Rachel Britz spoke at our September meeting. She graciously agreed to summarize her thoughts on blogging. My blogging journey began 8 years ago. And like many good things it fell right into my lap. It was during a season that I was being awakened to a God-sized dream of writing and speaking. I had a pastor who came alongside me and helped me hone in and develop this dream. He gave me several opportunities to share an encouraging message at church and with our women’s program. Our June meeting was an outing to the Wabasha Street Caves in Saint Paul where gansters once reigned supreme. Erica Vetch wrote a great blog about it, so click over to Coffee Cups and Camisoles to read all about it.
Julie Klassen put together a wonderful summary of Jennifer Parker's time with us about cover design at our April meeting. Please check it out on her blog. Jennifer is a cover designer with Bethany, hired by our own Julie when she worked there. She took us through the process from concept through photoshoot to final approval. Thank you, Jennifer.
MN-NICE ACFW October 2015 - - Delores Topliff
“Why do writers write? Because it isn’t there.” ~ American novelist, Thomas Berger (1924-) Creating a scene is like setting up camera shots, or combining elements and style for paintings: Writing Styles: Simple Realism (literal and concrete) - Grandma Moses, Andrew Wyeth
In several Minnesota NICE meetings we have heard references to the Scrivener writing program. Some people seem to be intimidated by its huge capabilities. But you don’t have to use all of them to find the program useful. I am by no means an authority, but I love what I can do with Scrivener. In our August Minnesota NICE meeting I led members through a hands-on session to get to know Scrivener and hopefully get over their confusion. Obviously, this blog won’t work for a hands-on session, but perhaps I can start you on your way.
Pat Trainum (who writes as Patricia Bradley) was the speaker for our May meeting. Here are her notes on plotting and planning. Are you a Plotter or Panster or Tweener? Plotter: Outlines every scene, labels them action/reaction, has an Excel spreadsheet listing each scene, has ever plot point (turning point) fixed. That’s not to say his characters can’t suddenly surprise him and take the story in another direction, but when it does, he goes back and re-outlines. Her joy comes in the outlining. This is where she discovers her story. |
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