Minutes! 7-16-13

Well, since I'm moving to Las Vegas, we made some big decisions tonight! But first, the usual stuff:

• We read Gena's sestina. Discussion ensued.
• We read the last few scenes of Tanise's screenplay. Discussion ensued.
• We read the beginning of Becky's short story. Discussion ensued.
• We drank root beer floats.
• We started watching a 1960s Spanish gogo movie with no subtitles. Felipe translated.

Ok, here's what you need to know: from now on, Gena will be taking over the secretarial role of the group (running the blog, Facebook, sending emails, etc.). Thanks, Gena! The next meeting, on Tuesday, July 30th at 7:30, will also be at her apartment. Address will be sent to members soon. 

It seems like people were interested in starting to rotate apartments for meetings, so that's something you can talk about more next time. Also, it seems as though Tuesdays are no longer good for a lot of people, so aside from this next meeting, the group decided that Wednesdays are better in the future. (If too many people object to Wednesdays, Thursdays are also a potentially viable option.)

Anyway, it's been lovely. I'm sure I'll still skype in from time to time, make sure you aren't slacking off. Keep in touch! 

<3

Becky

Minutes! 5-28-13

Hey everyone. Wanted to post these last night, but the internet in my apartment decided to stop working. Here's what you missed:

• Gena came back to us! And there was much rejoicing.
• We read Tanise's latest scene from Barhopping. Discussion ensued.
• We discussed Tanise's attempt at prose. (Way to break boundaries!) Discussion ensued.
• We read Becky's attempt at a poem. Discussion ensued.
• We read Becky's draft of a story. Discussion ensued.
• We read Dan's draft of his entry for the City Lit Art of Adaptation theater festival. Discussion ensued.
• Gena would like us each to send her six words, so she can write a sestina. So do that!
• If you want to enter the City Lit Art of Adaptation Festival, move fast--entries must be postmarked no later than Friday, May 31st!
• If you're ever looking for writing contests to enter, check out Poets & Writers' website--they have an excellent directory.
• Printers Row Lit Fest is coming up soon, June 8-9! Who wants to go? It's always a wonderful time.

Our next meeting will be Tuesday, June 11th. See you then!

Minutes! 5-7-13

Happy Spring, everyone. Here's what you missed:

• In keeping with this month's "breaking out of your boundaries" theme, Raphael wrote a sex scene. And it was great! Discussion ensued.
• We read a scene from Tanise's screenplay. Discussion ensued.
• We read more of Becky's story from the previous meeting. Discussion ensued.

Our next meeting will be Tuesday, May 28th at 7:30 p.m. at Becky's. (It should have been the 21st, but Becky's out of town and Raphael has a play, etc.) See you then!

Minutes! 4-23-13

Salut, mes amis. Here's what you missed:

• We had an epic spread of food, so those of you who weren't here really did miss out on some deliciousness.
• We read more of Tanise's "Barhopping." Discussion ensued.
• We read Tanise's short story inspired by Andrew Wyeth's painting "Christina's World." Discussion ensued.
• We read Dan's short story inspired by Man Ray's painting "La Fortune." Discussion ensued.
• We read Raphael's short story inspired by Renoir's painting "Two Sisters (On the Terrace)." Discussion ensued.
• We read Felipe's short story based on the famous Woodstock poster. Discussion ensued. 
• We read Becky's short story based on Gregory Crewdson's untitled 1998 photograph. Discussion ensued.
• Most of us decided that we're going to keep working on our painting-inspired stories because we rather like them. Prompt success!
• We discussed how one day we're all going to be very famous writers collectively known as "The Chicago School," and how high school students will be forced to read us in class and hate every minute of it. 
• We've decided that the next month is going to be unofficial DWChitown "Break Through Your Boundaries" month. Either at the next meeting or the meeting after, try to bring in a piece that you would normally be uncomfortable writing. Write in a genre you've never tried, write a sex scene, etc. Obviously, this isn't school, so you don't have to. But, you know...try. Let's get inspired, people!

Our next meeting will be Tuesday, May 7th at Becky's place. Hopefully it won't be all rainy and gross by then. Submit things! See you next time. 

Minutes! 4-9-13

Hey kids. Here's what you missed (aside from delicious beer and chips & salsa and bagel chips & hummus and oatmeal cream pies--quite the spread):

• Upcoming literary event #1: Pop Up Book Fair at The Empty Bottle this Sunday, April 14th at 2 p.m. Click on the link for the facebook info--there's a link on their page that will let you get in for free! (But it's only $5 otherwise, so I wouldn't worry too much about it.)
• Upcoming literary event #2: Dollhouse Reading Series on Saturday, April 20th. Get your dose of poetry during National Poetry Month. 
• Upcoming literary event #3: C2E2, the Chicago Comics & Entertainment Expo, April 26-28. Lots of interesting panels related to writing, mostly for comics and TV, but they can be applied to other things. Lots of other nerdy goodness. Literary guests include Audrey Niffenegger and R.L. Stine! (My 8-year-old self is freaking out.)
• Upcoming literary event #4: Tuesday Funk. This is a neat little reading series that Becky and Meg discovered, which takes place the first Tuesday of every month at Hop Leaf. Good beer, good fiction. The next one is May 7th. 
• We read a scene from Tanise's screenplay. Discussion ensued.
• Raphael read us a short story in the works. Discussion ensued. (We also discussed how fairy tales have different phrases besides "once upon a time" and "and they lived happily ever after" in other languages!)
• Becky mentioned a website called Duolingo where you can get Rosetta-Stone-style language lessons online FOR FREE! Sounds too good to be true, but it is REAL.
• Becky read a few newer stories from her blog. Discussion ensued. 
• The four of us that were here gave each other an exercise, due at the next meeting, where we will write a short piece based on a famous painting. We've all assigned each other paintings, but if you weren't here and want to participate, contact Becky and she will assign you one. 

Our next meeting will be Tuesday, April 23rd at 7:30 p.m. Becky's place. The usual. See you then!

Minutes! 3-26-13

A lively meeting this evening. Here's what you missed:

• We read Becky's story. Discussion ensued.
• We read more of Tanise's screenplay. Discussion ensued.
• We read a new part of Dan's play. Discussion ensued.
• Raphael asked us lots of questions about death to help him plan one of his plays.

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, April 9th at 7:30 p.m. Hopefully it will be warmer then! Submit things.

Minutes! 3-12-13

Here's what you missed:

• We read Raphael's short play "The Door Game." Discussion ensued.
• We read two of Gena's poems. Discussion ensued.
• We read another scene from Tanise's barhopping play. Discussion ensued.
• We discussed an old short story of Becky's that she plans to re-write. 

Overall it was a lively and fruitful meeting. Our next meeting will be Tuesday, March 26th at 7:30 p.m. at Becky's. Submit things! And don't forget, The Dollhouse Reading Series is this Saturday. Anyone want to go?

Minutes! 1-8-13

Hey everyone. Sorry I didn't post for the last meeting. I honestly thought I had. Apparently my brain decided to trick me. Anyway, here are the minutes for this week:

• We read a scene from Tanise's play. Discussion ensued.
• We read a scene from Dan's play. Discussion ensued.
• I brought up an idea for a writing exercise, which is this: in the latest issue of McSweeney's they performed an experiment in translations. They'd give an already published, non-English story to an author who would translate it into English. Then they'd give that author's translation to another author, who would translate it into a different language. Then they'd give that translation to yet another author, who would translate it back into English a second time, and so on. I propose that we do this ourselves, on a much smaller scale. I speak enough French to do this, and I know Felipe speaks fluent Spanish. (Does anyone else speak other languages?) I have a book of flash fiction stories, so let's say I take one and translate it into French. Then I'll email my translation to one of you, and you'll translate it back into English. (If you don't understand French, you can always stick it into google translate to get an idea of what it means and then polish it into better English.) Then you send your translation to Felipe, and he'll translate it into Spanish. And so on. We could do this in the two weeks between our next two meetings, and then we could read them aloud when we're all done to see the differences. Does that sound fun to people? Let me know.
• Our next meeting will be Tuesday, Jan. 22nd at Becky's apartment, 7:30 p.m. See you there!

Minutes! 12-4-12

Another tiny meeting! Just me and Felipe and Raphael. Have people's schedules changed? Would another night of the week work better now? Let me know. Here's what you missed:

• We read a rewrite of Chapter 2 of Becky's novel. Discussion ensued.
• Raphael read some of his automatic writing. Discussion ensued.
• We all wrote little stories based on this prompt: "She has her headphones in." (We tried to ask Lindsey for a prompt, but she had her headphones in. So that's how that happened.)
• There is a Pop-Up Book Fair at the Empty Bottle this Sunday from 2-7 p.m. Who wants to check out some local publishers and go Christmas shopping with me? The event is free with RSVP. Click the link for more info. (I think I already invited you all on Facebook.)
• The next Dollhouse Reading Series is on December 15th. Anyone want to go hear some poetry?
• I thought I mentioned this a million years ago, but apparently I didn't. I am a terrible person. At any rate, our very own Rachel Hinton was published in the Denver Quarterly this year! Congratulate her. For real.
• Our next meeting will be Tuesday, December 18th at 7:30 p.m. at my place. The usual. We can have a little holiday shindig if you'd like. 

And that's about it. See you all soon! 

Minutes! 11-20-12

Sorry for the lack of posts. The last few meetings have sort of failed for various reasons. We had a lovely little meeting tonight, though. Here's what you missed:

• We have a new member, Tanise! (Shame on the rest of you for not showing up to meet her!) (Just kidding.) We read a scene from one of her plays. Discussion ensued.
• We workshopped a new play that Raphael is working on. Discussion ensued.
• We read some of Becky's blog stories. Discussion ensued.
• Tanise mentioned the Stockyards Theatre Project's Play for Keeps program, where women can learn to write plays.
• Raphael mentioned the Mystery Build art contest, which sounds really awesome, even though it has nothing to do with writing. 
• The next Dollhouse Reading Series is Saturday, December 15th. I totally want to go. I don't know about you guys...

Our next meeting will be Tuesday, December 4th at 7:30 p.m. at Becky's. (How is it already December?!) See you then. 

Minutes! 10-9-12

Hey everyone! Here's what you missed:

• We spent a great deal of time reading and discussing Becky's stories that she's submitting to grad schools. She is sorry that she took up so much time.
• We read two of Jane's stories. Discussion ensued.
• We had a hilarious discussion about whether or not certain literary devices are "douchey." 
• The Dollhouse Reading Series is this Friday! Let's all go hear some poetry, shall we? 
• Our Mary Shelley Story-Telling Party will take place on Thursday, October 18th at 7:30 p.m.! We're going to celebrate Halloween in a literary way. Write a short scary story/poem/play/song/whatever and bring it to Becky's apartment to read. If you want, you can also bring a short piece that was written by an author you enjoy. Candles to create a spooky atmosphere will be provided. BYOB. Costumes are perfectly acceptable. And who knows? Maybe one of us will write the next Frankenstein.
• Our next regular meeting will be Tuesday, October 23rd at 7:30 p.m. The usual.

Annnnnd now I've just been sitting and eating food and laughing for several hours so I'm REALLY HYPER. I'm going to channel this energy into doing the dishes. See you next time!

Minutes! 9-25-12

Here are the minutes from today's meeting:

• We read Chapter 8 of Glenn's novel. Discussion ensued.
• We also decided that we are all going to RESPOND VIA THE GOOGLE GROUP regarding the second half of Glenn's chapter.
• We read some of Becky's flash pieces. Discussion ensued.
• We read some of Jane's flash pieces. Discussion ensued.
• Shall we all go to The Minus Times release party at The Whistler on Thursday?
• Legs McNeil reads from his book about the history of punk at Late Bar on October 2nd.
• Our next meeting will be Tuesday, October 9th at 7:30 p.m. Becky's apartment.

See you there!

Minutes! 9-11-12

'Twas a small meeting today, but that's alright. Here's what you missed:

• We discussed MFA programs. (Becky has an the MFA issue of Poets & Writers, and she highly recommends it if you're looking into MFA programs. Lots of useful info!)
• We read Rachel's poem. Discussion ensued. 
• We want to have a Mary Shelley story-telling party in October! This would involve us all writing scary stories, getting dressed up, and reading our stories to each other! Who knows? One of us may end up writing the next Frankenstein. Possible dates for this party: October 12th, 13th, 19th, 20th. Let me know what would work best for you!
• Literary things going on in Chicago! Both Junot Diaz AND Irvine Welsh have readings in the city tomorrow (September 12th). On September 27th The Whistler is hosting a release party for Featherproof Books' collected The Minus Times. Could be fun/good networking. Anyone want to go?
• Our next regular meeting will be September 25th at Becky's apartment, 7:30 p.m. Submit stuff! Be there!

That's about it for now. Have a good two weeks full of writing and happy times. 

Minutes! 8-28-12

Look at me, updating this blog like an adult! Here's what you missed:

• We read Chapter 7 of Glenn's novel. Discussion ensued.
• We read the story "Bryce" from Becky's blog. Discussion ensued.
• We read Gena's poem "Why Lingerie is Important." Discussion ensued.
• We read the beginning of Raphael's sci-fi story. Discussion ensued.
• Becky mentioned that we should all possibly submit to The Proof.
• Becky mentioned that we should all possibly enter Bookkus Publishing's first short story contest. (Also--Bookkus Publishing just seems like a really neat publishing format.) 

Now that Summer is drawing to a close, we're going to start meeting twice a month again. Our next meeting will be September 11th at 7:30 p.m. at Becky's. See you all there!

Minutes! 6-4-12

Happy June everyone! Here's what you missed:

• Glenn rejoined us and we read a short story of his. Discussion ensued. Interesting thought--is it ok to have one half of a story be written in a slow, introspective manner and the second half be written in a quick, plot-heavy manner? Does it make the story too unbalanced?
• We read Gena's poems. Discussion ensued. Interesting thought--are stanzas always necessary?
• We read Chapter 5 of Becky's novel. Discussion ensued. Interesting thought--are there any good techniques to help keep your narrative voice and your characters' voices separate? 
• Gena suggested we might take a field trip to the Music Box Theater to see a special showing of the National Theater's production of Frankenstein. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch and directed by Danny Boyle, this is sure to be a literary treat. Wow, I just grossed myself out by writing that. So cheesy. At any rate, it should be lots of fun. Anyone up for it?
• We are DEFINITELY taking a field trip to Printer's Row Lit Fest this Sunday! We'll probably meet there around noon. A facebook event page will be created.
• Our next meeting will be Tuesday, June 19th at 7:30 p.m. at Becky's.

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

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!

Minutes! 4-24-12

Another tiny meeting this evening. Y'all better come next time or I'll start to get worried! (I have no idea why I chose to say "y'all" there.) Anyway, here are the minutes:

• We read Chapter 7 of Glenn's story. Discussion ensued.
• We also discussed the end of Chapter 6 of Glenn's story. (For real, people, we need to start commenting online.)
• We read Chapter 3 of Becky's story. Discussion ensued.
• We read Leta's story. She joined us on G+, and discussion ensued.
• Becky informed the group that Chicago-based Wildclaw Theatre is hosting a radio play contest called "Deathscribe." They are looking for 10-minute horror radio plays; their favorites will be produced live and turned into a podcast. The deadline is July 31st. Full details can be found on their website. 
• Our next meeting will be May 8th at 7:30 p.m. at Becky's.

That's about it. Maybe if the weather is nice enough next time we can hold the meeting on Becky's deck...

See you there!

Minutes! 4-10-12

Here's what you missed:

• We read the first section of Joe's novel. Discussion ensued, and comments will be emailed to him since he wasn't at the meeting.
• We read Meghan's story. Discussion ensued.
• We read the next chapter of Glenn's novel. Discussion ensued.
• We read the next chapter of Becky's novel. Discussion ensued.
• We have officially decided that "noveling" is now a verb.
• Since so many of our members are noveling now, let's all try to comment more online using the Google Group. That way people won't be receiving feedback on only the first halves of their chapters! 
• C2E2 is this weekend, and there are lots of panels about writing/story creating. Even though it's mostly about writing comics, it will still probably be helpful. Becky, Meghan, and Glenn are all going. Hope to see some more of you there as well!
• Two of Becky's stories are going to be published in a horror flash fiction anthology later this year! More details to follow as the publication date draws nearer. 
• The next meeting will be Tuesday, April 24th at 7:30 p.m. at Becky's apartment.

And that's about it. It was a relatively tiny meeting this week. Hope to see more of you next time!

Minutes! 3-27-12

Last time on Drivel & Wit Chicago...

• We have a new member named Joe! New members are always fun.
• We read Becky's story. Discussion followed. (Remember, if you want to read more of Becky's stories you can do that here.)
• We read Jane's stories. Discussion followed. (Remember, if you want to read more of Jane's stories you can do that here.)
• We read Gena's poems. Discussion followed.
• We read Chapter 5 of Glenn's novel. Discussion followed. 
• Meg thinks we should all enter the City Lit short play adaptation festival.
• Raphael thinks we should all enter the American Theater Company's 10 x 10 Festival.
• Raphael's theater company has a space in which to perform now! Exciting news. 
• Joe works for Steampunk Chicago, and they're hosting a party THIS FRIDAY (the 30th) at 9 p.m. at Ace Bar. Everyone should come.
• Our next meeting will be Tuesday, April 10th at 7:30 p.m. at Becky's.

That's about it. See you all next time!