - the short story - perhaps you
could break the word count down into 8 sessions of writing, allow two
for editing, one for formulating into the required format, and one
extra for luck as if you are anything like I am, you will always
under guestimate?

That booklet of your poems, well 12 days of writing a poem each day -
that will make a good basis to form the booklet on and then self-
publish on Lulu..

These are some of my ideas - anybody like to share theirs?

Best wishes
Shani

The Charcoal Hut Playhouse
"Nightpeople" an unfinished play,
sketches, some finished, some ongoing.
http://thecharcoalhutplayhouse.blogspot.com

What a fantastic tool for new authors.

PDF is fast becoming last year's news; our customer have hinted
heavily that they want a better formatted system for their PDAs as PDF
is just too wide and cumbersome for viewing. Since most folks are
switching from average cell phone to PDA, we decided to go hunting for
an eBook service/software that could format our books into PDA
compatible files.

We found MobiPocket… a French-based company that had the foresight to
be new/unpublished author friendly not only in categorization but in
their software. Its free to download, fairly straight-forward to use
and they provide their customers with free reader software that is
highly customizable.

As a result, they have thousands of quality, single-format eBooks on
their site (mobipocket.com); I was so impressed with the quality of
the cover graphics presented that I re-did a few of our just to put
them up alongside and not look too shabby. They do take a percentage
of the book's sale revenue, so figure that into your price when you
are configuring your upload.

How it works: if you use Word it will be easier. You download their
publisher free software and upload your Word file. It converts your
book into a Word html file which you can edit a little in Word as well
(to space out your chapters. It tends to lump them together a little.)
The wizard then walks you through uploading your cover, tweaking the
settings, compression and encryption. You also get the option of
putting in a synopsis or free chapter, along with any reviews you want
to include. Then you set up a publishers account with user name (still
  free), upload and activate your books individually. Your books show
up on their site within seconds.

Here are some of our book listings: (We'll have all seven up by Sunday.)

http://www.mobipocket.com/en/eBooks/eBookDetails.asp?BookID=125156
http://www.mobipocket.com/en/eBooks/eBookDetails.asp?BookID=125165
http://www.mobipocket.com/en/eBooks/eBookDetails.asp?BookID=125162
http://www.mobipocket.com/en/eBooks/eBookDetails.asp?BookID=125182

All in all we give this site two thumbs up, considering the small
percentage taken, the broad category ability, the fairly equal
advertising and that it connects to your PayPal account, for free.
Good luck writers. May you reach all available PDAs worldwide.

Meredith Greene