We had our first Little Yarns Creative Writing Group meeting since Christmas last week and it felt good to be back!
Before the mad Christmas season descended, we’d set the theme of Magic and Enchantment for this meeting and everyone agreed it was a good one.
As usual we started the meeting by sharing some of our favourite children’s books. Up for discussion this week were…
The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy
My Aunt’s Alphabet by Charlotte Hough
The Happy Birthday Present by Joan Heilbroner
The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton
The Chronicles of Narnia
Interestingly, some of us had chosen books relating specifically to the theme and from now on, where possible we will try to select our favourite books that reflect our chosen topic for the meeting.
Our choice of books led to an interesting discussion about the appeal of magic and enchantment as themes. Just look at the major box office hits over the last few years and they are awash with films from this genre. Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, The Hobbit even Twilight have enchanted audiences of all ages the world over. We all agreed that this theme, more than any other allows you to escape the reality and humdrum of everyday life. The boundaries between what could happen and what couldn’t possibly happen are blurred leaving an endless array of possibilities. Perfect for any writer!
We also found ourselves discussing the actual terms magic and enchantment and what was the difference. Having discussed being the maker of magic as opposed to being the result of magic and still finding ourselves unsure we turned to the trusty Oxford Dictionary for a definition. So here goes.
Magic
noun
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1.the power of apparently influencing events by using mysterious or supernatural forces.“suddenly, as if by magic, the doors start to open”
adjective
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1.having or apparently having supernatural powers.“a magic wand”
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2.BRITISHinformalwonderful; exciting.
verb
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1.move, change, or create by or as if by magic.“he must have been magicked out of the car at the precise second it exploded”
Enchantment
noun
-
1.a feeling of great pleasure; delight.“the enchantment of the mountains”
-
2.the state of being under a spell; magic.“a world of mystery and enchantment”
So there you go!
The first few weeks after Christmas can be a busy time for people and our group are no different. The result being that only one written story was ready to share. I have to admit it was mine and I had hastily written it the day before. The idea for the story wasn’t a new one as I had used it for a storytelling session in the summer and just hadn’t got round to putting it on paper but even so the final result was quite rushed!
However, we’ve all decided that because this is such a lovely topic with so many possibilities it is one we will return to in a few weeks. Even better today’s meeting has inspired everyone to go and write a magical, enchantment adventure. As for me, my personal challenge is to write a story that doesn’t follow my preferred rhyming style. It’s good to have things to aim for.
And so the meeting drew to a close and no one had been turned into a frog! With ideas of magic, spells, wizards and unicorns (very important) flying around we all felt ready to return to real life…for now!
Our next theme is treasure…I hope I find a chest full of it!!
