U3A Benalla and District Inc.
  • Home
  • Benalla
    • Benalla
    • Benalla District
    • Who, What and Where? - Benalla Rural City
  • About
    • Our U3A
    • President's Page
    • Executive Committee
    • Convenors >
      • Convenors
      • Convenors A - Z 2022
    • Program Suggestions
    • Newsletter
    • Website
  • Groups
    • Groups A - Z
    • Recent Groups >
      • Armchair History
      • German - Beginners
      • Meditation
      • Russian Literature
      • Hot Topics/The News - Fact or Fiction?
    • Archived Groups >
      • A - M >
        • A Different View Of German History
        • Armchair Traveller
        • Booker Reading Group
        • Bushwalking - Mid-week Walks
        • Comparative Religion
        • Facebook for Mentors
        • Google Apps/TS Plus
        • History - An Introduction to Western Civilization
        • History - Moments in Australian History
        • Investment I (1996 -2015)
        • Legal Matters (Short Course)
        • Making the Most of the Internet
      • O - Z >
        • On Target - Learning to Shop Online
        • Opera
        • 'Over There'
        • Rail and Tourism
        • Tech Savvy Apple Devices - Intermediate
        • Tech Savvy Community Projects
        • Travel Group
        • Zoom Short Course
  • A-Col
    • A - COL
    • 'A Taste of Art'
    • Art Appreciation
    • Australian History
    • 'As Time Goes By' >
      • Home
      • 'Precious Objects'
      • 'Failure'
      • Our Stories - by topic
    • 'Be Connected'
    • Birdwatching
    • Brain Games
    • Bushwalking - Easy Walks
    • Cards '500'
    • Chat n' Chew
    • Coin Collectors
    • Collectors
  • Col-G
    • COM - G
    • Community Singing
    • Creative Writing
    • Demystifying Psychology
    • Enjoying the Internet
    • Exercises for Fun
    • Exploring the Universe
    • Family Research - Advanced >
      • Home
      • Family Stories
    • Family Research - Beginners
    • Film Discussion Group
    • Garden Appreciation
    • Garden Team
    • German >
      • German Home
      • Lessons
  • I - R
    • I - R
    • 'In the Lap of the Gods'
    • Investment
    • Jane Austen Book Club
    • Let's Talk Books
    • Lifeball
    • Meet and Mingle
    • Music Appreciation
    • Page Turners
    • Patchwork and Craft
    • Photography
    • Play Reading
    • Politics & Current Affairs
    • Recorder Group
  • S - Z
    • S -Z
    • Singing for Fun
    • Sky's the Limit
    • Stock and Land
    • Sustainability
    • Tech Advice
    • Tech Savvy Apple - 'Pages'
    • Tech Savvy Beginners - Android
    • Tech Talks
    • Ukes4Fun
    • Wine Appreciation
    • Wise Guys Book Group
  • Join
    • Join Us
    • Membership Application/Renewal Form
    • Program Guide 2023
    • Timetable - Month Overview
    • Full Timetable with Dates
    • New Courses 2023
    • Venues and Maps
  • News
    • News - General
    • March Newsletter
    • Calendar 2022
    • Monthly Calendar
    • Website & Facebook
  • FB
  • Gallery
    • Gallery 2022
    • Gallery 2021
    • Gallery 2020
    • Gallery 2019
    • Gallery 2018
    • Gallery 2017
    • Gallery 2016 >
      • + Christmas Lunch 2016
    • Gallery 2015 >
      • Christmas Lunch 2015
    • Gallery 2014
    • Lifeball Video
  • Links
    • Resources and References
    • U3A Network Victoria
    • Seniors Online Victoria
    • U3A Albury Wodonga
    • U3A Beechworth (Indigo U3A)
    • U3A Bright
    • U3A Wangaratta
    • U3A Goulburn Valley
  • Contact

'This (Writing) Life'

27/10/2020

0 Comments

 
I have always wanted to write, but somehow never found the inspiration as to what to write about.

During my schooling we had an excellent English teacher.  Well, he was a good teacher although as a person was not one of the most popular.  And while he stands out as far as teaching, there were other great teachers who left us with excellent writing skills.  Still, for me, nothing happened until we moved to Benalla. 

One night I had a dream.  Quite often we do not remember much about dreams after we wake, but this one stayed with me.  It stayed with me so much that for a few nights afterwards I could not sleep, thinking about this dream.  In the end, I decided to write it down to see if that way I could start sleeping.  It worked as far as sleeping was concerned.  And it became what could be considered a full-length book.

Then I saw in the Ensign an article on U3A, and a new course in writing.  While the format in that year did not really suit me, it was here I met a friend.  We started walking around the lake several days a week.  Then we entered into a challenge.  Write a paragraph a day on any subject and share with one another.  What a great exercise this was!  Some of these paragraphs have led to short stories. One has even given rise to another close to full length manuscript.

It was a couple of years later that I joined the memoir writing class.  I have enjoyed this journey, but I wanted to also write fiction.  So started the Creative Writing Class at U3A.  It had not been my intention convene the class.  After all, I am not a trained teacher of creative writing.  I just enjoy writing.  However, the class has developed.

I have signed up for the Australian Writers’ Centre newsletter and have entered their monthly Furious Fiction competition.  They have an occasional class called MOJO month which provides daily motivational ideas, online references and challenges and I have joined twice.  And this year I have also enrolled in some of their online creative writing classes.  Some of the content is familiar to me, but some is new and I think I have learnt a lot.
​
The only thing I still need to think about is what to do with my short stories and manuscripts.  But my life has certainly become a ‘writing life’.

​
Joy Shirley
​October 2020

0 Comments
    'Our Stories'

    Joy's page

    Picture

    Topics

    All
    'Advice'
    'A Love Letter To Travel'
    'An Event That Changed My Life'
    'A Scary Moment'
    'A Turning Point'
    'Bucket List'
    'Bush Fires In Lorne'
    'Covid Moment(s)'
    Creative Writing
    'Curved Ball'
    'Endings'
    'Entrance Memories'
    'Failure'
    'Faking It'
    'Family Traditions'
    'Family Trait ' #2
    'Family Traits' #1
    Festival Hall
    'Fiesta Of Festivities'
    'Fish Out Of Water'
    'Found'
    Gliding
    'Good Vibrations'
    'I Broke It'
    "I Can Do This"
    'Ideas Piggy Bank'
    'If Only'
    'I Grew Up In...'
    'I Put My Hand In My Pocket'
    'I Was There'
    'I Was There:Eyjafjallajökull
    'I Was There: Melbourne Olympics
    'I Was There: Royal Albert Hall'
    'Lost In Music'
    'Making Waves'
    'Marriage...?'
    'My Mother's Tea Set'
    'My Other Life'
    'New In Town'
    'New In Town - Benalla'
    'Odd One Out'
    'One Moment
    One Moment (or Two)
    'On The Job'
    'Out Of The Blue'
    'Renovations'
    'Right Here
    Right Now'
    Roy Bailey
    'Running With Scissors'
    'Scotland'
    'Someone Who Shaped Me'
    'Stock And Land'
    'Taking A Risk'
    'The Ghost'
    'The Sky Is The Limit!'
    'The Unexplained'
    This (Writing) Life
    This Year (2020)'
    'Time'
    Travel Tale - Christchurch'
    'Travel Tales'
    "Travel Tales'
    'Travel Tales: 1950s'
    'Travel Tales: Noosa 2017'
    Triggers
    'Triggers'
    'U-Turn'
    'What I Was Wearing'
    'Winging It'

    Archives

    September 2022
    February 2022
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    May 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    December 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    November 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    February 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016

    RSS Feed

We acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we meet and pay our respects to their elders - past, present and emerging.
Picture
News
​Newsletter
Facebook Page
​
Program Suggestions
​CO-VID Safety

U3A Benalla & District Flier 2023
​Membership Application/Renewal Form 
​
Program Guide 2023
Semester 1 Timetable with Dates 2023
Semester 1 Timetable Month Overview 2023
Developed and maintained by members, this website showcases U3A Benalla & District. 
​Photographs - U3A members; Benalla Art Gallery website; ​Weebly 'Free' images;Travel Victoria and State Library of Victoria