Showing posts with label writers groups. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writers groups. Show all posts

Friday, January 25, 2019

This And That In My Writing World--And Yours



Yesterday's post, Why Bother? received a lot of attention and some comments. It confirmed my premise that we have all asked that to ourself at some time or another in our writing life. 

Michelle Monet has started a new site for Memoir writers called Women Writing Memoir. She features articles that pertain to memoir writing. I received an invitation to submit an article, so, since I write short memoir, I wrote an essay on the same and sent it to her. It was published today. You can read How About Only A Wee Bit Of Memoir here. Note there is a place on the left side to share or to clap if you like the essay. If you read it, can you clap for me? It would be appreciated. It appears you can clap as many times as you like. Easy enough to stuff the ballot box!

I received notice of a need for new stories for a new Chicken Soup for the Soul book titled Think Positive, Live Happy. An earlier book with the same theme was so popular that they are planning another. Go to the Possible Books page to read more about the kind of stories they are seeking. There are six books listed with this latest one being at the very end of the page. I like that they give a list of possible topics to give you some inspiration or to trigger a memory. I study that list pretty carefully and hope a memory pops up or an inspiration appears like lightning on a stormy day. The deadline date is not until April 30, 2019, so you have plenty of time to write and submit a story. (And also edit and revise a few times!)

My local newspaper did a story about me this week. The publicists from Chicken Soup for the Soul notify the local media of the writers in the latest book. A reporter called and asked if he could interview me. We spent a half hour together and he wrote a very nice article which appeared on the front page of our local newspaper.

As writers, we should be able to write good book reviews on Amazon or GoodReads or for your local newspaper. When we read a book we enjoyed, do we always take the time to write a review? I think there will be lots of answers like Sometimes, Never, Occasionally. We tend to write a review for a fellow writer who hopes we'll give a 'gushingly good' review. They're hoping to sell books, so why wouldn't they want that kind of review? When I review a book for a writer I know, I always tell them that I will be completely honest. I absolutely cannot give 5 stars to a book that I don't feel merits that number. You can help the writers you know and other readers by writing a review. If I hate a book, there is no way I will bother with it. It's not in my nature to hurt others in any way. If interested in writing reviews, take a look at this article.

Have you done anything about joining a writers' group of some kind? I have gained a lot of knowledge and made some contacts with other writers, some of whom I now call 'good friend.' Don't tell me that you are doing just fine without belonging to any writing organization or writing critique group. I might accept that you are doing alright without them, but I think you'll do even better with them in your writing life.

There are a lot of links for you to check out in today's post. I put them there to give you some tips and encourage you to think about your own writing life, too.


Friday, January 27, 2012

Caution--Trouble Ahead



The last couple days, I've been discussing the benefits of belonging to a state, national or international writer's organization. Today, I have a few words of caution. As beneficial as these groups are, a writer can get so caught up in supporting them, being part of the leadership and serving on committees that it can cut into valuable writing time. 

Anything that lessens writing time is something to be wary of. When we're driving and see a caution sign, we slow down and look around before proceeding if it's deemed safe. Gotta do the same thing when joining writer's organizations. If you belong to too many, or if you take on too many jobs in one or more, you will make a serious cut into your writing time. It's what we call one of the traps of writing.

I wrote a full article on the several traps writers fall into. You can  read it here. All the traps in the article are things that writers are urged to do. They're things that can expand your writing world and help you grow as a writer if you proceed with caution.  It all comes down to that old wisdom that too much of a good thing can be detrimental. 

So join a group or two, but don't get caught up so much that you neglect your main goal--writing!


A Memoir to Enjoy

  I recently read a book that I enjoyed so much that I wanted to share it with others.  Kenneth Goetz offers us his memoir titled A Streak o...