What is mine to give up by Lani Longshore

May 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment

There is never enough time in the day to accomplish all that needs to be done. Sometimes, that stops me cold. My plans to write get buried under the need to clean or go to the grocery. Then I see someone who manages to write every day, and clean and get to the grocery. The next thing I know, a new task appears at the top of my to-do list – feel guilty.

I thought about what I could accomplish if I just gave up doing things. I could add four hours of writing a week if I didn’t go to karate class and dropped one of my volunteer positions. Those four hours looked tempting, until I realized what I would lose.

Dropping karate would eliminate the main driver of my exercise program, and impact my ability to include telling details. Karate taught me what it feels like to fall repeatedly, to get hit and be hit, to push my body to its limits – details I’ve included in my stories.

Dropping volunteer work would cut me off from people I might never meet otherwise, situations I would never encounter in my normal life, and information I could never realize I needed to know. My ear for dialog has been honed by sitting in board meetings, my protagonists have faced challenges I’ve heard about at work bees, and many a plot has been saved an embarrassing continuity error because of an off-hand remark made by a presenter at an orientation meeting.

So, what is mine to give up? Guilt. And that’s yours to give up, too. Keep the activities that bring you joy, keep the volunteer work that benefits you and your community, and give up the guilt. Your writing will benefit.

 

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Reality is in the foot of a cat by Lani Longshore

May 1, 2012 By Leave a Comment

While wandering in an antique shop, I noticed a simple but elegant bookcase filled with beautiful linens. On top of the stack on the highest shelf was a very realistic toy cat. I had to stretch to reach it. I tugged on its foot to determine if it was stuffed with kapok or buckwheat.

The foot was warm.

The cat’s expression was not.

I considered myself lucky that a killer stare was the only thing the cat threw my way. It settled back to resume its nap and I retreated to a curio cabinet. Since everything was behind glass, I wouldn’t have to worry about mistaking a live critter for the work of a genius artist.

Today in critique group I was reminded of that experience as I told a writer that her character wouldn’t have reacted the way she wrote the scene. “The good news is I think of him as a real person. So real, that I’m ready to argue with you, his creator, about what he would or would not do,” I said.

We all laughed, but it’s worth remembering that the reader brings as much to our work as we do – or can, if we’ve done our job. The reader wants to see a fully fleshed character, wants to imagine having lunch with our heroine or going fishing with our hero. If the reader tells you we’ve made the character act in a way she would not, could not, act – listen! Like beauty, reality is in the eye of the beholder.

Just don’t tug on its foot.

 

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Be a bridge by Lani Longshore

April 17, 2012 By

To be a leader, be a bridge. – Welsh proverb

Tri-Valley Writers been a bridge since 2005, bringing writers together to share information and ideas. Club members span all generations and all genres. While we still boast of members who joined when the corner stones were set, we are growing month by month. We are also growing year by year, changing venues and meeting styles, expanding our outreach to the community, and sprouting new critique groups faster than dandelions after the rain.

In the coming membership year, become a bridge – and a leader. If envisioning yourself as the Golden Gate gives you a case of vertigo, start smaller. Talk to a committee chair about volunteering as an assistant, or for a special project. Become a mentor in a critique group. Give voice to that cool idea for a speaker or a contest – and offer to make some phone calls, or head the committee. Do something – not because you possess super powers, but because you are a writer, a storyteller, an artist. Share your gifts, and watch as something extraordinary happens. Watch as your confidence grows, your contacts expand, your skills improve. Watch as you become the world-shaker you were meant to be.

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What Is A Club Historian? by Annette Langer

April 3, 2012 By

I was assigned as historian for our Tri-Valley Branch of the California Writers Club. I wondered just how old one had to be to be named “historian” but figured they knew what they were doing. My uncertainty was mollified when I read the job description. The duties were described as “maintaining the archive of documents, programs, licenses, and related materials for a historical record of the club’s activities over time.” A board member assured me there’d be a lot of “wiggle room” for creative input, and that appealed to me.

I reviewed the materials already housed in the one-inch binder. It contained the CWC history, charter, and bylaws. That section was followed by various awards and proclamations received. After that were records of several board meetings as well as copies of our branch’s newsletters, publicity announcements, and meeting highlights.
I thought about the “wiggle room” she’d mentioned, and my brain started storming. Very soon, the monster came to life. It’s a nice monster, though, one whose pages document our membership growth, our events, and our achievements, both individual and as a writers’ club. The one-inch file has now morphed into a heavy 3½-inch binder that I schlep to each meeting.

The current scrapbook exterior displays miniature images of members’ book covers and these additional section dividers within:
1. “Published Members”: a page for each one’s bio, head shot, and book cover(s);
2. “Workin’ on It”: a page for each not-yet-published member’s bio and head shot;
3. “Promo Tools for Writers”: Members’ marketing tools such as business cards, book marks, and postcards
4. List of all our guest speakers by year
5. Guest speaker bios and head shots

Check it out next time and see how we’ve grown since 2005. I hope you’ll soon add your own contribution to this collection!

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Ready, Set, Write by Paula Chinick

March 15, 2012 By

“These noted authors who stand before you, once sat in the audience,” the moderator said at the 2012 San Francisco Writers Conference. Those words instilled a drive in me to accelerate the completion of my novel so one day I too, might stand on the other side of the aisle.

I was not an attendee but a volunteer. I helped ensure that speakers had water, chairs, passed out their handouts, and cued them when to wrap up. I met writers, agents, authors, publishers from all genres. By the end of the four-day conference, I felt I needed to soak my aching brain in a bucket of ice water from all that I gleaned.

The number one phrase I heard: WRITE EVERY DAY! Writing is like exercise, if you don’t keep it up your creative juices get flabby, your inspiration dries up, your productivity goes down the drain. See what I mean, I just rambled off a stack of clichés. One of the best ways to stay motivated and fresh is to enter contests. Doesn’t have to be Reader’s Digest, small outlets are just as good.

Dan Poynter, a promotional coach, suggests you search out book clubs and book fairs. Go to blogger conventions and meet your bloggers’ friends. Spend time learning new technology. The digital world is today’s most important medium for a writer.

There are more self-publishing vehicles today than ever before. And even more companies that are willing to help you get self-published, for a fee. Caution, you need to do your research. Conferences are a good place to learn about which venues are good and which are questionable. Hope to see you next year at the 2013 San Francisco Writers Conference.

 

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Anatomy of a Gatekeeper by Annette Langer

February 29, 2012 By

 What exactly is a gatekeeper? Wikipedia defines it as a person who controls access to something, for example via a city gate. In the late 20th century, the term came into metaphorical use, referring to individuals who decide whether a given message will be distributed by a mass medium. Both definitions apply to me as gatekeeper to the monthly California Writers Club Tri-Valley Branch meetings.

You see, I’m the official greeter in the lobby of our hotel meeting space of those seeking knowledge, entertainment, and Where-the-heck-is-the-meeting-room? answers. My role involves greeting members, directing them down the hallway to a possible room change from the previous month. I’m also on the lookout for nonmembers, welcoming them to our meeting for the first time. As long as I’m there anyway, I function as the unintended (unpaid) hotel emissary, too, pointing visitors to their own respective meeting rooms. I’ve acquired the skill to do this by standing beside the board that displays meeting room locations for the various groups gathering there, smiling and pointing like Vanna White to the appropriate one.

It’s easy to spot who belongs to which group—familiar faces of current CWC members, of course; people wearing name badges for other groups; and those clutching spiral-bound notebooks who appear lost and just look like writers.

So what does it take to get past me, the literary gatekeeper at the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel? An awareness of the California Writers Club through our website, word-of-mouth, or newspaper ad; an interest in the writing craft; and a free afternoon the third Saturday of each month (except July and August). I may even collar you if you simply pause to scan the lobby information board posting the meeting room locations. Just have your fifteen bucks ready and you’re in!

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