Toytownwriters - writers meeting once a month

Hi Everyone!

The Toytownwriters enjoyed working together during the Competition and decided to continue meeting twice a month to keep ourselves motivated. I will be podcasting the material written for the class assignments because the writing is good and I am impressed by the quality of work done on short notice. (many of us seem to procrastinate) We met twice during January and I wanted to let other serious writers know that they are welcome to join us or participate with the biweekly writing assignments.

If you are interested in writing and do not know how to start, I will be doing a creativity workshop starting in February that will meet on Thursdays from 1700 until 1830. There is a fee for the class and I will provide you with a separate online group where you can email the class participants and share ideas. If you are interested, email me and I will send you the class schedule etc.



Our writing assignment for the next meeting has to do with Sound. The first assignment was about public transportation. I am waiting for permission from the writers to post their work but here is my short sample:

It doesn't happen often. My heart racing. I guess that I am old enough that
things just don't surprise me or cause my body to react. but it did today. Waiting for the
subway is always a bit boring. You look at the time and watch the minutes disappear and wait for the wind to come. The wind blowing through the tunnel as it is thrust forward by
the train. I like closing my eyes and feeling the wind in my hair as it slightly tugs at my
curls and then blows my hair in front of my eyes.

It is late in the evening and the platform is empty. I don't like looking at people's faces at night. I don't want them to
talk to me and I don't want to make a personal connection at night. It seems wrong to search
for human connection on an evening train.

Getting onto the train, I stand and someone stands in front of me and turns so
that we are facing. I am startled that someone would stand in front of me and face me.
Looking up our eyes meet and three connect. And my heart races. He has only one eye. The
other eye is dead. He is looking at me intently. A young man with blond hair, one
blue eye and one gray eye. After a few seconds he realizes how close he is to me and he
moves over to the other side of the train so that we have distance… but that contact leaves me
wondering...

A little while later, as I sit and watch a movie, a man appears on the screen
and turns to face the audience. He only has one eye… the other one is dead and gray like the
eye on the subway. Two men. Two eyes. Am I missing something. Am I turning a
blind eye to something? What am I refusing to face.

Have fun writing! Letting go of your fears is the first step, letting go of your ideas is the second...

I podcasted several of the pieces from last week's meeting and you are welcome to listen to them. They are located on iTunes under Magazine - Sofia Verlag and the title is Toytown Writers. I will be podcasting the work of the writers after each meeting when they give permission. The writers whose work are podcasted in this weeks podcast are :

Emmy Horstkamp
Petra Winter
Adrian Taruttis
Susanne Fritzsche

If you don't want to hassle with itunes, you can listen to the podcast or subscribe by going to my website at :

http://web.mac.com/emmy.horstkamp/iWeb/Sit...e%20-Sofia.html

Have fun listening!

In the last meeting for the Toytown Writers, we presented pieces having to do with sound. If you would like to hear what Toytown writers think about sound, you can hear the podcast at at Sofia Magazine or download it off of iTunes where it is located under Magazine - Sofia.

If you would like to read what they wrote, you will be able to read it tomorrow on the Sofia magazine's Blog.

The following writers submitted pieces for podcasting:

Emmy Horstkamp www.sofiaverlag.com
Adrian Taruttis
Petra Winter
Susanne Fritzsche http://susannefritzche.blogspot.com
Sabrina Michaeli http://budding-artist.blogspot.com

If you are interested in writing along with us, the next topic is Color.

Have a fun time writing!

Would you consider doing a session on poetry? Either where participants bring their existing poems for discussion or write one on a chosen theme?

I would love to attend such a session.

I can ask the group if they would be interested... what we can do is have a poetry day which is on a day that the group doesn't meet but isn't there a group of poets that meet already.. I don't want to tread on their toes.. If there isn't a group that meets.. then we can set up a poetry day to meet on the first or third Thursday of the month. I guess I should poll to see if there is interest in such a meeting.

That would be great. I wasn't aware that there was a poetry group already but if there is I can go along to that as well/instead. Thanks a lot.

Our meeting last night was interesting. We chatted about the topic color and also about editing blocks. We will be starting a Wiki which should be a fun for the writers. The next assignment has two parts. First, it must begin with "I remember" and it must be themed on Midnight.

Here is a sample from last night. I will be podcasting the writer's pieces and post it on Monday.

Struggle for Independence

Struggling. It looked light and wispy like the broken thread of a spiders web floating in the air and he stepped on it. Stepped on it and like the spider’s silk, it clung. How will he get rid of this pink floss stuck to pants. He looks down and starts walking away but the thread follows like a puppy lapping at his shoes. How will he get rid of this hitchhiker thread looking for a new home. He stops and looks at his mother talking with her friends on the park bench. He wants help but he does not call out. He stares at her, hoping to move her to action with his eyes but nothing happens. His face twitches and he looks down again. He tries to walk over the pink fuzz and now it encircles him and traps him in the spot where he stands. How will he get rid of this self created prison? He decides to lift it and a pink streak moves through the air and over his head so that it now encircles his legs and is behind is neck. A noose. he still stands quietly wondering if he can get out of the mess. Why did he think the silk needed to go over his head when it was always low to the ground? He starts lifting his legs. First his left and then the right. Faster and faster but the pink remains fastened to the roughness of his corduroy pants. How will he get rid of his nemesis. He slowly goes in reverse bringing the string over his head and then starts shaking it. shaking it and shuffling towards the park bench. It takes time but he finally reaches out and touches his mother. Asking with his eyes for the way out of this pink confusion.

Hi Everyone, If you would like to hear the other pieces written by the Toytownwriters, you can go to the expatriate page on www.sofiamagazine.com or you can download it from Magazine-sofia on iTunes. The Words will be available this evening on the magazine blog.

If you are interested in writing along with us, the assignment for next week the theme is Midnight. Start your piece with the words "I remember"

Have fun writing!

The pieces are not up on the blog. I got a message from someone wanting to join the meeting... the meeting is open to all writers, it doesn't matter what your style. If you read the current pieces, you will notice that we have very different writing styles, that is what makes it interesting.

It is an informal meeting, other than the sample, we address things that writers bring up during the meeting but it does not have a set agenda.

Have fun writing!

I wonder how I missed this topic?

Thanks, EUnomad. I love creative writing, but I also want to brush up on a few techniques and the blog looks like a great source of information and help, as well as a good outlet for creativity. I'll be spending a bit of time on the Sofia Verlag site, I can assure you.

Maybe I'll even pop into the meet-ups whenever I get the time.

Thanks again!

@doublevision I am glad you like the site and that you want to brush up on your writing, I will start posting a creativity podcast this week on the site and will put the link on the creativity thread. You might find that information useful too.

I hope you do come and join us, it is a great group of writers.

We had lots of fun at our meeting this week. Our topic for the 22nd of March is Stripes. If you would like to attend and are not familiar with the people in the group, PM me and I will meet you before the meeting or give you my mobile so that you can find us once you get to the Blue Cafe. (we usually sit by the Aquarium) Here is a sample of what we wrote about Midnight:

I remember when I could not wait for it to be midnight. I would look at the moon and feel the beat of the music pulsing through the room as I danced until my feet blistered and my skin was soaked with sweat. I would count the minutes and enjoy the arrival of a new day, dancing from one day into another. As the new day arrived, I would spring forward. anticipating my journey into life.

But now, I no longer wait for midnight. I wait for the sun to rise. My taste has changed. I changed. I now sit in the morning light quietly watching as the city wakes. As men in orange jumpers wave to me knowing my routine but not my name.

I no longer look forward to tomorrow. I want this day to last forever. I watch as it come into existence and I don’t want it to leave. Time seems to race towards midnight and I am unable to stop it. No matter how hard I dig in my heels, the earth keeps moving and leaving a little bit of me behind. I am no longer dancing with the joy of the living. I no longer look at the moon. I am no longer looking at myself.

It is not age that changed me but death. It is death that shakes me and takes away my desire to dance through the night. She is gone and from that night, I remember nothing. What is there to remember. I was not thinking of making memories, I was just counting the minutes to midnight.

Toytown Writers will be meeting on April 12th and the assignment for the meeting is Smell. The last assignment, Stripes, was challenging and I podcasted a few of the assignments. Petra Winter wrote a Hilarious piece that you can read in the magazine blog

I would love for people to read her work... she is a very talented writer AND she is German writing in English which is an extra challenge.

If you would like to try your hand at writing and submitting a piece, you are always welcome to join the group on Thursdays or write and email to me at info at sofiaverlag dot com. If you would like me to post your work, you must let me know that I have permission to podcast/blog the piece. Of course, your work never has to see the light of day, but what is the fun in that?

Hi Writers!

Our excercise for today's meeting was Smell. I don't know why this was so hard for me to write about... but here is one of the paragraphs from my assignment...

One time, when I lived in Berlin, I reached down and picked up a button off the ground and smelled it. The button smelled of Cologne. How long does cologne stay on a button? Why was I smelling a button that was on a city street? I have no clue... it was there... and I decided to smell it.

hmmmm, anyways...

The assignment topics chosen for the next two meetings are : April 26 Empty Beach
May 10 Hotel / Hotel Room

If you feel like writing an assignment and having it podcasted, just email it to me along with permission and any blog or personal website link.

Have fun writing!

Smell podcast is up today. Here is one of the pieces written by Susanne. You can download it on iTunes under Magazine-sofia or you can go to www.sofiamagazine.com to hear it. It will be under the Expatriate section.

Smell

"The sense of smell is highly overrated.", Andrea said as she started to
light a cigarette.

Lara wondered if she should be the one pointing out that this was a
non-smoking restaurant. "But the sense of smell is so basic. It's the
most direct way to connect us with our memories."

"Yeah? And why'd you think that's so great?"

Lara was taken aback but one got used to this with Andrea around.

"See, I lost my sense of smell years ago, and my life's better for it."

"You don't smell anything?"

"Right."

"How did that happen?"

"I had a thyroid operation and afterwards, poof, no more smells."

"How sad."

"Not at all. Just think of it, when we went here you were complaining
that everybody is wearing cheap perfume these days. I'm not bothered by
that. I'm free, I don't have to smell every stinking thing in the world."

"Like what?"

"Like when we went to Brazil, Terry and I, she complained about the
stink everywhere. I could revel in the beautiful sights, the bays, the
lakes and all she said was, 'Oh, that's awful. Why does it smell like a
toilet here.' Of course we knew why it smelled like a toilet..."

"Why did it?"

"Because all those nice and easy-going Brazilians are flushing the
contents of their toilets into every available body of water."

"That's horrible. So you think there is no drawback to not having a
sense of smell?"

"Well, maybe a little one."

"Which?"

"Food doesn't taste as good anymore. But then we're all eating too much
anyway."

"Well, you certainly aren't. And now I know why. Is that the reason that
you can stand to smoke these cheap cigarettes?"

"Those are not cheap. Are you nuts? Cigarettes and wine are only good
when expensive."

"Why's that? You don't really taste them anyway."

"Don't you know how bad for your health the cheap ones are? Oh no, you
have to go for quality."

Lara thought, "If she really were that health-conscious she wouldn't
smoke at all."

Do u meet at cafe blu at 5pm? This thrus 26th? I'm a screenplay writer. Howard

Hi Howard,

We meet this Thursday the 26th of April. The meeting starts at 1830. You are welcome to come a little bit earlier but you have to let me know or I will not be there.. I usually try to arrive around 1800. If you hit my profile, you will see what I look like or there is a more recent photo on my blog www.sofiasays.com The assignment that we are working on for this week is the deserted beach ...

Look forward to meeting you Howard

Emmy

Hi,

I am interested in your group. I am a part time actor, writer.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2080010

Are you meeting this week and where are you meeting?

Thanks

Marshall

the meeting is this thursday April 26th starting at 1830 at the Blue Cafe which is near the U3/U6 Poccistrasse exit.

Emmy

thanx
c u there
howard

Toytown Writers had our meeting last night and it was nice to meet two more writers in Munich. Our next meeting will be on May 10th at the Blue Cafe in Sendling.

The assignment for next month will be "Hotel Room"

The group decided that it would be fun to enter a short story writing competition. If you would like to join us for a meeting, join in on the assignments or enter one of these competitions with us, just let me know.

Here is my assignment for deserted beach. I usually write things I see but this one is purely fiction which surprised some of the people in the group and even myself.

I will be podcasting the writing assignments when they come in and posting them on www.sofiamagazine.com. Have fun writing!

Deserted Beach

I am bored. We flew down here from Munich and I am sitting on this beach wondering why I am sitting on this beach.

There is no one here. It is off season and the weather is a bit drizzly today. The sky is a steely gray which makes me just want to curl up next to a warm fire but we don’t have that here. Instead, we have a pool and this deserted beach.

This is supposed to be a party island in the right season but now that it is off season, it is the wrong season to be visiting the ocean looking for some excitement.

It isn’t like visiting Madrid or Venice or Paris. If you visit those cities on a drizzly day, you can still have an amazing time. You can spend your time wandering through stores or through museums or even wandering the city streets. I am not having an amazing time at this beach.

On this deserted beach the sand hits my face like bullets. I feel attacked as I walked a few feet down the beach looking for shells. Attacked by sand pellets and raindrops and waves. The waves are violently hitting my legs and the shore, leaving various pieces of sea debris behind. Pieces of wood, pieces of glass, but no shells. I like to beach comb and find special weathered treasures but the sand and wind and rain stop me from searching and I head back to my hotel to wait for the sun to make an appearance.

The wind is calling to me, telling me that I am a fool for being here. Fooling myself that this is a vacation. this is not a vacation, this is an endurance test. A test of how much time I can spend contained in a small space with people I rarely spend time with, my family.

We stare at each other not knowing what to say. There is no small talk. The wind is the only thing howling in this room. Everyone else is quiet. not bored enough yet to fight but bored enough to sit around the table, look out the window or read a book. I am the only one that ventured outside and now I have a beating to show for it.

We have one more day. One more day on this deserted beach. Please sun, let me go home with a burn.

hi,

i'm a hobby writer and am interested in joining.

what time will you be meeting up this thursday?

cheers,
pinky

Hi Pinky,

We will be meeting at 1830 on Thursday at the Cafe Blue in Sendling.

Look forward to meeting you.

Emmy

We have a few interesting things to discuss at our meeting on Thursday so if you are a writer, I encourage you to come and chat with us.

Because Adrian's emails have been spammed by the Yahoo group, I created one for the writers here It is private and if you are a Toytown writer you will need to register to gain access to posting privelages.

I am also looking for scripts for audio books.

Thanks

Emmy

q

Hi writers!

We had a nice meeting today and we decided that the next writing assigment will be about the word There. you are supposed to write about what it means to you. We will be meeting on the 24th but at a different location b/c we will be going to the Amerika Haus for the play.

The topic for this week was Hotel...Here is one piece

Hotel Room

He likes hotel rooms. They are perfect, always in order. Unlike his life. In a hotel room, he does not have to worry about making sure everything is in place. he can turn around and know that there will be two glasses next to a bottle of water on the dresser and a robe behind the door.

He choses rooms that are near the top of the building. It makes him feel important. unlike his life. He is called Mr. and sir and asked if he wants things. Hotels make him feel like he might be special. That he might have some worth.

This hotel has a special lobby for guests so he does not have to be alone, Unlike in his life. He can sit in a chair and be surrounded by others who are talking and socializing and enjoying themselves. He can sense them and longs to be them but he keeps his distance.

The lobby is full today, full of people attending a convention in the hotel. Usually when he is in this city, on a Tuesday, the hotel lobby is empty and he has the whole buffet to himself. Today people mingle around the food and he doesn’t want to share. Just like his life.

His thought, his things, himself. As he heads back to his room, he wonders how he got her. How did he end up feeling more at home in a hotel than in himself.

Have fun writing!

Hi there,
I'm wondering if you're still open to new members; I'm a writer and I'd like to join your next meeting. Thanks!

You are welcome to come and join us. We will be meeting the second thursday of June. The date and location will be posted here. I will also have a writers group meeting on Fridays at a cafe in Sendling.. it will be an open meeting like the one I scheduled in November of last year and will be posting times and locations on a separate thread.

Last night we attended the I, Claudia play which was excellent.

The assignment for last night was There. So I will be posting a sample as soon as I get one in. The assignment for next week will be finger.

yup. Bill the Cat and Texas Tornado are at my house... .So that was actually me posting. I will post the info later after I recover from my out of body experience.

Finger?! This could all go horribly wrong!

yes. I was typing and I looked at my hand.. I was going to give you a hand but now I am giving you the finger :-)

I expect some excellent work from you See you the second Thursday of June .. which is June 9th.

ttyl

Emmy

The second Thursday of June is not the 9th.. it is the 14th. Thanks Winter for pointing that out :-)

The theme really is Finger. I am not kidding...

OK, I have to go off and remember seven people I stared at this week. My friend told me about a women with a hairy back at the pool but I didn't see it... now that would make for some interesting mental conversations... I wonder if she knew she had a hairy back? If you want to hear who I stared at, go ahead and check out the podcast for the writers course that will be posted on Tuesday.

Have fun writing!

I am new to Germany and I am interested in joining the writers meeting. How long should the written work for the next meeting's topic be?

Hi,

don't worry about the length!
Just a few sentences to up to 2 pages are just right because we read the stuff we have written.
Look forward meeting you!
Petra

[quote name='EUnomad' date='May 27 2007, 10:02 pm' post='949623']

The theme really is Finger. I am not kidding...

-------

GREAT...finger! And what happed to the Italian actress who doesn't speak German and want to act in Germany? Show her the finger, maybe?

Petra

Oh! I forgot about the Italian actress... oh you can choose between the two.. we still have a week before our next meeting :-) I will do both...

Finger and Italian actress... that sounds like the movie blue velvet... make the finger an ear...

never mind.. I am tired from blogging and coding.. time to go to bed.

well looks like I won´t make it afterall. Something came up (despite my best efforts). So, I´ll just have to wait to meet all you lovely people until the next time you meet. I look forward to it! Have fun with all those wonderful things about fingers and Italian actresses!

hi,

my name is genny and i am a writer interested in joining your group. when are you meeting next?

my e-mail is genjoyness@gmail.com

thanks,

gen

Hi Everyone!

We have a writer's meeting today.. I look forward to seeing some new faces and I can't wait to hear about your finger Adrian :-)

ttyl

Emmy

Hi Writers!

The Toytown Writer's meeting is this Thursday and we will be meeting at the Blue Cafe at 1900.

The writing assignment for this week is OPEN.

A sample writing assignment for the Finger assignment is by Petra Winter...

The middle finger

When Isabelle Lavecchia opened her mailbox there were the usual slim! Fast!
Now! advertisement letters, her bank statement and fashion-order-catalogues in
it, but one little parcel stood out.

Curious she looked at it from all sides.
It was actually smaller than a postcard, with different animal stamps on all
sides, no sender, and in a tiny Arial point 8 font, her name and address and
even the country she lived in now: GERMANY. She tried to decipher where the
parcel did come from, but the postal stamps were are washed out.
She got back into her appartement which actually wasn't hers but she managed
to housesit for a half year and forced herself to make an espresso while
glancing all the time back to the small parcel which she put in the center of
the
kitchen table.

Finally the Italian espresso maker began to gurgel and steam and with this
the smell of dark and rich and freshly burned coffee beans spread out in the
kitchen like home.
Isabella quickly got a small cup, poured herfself, put two tablespoons of
sugar in it and then sat down at the table. She considered to open the slim fast
Now! letters first, but whom was she kidding? The only cure for her overweight
was cutting down on pasta and she was dying to find out about the parcel.

She finished the espresso with one, two, three sips and opened the parcel. In
it was a wrapped object about the half size of a pen. The wrapping looked
like Kleenex. There were again some animal stamps on it and a pink bow.
Isabella tried to find out what it was and squeezed it from one end to the
other but could not think of anything at all. It was firm and stiff an one part,
soft and cushy on the next, it seemed flexible in the middle but then it was
not.
She undid the bow, opened the wrapping and cried: Wah!

On the center of the table there was a finger, only one, with exactly the
same deep red nail polish as Isabellas fingers. Quickly the looked at her hands.
Yes, all ten fingers were there, but she was right: the finger who was on the
kitchen table looked exactly like her own. Her own middle finger of her own
right hand.

i'd like to come. i'm travelling in from augsburg today and may be a bit later than 7:00. hope to make it there in time. kym

Hi Writers!

We had our meeting this evening... the next meeting will be on the second Thursday of the month of July.

Our assignment for this week was Open and here is what I wrote... it is based on the six word story...

Open. Closed. Open. Closed. For Rent.

Our assignment for the next class is a tarot Card. If you want to participate and were not in the class, let Susanne know and she will pick a card for you.

Have fun Writing!

Bonjour!

I am still in France but the writers group is scheduled to meet tonight at Cafe Blue in Sendling. I have been away from Munich for awhile and Susanne and Petra have taken on the responsibility of organizing and posting the meeting times and writing subjects.

If you are interested in attending a meeting, I would suggest that you check out the yahoo group to see if anyone is attending tonight since several of us are still on vacation.

Have a fun time writing!

Emmy

what time is writers group tonite in cafe blu? Howard

Hi Howard,

The group meets around 1900 at the cafe blue...usually in the non smoking section where we were the last time you were there. I hope you have fun!

thanx

Hi,

My name is Genny and I am an American interested in joining your group. When is your next meet-up? And are have posted or are you posting any recent online assignments to work on?

Glad to meet you online.

thanks,

Genny

I am very much interested, also.

Hi Genny,

I will start posting assignments again next week.. I took a summer holiday

The group is still meeting twice a month and I will start posting their assignments again after the next meeting. we have a yahoo group called toytownwriters where we post comments to each other, it might be to your advantage to sign up to join the yahoo group so you can keep up to date.. it has a reminder for the meetings etc.

I will try to keep this thread up to date but I am in Singapore right now so I will not be at the meetings for awhile.

How do I get put on the email list for this group?