Today, the Kessingland Library Creative Writing Group met.  And we had a great turn out, with 11 people.  The group really has grown, and new people keep coming, which is great.
Last session, I handed out a copy of Wilfred Owen's poem 'Exposure', which contains half-rhymes.

Homework was to write a half-rhyme poem.  A lot of people found it difficult but gave it a go, and the results were extremely impressive.
Here's my untitled piece -
a sight, a glance, a fleeting looka quickening pace for a lonely heartbreaking ice with bursts of heata key is needed for this rusty lock
a smile, a nod, a nervous wavea tingle wandering over skinblinking eyes afraid to scana crowded room through which to weave
a walk, a glide, a twisted turna sudden gasp of mottled aircounting seconds passing by the houra jerky movement to a jumbled tune
a palm, a hand, a friendly toucha shudder surging through the bloodmerging moments becoming blurreda match to light this fading torch
a taste, a lip, a secret kissa closeness shaped with bodies boundquivering fingers form a bonda freedom flight from a single curse
a space, a path, an open doora venture taken with life at stakefollowing eyes silently stalka memorable minute forever held dear
*****
In the session, I wanted to talk about different narrative perspectives in writing.  I think most people are familiar with 3rd person perspective and 1st person perspective, but 2nd person perspective is something that not many people had heard of or even read.  I managed to find a few novels written in 2nd person, and gave the group excerpts of these to read and respond to.
'Winter Journal' by Paul Auster'Stolen' by Lucy Christopher'Why We Broke Up' by Daniel Handler'Rule 34' by Charles Stross'Ablutions' by Patrick deWitt'Bright Lights, Big City' by Jay McInerney
So the task in the session was to write to yourself in 2nd person perspective/narrative.
You try.  I know you do.  It's not easy but you want to make a difference.  You want to make the world  better place, you want to make people happy, but it's not easy.  For some reason, people don't want to be happy.  For some reason they like to find problems in everything and you can't understand it.  You like to spend your time watching people, trying to work out what makes them tick, but they're complicated creatures.  You've tried to be like them but you didn't like it.  You found it unnatural to be so mean, so selfish, so rude.  You knew it wasn't you, but you persevered even though it was making you miserable.  You often wondered how people could be so mean, so selfish, so rude, and still be smiling.  Perhaps they didn't care about others as much as you did.  You tried to talk to them, to see if they could see things from your point of view.  You didn't expect them to agree with you, but you'd hoped you could open their eyes to the bigger picture.  But for some reason they didn't want to know.
*****
Our next meeting is on Wednesday 21st May, 10:30-11:30, at Kessingland Library.
Homework for next time is to use one of the following Picasso portraits to inspire a piece of writing.