April 25th Meeting

We will be meeting on Saturday from 2-4 PM to share our poetry, short stories or novel excerpts, memoir, nonfiction...any writing (up to five pages--so everyone gets a turn). Bring 5-10 copies to share with the group so you can receive feedback.

April 11th Meeting

At this meeting we went over excerpts of short stories, a short humorous memoir, flash fiction, and many wonderful poems.

These are some of the things that were pointed out to me in the critique of my piece.
1. Have a hook early on the grab the reader (and agent’s attention)
2. Allow the reader to get to know your characters, what they want, what are the relationships between the main characters.

Last night I looked at the first few pages of books from my bookshelf. I had the advantage of having already read these, so I knew what happened in the story. I was able to see how the first few pages gave a sample of the characters and their relationships to each other and what was important to them.

The best example I came across was the novel Barefoot by Elin Hilderbrand. In the first few pages we are introduced to each of the four characters. It didn't reveal the conflict of the story, but it illustrated how each character generally acted and the descriptions of them revealed how each of them was dealing with their conflicts appeared to a stranger. One was worried, one sour and the other flighty and distracted.

What did you learn at the meeting or from some other source recently?

A Writing Buddy

A writing buddy can give you instant feedback. They get to know your writing style and point out your strengths. I recently learned that I have realistic sounding dialog. I never would have known. And as you edit your buddies fiction you also learn how to edit your own work. I think just looking at a fresh piece helps you get out of your own head and look at your work with new eyes.

You can also learn how to develop your craft. I’m learning form my buddy how to pay more attention to writing and researching details. And that when you are working on a piece, you may have something significant that doesn’t fit into the story. Its okay to develop that as its own piece which is an advantage the fiction world has over real life.

And if you’re writing buddy is just putting out a lot of new work, it inspires you to keep up.

Do you have writing buddies or have you had any? How has this person influenced your writing?

Published Works by Members

Am I the Only One That Signals by Bob E. Sherman
http://bobesherman.com/

Description:

Am I the Only One That Signals is a collection of comic essays on a variety of subjects covering everything from Alpha to Zulu. As the title suggests, the author considers himself one of the few people in this world who uses his turn signals. However, the reader needs to keep in mind that this book is in no way intended to be a driving manual about how to change lanes properly.

Published Works by Members

The Eyes Have it by Madelyn Lorber

Available at Books and Books
http://www.booksandbooks.com/NASApp/store/Product?s=showproduct&isbn=9781934248447

Description
When a desperate woman hires a private investigator, the secrets they discover about her birth force her to consider two shocking possibilities. Convinced she is a no one, with nothing, she suddenly finds her life is in peril. Set in a contemporary southwest rich in ethnic diversity, the story involves prejudice, fear of ridicule, the search for a missing person and elusive answers to controversial questions. The Eyes Have It takes the reader on a multi-faceted ride filled with historic reflections as it joins the age-old debate between believers and debunkers.

National Poetry Month

April is National Poetry Month

Check out these websites to learn about and read poetry:

http://www.poets.org/
http://www.nybooks.com/poetry-month/

New Link: Books and Books

Check out the Books and Books links to find out about authors visiting the bookstore and other interesting things like virtual book clubs.
If you know of any other events please feel free to post it to the group.

Cherrie