This is arriving in your mail box a day late. My apologies. I was trying to ferret out some information and it was taking me longer than I would have preferred.

The workshop on Tuesday was a lot of inspirational fun. I hope that many of you can plan to join us on the 28th and then head post-haste from that to the FreeValley Publishing Round Table at Boxley’s.

Also, grants, submissions, and contests, notably the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards, were discussed on Tuesday. I found that the 2014  ABNA contest has not opened yet and Amazon has, as of today, not planned to cancel it. So, finish up your pitches and everything else and get ready for it. In the meantime, here’s a link to some more contests and calls for submissions you might be interested in.

Today’s prompt is continuing on our Poor Man’s MFA plan. This prompt will take you over several weeks, so you need to be committed.

Good writers are readers.

Your prompt today is to find a novel, any novel, and read it like a writer. Have a notebook handy. As you read, make notes of the mechanics of the book:  genre, point of view, and length. Then be sure to acknowledge phrases and word choices that you like. Rewrite them so they are ingrained in your brain. Look for the character development, where is the conflict, what does the character want, what’s in the character’s way? What are the plot points/devices? Make notes as you read. Not just in your head, but in a notebook. Get a fresh one if you like, or just stick this exercise in your daily morning pages journal.

Next week we’ll be looking at even more things from the book because you’re going to write a critique/review of it.

And now your moment of Writing Zen:

“I’ve put in so many enigmas and puzzles that it will keep the professors busy for centuries arguing over what I meant, and that’s the only way of insuring one’s immortality.”  ~James Joyce

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What did you Write today?
~Casz

Casondra Brewster
Moderator/Founder
Sno Valley Writes!
Helping Writers Reach New Literary Peaks Since 2008
http://www.snovalleywrites.org
Check us out on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/SnoValleyWrites

“But words are things, and a small drop of ink,
Falling, like dew upon a thought, produces
That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.” ~ Lord Byron