The Writing Squad

Squad 10 Minigoals
2021-02-08 18:00 - 19:30 UTC
We have found our Zoom mini-goals sessions have been a great way of Squad writers supporting each other. So far they have been open to grads only, now it is time to offer the same opportunity to Squad 10!
We would like you to bring a mini-goal and share it with the others attending.
A mini-goal. Not a big goal. If you say, I aim to write the play that defines this current crisis we will mute you. That’s a great goal, but it’s a big goal, talk to your mentor about it!
We are thinking of small achievable goals, either in your writing or personal things that will help you find the time and space to write. Don’t worry if you haven’t got a goal, you can just listen, maybe you’ll find one while we talk.
We will schedule a meeting for next month and come back to share how we have done. This is open to all Squad 10 members whatever you write and will be chaired by Squad grad Libby Williamson.

THE CLANDESTINE DIGITAL PERFORMANCE EXTRAVAGANZA WORKSHOP
2021-02-06 14:00 - 16:00
We’re going to think about what it’s like to be a person on the internet.
We’re going to think about the places people hang out on the internet (whether it’s YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, Gmail, Google Docs or Facebook) and think about what’s natural and native to how they communicate with us.
Then we’ll explore ways of communicating through them in a way that turn ‘people on the internet’ into an audience to an event!
The themes are liveness, spectatorship and world-building, meta-theatrical theatre.
We’ll talk about the conventions and what’s familiar to us about live streaming and social media platforms. And we’ll talk about times when things were different: moments we’ve stumbled into interesting places on the internet, and times where we felt seen or temporally present.
We’ll discuss voyeurism, and the language, modes of address, and explore ways of using ‘public’ spaces on internet as to publish our work into:

Finding, sharing and exploring curious places on the internet.
Exploring and playing with the ways platforms allow us to communicate through them
Live publishing
Screen recording (documentation)
Live streaming

All you’ll need is your connection and a Google account.
Andy is a writer, theatre maker, facilitator and Squad grad. Originally from Sheffield he lives in London, where he has just finished an MA in Advanced Theatre Practice at Central School of Speech and Drama. He started out writing poetry and performing it all over the country. And now he writes plays, devises theatre and occasionally makes installations. Sometimes he does it with other folks and sometimes under the banner Forest Sounds theatre. He is really interested in performance where the audience are invited to participate in some way. And things that are funny and absurd or surreal. (Not that you have to write like that. He wrote this from his kitchen table next to his my cat, named after a character from Game of Thrones.)

SQUAD 10: WORKSHOP WITH STEVIE (NEWCASTLE)
2021-02-06 11:00 - 17:00 | Newcastle, Newcastle
INDIVIDUAL WORKSHOPS – SQUAD DAYS

We will slide from Zoom into this programme when it is possible.
If on Zoom they will stay at two hours starting at 14.00, if we are able to meet up face to face they will take place in the cities mentioned from 11.00-17.00. All Saturdays.
Put the dates on the next page in your diary. We will email you about these workshops nearer the time with a link to sign up for them on Eventbrite.

STEP CHANGE Applying to the Arts Council’s DYCP Funding Programme Part II
2021-02-04 19:30 - 21:00
Developing Your Creative Practice (DYCP) is Arts Council England’s funding scheme that aims to provide financial support to individual artists in order to facilitate a step change in their career. In this workshop successful DYCP applicant, Stevie will help you to think strategically about your career as an artist and help you to consider how DYCP funding could best support you in achieving your aims. DYCP is a very competitive funding programme and while it is important to note that attending this workshop will not necessarily guarantee you success in the application process, the aim will be to increase your chances of writing a strong application with support from Stevie and the other workshop participants.
This workshop will take place over two sessions. To maximise the benefits of the support on offer you will need to spend time thinking about and working on your application in-between the two sessions. More details on the eventbrite link.
*if you are in Squad 10 and would like a place if there are any, please email billie@writingsquad.com

THE SPACE
2021-02-03 19:30 - 21:00, 2021-01-20 19:30 - 21:00, 2021-01-06 19:30 - 21:00
The Space, a dedicated (virtual) space for us to write alone, together.
Think of it as your favourite library, a coffee shop, or a co-working space. It’s a room full of writers at work, and it’s a way of making a commitment to yourself to show up and write. Pop in to The Space to work on any writing project that you like – and in case you need inspiration, an optional writing prompt will be emailed in advance, for you to use, adapt or ignore.
Come and go as your please, and feel free to make yourself a cuppa. We’ll work in silence (don’t forget to mute yourself!), but halfway through there’ll be the option of joining small-group break-out rooms for 5 minutes, for a quick chat (but if you’re on a roll and don’t want to stop working, just drop Francesca a line in the ‘chat’ box and you can remain in the main room.)
We will send you a Zoom link before the day.

POETS MINI GOALS
2021-02-03 17:30 - 19:00
This Zoom meeting will last maybe about an hour and not longer than an hour and half.
We are seeing how we have done with the mini-goals we set ourselves last week, and maybe renewing them or setting new ones.
This is open to Squad 1-9 with a focus on poets, there are other groups for script and prose writers. If you haven’t been to a previous meeting, you are welcome to join, just let steve@writingsquad.com know you want to come.
You will be sent a link before the meeting and you can go on Zoom from your computer or phone.

PROSE MINI GOALS
2021-02-02 17:30 - 19:00
This Zoom meeting will last maybe about an hour and not longer than an hour and half.
We are seeing how we have done with the mini-goals we set ourselves last week, and maybe renewing them or setting new ones.
This is open to Squad 1-9 with a focus on prose writers, there are other groups for poets and scriptwriters. If you haven’t been to a previous meeting, you are welcome to join, just let steve@writingsquad.com know you want to come.
You will be sent a link before the meeting and you can go on Zoom from your computer or phone.

SCRIPTWRITERS MINIGOALS
2021-02-01 17:30 - 19:00, 2021-01-18 17:30 - 19:00, 2021-01-04 17:30 - 19:00, 2020-12-21 17:30 - 19:00
This Zoom meeting will last maybe about an hour and not longer than an hour and half.
We are seeing how we have done with the mini-goals we set ourselves last week, and maybe renewing them or setting new ones.
This is open to Squad 1-9 with a focus on scriptwriters, there are other groups for poets and prose writers. If you haven’t been to a previous meeting, you are welcome to join, just let steve@writingsquad.com know you want to come.
You will be sent a link before the meeting and you can go on Zoom from your computer or phone.

POETS MINIGOALS
2021-01-27 17:30 - 19:00, 2021-01-20 17:30 - 19:00, 2021-01-13 17:30 - 19:00, 2021-01-06 17:30 - 19:00

PROSE WRITERS MINIGOALS
2021-01-26 17:30 - 19:00, 2021-01-19 17:30 - 19:00, 2021-01-12 17:30 - 19:00, 2021-01-05 17:30 - 19:00, 2020-12-22 17:30 - 19:00

SCI FI AND FANTASY MINI GOALS
2021-01-25 18:00 - 19:30
Setting goals is a really useful way of prioritising our writing, and being accountable (principally to ourselves). Since the first Covid lockdown, the Squad has run a number of Mini-Goals groups, which have been a fantastic resource, and a source of support, motivation, and encouragement (as well as a lot of fun).
We know that many Squad writers have an interest in SFF, and as Francesca is a specialist in this field, we thought a dedicated group would be a great way to support one another with our SFF writing.

SQUAD 10: WORKSHOP WITH EMMA (MANCHESTER)
2021-01-23 11:00 - 17:00 | Manchester, Manchester

STEP CHANGE Applying to the Arts Council’s DYCP Funding Programme
2021-01-21 19:30 - 21:00

SQUAD 10: WORKSHOP WITH FRANCESCA (MANCHESTER)
2021-01-16 11:00 - 17:00 | Manchester, Manchester

THE AWESOME PLAY TEXT / SCREENPLAY READING CLUB
2021-01-12 19:15 - 20:45
During this meet up we will be discussing The Funeral Director by Iman Qureshi. We will send you a script or you can buy it from Nick Hern Books.
Life as the director of a Muslim funeral parlour isn’t always easy, but Ayesha has things pretty sorted. She and Zeyd share everything: a marriage, a business, a future.
Until Tom walks in to organise his boyfriend’s funeral. A snap moral decision, informed by the values of Ayesha’s community and faith, has profound consequences.
Forced to confront a secret she has hidden even from herself, Ayesha must decide who she is – no matter the cost.
An incisive and heartfelt story of sexuality, gender and religion in twenty-first-century Britain. It won the 2018 Papatango New Writing Prize and premiered at Southwark Playhouse, London, in October 2018.
What to expect at Awesome P&SPR Club?
The zoom is informal and relaxed. No one is put on the spot. We tend to look at the text from 3 positions:
How did it make you feel / think as a reader?
What kind of themes/ideas is it exploring (so a kind of Eng Lit pov)?
What kind of ideas/tools does it give to you as a writer?
That’s it. If that sounds like your kind of thing, then Matt and Emma will be delighted to see you on the night.

Our Space
2020-12-21 12:15 - 14:00, 2020-12-16 19:30 - 21:00
HOSTED BY SQUAD GRAD HANNAH HODGSON – OUR SPACE
A dedicated (virtual) space for us to write alone, together.
Think of it as your favourite library, a coffee shop, or a co-working space. It’s a room full of writers at work, and it’s a way of making a commitment to yourself to show up and write. Pop in to The Space to work on any writing project that you like – and in case you need inspiration, an optional writing prompt will be emailed in advance, for you to use, adapt or ignore.
Come and go as your please, and feel free to make yourself a cuppa.
The Zoom link will be posted to the Squad Facebook group just before kickoff.

POETRY AND EVERYDAY SEXISM with Kim Moore
2020-12-17 19:30 - 21:00
Kim recently completed her doctorate at Manchester Metropolitan University, exploring how to use lyric poetry to write about everyday sexism and female desire.
This event is a chance to hear her thesis as a reader-directed text, inspired by the ‘choose your own adventure books’ by Ian Livingstone that she read throughout her childhood. It contains sections of prose and small groups of poems. At the end of each of these, the reader is presented with a choices of what they would like to read next.
Zoom is the ideal setting for this experimental reading, where you, the audience, will decide what you would like to hear next using polls.
The choices you will be presented with will sometimes ask you to pick the phrase you’re most attracted to. Sometimes they will ask you to reflect on your reaction to what you’ve just heard and then make your choice.
TW: Some of the material in this event will discuss sexual violence and trauma.
Kim’s first collection The Art of Falling (Seren, 2015) won the 2016 Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize. She won a Northern Writers Award in 2014, an Eric Gregory Award in 2011 and the Geoffrey Dearmer Prize in 2010. Her pamphlet If We Could Speak Like Wolves was a winner in the 2012 Poetry Business Pamphlet Competition, and went on to be shortlisted for a Michael Marks Award. She recently completed a doctorate in poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University , just won the Ledbury Poetry Competition and her second full-length collection All the Men I Never Married will be published in 2021.
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