Creative Writing Workshop II

On 13 August, I attended a Creative Writing Workship at Wisma Anglican, Sabah.It was the follow-up of the first one in April. Its main objective was to help all participants to produce the first drafts of their short stories. The speaker was again the famous expatriate writer Robert Raymer. The workshop was divided into seven parts(I may be wrong. My memory may fail me).

a)Part I
The speaker asked us to list out 15 topics we would like to write about. Mine were as follows:
1)My childhood neighbour's dog
2)How My Father was cheated when I was ten years old
3)My first day of teaching
4)How my mum got married to my Dad
5)How I met a girl who had constantly appeared in my dreams
6)My fight for dignity at school
7)How I became an English teacher
8)My love-hate relationship with English
9)My first injection at school
10)How my aunties chased an unwelcome visitor from my mum's home
11)How I became a lapsed Christian
12)How I was ostracized by my friends at college
13)My quarrel with a police man
14)My encounter with a demented woman
15)My experience with panic attacks

b)Part II
Robert Raymer asked us to pick a topic that struck us most. I picked number 15.He then asked us to write out the outlines of our stories it based on the following questions:

1)How did the incident begin?
2)i.What problem/conflict did you face?
ii.What conflict would you like to portray in your story?
3)Who are the people in your story?
4)Where did the event take place?
5)when did this happen?
6)Why were you there?
7)Why did you do what you did?
8)Why did others act that way?
9)what is the tipping point?
10)How was the problem solved?
11)What obstacles did you overcome?
12)How was the situation resolved?
13)How long did it take?
14)What was your reaction to the solution?
15)What was the final outcome?

c)Part III
The speaker discussed primary emotions with us. Then, he showed us how to tie different emotions to our characters.He asked us to ponder on the following questions:
1)What made you and others feel this way?
2)What did you and others do about it?
(I have forgotten the rest)

He then wrote five words on the white board:sight, sound, smell, taste and feel. Each came with a question which was thought-provoking.

d)Part IV
He touched briefly on point of view. He advised us to be consistent and always stay focused on what we wanted to convey(never go off at a tangent).

e)Part V
Robert Raymer expounded on the nature of narrative.

f)Part VI
We were given one hour to write about our preferred topics. I had a hard time putting my thoughts in words. I did a lot of cancellations and rewriting.My grammar was messy. As a result, I could not finish my story. I was not used to manual writing.I managed to finish the story two days after my return to Miri.

(I am the green-shirted guy)

g) Part VII
Robert Raymer gave us a new writing assignment.The title was 'They Found Me'.It was an interesting writing activity which tapped into our creativity. We wrote based on the following questions:
1)Where did they find you?
2)What were you wearing?
3)Why were they looking for you?
4)How does the story take off?
5)Did you want to be found?
6)Did they want to rescue or kill you?

I was able to cook up a story about how a dead girl was discovered by her family. The story was based on a true story which took place in my hometown.

H)The Next Workshop
At the end of the workshop, the organizer of the workshop, Jude Day announced that the next workshop would be held in November. She told us to bring along the finished products of our short stories for sharing and editing purposes.

I)Fun Things About the Workshop

Hehe, I could hobnob with Robert Raymer. I also felt honored to meet Tina Kisil, another writer who was present for the workshop. She is famous for her maiden work 'Footprints in the Paddy Fields'. I like her gentleness and humbleness.How I wish I could publish my own books like she did one day.

Another heartening thing was that Robert Raymer agreed to edit the short story that I had brought along with me from Miri.I was touched by his willingness.

I would definitely come for the third workshop.

Click the link below to read Robert Raymer's post on the workshop:
http://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2011/08/creative-writing-workshop-in-kota.html

P.S. I took some photographs of Robert Raymer. Believe me, they do not do justice to his looks.