Meeting on February 28, 2009

We will be starting out with a creative exercise and then we will read the work we brought to share. The challenge for this meeting is to try something you don't normally do. Here are some suggestions:

• If you never write poetry, you can write a poem.


• If have never written before, write 3-5 pages. Here are some links to sites with writing prompts: http://www.writing.com/main/handler/item_id/920368 and http://writersdigest.com/WritingPrompts or you can make up your own.


• If you have a hard time finishing things, focus on revising a story or a chapter of your novel. Think about improving the description of the setting or characters. Tidying up your dialog by adding (or removing tags like "he said") or just making sure your characters dialog is meaningful.
• If your stories always have happy endings, write a sad ending or vice versa.

Please bring 5-10 copies of your pieces so everyone can follow along and so you can can get feedback from the members. We will read up to 5 pages per person so everyone can get a turn.

Cherrie

To finish or not to finish?

What do you do if you're reading a book and you just can't stand it?

Do you keep going until you reach the end? Hide it under your bed? Give it away?

If I'm reading a classic and it seems like everyone else in the world has read it except for me, I keep going. Some books like Moby Dick and Catch 22 started out good, but I lost interest in the middle. Fortunately these two got interesting again.

But lately I've been reading books that I have lost interest in for different reasons. (I will refrain from listing the authors names because honestly, I don't want them to hate me if I am ever a blip on their radar. But if you're dying to know, I will be happy to tell you privately.)

One of them had so many characters to keep track of I just stopped caring. Another one, and it pains me to say this because it is one of my favorite authors, wrote the most boring book ever. I read about a quarter of it and just couldn't go on any longer.

One could also say, reading a "bad" book teaches you what not to do as a writer. Sometimes I entertain thoughts of picking them up again in the hopes that they get better, but there are so many books out there to read...why torture myself?

What do you think?

January 24th Meeting

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

See you Saturday!
Cherrie

Meeting Dates

Dear Writers and Friends:

Happy New Year! I expect that 2009 will ring in success for those of us who are pursuing some publishing deal and those of us who are polishing up a book, poetry, or a short story!

We are booked for the following dates:
January 10
January 24
February 14
February 28

Looking forward to catching up on new material and new members!!!! The location of the meeting is at the North Miami Beach Library, every second and fourth Saturday, starting at 2:00 pm and going until 4:00 pm.