The Writing Squad

Poets Mini Goals
2021-03-31 17:30 - 19:00, 2021-03-24 17:30 - 19:00, 2021-03-17 17:30 - 19:00, 2021-03-10 17:30 - 19:00, 2021-03-03 17:30 - 19:00, 2021-02-24 17:30 - 19:00 UTC
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
2021-03-30 17:30 - 19:00, 2021-03-23 17:30 - 19:00, 2021-03-16 17:30 - 19:00, 2021-03-09 17:30 - 19:00, 2021-03-02 17:30 - 19:00, 2021-02-23 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.

Morning Space
2021-03-30 07:00 - 20:30, 2021-03-23 07:00 - 08:30, 2021-03-16 07:00 - 08:30, 2021-03-09 07:00 - 08:30, 2021-03-02 07:00 - 08:30
OPEN ALL SQUADS
Every Tuesday morning.
Based on our regular event Space this is an informal silent writing session set up by Lydia Allison and James Varney. Log on and get creative – alone together – before the day really begins. Library/coffee shop vibes, coffee optional, dressing gowns encouraged.
The Zoom link will be posted on the Squad facebook page each Tuesday morning.

Script Mini Goals
2021-03-29 17:30 - 19:00, 2021-03-15 17:30 - 19:00, 2021-03-01 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.

Writing from Pictures
2021-03-27 14:00 - 16:00
This is a Squad 10 workshop, any grads who want a place should one be available contact billie@writingsquad.com
Saturday 27th March 14.00-16.00 On Zoom
SIGN UP HERE
Ekphrastic Writing – exploring ways in which art can be used as a source of inspiration for stories and poems.
We will explore strategies and techniques that can be used to respond to artworks and how a writer can approach different forms of art as a basis for writing.
We will discuss the importance of the inspiration to the piece of ekphrastic art. Is it important to reference this to the reader, or can the work stand without it?
We will also explore the writer’s response to the inspiration in producing writing which can in turn evoke an emotional response in the reader; which artworks to work with and inspiration in comparison with other sources (an experience, memory, reading, music etc. )
The workshop will contain exercises aimed at producing poetry and prose fiction.
You will go away with a number of different practical methods that can be used when writing in response to artworks and with the skills and confidence to try this out in your own writing practice.
SIGN UP HERE

SFF Mini Goals
2021-03-22 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).
This group mets monthly, and it is never too late to join, if you want to put on the list to receive the link email billie@writingsquad.com

The Space
2021-03-17 19:30 - 21:00
Wednesday 17th March 19.30-21.00 On Zoom
SIGN UP HERE
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 from Francesca will be emailed in advance, for you to use, adapt or ignore. Or she can send you it when she welcomes you in.
Come and go as your please, and feel free to make yourself a cuppa. We’ll work in silence but halfway through there’ll be the option of joining small-group break-out rooms for 5 minutes, for a quick chat.

The Home Concert
2021-03-11 20:30 - 21:30
Join us for The Home Concert, a Squad open mic for musicians, songwriters and spoken word folk. Hosted by Squad 8’s Louise Essex, we’ll spend an hour listening and appreciating all things aural. Come to share your stuff or sit back and enjoy!
If you want a slot contact Louise via billie@writingsquad.com by March 5th.

Awesome Script Reading Club
2021-03-09 19:15 - 20:45
Discussing Heathers the Musical. We will send you a script or you can buy it from here.
Heathers The Musical is “the darkly delicious story of Veronica Sawyer, a brainy, beautiful teenage misfit who hustles her way into the most powerful and ruthless clique at Westerberg High: the Heathers. But before she can get comfortable atop the high school food chain, Veronica falls in love with the dangerously sexy new kid J.D. When Heather Chandler, the Almighty, kicks her out of the group, Veronica decides to bite the bullet and kiss Heather’s aerobicized ass…but J.D. has another plan for that bullet.”

Squad 10 Mini Goals
2021-03-08 18:00 - 19:30
We have found our Zoom mini-goals sessions have been a great way of Squad writers supporting each other by setting monthly mini-goals.
Not big goals. 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.
This is open to all Squad 10 members whatever you write and is chaired by Squad grad Libby Williamson. This group mets monthly, and it is never too late to join, if you want to put on the list to receive the link email billie@writingsquad.com

Precision in Prose Writing
2021-03-06 14:00 - 16:00
SQUAD 10 ONLY
Squad writers have no shortage of great ideas – but a great idea sinks or swims with the words on the page and how skilfully they’re chosen and crafted. In this workshop, we will focus on and get excited by the word-by-word craft that changes decent writing into great writing.
‘The best words in the best order’ was Coleridge’s definition of poetry – but poets don’t have a monopoly on precision and careful word choice, and we prose writers can really benefit from breaking our work down to the level of the word and the sentence.
In this workshop, we’ll be asking ourselves: What are ‘the best words’, and how do we choose them?
In a relaxed, supportive environment, we’ll do exercises that highlight the power of precision in the word-by-word shaping of our writing, and we’ll workshop excerpts you bring in – see Essential Preparation below.
You’ll leave the workshop with a new grasp of the exactitude that good writing demands and a fresh enthusiasm for how word-by-word crafting can transform a piece.
Essential preparation
Please bring one excerpt (strictly 100-120 words) you’re willing to share, from any prose piece that you’re working on. Resist the temptation to show off something perfect/finished/published. We will be workshopping your pieces, so if it’s something underway, you’ll benefit from improving it.
Try to choose an excerpt that doesn’t require a whole lot of backstory/explanation/contextualising.
Have your excerpt on your computer, so you can paste it in the chat thread for workshopping – avoid pieces that rely on complicated formatting as that might be lost in the chat format.
This is a Squad 10 workshop, any grads who want a place should one be available should contact billie@writingsquad.com

SQUAD 10: WORKSHOP WITH FRANCESCA (LEEDS)
2021-03-06 11:00 - 17:00 | Leeds
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.

The Space
2021-03-03 19:30 - 21:00
Wednesday 3rd March 19.30-21.00 On Zoom
SIGN UP HERE

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 from Francesca will be emailed in advance, for you to use, adapt or ignore. Or she can send you it when she welcomes you in.
Come and go as your please, and feel free to make yourself a cuppa. We’ll work in silence but halfway through there’ll be the option of joining small-group break-out rooms for 5 minutes, for a quick chat.

MANUSCRIPTS, MARKETING & MANY, MANY MEETINGS – the real life of an editor.
2021-02-25 19:30 - 21:00
Harper North have recently opened an office in Manchester and one if the first things they did was have a meeting with the Squad. They are looking for northern writers, northern voices, what exactly does that mean?
This is our chance to find out with Harper North’s Publishing Director and their Editor at Large. We will discover what kinds of writers and what kinds of work they are looking for, as well as explore the relationship between editors and writers, between editors and their publishing houses, and between the books we write and the markets publishers target.
Katie Brown started her publishing career as a publicist, winning awards for her campaigns, before moving into editorial at Orion where her authors have included bestsellers, award winners and nominees for prizes including the Women’s Prize and the Costa, and chosen for retail promotions such as Waterstones Book of the Month. A Bookseller Rising Star in 2018 and co-founder of Hachette’s All Together Network, Katie is now Editor at Large for HarperNorth, and is on the search for inclusive and attention-grabbing fiction, which supports her longstanding work to improve diversity in publishing.
Genevieve Pegg has worked in publishing for twenty years, from photocopying at Penguin to founding HarperNorth. Delighted to be bringing HarperCollins to Manchester, Gen is looking for fiction and non-fiction from, of or inspired by the north of the nation(s) and looking to take those voices to national and international readerships. In fiction, she searches for novels with endings as powerful as their beginnings and in non-fiction, books that inform, inspire and entertain while being accessible and narrative-driven.
