MAKER Four: Winter 2009

Hey all, I hope everyone is having a great start to the winter holidays, whether in the work place or finishing up those measly finals. Very very soon the latest Maker from the series of chapbooks released by RIOT Ink will be released. First and foremost, I want to thank the lovely Jennifer King for helping tremendously with the layout. I am very excited to include so many new people from the previous ones. Sometime next week I will be putting the books together, so if anyone can help that would be awesome. More details later.

MAKER FOUR: WINTER 2009

featuring. . .

Adam Braffman
Jennifer King
Neil Davé
Annie Castro
Rachel Veroff
Mark Gerchak
Ryan Bender-Murphy

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A book of poems, stories, and scripts. And the great illustrator Travis William Ballard will be designing the cover.

Cool.

Happy Holidays y'all!

For Adam Braffman

This poem by Theodore Roethke made me audibly laugh out loud for about five minutes:

For An Amorous Lady

"Most mammals like caresses, in the sense in which we usually take the word, whereas other creatures, even tame snakes, prefer giving to receiving them." -- FROM A NATURAL-HISTORY BOOK

The pensive gnu, the staid aardvark,
Accept caresses in the dark;
The bear, equipped with paw and snout;
Would rather take than dish it out.
But snakes, both poisonous and garter,
In love are never known to barter;
The worm, though dank, is sensitive:
His noble nature bids him give.

But you, my dearest, have a soul
Encompassing fish, flesh, and fowl.
When amorous arts we would pursue,
You can, with pleasure, bill or coo.
You are, in truth, one in a million,
At once mammalian and reptilian.

Submissions for This Week's Meeting (11.19.2009)

Hey all, so we have three submissions for this week's meeting, one poem from Jennifer, a spec script for the tv show Parks and Recreation from Neil, and a poem from me. If everyone could print out their own copy of the script, that would be great. I can provide copies for everything else. Also, if you are unfamiliar with Parks and Recreation, you can watch a couple episodes on hulu.com. Just think, it is like The Office, but instead of a paper company, it is the government. And Amy Poehler = Steve Carrell.

In other news--I know, news!--this meeting will be the last OFFICIAL Riot Ink meeting of the semester. Next Thursday, as you all probably know, is Thanksgiving, and the Thursday after is during the last week of school--which sadly, is when our room reservation expires. However, I invite everyone to join me and other fellow writers at Drungos (it is a bar/lounge place near Vulcan Video and Toy Joy off Guadalupe) on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving (11.24). I will also have unofficial meetings during December for whoever is able, which will be fun writing days at all of your favorite Austin coffee shops--like Quack's and Flightpath and not Epoch and JP Java and maybe Spiderhouse! We can talk about it more at the meeting.

I need to talk to the people who will be here next semester so I can get the group re-registered and we can still use fancy UT rooms. If all goes according to plan, next semester should be the same, if not eerily similar to this semester. And I will probably advertise the group more.

And last but not muthafucking least: I know many moons ago I mentioned that Riot Ink releases little chapbooks that showcase work from the writers. The chapbooks are pretty awesome, consisting of finely crafted white cardstock, colored paper, ink, and neat icons. I can bring in a couple for people to see so you get an idea. After going through a rolling roster of different writers for the first month and finally settling into a consistent group of people, I think a chapbook would be cool to release. I know most everyone has submitted something--and all of the submissions are great for a book. I will talk about this in more detail at the meeting as well.

Anyway, I just want everyone to know that it has been a great run. I know the news that this week is the last meeting is kind of abrupt, but if keep in touch during December and it won't have to be! Anways, you all have been mega-awesome.

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A poem by Jennifer


A spec script of the tv show "Parks and Recreation" by Neil


A poem by godzilla

Submissions For This Week's Meeting (11/12/2009)

Hey all, I hope everyone had a good weekend! I feel like I saw most of you in one way or another, which is pretty awesome. We have three submissions this week, a poem from Annie, a short story by Rachel, and a poem by me. Pretty normal procedure. I think we may hear a selection from David Sedaris, as promised a month ago. He is a funny guy, and writes funny stuff, which makes me happy. Plus they sell his books at Fry's Electronics in Atlanta, GA. Also, one of these meetings in the near future (probably the last) will be a bar/hang out meeting, so definitely be around for that. We will probably hit up this place called Drungo's over near Vulcan Video and Conan's Pizza. It is a pretty cool place, and we are pretty cool people. Meeting time is same old 5:30pm - 7:00pm at room 3.108 in the Communications Building at UT. Drinks after? Why not.

A poem by Annie - 1 pg

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A short story by Rachel - 13 pgs

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A poem by Ryan - 1 pg

Wallace Stevens

Sunday Morning

I

Complacencies of the peignoir, and late
Coffee and oranges in a sunny chair,
And the green freedom of a cockatoo
Upon a rug mingle to dissipate
The holy hush of ancient sacrifice.
She dreams a little, and she feels the dark
Encroachment of that old catastrophe,
As a calm darkens among water-lights.
The pungent oranges and bright, green wings
Seem things in some procession of the dead,
Winding across wide water, without sound.
The day is like wide water, without sound,
Stilled for the passing of her dreaming feet
Over the seas, to silent Palestine,
Dominion of the blood and sepulchre.

II

Why should she give her bounty to the dead?
What is divinity if it can come
Only in silent shadows and in dreams?
Shall she not find in comforts of the sun,
In pungent fruit and bright, green wings, or else
In any balm or beauty of the earth,
Things to be cherished like the thought of heaven?
Divinity must live within herself:
Passions of rain, or moods in falling snow;
Grievings in loneliness, or unsubdued
Elations when the forest blooms; gusty
Emotions on wet roads on autumn nights;
All pleasures and all pains, remembering
The bough of summer and the winter branch.
These are the measures destined for her soul.

III

Jove in the clouds had his inhuman birth.
No mother suckled him, no sweet land gave
Large-mannered motions to his mythy mind.
He moved among us, as a muttering king,
Magnificent, would move among his hinds,
Until our blood, commingling, virginal,
With heaven, brought such requital to desire
The very hinds discerned it, in a star.
Shall our blood fail? Or shall it come to be
The blood of paradise? And shall the earth
Seem all of paradise that we shall know?
The sky will be much friendlier then than now,
A part of labor and a part of pain,
And next in glory to enduring love,
Not this dividing and indifferent blue.

IV

She says, "I am content when wakened birds,
Before they fly, test the reality
Of misty fields, by their sweet questionings;
But when the birds are gone, and their warm fields
Return no more, where, then, is paradise?"
There is not any haunt of prophesy,
Nor any old chimera of the grave,
Neither the golden underground, nor isle
Melodious, where spirits gat them home,
Nor visionary south, nor cloudy palm
Remote on heaven's hill, that has endured
As April's green endures; or will endure
Like her remembrance of awakened birds,
Or her desire for June and evening, tipped
By the consummation of the swallow's wings.

V

She says, "But in contentment I still feel
The need of some imperishable bliss."
Death is the mother of beauty; hence from her,
Alone, shall come fulfilment to our dreams
And our desires. Although she strews the leaves
Of sure obliteration on our paths,
The path sick sorrow took, the many paths
Where triumph rang its brassy phrase, or love
Whispered a little out of tenderness,
She makes the willow shiver in the sun
For maidens who were wont to sit and gaze
Upon the grass, relinquished to their feet.
She causes boys to pile new plums and pears
On disregarded plate. The maidens taste
And stray impassioned in the littering leaves.

VI

Is there no change of death in paradise?
Does ripe fruit never fall? Or do the boughs
Hang always heavy in that perfect sky,
Unchanging, yet so like our perishing earth,
With rivers like our own that seek for seas
They never find, the same receding shores
That never touch with inarticulate pang?
Why set the pear upon those river banks
Or spice the shores with odors of the plum?
Alas, that they should wear our colors there,
The silken weavings of our afternoons,
And pick the strings of our insipid lutes!
Death is the mother of beauty, mystical,
Within whose burning bosom we devise
Our earthly mothers waiting, sleeplessly.

VII

Supple and turbulent, a ring of men
Shall chant in orgy on a summer morn
Their boisterous devotion to the sun,
Not as a god, but as a god might be,
Naked among them, like a savage source.
Their chant shall be a chant of paradise,
Out of their blood, returning to the sky;
And in their chant shall enter, voice by voice,
The windy lake wherein their lord delights,
The trees, like serafin, and echoing hills,
That choir among themselves long afterward.
They shall know well the heavenly fellowship
Of men that perish and of summer morn.
And whence they came and whither they shall go
The dew upon their feet shall manifest.

VIII

She hears, upon that water without sound,
A voice that cries, "The tomb in Palestine
Is not the porch of spirits lingering.
It is the grave of Jesus, where he lay."
We live in an old chaos of the sun,
Or old dependency of day and night,
Or island solitude, unsponsored, free,
Of that wide water, inescapable.
Deer walk upon our mountains, and the quail
Whistle about us their spontaneous cries;
Sweet berries ripen in the wilderness;
And, in the isolation of the sky,
At evening, casual flocks of pigeons make
Ambiguous undulations as they sink,
Downward to darkness, on extended wings.

Submissions for this week's meeting (11/5/2009)

Hey all, we have three submissions for this week, two poems from Jennifer and a rough start to a short story by Rachel. Rachel said she cannot attend the meeting due to a chemistry test (AHHH!) but please still write comments. You can either email them to her, or give them to me and I will give them to her at the next meeting. There are no special themes this week, other than being awesome, which you all are every meeting! But if anyone wants to talk about a specific anything at a meeting, just shoot me an email, and you can have a go at lecturing on a topic. I am going to bring in a couple poems this time around and we can talk about them. I hope Halloween was amazing. Yeah. YEAH!

A rough start to a short story by Rachel

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Mouth of the Itza Well and Mill Town by Jennifer

Submissions for This Week's Meeting (10/29/2009)

Hey all, this week we have two screenplays from Mark and Neil. I realize that many of you are not familiar with screenwriting jargon and what exactly constitutes good vs. bad screenwriting. So Neil has been kind enough to make a list of terms that should help clarify some of the genre-specific notations/formatting. Also, Neil is going to give a brief introduction (approximately 15 minutes) to the art of screenwriting. Some questions to consider when reading the screenplays: Does the plot make sense? Are there any holes? Do the characters have strong voices and presence? Does the dialogue flow well? Do people talk like robots or human beings? Basically, think of critiquing a screenplay like a fiction story, except the language in descriptions is only important for conveying the basic physical ideas. The most important parts of screenwriting come in the strength of characters, plot structure, and dialogue.

Some terms from Neil:

Here's a few key terms you need to know before reading a screenplay:

You'll see things stating setting, time, and place -- They are called scene headings. For example:

"INT. SCOTT'S APARTMENT - NIGHT" -- This says we are inside Scott's apartment at night.

"EXT." -- is outside Scott's apartment.

"I/E." -- means we move inside and outside.

"Continuous" means it is a continuous flow of action.

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"(beat)" between lines of dialogue mean it is an actor cue to make a gesture that is indescribable to the writer.

"(OS)" means off-screen. It is a voice that isn't on screen, but it in the general vicinity.

"(VO)" means voice-over. Think Morgan Freeman.

We capitalize characters the first and only the first time we see them.

A montage usually is indicated by (series of shots/montage) then a list.

Sometime in scenes you'll read THE HALLWAY followed by more description. This lets you know we are in a hallway of Scott's apartment (or whatever location).

Parentheticals can be found after a character's name and they usually indicate to whom the character is speaking to. For example --

RYAN
(to class)

I love riot ink.

Often, screenwriters will put emotion into parentheticals for the reader's benefit.

RYAN

(sarcasm)

I love riot ink.

It's hard to tell tone sometimes, but an addition like this clarifies it. It can be anything really -- genuine/angry/sad/yelling/etc.

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And here is a poem to inspire you all:

I Will Not Read Your Fucking Script
By Steve Jarrett
Inspired by an essay by Josh Olson
With apologies to Theodore Geisel...

I will not read your fucking script
I will not read it in a car
I will not read it in a bar
I will not have it in my house
I will not click it with my mouse
I will not read it here or there
I will not read it anywhere
I'd rather be tied up and whipped
Than have to read your fucking script

I will not read your fucking script
I will not read its exposition
I will not read its scene transitions
I will not read its dialogue
I will not read its epilogue
I'll leave its pages quite unflipped
I will not read your fucking script

I will not read your fucking script
I won't discuss its plot reversals
I won't attend its cast rehearsals
I won't discuss its complication
I won't discuss its adumbrations
I won't discuss its camera angles
Its syntax I won't disentangle
I won't critique its denouement
Nor its hero's tragic flaw
My lips remain securely zipped
I will not read your fucking script

I will not read your fucking script
I will not read it as a lark
I will not read it in the dark
I will not read it on a drunk
I will not read it in a funk
I will not read it on a dare
I will not read it for a scare
Until they lay me in my crypt
I will not read your fucking script

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The first act (15 pgs) of a Glee spec by Neil

The first 15 pages of a feature length by Mark

Meeting place same old 5:30 - 7:00 pm at 3.108 Communications Building at UT.

Submissions for This Week's Meeting (10/22/09)

Hey all, so this week is poetry week at RIOT Ink. That means the first 30-45 minutes of the meeting will be a lecture and discussion of the more important moments in poetry from the 1500s all the way to contemporary times. Be ready for a Shakespeare sonnet and a Keats ode and the long lines of Whitman. I am very excited. We have four poems to workshop this week, two from Jennifer, one from Adam, and one from me. Write feedback and bring it to the meeting, which is in 3.108 in the Communications Building at UT, from 5:30-7:00PM.

A prose poem by Jennifer

Street Hustle by Jennifer

The Moon in the Water by Adam

laser guns by Ryan

Submissions for This Week's Meeting (10/15/2009)

Hey all, we have two submissions, a short story from Rachel and a short script from Mark. Please read them and write comments before the meeting, which is October 15, 2009 from 5:30pm to 7:00pm in the Communications Building, Room 3.108.

A short story by Rachel

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A short script by Mark

Submissions for This Week's Meeting (10/8/2009)

Hey all, I hope everyone had a great weekend, either rocking out at ACL or lounging around the house. I saw Whip It with Ellen Page at the Ritz and it was quite a delight. Especially since the movie is set in Austin (with the obligatory shots of South Congress, Daniel Johnston grafitti, the Alamo Ritz, and Waterloo Records).

We have four submissions for this week--one from Annie, one from Rachel, and two from Catie. Please read them before the meeting and have written feedback prepared. The new meeting place from now until the end of the semester is CMA A3.108. (The room is on the first floor you walk into when entering the Communications Building.)

Short fiction by Annie

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A character sketch by Rachel

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Bite the Hand that Deceives and a short exercise by Catie

Submissions for This Week's Meeting (10/1/2009)

Hey all, two pieces for this week's meeting, which is Thursday 5:30pm-7:00pm in Burdine, room 134. Please write comments and bring them to the meeting so we can discuss.


A short story (12pgs) from Sam


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Flash fiction (1pg) from Rachel

UPDATE

We have a room reservation! So no more loud Cafe Medici where some of you feel obligated to purchase somewhat expensive coffee. Every THURSDAY from 5:00pm until 7:00pm we have CMA A3.10, which is a room in the Communications Building on the main floor you walk into. HOWEVER, the next week's meeting will not be in that room because it was already reserved, so NEXT WEEK'S MEETING ONLY (Oct 1), we will meet in BUR 134.

Also, I realize that some of you have class during the first part of the meeting, so I apologize for the abruptness of last meeting. That won't happen anymore. Since the meeting ended early before Sam had a chance to get feedback from everyone, we are going to go over his piece next week in addition to the other submissions.

Submissions. Submissions. Submissions! I am glad that the submissions routine is working out, as well as the website. Please, if you have anything--whether it is new material or old material or a revision of something you submitted already--that you want people to look over, send it to the group email by Sunday at 6pm. I really want four or five pieces every meeting discussed.

So, next week's meeting place and time: 5:30pm-7:00pm at BUR 134 on Thursday October 1, 2009

Submissions for Next Meeting (9/24/2009)

Hey everyone, we have two pieces of fiction this week to read. Please write comments and bring them to the meeting so we can discuss. Also, the meeting place and the meeting time are the same: 5:30-7:00pm at Cafe Medici, upstairs.


Flash fiction (1pg) from Mark

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A short story (12pgs) from Sam

Submissions for This Week's Meeting

First Act of Small Town Dick by Neil

Synopsis from Neil:
"A recent college graduate moves back to his small texas home town. Without a job or any prospects, he becomes a private investigator, solving small town crimes with the help of his "quirky" (oh boy) family. It's CSI meets Northern Exposure."

PDF DOWNLOAD (18pgs)

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A poem by Adam

MS WORD (1pg)

Please write feedback and bring it to the meeting.

Update

The first meeting went well. Thanks to everyone who attended and especially Catie who brought something to read on the first day. You definitely get a gold star.

As it looks, the meeting time is going to remain 5:30PM to around 7PM on Thursdays. Though, I forgot to bring it up in the first meeting, so we can talk about it at the next one. I like Thursdays, but maybe a different day is better.

Also, Cafe Medici is surprisingly distracting when we actually want to get things done. So I am looking to find a new place to hold meetings, preferably on campus in a room where we can hear everyone talk.

But until I find the room we will be at Medici again for next week's meeting. So, everyone remember, THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 17, 2009 at 5:30 PM at Cafe Medici. GO UPSTAIRS.

The Workshop

Every Thursday from 5:30PM until around 7PM members meet to discuss their writing with other members in a workshop format. The value of a workshop is most entirely based on what people put into it. If everyone supplies work and thoughtful feedback, then the workshop succeeds. If nobody shows new work, or people don't read what other members are writing, then the workshop becomes less successful.

RIOT Ink aims to make the workshop experience as efficient as it can be:

Writers who have a new piece, which can be a first, second, or final draft--or just an idea that needs some brainstorming--submit their work to because (dot) words (at) gmail (dot) com BY 6PM ON SUNDAY. Anything submitted by 6PM on Sunday will be posted on the website for feedback and distributed for discussion during the week's meeting. Anything submitted after 6PM on Sunday will be distributed for the following week's meeting. If nobody submits anything by the deadline, then everyone at the meeting will read selected passages from Twilight.

During the course of the week leading up to the meeting, members should read whatever has been posted on this website. Please WRITE your feedback out and BRING it to the meeting. While we are going to talk about the pieces, it really really helps the writer to have hard copies of what people think. If you cannot attend a meeting, then write your feedback as comments on the blog or email them to the group email and I will make sure they reach the writer. And when you write feedback, don't hold back. If something has problems, say so. However, you must give constructive criticism. Sharing work is hard and requires trust on both sides. Identifying problems isn't enough, also identify possible solutions. Don't say that something doesn't work for you. Say why it doesn't, then tell us what changes could be made to make it work. Remember members of RIOT Ink are commenting on your work, not on you. Use their criticism to become a better writer.

Since it is possible to feel artistically dry and uninspired, I will provide at the end of every meeting a prompt for people to write on if they choose. Given the range of genres that people write in, including poetry, fiction, and screenwriting, I will either have three different prompts or something that I think fits all three. The prompts are a tool to help get the ball rolling with writing.

On meeting day, the workshop will follow this format:

1. Introduction to the day, news and updates
-Things like money matters, reading times, litzine submission/publishing info, etc.

2. I will hand out a couple pieces from published writers for the group to look at and talk about
-This is important so we can see how more seasoned writers work with words, how they execute concepts into a concrete piece
-Also, if anyone wants to provide an excerpt of fiction or a script or poem for this part, just email it to the group email.

3. We begin talking about the writing submitted for the week.
-I will distribute the piece to everyone so they have it in front of them.
-Everyone but the writer will talk about the piece, thoughts, concerns, problems, compliments, etc.
-Then the writer will talk about the piece.
-Finally members will hand the writer their written feedback.

4. Hand out prompts / close the meeting

Introduction

RIOT Ink is a group of dedicated writers.

We are about the process, about getting ideas on the page and executed.

We are about language and the manipulation of words.

We are about revision, about constructing and breaking down, about looking at pieces.

We are about helping others experiment.

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Every week RIOT Ink meets in a workshop environment where members of the group read and talk about writing they are working on and other group members give them feedback on concept and execution.

Aside from the weekly meetings, RIOT Ink releases litzines with selected work from a handful of writers, showcasing the talent of people within the group as well as others in the Austin writing scene. With the same goal of putting writers out into the community, we also host readings at various locations around the city.

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This website serves a couple purposes:

1. For members of the group to post their work, and for others to give feedback in the event they cannot attend a meeting.

2. To relay information about group meetings and special events.

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Go here for more specific information about the workshop and what happens at meetings.

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Question and comments can be directed to our email:

because (dot) words (at) gmail (dot) com