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July Writers’ Meeting

Hi Everyone,
Today we held our July meeting. The next meeting will be on Sunday, August 18, 2013 at Bella Caffe in Park Rapids MN from 12:30 to 3 PM.

PRESENT: Mike, Marion, Jerry, Marlys, Sharon, Penny.

TALKING STICK 22: We have ordered the proof for TS22. It will arrive Monday and we will then order our big batch of books. Lots of people helped with reading this year’s book because Sharon was behind schedule. Thank you!

TS22 BOOK RELEASE PARTY AND WORKSHOP: The planned date for these two events is Sept. 21, 2013. We are going to verify this date one more time with Blueberry Pines. Then the flyers will be sent out for these two events–SOON! Sorry for the delay on getting these out.

WRITERS’ EVENTS: Last week was the week-long Writers’ Conference in Bemidji. Marlys attended the poetry class all week and enjoyed it immensely. Sharon went to the reading by Ron Carlson Monday evening with Marlys. Will Weaver was there to introduce Ron and we also saw Marsh Muirhead of Bemidji. The reading was so enjoyable. Ron Carlson is such an entertaining speaker. He read two or three of his poems and a short story. He has many books out, including The Signal and Ron Carlson Writes a Story. He also teaches writing classes and he now has a poetry book out.
Nimrod 4 was another successful event at Jerry’s farm with Marge as the instructor. Good food, good instruction, good people, good writing. Jerry plans to do a memorial book again as he did last year, with Tarah’s assistance. He is waiting for the final submissions of pictures and writings from the attendees.
Jerry plans to attend the next PRLAAC event at Armory Square in Park Rapids. It is on August 5th.
Penny will be attending the Madeline School of the Arts in September. The instructor will be Mary Carol Moore.

WRITING TIPS: Marlys shared a few of the ideas she learned in poetry classes this week. 1. Cutting up your poems is a good exercise. Move around the lines and the stanzas to see if it works better for you. 2. Twining two poems together to create a new poem can also be a good exercise. 3. Take one line of one of your already-written poems. Use that line to create a totally new poem. 4. Have the first reader for your poem or story (such as a friend or spouse) tell you not whether they liked it or not, but have them tell you what stands out. This will tell you if you need to make it more clear so they understand your objective. 5. Try this website: www.howapoemhappens.blogspot.com.

MISCELLANEOUS: Jerry would love to get more Loft instructors up in this area. We could sponsor a workshop and line up students if they would provide the instructor.

Many of our writers brought things they were working on and the rest of us gave helpful comments and suggestions. Hope to see you next time!