 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!
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 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:
 July’s Northwestern Christian Writers Conference proved to be an exceptional and encouraging conference to attend! Rebecca McLafferty and I drove from her home in Wisconsin and of course visited the Laura Ingles Wilder Museum in Pepin, Wisconsin. We would almost pass it along the way anyway—wink, wink—what an excellent choice that was! We enjoyed stopping for this wonderfully set up museum! Later that evening we met with numerous aspiring and published authors, very few that we recognized, and were swept away with the worship and speaker, Gary L. Thomas. The next day, it was difficult to choose whose class to attend. The highlights for me were listening to Julie Klassen and Karen Schurrer on Author-Editor Relationship, Peter Nikolai on Understand Your Options: Traditional, Hybrid & Self-Publishing and Steven James speaking on Suspense Essentials: Secrets to Tapping into Tension in Whatever Genre You Write. Actually, everyone I heard was exceptional. I loved when Robin Jones Gunn spoke on her publishing journey and how her “Father Christmas” novel was turned into a Hallmark movie! I came home with some trade books and a couple of fun books too! I’m so glad that Julie Klassen and Robin Jones Gunn brought some to sell! Susie Larson’s shares were meaty and inspiring. This is a wonderful conference to attend—even though it is one evening and one day—the encouragement and direction for new or published authors is top notch. This is a highly recommended conference! PENS OF PRAISE CHRISTIAN WRITERS GROUP
July 16, 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. MINTS is our lesson this month. Sue Fink will be facilitating and BRINGING MINTS! Such as: DiscourageMENT, DisappointMENT, EncourageMENT—facets of a writer’s vocation. Sue’s request is that you come and even bring a friend! RSVP to sfink54220@gmail.com, so that we may have enough handouts! PROMPT: Write a paragraph or two about a favorite book , and the hope or encouragement it gave you. Let Susan Fink know if your attending so she can save a seat for you as well as knowing how many handouts to bring. sfink54220@gmail.com An inspired reader 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 2019 Write to Publish provided wonderful connection and information. In my opinion this was the most enlightening conference that I have ever attended. My focus this year—to learn as much as possible about Social Media. The teachers were professional and skilled and quite patient with us. Michelle Rayburn, I’m thinking about how you helped me right now! Many thanks.
If anyone is interested in learning about the business of writing, how to write, and meeting those who enjoy assisting others to hone their skills, then this is your go-to conference. I wish to extend special thanks to Lin Johnson and her right-hand lady Jane Rubietta for their tireless work and sacrifices so that others can learn and grow their skill sets and take advantage of opportunities to meet agents and editors as well as numerous writers who understand that need to express thoughts and stories. Also, I'm so grateful for the numerous writer friends from the past and of course the new ones too! You all make the conference shine for me! WELCOME TO PENS OF PRAISE CHRISTIAN WRITERS GROUP
Tuesday, June 18, 2019 Introductions for new guests. Pass around sign in sheet. Devotion—by Pat Klein LET THE TEACHING BEGIN The Page-Turner’s “Secret Formula”, How to Write a Book That’s Hard to Put Down. Sarah Grosskopf will lead us into the mysterious hook that makes a novel a must read. PROMPT: Varying Tension Imagine that tension or excitement falls on a scale from 1 (dead boring) to 5 (edge of your seat exciting). While writing, you have a “tension meter” that goes from 1 to 5. Write a five-line poem or five-sentence story with each sentence set at a different level of tension, following the pattern 3-2-1-4-5. If time allows, we will also allow 5-minute readings from our writers as time allows at the end of the teaching. 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. 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 You are invited to visit and make a comment! That would be especially nice! 😊
REMEMBER: Inspired reader = happy reader + excellent take-away = return reader! God’s rich blessings to you as you write for His glory! |
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
October 2019
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