Newsletter

 
May Bulletin: MAY 1st
NEXT MEETING 2 to 4
AFTER A SHORT MEETING DURING WHICH WE WILL HOLD ELECTIONS
GUEST SPEAKER
MICHAEL STEVEN GREGORY
The president of the American Academy of Arts and the Executive Director of the Southern California Writers Conference. He is an independent filmmaker and screen writer of material ranging from mainstream drama to biopics to documentary to animated action-adventure. With several features "in the works," he has also been a staff writer on TV series for FOX, UPN, and HBO. He's currently attached as either a director or producer on projects that include The Great Idea, Behind the Badge and Spooks. We, the Screenwriter, a followup documentary to his acclaimed We, the Writer, is his latest film.
  Michael is an engaging and entertaining speaker. Come learn why attending the Southern California Writers Conference*Palm Springs, June 10-12, 2005 at the Hyatt is such a great opportunity for all writers of all genres and all skill levels.

THE SLATE OF NOMINEES FOR 2005-2006
President: Bill Clark
Vice-President: Mary Barrer
Secretary: Melody Fleming
Treasurer: Bob Hurlbert
Members-at-Large: Fran Kaplan (1Yr)
  Kurt Sipolski (2Yr)
  Carol Staufield-Mann (3Yr)
Reminder - Nominees can be made from the floor at the time we hold elections, so long as the Nominee expresses willingness to serve.

SPEAKERS REVIEW
FRAN KAPLAN
Bestselling novelist and lecturer, Anita Kornfeld spoke about the three C's: Characterization, Conflict and Conclusions, but first, she reflected on how she'd helped spearhead the move to get back to Mizell for the Guild meetings. She spoke about the importance of standing up for what you believe and that writing is adapting, adjusting, and redefining what you stand for. Writing should be from your own voice and needs to have emotion to be in your own voice. Writing means learning, relearning, and rewriting. Dynamic emotions are essentially the start of it. Anita spoke about the prime forces in good writing: Fear, Guilt, Suspicion, Confusion, Hate, Worry, and Shame as a few Dynamite emotions to bring about plot. Resolutions that develop from Dynamite emotions may be Forgiveness, Contentment, Gratitude, and Surprise. Of the 53 reasons manuscripts get rejected, included are: they may lack drama, some conflict may be unresolved; loose ends must be put together; if a book sags in the middle, it may need better pacing; there may be too many clichés or problems with dialogue.
  When you write fiction, you have complete control. Your work must be cohesive. You must have believable conflict. Decide where your story really starts—you can be confused, but not your reader. Remember to include the senses. An example: open a refrigerator door and an unwrapped onion is in it. What does it tell you about the person? Be observant of what you see and feel around you.
  She read passages from Lost in the City, by Everette P. Jones, one of her favorite writers. He was always honest, spoke from the fabric of his being, his background, and stayed true to his environment. Pick out the kinds of writers you like, analyze how did they do that. Transition must be there to make sense, a tie-in somewhere; must be cohesive and must have believable conflict. "A simile does to a page what a smile does to a face."
  We all know how to talk. We, talk on paper. Write a letter you wished you had written; it will never be seen or read; write from your heart, your gut. Every person has a story within him. The world around us has enough stories for the rest of our lives if we wrote every day. Fiction is an escape—putting on a mask—it's wonderful.

BOOK FAIR
The Guild is indebted to Audrey Moe who parlayed an invitation by Paul Krassner to share a booth at the 1st Annual Palm Springs Book Fair into a double booth shared by a dozen Guild members offering their books. The Guild signed up two new members, distributed many copies of the new brochure and reminded several lapsed members that we're still around. Member's comments - the event "was quite well attended" and "well organized," "OPSWG could have had a better setting with more prominence," "it was too hot" and "lasted too long," "photographs should be shown at an art festival, not at a book fair," and "the poetry presentation was about the best." Special THANK YOU's to Alan Baird, Bill and Mavis Clark, and John Harrell for helping Audrey setup (AND take down) and the writers who gave their time and talent to the booth.

Dear Fellow-Member,
  My husband, Lou, and I must leave this valley. As valleys go, Coachella has been an especially rich repository for us - wonderful climate, natural beauty and best of all, warm and exciting friendships. The Guild is a primary source of those friendships for me and I need to thank you all for your generosity, fellowship, inspiration and just being here.
  Fondly, Sylvia B. Bailin

HELP WANTED
UC Riverside Extension, the continuing education branch of UCR, is looking for published writers with teaching or guest lecture experience to teach writing classes beginning in the fall at the new UCR Palm Desert campus. Class topics include fiction, nonfiction, creative nonfiction, screenwriting, and poetry. In addition to traditional 10-week seminar and workshop classes, we are also open to ideas for weekend or one- to four-meeting courses on specific topics, such as "creating memorable characters." Pay is approximately $40-45 per teaching hour. Send an e-mail with your resume and a cover letter describing your background and experience to Toni Lawrence, Director of Arts & Humanities at UCR Extension. E-mail: toni.lawrence@ucr.edu. Snail mail: 1200 University Ave., #333, Riverside, CA 92507.

The Guild's New Discussion Area
(See printed bulletin for URL and details.) Our private office now contains: (1) a project for promoting Guild member websites and books, (2) links to dozens of paying markets, and (3) how to create a website in 5 minutes for free with no programming knowledge.

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

THANK YOU...
for letting me be of service to the Guild for the last year and a half. It's been interesting and successful. The Guild is well and finally recovered, poised to move forward. Writers are not an easy group to serve. Surprisingly, they don't give feedback very well. At least not directly. I know - you grumbled about the long drives and the short Bulletin - but that's about it. I plan to let my successor know what I like and do not like about the Guild's activities because I wanted to be told. You can, too. The Guild needs the continuing support of ALL its members ALL the time - not just when the speaker suits your fancy. I can honestly say I've learned from every meeting, even when I expected to not. So, come regularly. Participate. Give back so you can continue to receive and YOUR Guild can continue to grow.
/s/ John Harrell
^ posted by Webmaster @ 4/25/2005 05:00:00 PM Pacific Time

 
Book Fest: 
Here's a photo of the Guild's booth, from today's festival.
^ posted by Webmaster @ 4/16/2005 06:00:00 PM Pacific Time

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