PAW PRINTS
The Professional and Amateur Writers' Society
Kelli McBride, Editor April 1999
Volume 5 Issue 4
GREETINGS!
Kelli McBride
Though it’s National Poetry Month, I’m not devoting
this issue to poetry. Instead, you’ll find a plethora of contest
and market information. I’ve also found a lengthy but informative
article about characterization. The writer is a sci-fi author, but
his ideas are applicable to any genre. The topic also goes well with
what Pat has planned for us this month.
Our own Elaine Wells has contributed a piece on
recycling ideas, and I’ve found an interesting article on using your writing
skills to become a publicist.
There’s still time to register for OWFI. If
you can’t attend the conference, considering coming to the award’s banquet
on Saturday night. In past years, PAWS has made a good showing and
I’m hoping this year will be bountiful for us.
Would the person who indicated he/she would like
to write book reviews contact me? Paw Prints articles and news are
due April 5th.
Presidential Reflections
Linda Goodnight
Happy April to all! By the time you read this,
Easter will have come and gone, and spring will, hopefully, be well entrenched.
If you missed last month's meeting, you missed
a fine opportunity for research. Mike M------, a Prague policeman,
was our guest speaker. Characterizing the cop as a contradiction,
Mike gave us excellent insight into the personality types that make good
policemen. In fact, his talk was so well received that we expect
to have him back again some time. We asked so many questions, and
received so many good answers, that he didn't have time to share as much
as we wanted to hear.
We all owe a giant thank you to our esteemed
treasurer, Karen Anderson. With the executive board's approval, she
single-handedly obtained sponsors for every category of our upcoming contest.
Of course, we also must pay homage to the generous merchants of Prague.
In addition, Karen has been working herself silly obtaining judges and
speakers for the contest/conference. The woman is a whirlwind!
The OWFI Conference in Oklahoma City is just
around the corner - the first Friday and Saturday in May. If you're
planning to attend, be sure and mention it at our next meeting. Those
who are going will want to cut costs by sharing rooms. This is a
great opportunity to hob-nob with published writers, editors, and agents,
and to really get fired-up about your writing.
Hope to see you at the meeting.
PAWS’
1999 OFFICERS
President
Vice-President
and Program Chair
Secretary
Treasurer
Historian/Reporter
Paw
Prints Editor
OWFI
Representatives
Research
Historian (Honorary) |
Linda Goodnight
Pat Millette
Doris Novotny
Karen Anderson
Elaine Carmen Wells
Kelli McBride
Linda Goodnight and Kelli McBride
Lorraine Stone |
Member
News And Reminders
Lorraine Stone is recovering nicely from her stay in
the hospital. We’re thrilled to have her back at the meetings.
Elaine Wells has rescinded her resignation as Reporter/Historian.
Things are looking up, and she will have time for these positions after
all. This is great news for those of us who know what a great job
she does.
On April 11th, the Executive Board met at Western
Sizzlin’ in Seminole to discuss the newsletter survey, conference, and
contest. We received @10 surveys in the mail. Most everyone
is happy with the newsletter. One of the changes that will be made
is the font size. It will be larger to accommodate those with vision
problems. Several people commented that they’d like to see more member
news, but the editor cannot report what isn’t there. It is up to
each member to get information to the editor in a timely fashion.
Each newsletter has the deadline for the next issue in the “Greetings”
column. If you have any information that the club needs to know,
then send it along. As always, if you have any specific suggestions,
send those along as well, or see me at the meeting. If you want,
just jot things on a piece of paper and hand it to me.
Program
Notes
Pat
Millette
At the April meeting, I’m going to put you to
work. We are going to develop a ficitonal character after a brief
workshop on “sources of character and portraying a character.”
We will take 15 minutes to write trying to
show live characters through action and dialogue, not telling about them.
I look forward to seeing you.
SELL YOUR WRITING AS A PUBLICIST
Barbara Chabai <blchabai@lonet.ca>
Self-employed writers can easily have healthy sideline businesses
as publicists, in addition to regular writing duties. In fact, if you have
ever written a query letter, you have already slipped into the togs. A
well-penned query, like a publicist's press release, is designed to sell
a story to an editor by enunciating the extraordinary traits of your idea
and how the story affects the intended publication's readers. Press
releases, whether originating from a global corporation or a non-profit
organization, are sharply written to pierce news editors' short attention
spans, to give their missive the best shot at reaching airtime or newsprint.
For the rest of this article,
click here.
Under
the Hood: RECYCLING
Elaine Wells
Linda Goodnight once mentioned
that she had decided to write her confession stories geared to holidays
in order to get speedier responses from editors. After having sold
my first confession ( the editor had it for 16 months before buying it),
I was eager to sell more. So, as I drove my hour commute to work
one night, I mentally ran through all the holidays I could think of.
When I got to Christmas, I thought of the
Christmas story contest PAWS had had several years ago. Suddenly
I realized that both the stories I had written for that contest could be
expanded and rewritten as confession stories. I was excited to realize
that I all ready had two stories that would take very little work to prepare
and submit.
Then I remebered some of the writing exercises
I had participated in throughout the years. Some of these, too, could
be fleshed out and submitted. Some were little more than character
sketches or ideas, but I knew I could use them.
My point? Save those little bits we
write in our efforts to learn our craft. Many will have potential,
perhaps not as confessions, but maybe as a secondary character or subplot
in a longer work. When editing, save characters, lines of dialogue,
or plots that must be scrapped for one reason or another and recycle them
when you are stuck for an idea. One of them may be just the spark
you need to write that best-seller.
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