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PENS OF PRAISE
CHRISTIAN WRITERS GROUP February 18, 2020 Tuesday 6:00 p.m. – 7:45 p.m. Manitowoc Public Library Franklin St. Room 707 Quay St, Manitowoc, WI 54220 Street parking and parking in rear available. Wheelchair accessible. Franklin St. Room located on the first floor, to the left of the service desk. “HOW Did THAT Get into MY Manuscript?” Bloopers, errors, and wacky information can find their way onto manuscript pages. How does that happen? Susan Marlene, Pat Klein, & Sarah Grosskopf will share some ways of avoiding those common and even if possible, the uncommonly surprising mishaps that sabotage the excellence of your fiction or nonfiction manuscript. PROMPT: One Marvelous Mistake (or Two) Write your genre and your page worth of poetry, devotion, short story or essay to share your marvelous mistake—or two! Let Susan Marlene know if you are attending so that she can save a seat for you and a handout. susanmarlenewrites@gmail.com Inspired readers given excellent take-away = return readers! We are a safe place to share and Pens Meetings are free. As always, if you have any questions or concerns don’t hesitate to contact Becky McLafferty @ rebeccamclafferty@gmail.com or Susan Marlene@ susanmarlenewrites@gmail.com
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METHODS, PLANS, & SUCH
Team Teaching with Pat Klein and Susan Marlene Motto- a short sentence or phrase chosen as encapsulating the beliefs or ideals guiding an individual, family, or institution. Definition found on: https://www.google.com/search?q=motto+definition&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS850US850&oq=Motto&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0l7.5069j1j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 Mottos can be expressed in any form: sentence, poem, or even a short paragraph. Whatever short phrase will motivate you to achieve your dream goal. Let’s take time to jot down what is important to you for your writing goals. Answer some questions such as: What legacy do you wish to leave? Who do you wish to (encourage, educate, relieve, etc., ect.?) What private achievement or character do you wish to pursue, develop or maintain? Why do you write and what motivates you to do so? NOW that you have thought about some ideas let’s take a few minutes to jot and share. ___________________________________________________________________________________ When writing a book idea, who do you see reading your words? Age, Education, Interests, etc.! This is your target audience. Bare essential one-liner: What’s your fiction novel’s real story? Following quoted from, How to Write a Novel Using the SNOWFLAKE Method by Randy Ingermanson. The Day of The Jackal, by Frederick Forsyth “Well, it’s a thriller about a professional assassin hired by French terrorists to kill Charles de Gaulle.” What does this quote reveal? We need only write the basic info that will tell the reader what the story is about. No back story, please. Give the category with summary of brief important highlights. Let’s jot ideas! And share if you please! ____________________________________________________________________________________ File of recognition of appreciation and or Author’s Note which some authors include in the back of the novel: For example, ones who have encouraged or assisted you with information gathering for this novel, librarians, historians, family, beta readers, your readers, editors, agent, and publisher, and Father God, are some common ones. (Read some examples.) Laura Frantz, Susan Meissner, Susan May Warren Jot down some notes for this list of appreciated helpers.  PENS OF PRAISE
CHRISTIAN WRITERS GROUP January 21, 2020 Tuesday 6:00 p.m. – 7:45 p.m. Manitowoc Public Library Franklin St. Room 707 Quay St, Manitowoc, WI 54220 Street parking and parking in rear available. Wheelchair accessible. Franklin St. Room located on the first floor, to the left of the service desk. “METHODS, PLANS & SUCH” is our topic for January. Pat Klein and Susan Marlene will facilitate the meeting to assist our focus and organizing planning for 2020. May we be blessed and a blessing in all our endeavors this year! PROMPT: Use some or all of these words for a poem, short story, devotion, or anything you please, for a five-minute read. (Hope, irritating, flawless, beggarly, jewel, minimal, strength, and or boldness.) Let Susan Marlene know if you are attending so that she can save a seat for you and a handout. susanmarlenewrites@gmail.com Inspired readers given excellent take-away = return readers! We are a safe place to share and Pens Meetings are free. As always, if you have any questions or concerns don’t hesitate to contact Becky McLafferty @ rebeccamclafferty@gmail.com or Susan Marlene@ susanmarlenewrites@gmail.com PENS OF PRAISE
CHRISTIAN WRITERS GROUP November 19, 2019 Tuesday 6:00 p.m. – 7:45 p.m. Manitowoc Public Library 707 Quay St, Manitowoc, WI 54220 Street parking and parking in rear available. Wheelchair accessible. Franklin St. Room located on the first floor, to the left of the service desk. “Show and Tell” is our topic in November. Sarah Grosskopf will facilitate the meeting and here is what she has to say about her lesson—Authors are always told, “Show, don’t tell.” This month, we’re going to look at the difference between “showing” and “telling,” what that really means, how to show rather than tell, and also when telling might be better than showing. PROMPT: Pick one of the following situations and write two separate poems, prose paragraphs, or nonfiction explanations about it. (Keep it short, no more than one or two paragraphs.) In the first version, simply tell what happened. In the second version, show the reader what it looks like. Bring both versions to share and compare. What did you do differently in each of the following: Camping, taking a walk, making an omelet, reading a book? Let Susan Marlene know if you are attending so that she can save a seat for you and a handout. susanmarlenewrites@gmail.com Inspired readers given excellent take-away = return readers! We are a safe place to share and Pens Meetings are free. As always, if you have any questions or concerns don’t hesitate to contact Becky McLafferty @ rebeccamclafferty@gmail.com or Susan Marlene@ susanmarlenewrites@gmail.com  Greetings all! We are holding a sharing of our experiences and dreams meeting. I want to give a shout out to Today's Christian Living for generously sharing magazines with us!
Meeting: Sign-in sheet Introductions Grammar Girl – Those at the meeting choose the topic Devotion – Our girl Sarah Grosskopf! Discussion Time: -- What has worked for you this year concerning: Organization—writing or location where you write or filing? Work schedule—Staying dutiful, specific time or inspiration? Inspiration—when creativity dries up, where to go, what to pray? Editing—Tricks of the trade that helped you? Writing targets and projects? Prompt sharing—Hooray! Hand out “Today’s Christian Living” November 2019 Talk about it!  PENS OF PRAISE CHRISTIAN WRITERS GROUP
October 15, 2019 Tuesday 6:00 p.m. – 7:45 p.m. Manitowoc Public Library, Franklin St. Room 707 Quay St, Manitowoc, WI 54220 Street parking and parking in rear available. Wheelchair accessible. Franklin St. Room located on the first floor, to the left of the service desk. “Total Author Talk” is our topic in October. Susan Marlene will facilitate the meeting. Susan invites you to come and bring a friend. Let’s share goals—past and present or those wonderful only-authors-would-understand writing techniques or worthy finds! PROMPT: Using notes from last month’s teaching on DiAnn Mills “antagonistic setting” found on www.susanmarlene.com (Writers & Pens page) build a true or fictional story. One for your heart or one for publication—your choice. Let Susan Marlene know if you are attending so that she can save a seat for you and a handout. susanmarlenewrites@gmail.com Inspired readers given excellent take-away = return readers! We are a safe place to share and Pens Meetings are free. As always, if you have any questions or concerns don’t hesitate to contact Becky McLafferty @ rebeccamclafferty@gmail.com or Susan Marlene@ susanmarlenewrites@gmail.com Inspiration taken from...
38th ANNUAL EDITION NOVEL & SHORT STORY WRITER’S MARKET 2019, WRITER’S DIGEST BOOKS. Quote from Jack Smith (page 21) The short story is all about compression. It’s got to be a whole story, not half-baked. Under the Craft & Technique section there is an article called, CREATING AN ANTAGONISTIC SETTING by DiAnn Mills. Let’s discuss DiAnn’s wisdom on antagonistic setting! Take some of the instruction from DiAnn’s article and as a team—let’s build a story together. Brainstorm writers! Name character(s), and the situation and time period. Now crank out an antagonistic setting! Consider how the situation or a previous one can change one’s outlook about: Sight: Smell: Taste: Hear: Feel: Man verses what? ___________________________________________________ Write to Publish Conference http://www.writetopublish.com/ June 17 – 20, 2020 Christian Devotions is looking for devotions. This is not a paid site, but one to give to the Lord and share your message with others! www.christiandevotions.us https://www.paperrater.com/ Northwestern Christian Writers Conference, http://www.northwesternchristianwritersconference.com/ July 24 – 25, 2020 www.grammarly.com free download https://www.loc.gov/about/ Library of Congress website PENS OF PRAISE
CHRISTIAN WRITERS GROUP September 17, 2019 Tuesday 6:00 p.m. – 7:45 p.m. Manitowoc Public Library in the Franklin St. Room 707 Quay St, Manitowoc, WI 54220 Street parking and parking in rear available. Wheelchair accessible. Franklin St. Room located on the first floor, to the left of the service desk. STORIES OF MERIT is our lesson this month. We will explore the power, visibility, and usefulness of short stories. Susan Marlene will be facilitating and invites you come bring a friend! PROMPT: Short Story of Merit Write a short story or devotion on an important or life changing topic and turn into a submission—if you want to. Let Susan Marlene know if you are attending so that she can save a seat for you and a handout. susanmarlenewrites@gmail.com Inspired readers given excellent take-away = return readers! We are a safe place to share and Pens Meetings are free. As always, if you have any questions or concerns don’t hesitate to contact Becky McLafferty @ rebeccamclafferty@gmail.com or Susan Marlene@ susanmarlenewrites@gmail.com WELCOME TO PENS OF PRAISE CHRISTIAN WRITERS GROUP
Tuesday, August 20, 2019 Introductions for new guests. Pass around the sign-in sheet. Devotion—Susan Marlene GRAMMAR TIDBIT—Rebecca McLafferty LET THE TEACHING BEGIN PUBLISHING PEPPERED PAGES is our lesson this month. Susan Marlene will be facilitating. PROMPT: Discouragement Turned Blessing No matter how old you are, no matter if you caused a situation or didn’t, write a piece that you could turn into a devotion, short story, or article! Focus on how you were encouraged in your discouragement! ANNOUNCEMENTS: Let’s Keep In Touch: If you’d like to share a WEB page, blog, or social media address, with Pens writers, please send to susanmarlenewrites@gmail.com so that contact information can be added to the announcement and handouts. You are invited to visit and make a comment! That would be especially nice! 😊 Becky McLafferty writes on Thursdays for “Fill My Cup, Lord” (A FB page.) Becky McLafferty https://www.beckymclafferty.com/ Susan Marlene www.susanmarlene.com; Susan Fink https://www.facebook.com/susan.l.fink https://susanlfink.blogspot.com/ Kate Jungwirth https://www.facebook.com/kate.jungwirth.7 Debby Erdmann https://www.facebook.com/debby.erdmann?fref=pb&hc_location=friends_tab Mary Janes Farm magazine is looking for articles. Thank you, Kathy Leist!!! TheFamily.net WEMI FM https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/recommended-reads/books-for-writers/Thanks, Sue F. Write to Publish Conference http://www.writetopublish.com/ June 17 – 20, 2020 Christian Devotions is looking for devotions. This is not a paid site, but one to give to the Lord and share your message with others! www.christiandevotions.us https://www.paperrater.com/ Northwestern Christian Writers Conference, http://www.northwesternchristianwritersconference.com/ July 24 – 25, 2020 www.grammarly.com free download https://www.loc.gov/about/ Library of Congress website REMEMBER: Inspired reader = happy reader + excellent take-away = return reader! God’s abundant blessings to you as you write for His glory! Tidbits from author Steven James TROUBLESHOOTING YOUR NOVEL Essential Techniques for Identifying and Solving Manuscript Problems. The book is as entertaining and yes, essential as this man, himself. On the first page, he focuses the reader on “Readers need to know (1) who they’re supposed to cheer for or against, (2) what threats are present, (3) why the story’s outcome matters, and (4) if they can trust you with their time. Discussion time!
On page 330, Steven James said, “Keep in mind the subtlety of every word’s meaning. Discussion time! Editing jewel from Agent Cyle Young: look over the beginning word used for each of your paragraphs. Change repetitive first paragraph words. Discussion time! If you take advice from the masters, your pages will be seasoned just right! How to connect with traditional publishers…by attending writers conferences and being involved online and with publishing to those interested in your genre. Gathering a following of readers from your social media is extremely important. Especially for those who are just starting out. But there is another way to become published that everyone from a seasoned to a new writer can consider and take advantage of. Independent Book Publishers who can also be called self-publisher, book packager, subsidy publisher, custom publisher, or maybe a helpful friend. Possibly you can strike out on your own and become knowledgeable about every level of the publishing journey. As did Becky Melby, who spoke with our group a couple of years ago. INDEPENDENT PUBLISHERS OFFER – a variety of services and involvement. Looking over THE CHRISTIAN WRITERS MARKET GUIDE 2019, by Steve Laube will give you a list of what these Indie publishers expect, provide, and even the number of books that they publish per year. There are around 59 of these types of publishers listed in this MARKET GUIDE, and some will publish your book within a month, while others will take longer even up to one year. DESIGN AND PRODUCTION SERVICES OFFER- book design and illustrations, website design, ebook formatting, etc. and many of them charge a flat fee or a custom fee or by the hour. NOTE: (Roseanna White – author, Whitefire Publishing (Traditional Publisher), & ROSEANNA WHITE DESIGNS (Independent book publisher.) Also, Bethany Press International is an Independent Publisher—a division of Bethany House. WESTBOW PRESS is a division of Thomas Nelson and Zondervan publishers. REDEMPTION PRESS https://redemption-press.com/ Excellent reviews. Quality service. WESTBOW PRESS https://www.westbowpress.com/ Excellent reviews. Quality service. RANDY INGERMANSON uses Scrivener to publish online. He is a writer to watch! BOLD VISION BOOKS Friendswood, Texas -Kathy Leist has information. SHILO RUN PRESS an Imprint of Barbour Publishing, Inc. Notes: Mine is the Night by Liz Curtis Higgs using Steven James “readers need to know “ list:
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Words are not just words. They are thoughts and inspiration that have been behind every relationship and every deed--good or bad throughout time. If you have that burning desire to communicate and explore, come peruse my pages, teachings, and short stories. Allow inspiration to anchor your dreams on the written pages of memoirs, devotions, poems, or stories, both short or long! Luxuriate in the creativity you were born to share! Archives
February 2020
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