Minutes from 7-13-10 Meeting

Attendance: Rich, Delia, Annahid, Terre, Cheryl, Patrick, Ryan, Carrie, Wendy, Holly, Sandy

I. Critique: Discussed Wendy’s rewrite of Chapter 1. Will she put the nightmare first? Discussed Ryan’s first two chapters. He nailed his character development. Carrie’s work brought on the discussion of Demon sex.

II. Learned: Rich wrote a 1917 murder mystery - Master of His Fate. We welcomed four new members and ended our meeting with a writing prompt: You open the door and …

III. For Next Meeting on August 10, 2010, 7-9 PM:

1) Members will read and critique work from Ryan and Terre and Patrick. They will send their pages to Holly and she will post them on the website.

2) Members will bring ideas, materials, and sources to every meeting.

3) We encourage everyone to bring their work. There is plenty of time and room to share.

Minutes from 6-8-10 Meeting

Attendance: Jeremy, Jeanne, Ryan, Lori, Carrie, Wendy, Holly, Sandy

I. Critique: Discussed Jeremy’s work (the twin’s birth) - we are excited that he is expanding his short story into a book. Then we discussed the first chapter of Carrie’s second book. We enjoyed it and look forward to reading more. Lori shared several poems and Ryan read his flash fiction – 2 published and 1 he is still working on.

II. Learned: We had a long discussion about poetry and the importance of finding your voice. We also had our first discussion about flash fiction. Holly shared information she learned at the Pennwriters convention and had pamphlets for those interested. We ended the evening with a hilarious prompt.

III. For Next Meeting on July 13, 2010, 7-9 PM:

1) Members will read and critique work from Wendy and Ryan and Carrie. They will send their pages to Holly and she will post them on the website. Lori will bring in more of her poetry.

2) Members will bring ideas, materials, and sources to every meeting.

3) We encourage everyone to bring their work for August 10th discussion. There is plenty of time and room to share.

Minutes from 5-11-10 Meeting

Attendance: Giulio, Jeremy, Wendy, Carrie, Sandy

I. Critique: We discussed Wendy’s work. Her story made us beg for more. We read Sandy’s short story and everyone gave her some ideas to make the story stronger. Giulio shared three poems And Jeremy read one of his poems. We ended the meeting with an entertaining prompt.

II. Learned: Jeremy will send Holly the information on how to change to Zip file. Character worksheets and notebooks were discussed as helpful tools. Plus, Carrie suggested using a photo of someone that looks like your character as inspiration.

III. For Next Meeting on June 8th, 2010, 7-9 PM:

1) Members will read and critique Jeremy’s and Carrie’s work. They will send their pages to Holly and she will post them on the website.

2) Members will bring ideas, materials, and sources to every meeting.

3) Giulio will bring his prose to hand-out for July discussion/critique on July 13th, 2010. We encourage everyone to bring their work for July discussion. There is plenty of time and room to share.

Minutes from 4-13-10 Meeting

Attendance: Giulio, Rush, Charlie, Jeremy, Cheryl, Wendy, Holly, Sandy

I. Critique: We discussed Jeremy’s work. Everyone enjoyed it, calling it Clint Eastwood Fantasy. Giulio read three poems. Reggie wasn’t available to discuss her work.

II. Learned: We decided to send critique work to Holly (The website) in RTF form instead of PDF and put prompts in a folder. Found cool website, giving you the history of 1st names: behindthename.com. We wrapped up the meeting with a fun writing prompt. We have a creative group!

III. Book Suggestions:

- Author – O. Henry – famous for his short stories.

IV. For Next Meeting on May 11th, 2010, 7-9 PM:

1) Members will read and critique Wendy and Reggie’s work. They will be posted on the website. Also, critique Alaina’s work on the site. She won’t be at the summer meetings, but she still wants your input.

2) Members will bring ideas, materials, and sources to every meeting.

3) Rush and Giulio will bring their work to hand-out for June discussion/critique – 6/8/10.

Minutes from 3-9-10 Meeting

Attendance: Delia, Wendy, Reggie Alaina, Giulio, Bill, Holly, Sandy

I. Critique: We discussed Delia’s work. Everyone enjoyed it and gave her helpful suggestions. Giulio read the poem he posted on our website and we discussed poetry.

II. Learned: We briefly looked at Donald Maass’s book and workbook, “Writing the Breakout Novel.” The last half hour, we came up with a prompt, wrote, and shared our work. We had lots of laughs and we plan to do that more often.

III. Book Suggestions:

- Postcards From No Man’s Land by Aidan Chambers.

- The River Wife by Jonis Agee.

IV. For Next Meeting on April 13th, 2010, 7-9 PM:

1) Members will read Reggie’s and Jeremy’s work. It will be posted on the website, so you can enjoy it and critique it even though you can’t attend the meeting.

2) Members will bring ideas, materials, and sources to every meeting.

3) Alaina and Wendy will bring and handout their work for May’s critique discussion - 5/11/10.

Minutes from 2-16-10 Meeting (courtesy of Sandy)

Attendance: Holly, Sandy, Reggie, Jeremy, Delia (The snow kept others away.)

I. Critique:

-Discussed the work that was handed out last month from Sandy and Holly. Everyone had helpful suggestions. If you didn?t attend the meeting, you can still let Sandy and Holly know your thoughts on their work via the forums.

II. Learned:

- Ywriter - Helpful writing tool. It has an outline format.

- Sandy & Jeremy will add contest information to the website.

III. Book Suggestions:

- Little Bee by Chris Cleave

- The Help by Kathryn Stockett

- The Blue Zones by Dan Buetner

- Turnip Blues by Helen Campbell

- Anything from Robert Jordan

- The Descent by Jeff Long

- Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt

IV. For Next Meeting on March 9th, 2010, 7-9 PM:

1) Members will read Delia?s work. It will be emailed to members, that weren?t at the meeting, so they can also join in the discussion next month.

2) Holly will let us know if Linda?s work will also be distributed for next month?s discussion.

3) Members will bring ideas, materials, and sources to every meeting.

4) Reggie and Jeremy will bring their work to handout for April discussion.

Sandy's Minutes from 1-12-10 Meeting

Attendance: Holly, Sandy, David, Bob, Jim, Reggie, Eric, Alaina, Delia, Charlie, Linda.

I. Introductions: We learned that the group is writing - History, Memoirs, Non-Fiction, and Fiction. Some joined the group for motivation and inspiration. Others joined for networking and the art of writing. We are unique because - One of us was: On “The Wheel of Fortune” show, Cannot roll their eyes, Experienced “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” 30 times, and Found their spouse on EHarmony.

II. Brainstorming: We plan to do some of the following during the second half of our meetings:   (Change it up – always something different.)

- Discuss: Our writing process, How to get un-stuck, and Different genres.

- Share: Networks, Contest Information, and Speakers.

- Writing Exercises: Use prompts and Explore different areas of writing.

III. Learned:

- Editing software: Editor.com and Style Writer.

- Publishing: Outskirtspress.com and Lulu.com.

- Books: The Foxfire Series, The Devotional Life Handbook by D. David Fink, Nine Lives of Clemenza by Holly Christine, Finding Water, and Inspired Writing.

IV. For Next Meeting: on Tuesday, February, 9th, 2010, 7-9 PM:

1) Members will read and respond to Sandy and Holly’s work. (It will also be posted in the forums.) It will be discussed during the first hour of the February meeting.

2) Members will bring ideas, materials, and sources to every meeting. (They can also post them on the website.)

3) Use RSVP button on website for February meeting.

4) Delia and Linda will bring their work to hand out for the March discussion.