It has been a while since I posted up advice from BBC Scotland’s Writers’ Corner so here is Carl MacDougall discussing what makes Good Poetry.

MacDougall says the first thing you have to do to write good poetry is to read good poetry. His article looks at what poetry should be at its best (and worse!) and looks at different styles including Haiku.

MacDougall goes on to suggest that it is also worth listening to music ranging from rap to folk as artists like Leonard Cohen are basically poets. Listening to any kind of poetry will open your ear to the different rhymes and ways a poem can be read.

Again MacDougall offers suggested reading for anyone who wishes to look further into the subject (as well as recommending Poetry for Dummies!):

• A New Treasury of Poetry (Blackie) Compiled by Neil Philip;
• The Rattle Bag (Faber) Edited by Seamus Heaney and Ted Hughes;
• The Faber Book of Contemporary American Poetry (Faber) Edited by Helen Vendler;
• The Faber Book of Twentieth Century Scottish Poetry (Faber) Edited by Douglas Dunn;
• The Penguin Book of American Verse (Penguin) Edited by Geoffrey Moore;
• Making for Planet Alice: New Women Poets (Bookaxe) Edited by Maura Dooley.

Carl MacDougall is a novelist and short story writer. The full article on Good Poetry is a lot more detailed than the brief summary I have put up here. Head over to BBC Scotland’s Writers’ Corner to read the full thing.

At the last WLW meeting Jane McKie presented us with a couple of short exercises. There was meant to be three but we ran out of time for the third one. We will do that exercise at the beginning of the next meeting.

The first exercise requires you to note down your five favourite words and then give reasons why. The point of this exercise is to make you think about the words you like and reason why. Does your choices appear often in your writing?

1. Time of day
2. Type of Food
3. Piece of Furniture
4. A Colour

For our second meeting of 2012 saw another great turn out with nine people turning up. This was probably down to the fact that poet Jane McKie came along to present a short workshop focusing on the words and metaphors people use in their work (a full post on her workshop will be posted shortly!) We also saw the arrival of two new members Bill and Ionwen.

The news from tonight’s meeting was:

• On Thursday night Ironstone are having a Burn’s Nicht @ Waterstones to celebrate Burns Night that is on Wednesday.
• Also Quill are involved in a Burn’s Night Ceilidh on Saturday night (28/01/2012). Tickets are £25.
• There was a quick reminder that the Reader’s Digest 100 short story competition is closing on the 31st of January.
• Mslexia have just opened a new short story competition which closes on the 18th of March.
• Finally, Elspeth Murray is doing a workshop to celebrate Livingston’s 50th birthday on the 24th of March.

Sediment & Ancestor/Descendant – two poems from Barbara. The first was about a cup of tea with the second one being about family resemblances.

For Audrey – a short story by Anne. On a dark and stormy night a group of Bohemian women sit around the fire drinking wine and discuss a local ghost story.

Powerful – an autobiographical poem by Mary about her Dad.

Kibera - a poem from Ionwen about the main shanty town in Nairobi, Kenya.

Leopard Print High Heels – two short 100 words short stories about the topic of prostitution told from two different perspectives.

Running as part of the Livingston 50^th Celebrations is the a workshop titled Livingston and You. It is being run by poet and writer Elspeth Murray who will use a range of enjoyable discussion and writing activities to help you produce writing that helps mark Livingston’s 50^th year.  Share your Livingston memories, stories, highlights, your hopes for the future.  Your writing can be inspired by artefacts provided by the Council’s Archives department. There will be an opportunity to share your work at other Livingston 50^th events.

The workshop will take place on Saturday 24^th March 2012 between 10.30am-4.00pm at the Howden Park Centre in Livingston. It is free but advance booking essential so please call Howden Park Centre box office on 01506 77766 to book your place.

West Lothian Writers are pleased to welcome writer Jane McKie to our next meeting on Tuesday 24th of January. For the first hour Jane will lead a workshop focusing on poetry. In the second hour she will look over pieces brought by members to the group. The meeting will be at our usual times and location:

South Barn
Nether Dechmont Farm
Fells Rigg
Carmondean
Livingston
EH54 8AX

If you are not sure where you are going either type the above post code into your sat nav or follow the map below.

Cost £2 (£1 concession)
Hope to see you there

The Scottish Poetry Library is looking for one poem to represent each country participating in the 2012 Olympic Games. It can be traditional or contemporary, should be already published (they are not asking for new poems) and shouldn’t be longer than 30 lines. It should give outsiders some sense of the country, for example, its landscapes/animals/ vegetation/ food/ people/daily life/history.
The poem will be read aloud on the radio as well as available in text form on the Scottish Poetry website. Please submit your nomination with either the text itself (in its original language, plus translation into English if appropriate) or a weblink to it, the name of the author (and birth/death dates if possible), publication date and publisher to:

reception@spl.org.uk

or by post to:

The Scottish Poetry Library,

5 Crichton’s Close,

Edinburgh

EH8 8DT

Again for the second fortnight in a row we both welcomed and said goodbye to members of WLW. Sadly tonight was Robert’s last meeting as he will be moving to Hartlepool in the new year. However, WLW welcomed Scott to the group who recently had one of his scripts turned into the movie Electric Man.

The only other bits of new this week is that we confirmed that the award winning Jane McKie will be attending WLW on the 24th of January where she will do an hour workshop around poetry before looking over the pieces that will be read that evening. We hope everyone can make it.

Finally as the next meeting will be the last one before Christmas, we would like people to come along with Christmas themed poems and stories. Limit of 500 words please.

Of the eight people there tonight six read. Their pieces were:

Tension  – a tale of someone trying to escape by Barbara.

Electric Man – a scene from Scott’s film. Jazz and Lauren chat about life, love and comics.

Two Poems – Robert read a couple of poems he wrote for a couple of religious cards many years ago.

Edible Seashore and The House at Scraggy End - Anne presented two pieces she recently wrote at a writing retreat. The first Edible Seashore was an attempted Haku about the beach at Kippford. The House at Scraggy End is a short story about the year in the life of a house.

The End You Want – A short story by Stephen. On a late night bus journey two people come together.

The Allotment Society -  Finally for tonight, Eric read the next part of his novel. After the slightly murderous accident at the quarry, Daniel heads into a local town trying to find a bed and breakfast.

Learn more about Scotland’s authors by discovering West Lothian’s Hidden Literary Connections. West Lothian Council is organising a series of special events highlighting the work of a prestigious author who has a little known connection with West Lothian. The events are as follows:

• Billy Kay will speak about Tom Hanlin Monday 28 November, 7.30pm. Armadale Library/Community Centre
• Prof. Douglas Gifford of Glasgow University will speak about George Mackay Brown Friday 2 December, 12.15pm. Boghall Primary School
• David McVey will speak about John Buchan Friday 2 December, 7.30pm. Blackburn Connected
• Prof. Gerard Carruthers of Glasgow University will speak about Robert Burns and Highland Mary Friday 27 January, 12 midday. Bathgate Partnership Centre

Around 2004 the BBC did a series of programmes looking at Scottish literature. One of the off shots from this series what a website called Writing Scotland. Part of the website was a section called Writers’ Corner where famous Scottish writers offered tips.

Now while the Writing Scotland website and not been updated since 2004, we at West Lothian Writers believe that good advice is always good advice no matter how old it is!

So let’s start with the same person the Writing Scotland website choose to start with, Edwin Morgan – former ‘Scots Maker‘ or National Poet. He recommends all poets do the following:

• Read good poetry, the best, modern or ancient.
• Keep your imagination sinewy by writing about things outside your own experience.
• Don’t wait for the divine moment. Lay the table, write a lot.
• Work hard on a poem for a short period, but not for ever.
• Take rejection slips as a spur, not a death sentence.

We’ll bring you more tips from the other Scottish writers featured in Writers’ Corner over the next few weeks.