East Beach Writers Guild,
Thanks to Sally Parrott, for a wonderful meeting today. It was so very informative. Additionally, thanks to Sally and Randi for providing the
delicious goodies and coffee this morning. I thought I would type up a synopsis of our meeting for those of you unable to attend, please see below.
And I have also included the updated database. Please let me know if there are any further corrections.
In attendance: Mike, Juanita, Jenny, Pat, Randi, Gina, Shelley, and Sally.
Sally called our meeting to order with a brief introduction of her efforts as a writer, her published book, "The Blond Leading the Blond" by Jayne
Ormerod (her nom de plume), her experiences, etc. She then explained our goals - listed on our blog. And she went over our agenda for the morning.
The first order of business was to review the proposed logo that I presented. We decided on the (attached) logo without the black border. I
will remove the border and submit that to Randi who will then place it on our social media outlets
We then discussed preferred meeting times and chose 9 am on the third Friday of each month, at the clubhouse. The exception will be the next meeting in
November. There were many conflicts present so we chose Thursday, November 14th at 9 am. We are in the process of confirming the November date and
third Friday dates with Ed Loonam at the clubhouse. So, you will receive confirmation on the dates very soon.
We discussed expectations of the group: many of us wanting to learn about publishing and perhaps developing some critique sessions. Our "Starter
Sentence" for next month, if you choose to write two paragraphs, is..."The turkey was delicious but something tasted funny about the gravy. Then all
of a sudden...".
Sally began her program with a thought provoking exercise, then covered her Top Ten Tips for New Writers.
10) Observe: Take in scenes, settings, temperatures, aromas, sounds, and absence of these things. Sit quietly with your eyes closed and use your
senses. Then, open your eyes and observe with your eyes. Observe people, their emotions, facial expressions / reactions...their character...anything
out of the ordinary. Go to the mall, airport, oceanfront, etc.
9) Question everything. Who, What, When, Where, Why, How and What if.
What's the worst that can happen and then what's worse than that?
8) Experience: Don't just write - experience what you're writing about /
your character is experiencing. Relate to your characters.
7) Imagine: Take that trip in your mind...add in details from your imagined
senses.
6) Share: Show and tell in your writing. It is not always easy to share.
But, when you share your writing, you earn your "writer's badge" and you can
receive constructive criticism and encouragement. At this time, we share
some of our "Starter Sentence" Homework for Oct. Some of these will be
added to our blog.
5) Define: Define your writing style and genre. In order to create a
following and be successful, it is recommended to choose one genre and stick
to it. At this time, several of us talked about our respective genre(s) for
reading and/or writing. Mike's book will be published next month!!!!!!
4) Learn: Whether you take a class, read a book on writing /
marketing...self teaching....LEARN. Many local writing groups are helpful.
Sally gave out a handout on various groups.
3) Market: Brand yourself. Consider the following: Instagram, Tumblr,
Blogs, Twitter, Pinterest, You Tube, Facebook, Goodreads, webpage, etc.
2) Read!: Read a lot...in and outside of your genre. As you read, study
how it's done successfully (and not so successfully).
1) Write!: Write everyday - for at least 15 minutes. And no, emails do NOT
count. Make it a priority. Carve out the time.
Then, Sally gave us homework in addition to our "Starter Sentence". She had
asked us to toss out words earlier in the meeting. She wrote those down and
then asked us to copy them and take them home to write one paragraph
including all of those words. The words are as follows...
orange
fun
fall
cold
snow
computers
interesting
sand
And we are to bring to the next meeting, one of our own pieces of writing advice.
Our next meeting, is Thursday, Nov. 14th!
Gina Warren Buzby
Professional Artist
www.GinaWarrenBuzby.com
