Newsletter December Bulletin: ART OF THE REWRITE JANUARY CYNDY MUSCATEL At the January 9 meeting, Cyndy Muscatel will lead a hands-on workshop about the art of the rewrite. "Rewriting a manuscript is a craft every writer needs. It allows the muse to have free reign in the first draft of a work, because the author doesn't have to wear the editor's crown until later," Cyndy says. She has recently had two short stories published after rewriting them. "In the first, I changed the point of view from third person to first, and changed the verb tense to present from past. It had been rejected at least thirty times before. After the rewrite, it was accepted immediately," she says. Come to the meeting with a pen or pencil and learn how fun it can be to dig into a manuscript and fine tune it. SPEAKERS REVIEW BILL CLARK WRITERS EXTRAVAGANZA '04 The Writer's EXTRAVAGANZA-04 was a huge success. Some brought lunches with them in the morning and spent the entire day, took notes, asked questions and shared positive responses: other came just for their favorite parts. Bill Clark, assisted by Kristin Johnson, opened with a Power Point slide presentation on the building of characters and putting them to work. Bill quipped at the end, "Congratulations, you have just competed a three unit course in one hour." Dennis Boos, a songwriter who studied under Buddy Kaye, delighted everyone with stories of his Nashville experiences as a singer, writer and song producer/promoter. He sang some of his original songs and shared how they came to be written. "The title comes first, then I make a list of words associated with it and go from there." Mystery writer Barbara Seranella spoke about how she got her first book published, and went on to give advice on the importance of, "...knowing what the character did, wants and knows." The audience was excited when Barbara shared with them that her main character, Munch Mancini, will be featured in an NBC series, shepherded by Stephen J. Cannell. Dessa Reed, who has authored two books which focus on writing poetry for healing and personal growth, talked about writing from the heart. She speaks from experience, having discovered poetry during recovery from a near fatal auto accident in 1997. The audience warmly responded to the poems she read. In June, she received a "Laureate Woman of Letters" award from United Poets Laureate International at their conference in Texas. Television writer Harriet Weiss showed a video of "All In The Family" she had co-written for the series. She also talked about her experiences in writing for "The Golden Girls" and her current projects - two plays; a murder mystery, and a family's life seen through their pet cat's eyes. She emphasized that no one can change a playwright's work. Anita Kornfeld, renowned novelist, closed the day with readings from journals she has written over the years. She was spellbinding, in her poetic descriptions of people and places. She spoke of the importance of copious research, including attentiveness to the behaviors of people around you. "...I'm listening to John (her husband) with an 'uh-huh,' but still catching what is happening around me, and I enter those happenings in my journal as quickly as I can. John understands," she said. Special thanks to Mary Barrer for keeping the coffee pot fresh, Mavis Clark as an assistant hostess, and Cyndy Muscatel, who greeted guests and introduced speakers. THE PALM SPRINGS WRITERS GUILD STRUCTURING THE STORY BY LESLIE SCHWARTZ who was very popular at the 2004 Southern California Writers Conference/Palm Springs, and teaches Fiction writing at UCLA, will bring a two-day seminar to the desert. Ms. Schwartz received the James Jones Literary Society Award for Best First Novel for her book Jumping the Green and Kalliope Magazine's Woman of the Year (2004) for Angel's Crest. Saturday - February 5, 2005 10-12 and 1-4 Sunday - February 6, 2005 10-12 plus-Guest Speaker at Regular Guild Meeting, 2-5 Mizell Senior Center [Sunrise Way at Ramon Road] Palm Springs Her presentations Saturday will focus on how to structure the telling of a story, strategies she teaches UCLA students and uses in her own award-winning work. Sunday will include a two-hour session on Marketing. Book sales and signing after the Guild meeting. CONTESTS ANYONE? Want to enter your manuscript in a contest? The newsletter will now give you a suggestion or two each month. (1) The William Allen Creative Nonfiction Prize offers $500 and publication of the winning essay in the Spring/Summer 2005 issue of The Journal, a literary magazine. All styles, subject matter, and forms are welcome. Please submit only previously unpublished material. A reading fee of $10 should accompany each manuscript (make check or money order payable to: The Journal). Manuscripts should be submitted anonymously with the title of the work and all contact information listed on a separate cover letter. Deadline for postmark of submission is January 15th, 2005. The maximum word count is 6500 words. All entries should be double-spaced. For a list of winners, include an SASE. Manuscripts will not be returned. For complete details, check website: http://english.osu.edu/journals/the_journal/. Send previously unpublished manuscript with reading fee to: William Allen Nonfiction Prize The Journal, Department of English The Ohio State University 164 West 17th Avenue Columbus, Ohio 43210 (2) Competition: Glimmer Train's Fiction Open. Eligibility: Open to all writers, all themes, subjects, and lengths. Your entries must be your own, original, entirely unpublished stories. Please, no simultaneous submissions. First-place winner receives $2,000, publication in Glimmer Train Stories, and 20 copies of the issue in which it is published. Second- and third-place winners receive $1,000/$600, respectively, and acknowledgment in that issue. Entries will be accepted through January 11th. To submit your stories, go to www.glimmertrainpress.com, log in, and click on FICTION OPEN. Reading fee (payable by visa or mc) is $15 per story. What we are: The Original Palm Springs Writers Guild is a nonprofit organization formed to support a variety of writers in and around the Coachella Valley. We meet on the first Sunday of the month, at 2 PM, in the Mizell Senior Center in Palm Springs, Ramon Road and Sunrise Way, for fun, fellowship and speakers. We work to hone our craft in Critique Groups, which meet more frequently. Please join us at the next meeting. Officers - click here What we are: The Original Palm Springs Writers Guild is a nonprofit organization formed to support a variety of writers in and around the Coachella Valley. We meet on the first Sunday of the month, at 2 PM, in the Mizell Senior Center in Palm Springs, Ramon Road and Sunrise Way, for fun, fellowship and speakers. We work to hone our craft in Critique Groups, which meet more frequently. Notice: Please send comments, proposals, suggestions for the Bulletin to John Harrell or Billy Lobo. BO(a)ReD JOHN HARRELL Well, the year is nearly done. Time to look forward to the next and back at the last. There were good times - like the rekindling of energy at the Extravaganza in November [thanks, Bill and Mavis Clark] - and some interesting times - like sitting under the skimpy shade while Audrey Moe shared her latest accomplishment [I now carry the Mizell Handyman's number in my cell phone]. We are planning for the first half of next year, including a two-day seminar in February, which is presented in a special flyer, and another visit by Anita Kornfeld in April. At the beginning of the year, I asked you to respond to a survey. I ask this year, more informally, for feedback - eMail is the easiest, if you can. A phone call if that's better. Both addresses are in the contact section. Where we meet. What we do. Who does it. When things happen. Why other things don't. These are the "W's" I would like to have you thin about, and share. If I don't get a chance to tell you in person at the PARTY - have a wonderful holiday season and I hope to see you a lot next year. REMINDER THAT DUES "r" DUE By the First of the Year ^ posted by Webmaster @ 12/01/2004 06:00:00 PM Pacific Time Powered by Blogger. |
