October 22nd Meeting Report

We enjoyed a weekly meeting last night with 7 members reading and 24 in attendance. In January we will begin alternating the location of our weekly Monday meetings between Las Vegas and Henderson. We will also be considering beginning our meetings at 6:30 instead of 6:00. If you have a preference regarding the starting time, make them known!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

The Westside Wednesday meeting will be held at Karlo's house in October and November. The Claim Jumper is being remodeled. Again, the location for TOMORROW'S MEETING has changed! 

Mark your calendars for our annual Christmas party, which will be held on Monday, December 17th.

Our booth at the Thursday Farmer's Market on 240 Water Street in Henderson has been doing well. It's a great opportunity to sell a few books and interact with the community. The group will have a booth from now through Thanksgiving. You can come from 9am-4pm or for any portion in between. All members are welcome to come out and sell their books. Please contact Amanda Skenandore for more information and scheduling.

Planning for our LAS VEGAS WRITERS CONFERENCE this April is well underway. It's going to be a great event. Spread the word on your personal blogs and check out the conference website at lasvegaswritersconference.com

If you would like to have a bio next to your name on the "Meet our Members" page of the Writers' Group website (www.hendersonwritersgroup.com), contact Darrah Whitaker.

BRAGS: 

Congratulations to Kathleen Mosko on securing four radio spots on Vegas Unwrapped. The first of her thirty minute segments featuring her book "Back Surgery for 2012" will air November 7th at 7 p.m.

Congratulations to Jenny Ballif (that's me- your newsletter editor) on finishing my first Triathlon.

QUOTE OF THE NIGHT:

"Just breezed in?" Jack pressed. "I wouldn't think a time traveler would ever be late." 

Willy's mouth formed a wry smile. "Good point mate, but it still depends on a person's ability to organize themselves. It puts a different spin on 'time management'." 

-"Tempis Fugits" by Douglas Davy

UPCOMING MEETINGS: Our next meeting is the monthly Westside meeting tomorrow, October 24th. It will NOT be held at the Claim Jumper (as it says on the calendar), due to remodeling. It will be at Karlo Ohanian's house. The November meeting will also be at his house.


WRITING TIPS from president Jo Wilkins:

#1 Remember when writing dialogue -- dialogue is never conversation, it is the vehicle that moves your story from page to page and should deliver information to the reader. √

#2 – Avoid dialogue tags other than SAID. Announced, replied, etc., when used as the dialogue tag mark the writer as a novice to agents & publishers. To avoid repetition in repeating SAID use gestures to identify the speaker. (i.e. Karen slammed her fist on the table. “I don’t want to!”) This shows speaker & emotion without a dreaded "ly" word. √

#3 – Speaking of the dreaded “LY” words, they do have their place and can enhance your writing if used correctly. When you come across one in your prose, look at your verb. Did you find a strong, action verb? Or, did you use a weak/passive "to be" verb? If you write with action verbs and nouns that invoke a picture to the reader (flower vs rose), you don’t need the helper. √

ARTICLE:

But Before You Continue… 

By Lauren Tallman

Oh gosh, look, you know the drill:

Let your thoughts run wild, the pictures in your mind to flow freely, and write your story down. Spell check, look for repeated words, get rid of clichés, and make sure the grammar is correct. Have others read it and listen to their critique – good or bad – but make the changes only you feel are right.

Now here are some pointers before you continue:

Re-read your story but read random, individual chapters. Better yet (and this is no joke) read from back to front. You will be surprised how often you will move sentences around, even delete some, all the while thinking, “Why didn’t I see that?” It’s because you’ve read your story so often, your know it by heart and are not really reading the words. Honest, this method works!

Stop editing. For the love of heaven, just leave it alone at this point! You have a story, you love it, you think it’s great, and it probably is. Now leave it alone.

Start making serious decisions of how you will market the book. Even with a publisher, you will do most of the marketing yourself. If you haven’t already, start networking on Facebook, Twitter and others. Build up a following, telling about your book, whetting their appetites.

Look at different marketing techniques people use who write in your genre. Perhaps a mystery writer made a leaflet in the shape of a gun. Or a sci-fi writer had an ad with a monster ‘growling’ out the title. You see what I mean… Make your mark. 

Here’s a biggie – don’t spend money. Please, not yet. I’ve seen many, myself included, who ordered business cards only to find they changed the name of the story, or paid for ads in networks that turned out to be ineffective. There are too many pitfalls. Hold on to your cash and use it wisely when you really need it.

These aren’t set in stone facts but we find these things out after we’ve made too many timely and costly mistakes. In the meantime? Get out there. Show ‘em what ya got! Good luck, and remember, don’t get discouraged. Learn and get out there like a pro. You can do it!