Procrastination is part and parcel of being a writer. It can be seen as a positive. Your creative process actually needs you to indulge in day-dreaming, doodling, dawdling, journaling, cooking, cleaning, chatting, visualising in order for your stories and characters to emerge before you organically. Think about the positives here? Lots of amazing home-cooked food, spring-cleaned presses and sheds all through the year, not to mention the tons of entertaining doodles left all over the house. You just cannot force your characters to life. You have to let them appear. Often, doing some activity which is antithethical to writing can ironically help us write! But finding the idea is not enough. Focus and hard graft is necessary to see it through to completion. Having a deadline can really help put some fire into your belly once you get started on that story, script or poem. If you want to find a competition or bursary to apply for, read about lots of opportunities for writers here. If you would like to try one of our evening courses to get you going, take a look at our Beginners’ Screenwriting and Beginners’ Creative Writing coming up after Easter and early June.
Tag Archives: new writing
Choose how and when you want to Act The Maggot with us!
C’mon you know you want to. So much talk about tapping into your creativity, getting out of your comfort zone and minding your mental health has sent lots of fun-seeking adults to try Act The Maggot! We are now offering four different courses on Tuesday and Thursday nights in Temple Bar. Want to complete your first ever short screenplay in just six weeks? Try Beginners Screenwriting starting April 25th, 2017. Want to relax and use pencil sketching to open up all sorts of creative possibilities in your brain? Try Beginners Drawing starting April 25th, 2017. Want to gain confidence and have lots of fun while improving concentration and focus? Consider our flagship Beginners Acting class starting May 11th, 2017. Or do you love to write? Want to develop a good practise, learning lots of new skills along the way? Try our Beginners Creative Writing class. Many people try more than one. There is so much to choose from. All aimed at the absolute beginner. All courses cost €180 and take place in Temple Bar. Call us today 087 3744926 or actthemaggot@gmail.com for queries/bookings.
Poem to start the week
Wake up. Day calls you
Wake up. Day calls you
to your life: your duty.
And to live, nothing more.
Root it out of the glum
night and the darkness
that covered your body
for which light waited
on tiptoe in the dawn.
Stand up, affirm the straight
simple will to be
a pure slender virgin.
Test your bodys metal.
cold, heat? Your blood
will tell against the snow,
or behind the window.
The colour
in your cheeks will tell.
And look at people. Rest
doing no more than adding
your perfection to another
day. Your task
is to carry your life high,
and play with it, hurl it
like a voice to the clouds
so it may retrieve the light
already gone from us.
That is your fate: to live
Do nothing.
Your work is you, nothing more.
Pedro Salinas
1891-1951
translated by Willis Barnstone
Great creative writing testimonial!
“I loved the course. Niall was amazing as were the other participants and I revived my thirst for writing. I went into the course with an idea I had started writing about. It was due to our “non-compulsory” homework for the course that a TV show proposal I wrote ended up getting commissioned for a pilot by a TV station. Everyone had different interests in the course, which is what made it so much fun and it was really laid back. Couldn’t recommend it more to get your creative juices flowing. I did it for the craic and it delivered big time.”
Wow! Act The Maggot is thrilled to deliver this latest testimonial from one very happy maggot. We are delighted with her success. Can’t wait to see it on telly. See what you can do if you knuckle down and focus in just six short weeks? The next beginners screenwriting course begins on Tuesday, April 25th and the next beginners creative writing course will begin on Tuesday, June 6th. Both classes take place in Dublin city centre. Email us to book your spot.
Read the latest testimonials for beginners’ creative writing class
Tempted to try our next Creative Writing for Beginners class? Have a read. The latest testimonials are in from the January creative writing class – thank you maggots!
“I loved the course. Niall was amazing as were the other participants and I revived my thirst for writing. I went into the course with an idea I had started writing about. It was due to our “non-compulsory” homework for the course that a TV show proposal I wrote ended up getting commissioned for a pilot by a TV station. Everyone had different interests in the course, which is what made it so much fun and it was really laid back. Couldn’t recommend it more to get your creative juices flowing. I did it for the craic and it delivered big time.”
“It was stimulating, engaging and great fun. Well facilitated. I grew in confidence with each passing week.”
“I have already recommended your course. This was a great experience. It stretched my abilities and gave me confidence to carry on scribbling. Keep up the good work.”
“I really enjoyed the course, its was so much fun and it motivated me to get my creative juices flowing again.”
“Very good. Great to do the course with a mixed bunch of people but with a common interest. Great fun.”
Read more about the next Creative Writing course starting June 6th in Temple Bar. Contact us on 01-496 7021 or 087 374 4926 or email us at actthemaggot@gmail.com to reserve your place.
Where to see great Short Films?
The way to view film and video content has changed so dramatically in recent years. Apart from catching the latest shorts at the Dublin Film Festival, it is difficult to find examples of good short films that are being made today. There are heaps of Facebook groups you can join. This website is a favourite – an amazing short films website hosting all the major film festival winners in the short film category. Happy viewing. Elsewhere, here is a cool site showing some quirky and interesting shorts films made in Ireland.If you are planning on writing your first short screenplay, it is important to study some of your favourites. Choose ones in the genre you wish to write in and study their dialogue, story arcs and the timings. You can also consider joining us at Act The Maggot in Temple Bar for our Beginner’s Screenwriting class. Working with a group helps get the juices flowing and the cross-pollination of ideas can get you really into your own story.
Wednesday Poem
ADVICE TO WRITERS
Even if it keeps you up all night,
wash down the walls and scrub the floor
of your study before composing a syllable.
Clean the place as if the Pope were on his way.
Spotlessness is the niece of inspiration.
The more you clean, the more brilliant
your writing will be, so do not hesitate to take
to the open fields to scour the undersides
of rocks or swab in the dark forest
upper branches, nests full of eggs.
When you find your way back home
and stow the sponges and brushes under the sink,
you will behold in the light of dawn
the immaculate altar of your desk,
a clean surface in the middle of a clean world.
From a small vase, sparkling blue, lift
a yellow pencil, the sharpest of the bouquet,
and cover the pages with tiny sentences
like long rows of devoted ants
that followed you in from the woods.
Billy Collins
Catch Murder of Crows at Theatre Upstairs
Fancy a great night out with your pals this festive season? How about an hour of scintillating new writing for the stage? Get yourself down to see Murder of Crows before it closes. It runs at lunch time and evenings until Decemebr 17. More exciting new writing from Theatre Upstairs, located over Lanigan’s Pub on Eden Quay.
For details on times and dates and to book online, take a look around the Theatre Upstairs’ cool website. Season’s Greeting, Maggots!Catch Dubliners Women at the New Theatre in Temple Bar
Looking for something festive to do with friends? Fancy a night at the theatre this Christmas season? Take a look at what the New Theatre in Temple Bar is offering. Their current show, Dubliners Women – adapted from James Joyce’s collection of short stories is worth a peek. You can book here and read more about it. It runs nightly from 7.30pm until December 17th. Season’s Greetings, Maggots!