Who are Minutemen 350 and Why this Site? they are the resident writers' group at hellesdon high school sixth form

Minutemen 350 are a group of writers who meet three times a week at Hellesdon High School to share ideas and practise their craft. We are called minutemen after the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century British farmers and tradesmen in the Colonies who were expected to transform themselves into soldiers within minutes. Thus our aim is to turn our hand to any style of writing at the drop of a hat, and avoid clichés like that one. This site is dedicated to presenting their work to a wider audience. For a full list of current members and their contributions see the last page.

“A book is made from a tree. It is an assemblage of flat, flexible parts (still called "leaves") imprinted with dark pigmented squiggles. One glance at it and you hear the voice of another person, perhaps someone dead for thousands of years. Across the millennia, the author is speaking, clearly and silently, inside your head, directly to you. Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people, citizens of distant epochs, who never knew one another. Books break the shackles of time ― proof that humans can work magic.”
― Carl Sagan

Minutemen 350 Logo

"Ready to Write".

We Are Enrichment “A word after a word after a word is power.” ― Margaret Atwood

This course provides an opportunity for all Hellesdon High School Sixth Formers to join a round table writers' group with a dedicated aim to get published. There are no lessons as such, nor any need to sit an exam, but off-timetable discussions, essential tips by Jack Palmer from the UEA Creative Writing course, and the opportunity to share pieces of writing with sympathetic listeners. In addition, "guest" contributors from school will find a showcase for their burgeoning talents here.

“Writing isn't about making money, getting famous, getting dates, getting laid, or making friends. In the end, it's about enriching the lives of those who will read your work, and enriching your own life, as well. It's about getting up, getting well, and getting over. Getting happy, okay? Getting happy.” ― Stephen King

We Are Professionals "do plumbers get plumber's block? " —philip pullman

Members of this group take the unique AQA AS or A Level qualification in Creative Writing, the only creative writing course accredited by the Russell Group, and one which leads naturally to university courses. By its nature it requires that everyone keeps a notebook which is updated on a daily basis with ideas, reviews and literary experiments, to complement the course policy of developing the skills to produce any kind of writing at very little notice.

"There are three things that are important: First, if you want to write, you need to keep an honest, unpublishable journal that nobody reads, nobody but you. Where you just put down what you think about life, what you think about things, what you think is fair and what you think is unfair. And second, you need to read. You can't be a writer if you're not a reader. It's the great writers who teach us how to write. The third thing is to write. Just write a little bit every day. Even if it's for only half an hour — write, write, write.” ― Madeleine L'Engle

Inventory of Creative Writing“Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” ― Anton Chekhov

When you join the group you have the opportunity to publish your work instantly on this site. These texts are collected according to type. Longer texts such as novels and books of poetry will be converted to flipbooks. All published pieces remain the copyright of the author.

Poems " I'd just as soon play tennis with the net down." - robert frost

Villanelles.
Sonnets Petrarchan and Shakespearean.
Ballads
Pastorals
Other forms
Open/"Free" forms (See strapline quotation above).

At least two of the group are preparing books of poetry; these will be reproduced piecemeal if the author so wishes, until the collection is complete. Otherwise poems will appear as group members decide they are of publishable quality.

“A good poem is a contribution to reality. The world is never the same once a good poem has been added to it. A good poem helps to change the shape of the universe, helps to extend everyone's knowledge of himself and the world around him.” ― Dylan Thomas

Prose “Always be a poet, even in prose.” - charles baudelaire

Novels
Short stories
Flash fiction
Speeches and monologues
Interviews
Articles, reviews and other non-fiction.

Flash fiction is being given a high profile this year, in 300, 50 and even 5 word versions. Speeches about rhetoric using rhetorical tropes and figures will also feature, as will short stories and journalistic interviews.

“A short story is a different thing all together - a short story is like a kiss in the dark from a stranger.”
― Stephen King

The Writers“Write what should not be forgotten.” ― Isabel Allende

Below is the list of the core group members as of 2013-4, with the numbers of contributions of various types. Clicking on the name will take you to a Portable Document Format collection of work by that writer. The "Misc." category covers articles, reviews and other categories of non-fiction.

Please respect the authors' copyright: work cannot be reproduced without their written permission.

“Read, read, read. Read everything -- trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You'll absorb it. Then write. If it's good, you'll find out. If it's not, throw it out of the window.” ― William Faulkner

	Poem	Short Story/Prose Piece	Radio Play	Article.	Book of Poetry
Di'Ya Angudi	0	0	0	0	0
Kezia Erskine	1	1	0	0	0
Charlotte Griffiths	10	3	0	0	0
Elizabeth Griffiths	0	2	0	0	0
Megan Griffiths	0	3	0	0	0
Ben Mills	0	1	0	0	0
Casey Mitchell	0	0	0	0	0
Ben Staniford	0	0	0	1	0
Jack Steel	0	0	0	0	0
Chloe Urquhart	0	5	1	0	1
Carenza Watson	0	0	0	0	0
Lucy Wright	0	3	0	0	0

table of current minutemen 350 members and their contributions