Author: Bernice Connell

Verging on retirement from paid work, Bernice is excited to be getting to the work and fun of writing. She's thrilled to be relocated in southern Ontario after 35 years in the northwestern part of the province. Being a writer of short stories is her goal.

Screenwriting

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The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley was the first novel I remember visualising as a film while reading it. I first read it when it was published, in the early nineteen eighties.

I don’t know how to describe the feeling exactly but somehow I was totally involved with the characters and the story. I know I felt transported to a mystical world of castles, cliffs, raging seas, desolate locations and fierce female characters I could never have imagined. The imagery was so vivid and unlike anything I had read previously. The experience has always stayed with me.

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Ascribe Bloggers

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Ascribe Writers- Photo by Taylor Rebecca Photography

I love reading blogs that focus on writing. Especially the blogs produced by our local writers’ group. This is a shout-out to my fellow Ascribe Writers who consistently take turns providing a weekly blog that is shared on the website. Because membership in the group has been fairly consistent for many years, reading their posts is like catching up with good friends over coffee or a glass of wine.I always look forward to the Monday ritual of checking out the most recent post.

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Writing Mojo Returns

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This year’s spring cleaning rituals included a deep dive into my desk drawers and writing files. My version of organizing over-flowing drawers and shelves is to review every single piece of paper, create many ‘keep’ piles and file very little under ‘trash’. The piles are more orderly for the moment and the bonus is that I could not help but get inspired.

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Family Writings

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In today’s digital age, everything from baby’s first steps to loved ones’ last breaths are easily documented and shared through social media with as wide a circle as one wishes. Technology is a great aid to writing families’ stories and histories, making it easier in many ways. I like to think there is room to expand the practice of documenting and recollecting to share with family and friends.

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Retreat to The Modern Schoolhouse

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The Modern Schoolhouse in Pinkerton

There is absolutely no excuse for me not finding time to write. I am newly retired, living with just hubby and our Springer Spaniel, with enough space to spread out and resources at the ready. You get the picture.

Yet, distractions pop up. Sometimes I actually invite interruptions that slow down the grind of getting words on paper, so to speak.

A retreat can be the perfect motivation to focus and make some progress on your writing projects. Imagine escaping to a beautiful location, for days at a time, with the sole purpose of writing to your heart’s content. This past week, The Modern Schoolhouse was the perfect venue for a local group of writers gathering to do just that.

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Settling Into Retirement

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Photo Credit: Jill Wellington

It has been a couple of months since my last days of paid work but my working norm of being frantic to get things done has has just begun to ease up. I was eager to get at some big housekeeping jobs that had never reached priority status before retirement. As gratifying as it was to make progress on these chores, I realized I was tackling the jobs like I had a deadline. Having now steam-cleaned most surfaces in the house, emptied drawers and closets and purged a couple of truckloads of trash to the dump and donations to the usual organizations, it is time to shift gears.

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Memories Old & New

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I came across a random writing prompt the other day: ‘What memory do you wish you could remember better?’

Distant memories, especially, often come to us in mere snippets of images or emotions. They can be fleeting, blurry or vague, leaving us wishing for a bit more. The author of the writing prompt was encouraging writers to unearth deeper details of favourite memories through consistent practice. This would be essential when writing memoir or creative non-fiction.

The fun about writing fiction is that memory may provoke a spark but all the story details can unfold any which way the writer conjures.

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Thursday Afternoon Pedicure Book Club

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How many times have you been so excited by a book you have read that you could not wait to find someone to talk with about it? You pass it along to a friend with the hope that they will read it quickly so you can share your enthusiasm and discover whether it impacted them as well.

Book clubs are the perfect solution to this dilemma with everyone reading the same novel at the same time and with a scheduled time for discussion. Clubs are as varied as their members are creative. Everything from choosing titles and the structure of their gatherings is negotiated. Rules can be rigid or flexible; don’t attend if you haven’t finished the book, meet at restaurants instead of members’ homes, dress with a nod to the era or characters in the recent read, etc. One group I know of took the last idea to the extreme by attending the club meeting in full Victorian dress for afternoon tea.

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