Tag Archives: writing cafe

Weekly Writing Prompt — April 23, 2014

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Writers!

Wow! We’ve had a busy writing-centered week. Love it. Poetry on Monday. Work shop on Tuesday. And tonight is Writers Cafe at Jay Berry’s.
Congratulations on a great event on Monday! The library seemed fairly happy with the participation — both from poet and audience. Feels good!
Last night’s workshop helped our authors focus in on what to do and not to do to be a better candidate for an agent to notice:  Do’s and Don’ts and things to do before you knock on the agent’s door. Now, go get ’em gang!
Our May 13th workshop will be on Finding Time for Writing. Over the past few months at workshops and cafes I keep hearing folks make a comment about writing time getting pushed down in the priority list. We’ll go over strategies to make time for writing, juggling your writing needs and family/work/community responsibilities. For some it will be a repeat, but it seems we all need it, including myself. I also have learned a few more things that I will share with you during this time as well. Oh, and we’ll also write.
There is some desire from the groups for me to repeat the “Solidifying Your Online Presence” work shop. So, I’m going to put that on the calendar for May 27th.
Our first June workshop, June 10, will be on critiquing. Be prepared to bring a few copies of one of your short stories, sample chapter, or a few poems (not more than 5 pages) to exchange with a couple of the group. Remember, we practice a creative safe zone tactics. Don’t know what that is? Then plan to be at this work shop.
Please put these dates on your calendar and be there. As always, 6 p.m. at the North Bend Library meeting Room, until about 7:30. Last night we went over a bit, but dealing with agents is kind of intense. 🙂 I’m always happy to stay later (we have the room until 8) to answer questions.
Today’s prompt is a straight-up prompt getting you to just pause and get words down.
Start your piece based upon this sentence:  The janitor finds something interesting in the accountant’s waste basket.
Go.
Write.
Don’t just stare at the screen, go write. After you write you can get your Moment of Writing Zen:
“You need three things to become a successful novelist: talent, luck and discipline. Discipline is the one element of those three things that you can control, and so that is the one that you have to focus on controlling, and you just have to hope and trust in the other two.”

 

― Michael Chabon

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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

Weekly Writing Prompt — Dec. 11, 2013 Edition

Weekly Writing Prompt, , , ,

happyholidaysFabulous Writers!

Greetings from all holiday goodness and then some!
Today I greet you for the last time for 2013. SnoValley Writes! Weekly Writing Prompt will be going on holiday hiatus until 2014. You’ll get a writing prompt vacation until January 8; with our first of 2014 workshop coming on January 14.
As has been tradition lately, I want you to just let your mind wander and marinate on what your writing goals for 2014 may want to be. Our next prompts in the new year will help you target in on what is most important and work towards that. But now is not a time to do — now is a time to think. Thinking is a part of the writing process, and sometimes we need to schedule in that time.
Given that the holidays are super busy for many of us, this is a good time to do just that:  think. Think while you’re wrapping gifts, while you’re looking at holiday lights, while you’re doing the holiday dinner dishes….Take a bubble bath and just think.
What are your writing goals?
What do you most want to accomplish?
What do you most need to accomplish?
Why?
How?
Who’s help might you need to elicit? Another writer? An agent? An editor?
When do you want to accomplish the goals by? (Keep in mind what you do and don’t have control over for this question…)
Think about all of those things in between the holiday busyness. Take notes if you can (I have a great app on my phone that means I can take notes and thoughts down any time I want…).
Don’t be surprised if new ideas come to you. Just jot them down. You don’t have to act on them. Thinking mode can do a lot of things to recharge your creativity — for many of you, you will find that following NaNoWriMo and the efforts to meet your 2013 goals, you’re going to need this “just thinking” time.
Am I saying to stop working? No. If you need or want to work on a project, do that. I’m just suggesting you take time to just think and not do at least for a little bit of time between now and January 8. This is a time to examine our writing life, is all. In every endeavor, you need to take time to measure, assess, and see what’s good, what needs improvement, and formulate a plan of attack for the next phase/goal.
Writing Cafe’s will continue through the holidays, to keep that connection that is so important, too. The Wednesdays of Christmas and New Year’s however, the Sawdust evening will not take place. Our meeting spots will be closed, and well, yes, we’re all hoping you have other plans those days. Look for your reminders as normal. Those who have children who will be home for the holidays, it’s not uncommon for one of our writers to bring them along and have them work on sketching, their own writing, or even (gasp!) homework so you can catch a cafe over the holiday break. So, hope to see you.
I’ll be thinking of all of you…hoping you’re thinking!
Now your moment of Writing Zen:
“I like to compare the holiday season with the way a child listens to a favorite story. The pleasure is in the familiar way the story begins, the anticipation of familiar turns it takes, the familiar moments of suspense, and the familiar climax and ending.” ~Fred Rogers 

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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