April 1st Meeting Report

About thirty of us met at the Coffee House this Monday to discuss writing synopses, something everyone attending the conference needs to do! We listened to and critiqued several synopses, enjoyed good food and company, and decided that the Coffee House is where we will meet from now on for our Henderson meetings.

The atmosphere there was great, they provided a microphone for us, and even put a little post on their facebook page about our meeting.

So for our future Henderson meetings you'll find us at 117 South Water Street.


Here are a few tips about writing a synopsis that I gleaned from the meeting:

Find out the requested length (and check for other formatting preferences) before you submit one. For the conference, you want a 1 page synopses, double spaced and 12 point font.

Put your address, email, and phone number in the top left, single spaced.
Your title, genre, word length, and the word "synopsis" should be in the upper right corner, single spaced.

A synopsis should be TO THE POINT.
No dialogue.
No detailed description of subplots.
It should cover the main ideas and INCLUDE THE ENDING.

A short synopsis would read somewhat like what you find on the inside of dust jackets, but instead of a teaser that leaves you hanging the synopsis would continue and spell out the ending.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Our writer's conference is just two weeks away! If you have a book you'd like to donate to be in our basket of collected works of Henderson Writer's Group members, which will be for sale at the raffle, please contact Amanda soon.

We will continue to meet at the Coffee House for our Henderson meetings on the first, third, and fifth Mondays of each month.

The Spring Fling - a large event that many of our members are involved in - is this Saturday.

BRAGS:

Congratulations to Jay Yarbrough on his appearance on Guy Dawson's radio program Wednesday afternoon, April 3rd, from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. on the A.M. station KLAB 1230.

QUOTE OF THE NIGHT:

"What this really is, in my opinion, is a query letter."

WRITING TIP from Jo Wilkins:

Clichés – When you write with clichés, you write with another author’s famous phrases. They created the words that become clichés by conveying an ordinary idea in a unique way. It’s our job as writers to create new, catchy phrases that become clichés other writers will fight to avoid using. Don’t fall back on someone else’s words to write your story, be creative, and find new ways to express what the reader sees through your words. Create scenes for your readers in your own words not someone else’s. Using clichés is lazy writing. 

POETRY:
And now, since April is national poetry month, I'm pleased to share with you three poems from members of our group. Enjoy.

Haiku by Leslie Hoffman  

Upon bare oak branch

bard shape-shifts into Eagle

folds wings around Hawk

THE RIVER
by Bonnie Apple

The river runs from here to there.
On the map I can see it all.
Its bends are squiggles so small.

Out here in the middle I can’t always tell where

Or even IF I’m going.
Squiggles are big bends.
What’s beyond there’s no knowing.

A river on a map . . . . safe and flat.

No raging currents No sparkle or splash No peaceful drift
No falls to crash.

Out here in the middle there’s all that

and more.
Excitement, motion,
The risk of a spill.
Rocks, color, uncertainty . . . . Still

I’m out here just my paddle and myself.

But I’m making a map . . . . . It’s there

on the shelf.

Shifting Sand
by Gregory A. Kompes

Ideas through space
Shifting sublime
We move the world
By grains, through time.

One moment, dunes,
Sandscapes created.
Shift one spot,
Another, eliminated.

What's left? Now right
At center, above,
Forward, below,
Beyond, true love.

We sift, we shovel
Lift, move;
Shuttle, accept,
Discard, remove.

Add heat, pressure,
Some light and some time.
Desire, empathy,
Maybe some rhyme.

Realization: It's our
Never ending quest.
We must move mountains
Before we rest. 

CALENDAR:

April 2013 Sun           Mon           Tues          Wed            Thur           Fri             Sat
	1 Coffee House Henderson 6:30-8:30	2	3	4	5	6
7	8 Lutheran Community Church 6:30-8:30	9	10	11	12	13
14	15 THE COFFEE HOUSE in Henderson 6:30-8:30	16	17	18 Writer's Conference	19 Writer's Conference	20 Writer's Conference
21	22 Lutheran Community Church 6:30-8:30	23	24 West side meeting Skinny Dugans 6:30 p.m.	25	26	27
28	29 THE COFEE HOUSE in Henderson 6:30-8:30	30	May 1	2	3	4
5	6 The Coffee House in Henderson 6:30-8:30	7	8	9	10	11

Have a great week!

Editor- Jenny Ballif