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Announcing our next Writing Contest
October Contest: Jumping to Conclusions
About Write 500 words (maximum) on the prompt and submit for chance to win $50 or free registration to a Writing Lab or In-Person Workshop (winner's choice). Winning essay will be read at next Writers Forum, and may be posted to website if winner wishes.
PLEASE SEE THE RULES AND JUDGING CRITERIA BELOW.
We look forward to reading your entries!
Entry Submission Rules
Be sure to comply with all requirements. As with most professional writing submissions, there is no leeway on the rules. Questions? Please contact: VPPSWG@GMAIL.COM.
1. Must be a member of Palm Springs Writers Guild with current, active status. 2. Entries accepted between the opening date and submission deadline posted above. 3. Please enter contest by registering online for each entry. You may enter up to 3 times. Submit multiple entries separately. 4. Each entry is 500 word maximum 5. Must be submitted as a MS Word document 6. One inch margins, double-spaced 7. 12-point Times Roman or Times New Roman 8. Indented paragraphs 9. Title must be included in the document header. You may not use the contest theme as your title 10. Pagination must be included in the document footer. 11. Do not include your name anywhere on the submitted document, only in the body of your e-mail. 12. Please submit your entry as an email attachment and send it to VPPSWG@GMAIL.COM, no hard copies accepted. 13. The subject line of your email will read the title of your work (not the contest theme name) 14. Blind submission entries are judged by the PSWG Board. 15. Winner will be announced at the next Writers Forum.
Judging Criteria
Announcing or upcoming
October Writers Forum
In-person monthly gathering. Come experience our new panel discussions and member-to-member knowledge sharing! Witchcraft to Wordcraft: A Halloween Spectacular with bestselling authors Ariella Moon and Jayce Carter
Whether you're captivated by fantasy or drawn to grounded fiction, we will let you in on the secrets that transform your narrative ideas into fully realized, spellbinding stories.
Meeting begins at 11:00 a.m. and ends at noon. Refunds are not available for this event.
We may take photos and/or videos at any of our events for promotional purposes.
Ready to become a member of the Palm Springs Writers Guild? Please click here.
Event Contact: Eduardo Santiagosantiagogo@aol.com
Announcing our next In-Person Workshop
Making Your Settings Sizzle: The Power of Place Ruth Nolan
About Ruth Nolan
Ruth Nolan, former wildland firefighter and longtime Professor of Creative Writing at College of the Desert, writes about the Mojave Desert, where she’s lived for most of her life. Her books include After the Dome Fire (Bamboo Dart) and No Place for a Puritan: the Literature of California’s Deserts (Heyday). She is the project director of the award-winning humanities project, Fire on the Mojave: Stories from the Deserts and Mountains of Inland Southern California. She writes columns about desert culture and the environment for KCT Los Angeles and News from Native California. Her newest writing is published in Writing the Golden State: The New Literary Terrain of California (Angel City Press) and in Desert Forest: Life with Joshua Tree (Inlandia Books), both published in 2024
Description of talk:
Join Ruth Nolan to be inspired to find ways to light your settings on fire in ways that give a stronger burn to your writing, whether you are writing fiction, poetry, memoir and/or everything in between. We’ll look at samples of published works where setting jumps off the page and helps propel narrative, tone and excitement and in turn, focus on igniting our own work by tapping into the power of place!
Takeaways:
• Discover why the purposeful development of “place” is one of the most powerful, yet often overlooked, literary devices authors can use to their advantage.
• Learn how to cast “place” as a character with its own motivations in your work.
• Learn some of the techniques used by established writers known for their powerful evocations of setting and place in their work.
• How to use “places you know” to your advantage in the consideration of choosing a setting for your work.
• Practice breathing life into a chosen setting for a work you are writing or planning through several guided prompts given during the lecture.
To receive a full refund minus a $25 cancellation processing fee, attendees must cancel their registration 5 days before the event. No refunds will be given after that time. To cancel your registration, go to palmspringswritersguild.org and click on the blue icon at the top right of any page. Enter user name and password and click "LOG IN". On the next screen click "My event registrations". Select event and cancel registration.
Meeting begins at 12:30 p.m. and ends at 2:30 p.m.
Event Contact: Jayce Carter hfheyns@gmail.com
Announcing our next Online Lab
The Art of Suspense: How to Keep Your Readers Turning the Pages Margaret Lucke
About Margaret Lucke
Margaret Lucke flings words around as a writer and editor in the San Francisco Bay Area. She writes tales of love, ghosts, and murder, sometimes all three in one book. She is the author of four novels—House of Desire, House of Whispers, Snow Angel, and A Relative Stranger (an Anthony Award finalist)—and is the editor of Fault Lines, a short story anthology from the Northern California chapter of Sisters in Crime. She is a former president of Mystery Writers of America NorCal.
Margaret has also published two how-to books on the craft of writing and more than 60 short stories, feature articles, and scripts for mystery weekends. For many years she has taught fiction writing classes for UC Berkeley Extension and other venues. Visit her at www.margaretlucke.com.
Description:
Every great story is a suspense story, no matter what its genre might be. Suspense is the artful balance you create between the readers’ hopes and doubts, between their concern for your characters and their uncertainty about what lies ahead. It is the essential quality that makes your readers ask, “What happens next?” and keeps them turning pages to find out the answer. This workshop reveals the secrets of creating suspense, using techniques like tension and pace effectively, and earning that cherished accolade: “I couldn’t put it down.”
Location: Zoom Online Meeting
REGISTER
Unable to attend, no problem, all paid registrants will receive a video replay.
You will receive an invitation to the Zoom online meeting after you have registered and payment is complete.
Event Contact: Ariella Moon authorariellamoon@gmail.com
Camaraderie, Creativity & Cocktails
Free Write and Mingle
Join fellow members to write and socialize! We will have writing prompts to spark our imagination, then transition to happy hour!
Location:849 Restaurant and Lounge 849 N Palm Canyon Dr Palm Springs, CA 92262
Registration is not required for this free event.
Members only. Feel free to bring a guest.
Free Write begins at 3:30 p.m. Mingle begins at 5:00 p.m. and ends at 7:00 p.m. Attend either or both.
Event Contact: Eduardo Santiago santiagogo@aol.com
November Contest: A Cynic Begrudgingly Writes a Gratitude Journal
Finding Time to Write Amidst the Chaos Barbara DeMarco-Barrett
About Barbara DeMarco-Barrett
Barbara DeMarco-Barrett is editor of, and contributor to, Palm Springs Noir (Akashic). Her stories are in Coolest American Stories 2022, CrimeReads, USA Noir: Best of the Akashic Noir Series, Rock and a Hard Place, and Dark City Crime and Mystery magazine. Her short story, “Rowboat,” was published in Kelp Journal (2023), and nominated for a Pushcart. She received a Distinguished Instructors award from UC-Irvine and teaches at Gotham Writers Workshop and Saddleback College’s Emeritus Institute. Pen on Fire was a Los Angeles Times bestseller. She hosts the award-winning podcast Writers on Writing.
If you find it hard finding time to write or taking time to write, or if getting started eludes you, this workshop is for you. We’ll talk craft and write. By workshop’s end, you’ll be motivated to continue.
• Learn how to become a completionist, not a perfectionist
• Learn techniques for getting yourself going
• Use things around you for prompts
• Learn how photos can inspire you to write
• Experience how a timer helps you to get words on the page
The Devil is in the Details Bob Balmer
About Bob Balmer
Bob Balmer is a freelance writer and workshop leader. His writing, often humorous, has appeared in the Smithsonian, Golf Illustrated, ZYZZYVA, the Oregonian, the Seattle Times and other print media. It has aired on MarketPlace, the Savvy Traveler and Oregon Public Radio and television. He has an MFA in creative writing from Portland State and taken classes at Second City in Chicago, the Iowa summer writing program and Tin House among others. He leads workshops on the West Coast.
The Devil is in the Details highlights the power of specifics to differentiate place and characters. Whether it’s Gatsby calling Tom Buchanan “Old Sport” or acute anxiety in George Saunders character Morse in “The Falls” or Sally Rooney’s squabbling characters in “Conversations With Friends,” details differentiate characters, which in turn drives plot. We will look at how brands, quirks, geography, mannerisms, dialogue… work to define people and places. We will also discuss the benefits of showing vs telling as we practice using details to enhance our writing.
The Economics of Freelancing Margaret Lucke
