Minutes! 5-22-12

Oh man, it was quite the tiny, tangential meeting this evening! But lots of fun. Here's what you missed:

• We read two pieces of Jane's flash fiction. Discussion ensued. Interesting ideas: can a flash piece be a good beginning for a longer story? Does shaking someone's hand feel like a boob?
• We decided Jane should write a book of short stories that are descriptions of body parts until she cobbles together a sort of Frankenstein person.
• Gena recommended The Book of Beginnings and Endings. It's exactly what it sounds like--just the beginnings and endings of stories.
• We read the second half of Chapter 4 of Becky's novel. Discussion ensued. Interesting idea: does using a brand name in your story make it too dated? 
• Becky now has a year's subscription to Writer's Digest, so if you want to borrow an issue or something, let her know.
• Gena started a blog in which she will write a letter to you if you give her a topic. Check it out!
• Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, June 5th, 7:30 p.m. at Becky's apartment. 

That's all for now. See you next time! 

Minutes! 5-8-12

Here's what happened in the world of DWChitown:

• Rachel described what it was like to be in a creative writing MFA program. Very helpful!
• We read two of Rachel's poems. Discussion ensued. Interesting topic - narrative poem vs. poems about one object/person/thing.
• We read Raphael's play. Discussion ensued. Interesting topic - the information garnered from seeing a play written down vs. seeing it performed. 
• We read the first chapter of Gena's romance novel. Discussion ensued. Interesting topic - writing a parody that still fits into the genre that it's parodying, such as Shaun of the Dead.
• We read the first part of Felipe's short story. Discussion ensued. Interesting topic - even if you intend for a detail about a character to be treated nonchalantly, will your audience treat it that way? 
• We did not have time to read Chapter 4, Pt. 1 of Becky's novel. But Felipe had already read it, so he gave notes, and Gena gave notes about the parts that she had read. This is a good time to mention that online feedback is fun! We should email each other our thoughts, especially when it comes to longer stories.
• Gena suggested that we have a party sometime and/or several parties where we get drunk and read plays aloud. Several others expressed interest. Hopefully Gena will be emailing us about that sometime in the not-too-distant future.
• The Northwestern University library is having a book sale this week! 
• Raphael is in a play called After the Quake, based on the short stories of Haruki Murakami. We should all go see it when it starts!
• Our next meeting will be at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, May 22nd at Becky's apartment. 

It's nice that we can have another meeting before Memorial Day. Hope to see you all then!