Fas Spring XI.5 - Bromance

What a session! I said bromance and you said aye. Great response: thank you.

Attendees: FB, CW, AS, JW, JH, AP (all old guard - huzzah!)

Read: Bromance I & II (CW poems); A Pathetic Apathetic excerpt (JW novel); Untitled (AP short story / pitch for short); Looking For Bromance (AS comic scene)

Colin likes a challenge; so he arrived with two poems, which, he claimed, were unrelated, on the theme of philadelphia between two men. As ever, he was swift to denigrate his work, but both displayed a comfortable manipulation of language, as well as the seeds of some greater ideas. In I, he had set himself a structural rule that he had to end each stanza on a different pronoun - it was effective both for providing an internal sense to the piece, as well as drawing in the listener. (So too was the fact that each stanza began with some kind of exhortation or spoken word). Bromance II, shorter, sweeter, and over in mere moments, was a snapshot of words spoken between brethren to escape womankind. It’s the kind of thought that works particularly well in poesy. 

Another excerpt from John - this one from later in his novel where our hero has been kicked out of his home and spends his first night on the streets, meeting a homeless man, Bob, who is surprisingly kind, if a little creepy at times. It’s a great section for character development of both John’s protagonist, who thinks one thing and often does another, to humorous consequence, and Bob, who will come to play a prominent role in the narrative, we were told. As so often, we chewed over how much description was enough, and how, in fact, it was possible to get those key descriptions working without overloading a reader, nor with leaving them feeling short-changed on detail. As ever, thoughts in comments would be appreciated. 

Alli claimed to have written her piece on her phone (no harm in that - I do the same when needs must), but it was clear she had given her concept some thought. A brief scene she intended to convert for the screen was excellently executed: four boys in a pub, all after the same girl, with hilarious / disastrous consequences. As with the other things I’ve seen of Alli’s, she has an eye for telling dialogue as well as capturing something of youthful relationships swiftly and expressively. We riffed a little on how to further the tension of the piece, as well as exploring how one might shorten the scene even further to fit the constraints of converting it from a few minutes’ short story to a one page short.

Finally Adam, once again taking his lead from some of the greatest absurdist comedians and deciding to take the theme of bromance to its natural limits - homoerotic love. His scene, still incomplete, but filled with great intent, as well as some choice, thrilling details of what might go wrong when one tries to seek out the epitome of manly chat… there’s plenty to be done on the scene, of course, but Adam already had a sense of direction, and the voice of his rather self-pitying, but kindly protagonist was pleasingly engaging. I hope we see more of it in a later Fas. 

Next theme, GREEN. If you need help with ideas, hit me up. Thanks for all the support! 

Fas Spring XI.4 - social, drinkle, Together

Hey all,

The last session was one we're trialling gently, where the week night slots become a more relaxed meeting in which people might bring material, but we also chat about our own writing and where we up to, and see where conversation takes us.

Thanks to all who made it: CW, JS, RM, JO, JW and of course, HH - brilliant to see Henry back from Jerusalem and he brought a copy of his book Together that's due out in 3rd March. Very exciting to see. Meanwhile Rory brought a short for us to look at as well. 

It's always great to see material, but nicer still for Fas members to be seeking out the group for feedback. As ever, suggestions for improvement are always welcomed. 

Fas Spring XI.3

Attendees: FB, JO, AP, JW, SC, JH (new member! woo!)

Read: Brenden's Losing Faith (JO short screenplay); Can't Keep a Dead Man Down (SC novel - we read the opening)

A great pair of pieces for the third session, as well as lively, useful discussion (hopefully as ever). BLF follows the story of the eponymous protagonist who has found himself from Alabama in London on a very particular mission. The voice was solid and engaging, a well-imagined world, while we also looked at the pacing of the piece, and how much Brenden's apparent loss of faith was well-timed and believable. Talk ranged to the religious aspect of the short too: how much do the Christian overtones and suggestions of the piece put off or engage with a viewer? Discussion also moved to how much of our sympathies a character like Brenden could indeed garner, and whether it was worth John's while to push the level to which he dictated the audience's sympathies at the close of the piece, and how that could be affected through greater contrasts between levity and seriousness earlier in the short.

CKADMD was first written by Sarah as part of Nanowrimo 2009, but has since then been edited and expanded to reach a more appropriate novel shape and size. As a opening to a pulp/noir detective novel set in San Francisco in the 1930s, it was both tense and gripping, with a strong sense of character to the hero Joseph, as well as an excellent evocation of place and setting. Discussion urged for even greater focus on both character and setting, and for clarity, even if not directly on the page, from Sarah as to her creative choices and direction: why Frisco? why 30s? But early dialogue and descriptive prose provided plenty of detail and opened up questions for the reader in the way any opening should. A lovely first offering from Sarah to Fas - thank you!

Fas Spring XI.2

Something of a killer second session to continue the great form of the new season: thanks to all. In a break from format, here are some rambling thoughts as to it all.

I decided to pitch a new project of mine. Tentatively, and definitely not permanently, entitled 100days (see the twitter hashtag to follow, #100days), it sees the careers and collapse of two protagonists of differing backgrounds and sympathies. More on it anon. Satisfying that my own inclinations with the project were mirrored in Fas: it needs to be a human story with human relations at its centre. My own writing flourishes in that kind of situation, as opposed to trying to write a polemic or something that says something. Who wants to say something anyway?

Next up, John (O) (John-O) pitched an idea of his own. If I thought I was being vaguely political, John upped the ante and we were on Communist Russia of the 30s and some of the massive reversals of fortune that so many people experienced. The idea is a stormer and deserves a hearty, well researched treatment, but I for one am looking forward to seeing it at Fas.

Also up for discussion was about making the evening sessions more overtly a social / drinkle / fun time session and keeping the Sunday sessions as strictly Fas with reading / crit time. What are people's thoughts? I think it'll work, I think it'll provide options for the meetings and a range of opportunities for writers to talk about their work both formally and informally. So there we go. Game on.

Fas Spring XI.1

The start to the new season - joy of joys! New members, new (ish) plans, new writing. Let's go!

Attendees: FB, JO, AS, AP (new member! welcome!), MZ (new member! welcome!)

Read: Are You Looking for the Way Out?, Real Melodrama (two FB short stories of sorts)

I wanted to try out a couple of new things on a reinvigorated Fas, so brought along the super short story AYLFTWO, which tells the tale of Sal and Jerome in an art installation, and Real Melodrama, which is collected writings pre, during and post break up for the hapless author of the piece. 

The former was received fairly well, all told, if with some assistance to divine quite what it was all about. Indeed, the very format and style of the piece was devised to provide something of the disorientation and hostility of the art installation it described, and I was quietly pleased that it remained fairly inscrutable. If a space is to rebuff the viewer so strongly, it was important to me that the description of said space offered at least something of that same opaqueness. At the centre of the story stood the rather one-sided Sal-Jerome relationship, but it was suggested that with no emotional journey in the story, even if that journey were something as simple as a climax of internal realisation for Sal, a change that would not ruin the tone or direction of the piece, it might provide a more understandable emotional hook for the reader, especially given the apparent inscrutability of the piece. Mina also made the very valid point of considering who the reader of this story might be: was I trying to say something about art (is there anything left to say?), about relationships, or about something else? Was there a readership or audience for the story, and if so, whom did I think that was? These kind of questions have never been addressed so directly in Fas and I think it was a good angle to take. Thank you!

Next up was Real Melodrama, and what was remarkable was the response here. I was presenting what I considered to be somewhat trite, if not wildly over-emphasised ramblings from a writer fairly close to my heart (if not my mind); Fas figured that in fact the packaging as something of melodrama was what was off, and that in fact, if the few moments of overstating clichés and emphasising the melodrama were unworked, we might be presented with some emotionally raw and quite intense, introspective writing. One member suggested it be worked into a framework to provide context for this writer's thoughts of the most intimate kind, but other members felt it worked best without any muddying material: a simple, stark portrayal of a mind turned upon itself in the throes of relationship break-down. Maybe it's worth another look. 

Fas Fall X.9 - mulled wine and mince pies

The final session of the third season of the Frank Brinkley Pimlico Fruit and Sex Writing Group for Writers and Frank! We met at mine (first time!) and had mulled wine and mince pies and if you missed it, you're a total fool.

Attendees: FB, CW, EP, JW

Read: The Barber (FB short story); A Pathetic Apathetic (JW nanowrimo opening); ideas from EP

First on the block was The Barber, one of two stories I wrestled with throughout November (the brief thoughts on the other are right here). The Barber describes a few days in the life of Faisal, a barber in Hasan Abdal in Pakistan. It's a little about death, about new beginnings, and about being in a community but feeling entirely alone. I'm pretty happy with it; it seemed as though Fas was too. The language problems didn't come across as jarring (How far can one use Pakistani slang in a short story in English?), the tone and pace worked, more or less, and it held up well in the reading. Now onwards, to try to recreate that spurt of productivity.

John boldly offered us the opening of his Nanowrimo novel. He didn't win but was left with this little tidbit of a good idea. The story details the changes that come across a man who's settled for mediocre for far too long. As with any longer form idea, there are plenty of plot and character details that need to be straightened out and clarified, but John recognised that more than anyone. The idea has its strengths, so it's up to him to make something of it.

Finally we did something we've not done in quite a while, and riffed on a few ideas of Ellen's for a short (ish) film. It will be great to see what direction she takes things, as she has the makings of potentially a very engaging, very thought-provoking, violent piece, and once more, she's just gotta put the words down. So, all that's left to say is:

Fas Fall X.8 - just so stories

Attendees: FB, JW, RM, AS, CW, SC (new member! woo! welcome!) 

Apols: IE, HH, JR

Read: The Most Tender Place (FB short story); Mailbait (CW comedy sketch); A Model Employee + 1 (AS comedy sketches)

TMTP was one of two short stories (and two poems) that took over most of my writing mind during November, as opposed to NaNoWriMo (even though I did bumble to a win!). So I thought it best, even after I felt it done and dusted, to give the Faslets a chance to chew it over. It documents details of a relationship from a female perspective, wherein the intense situation has led to the characters creating their own language to bring them closer together.

As ever, I was left with plenty to think about: small detail work still remains, in particular with overly descriptive turns of phrase or overly obvious exposition. We discussed at length the difference between a romantic 'past' and a romantic 'history' (and indeed 'background') - any further thoughts on which is more/less loaded? Also it became clear that my intended / faintly emphasised mood in the second section was far from obvious or indeed effective. Tonal shift needed? Perhaps.

Mailbait and Adam's sketches were all juicy, delicious, re-heated-in-the-oven-at-180-for-20-minutes offerings that came from the comedy session two meets ago. Mailbait is a Daily Mail mocking quiz show, born out of Colin's obvious mastermind-standard knowledge of Daily Mail journos. It followed many of the typical comedy-quiz show conventions, but was sharp and shocking enough to be enjoyable and engaging. As with other sketches we've considered, all that remains is finding a proper outlet for the material - is a sketch show slowly brewing on the horizon?

Certainly Adam's sketches would make worthy contributions to such a show - both were funny, well-written, and after only a few tweaks would stand up very nicely. They were pretty typical Salt humour: the absurd in the mundane, taking simple misunderstandings as starting points and pushing idiocy to its (il)logical limits. Once more: where do we go with this material? What's next?