Just Write

MAY 14, 2008

ATENDEES:  Joan Romeo, Bill Merritt, Catherine Sampson, Leah Webb, Muhammad Maruf, Joanne Laughlin, Gwynne Schaeffer

SCRIBE:  Leah Webb

BUSINESS: 

• Pictures from prior meeting reviewed - will be placed on blog.
• Newly completed brochures distributed to members.
• Meeting notes will be held for approval at next meeting before placing on blog.
• David Warren's book, Promised Land, PA;  Terror Has a New Home is available at the Logan Library.  Take a look.
• Notes, etc from all prior meetings will be archived on the blog.
• Members are encourage to place articles, etc. of interest on the blog.

 EDUCATION:  Gwynne shared a book called A Writers Notebook: Unlocking the Writer Within You by Ralph Fletcher.

IN MEETING WRITING SAMPLES:  None

WRITING SUBMISSIONS:

• Bill Merritt submitted Cape May. He is deciding if it should be prose or poetry.  Will redo it for next meeting.
• Gwynne has resubmitted her Jamal story for publication.

 OTHER MATTERS:

• Joanne has backlogged copies of writing magazines she will share.
• Author recommendation: Stephenie Meyer/ an American J.D. Rollins.
• Discussion of pros/cons of only reading authors that are of the same style you write.

 NEXT MEETING:

• Education:  Andrea (2nd part of editing)
• Writing submissions: Bill and Andrea
• In-meeting topic: Catherine

New this week at the Logan Library:

Bryson's Dictionary for Writers and Editors by Bill Bryson

A useful and readable guide to the problems of the English language most commonly encountered by editors and writers.  Covering spelling, capitalization, plurals, hyphens, abbreviations, and foreign names and phrases, Bryson's Dictionary for Writers and Editors is an indispensable companion for all who care enough about our language not to maul, misuse, or contort it.

This dictionary is an essential guide to the wonderfully disordered thing that is the English language. As Bill Bryson notes, it will provide you with “the answers to all those points of written usage that you kind of know or ought to know but can’t quite remember.”

ATENDEES:  Muhammad M, Gwynne S, Bill M, Joann L, Leah W, Christine J(first time)

SCRIBE:  Leah W

BUSINESS:

• Reviewed prior meeting notes
• Reminder to check blog for new admissions and electronic copies
• Discussed idea that 2 people be prepared for education in case the first is not there
• Muhammad explained he will be doing geneology/kinship charts
• Discussed how historical events fit with story line and characters

EDUCATION:  Joanne provided writer's magazines for member's use. Discussed articles that fit with people's style and ideas that could be used for future education.

 WRITING SUBMISSIONS:

• Bill: "Seal" story
• Chris: shared memoir of time as a child

NEXT MEETING::

• Education: Andrea or Leah
• Writing submissions: Bill and Andrea (or Leah)

SCRIBE: Leah W

BUSINESS:

• Reviewed prior meeting notes
• Reviewed dates of summer meetings in July and August
• Muhammad shared info about convention in Atlantic City.
• Info received from Craig Newman, past speaker to the writing group.  Expect e-mail.

EDUCATION:  Leah provided a hand-out dealing with competition in the market when writing a book proposal.

OTHER MATTERS:  Discussion on knowing the difference between an untapped market and a "just not-there" market.  Also, if there is no market yet, how to use examples of other authors who took the very first steps in their specific market.

IN-MEETING WRITING:  "Seven days ago--------------, but now nobody will talk to me"

WRITING SUBMISSIONS: 

• Bill:  "Cape May" - more revisions, but in fthe uture, he will add ideas from prior drafts.
• Andrea:"God and His Ant" - she will be placing this up on her own blog when compleed.  Waiting to hear about story she submitted to a contest in "Writer's Digest"
• Leah: feedback and ideas on what to do before submitting script/ contacting churches and finding out if plays get copyrighted.

 NEXT MEETING:  Education: Andrea