David Carson, the Chair of Nethergate Writers, give his rundown of events at our final meeting of 2016.
The three R’s were highly visible at this meeting – Ray, Richard, Roddie, along with David. The four of us passed a stimulating ninety minutes. Our first discussion centred on some computer problem solving. One of the R’s hopes soon to be creating online, and will be keen to share!
Four pieces of writing had been circulated. First up, from Roddie, Rescue Dive. We all enjoyed and appreciated the extended metaphor that ran through the verses, in particular:
These thoughts
I hold like my breath
and follow them down
hand-lining
on a barely illuminated
rope of theory.
Free diving.
Suggestions for minimal improvement included the removal of one or two words, and a small re-ordering.
Perhaps as valuable as commenting on the poem was the discussion that followed about depression, and its causes and treatments.
Then followed Richard’s Walk, an account of the attempts by a host to go for a stroll with guests who had stayed on after a wedding. The characters were strongly drawn, the setting vivid and real, and the dialogue completely natural and believable. We thought that sentence length should be more varied to reflect the different aspects of the narrative. We all thoroughly enjoyed it.
David’s piece, Broken Journeys tried to describe a specific phenomenon that had been classed as anti-social but could be taken as applying to anyone who steps outside society’s norms. Some interesting comments on justice ensued.
Finally, we looked at The Wasteland, another piece from Roddie. This received instant approbation, and bar a few suggestions for minor changes we thought it an excellent description of and reflection on urban decay.
The evening finished with mutual good wishes for the Season, and reminders of the AGM on Wednesday 11 January 2017.