Julie R. Neidlinger: Lone Prairie Art and Writing

Writing: An article, an assignment and some recommendations.

written by Julie R. Neidlinger 0 comments link this post

The most recent meeting of the Lake Region Writers' Group was small (three regular members and a visitor) but productive.

First, we told ourselves how awesome we were for finishing up NaNo (four out of five of us did it, and that's none to shabby). One member even printed out the certificate that NaNo made available to those who had complete their 50,000 word novels and had it laminated. I'm going to have mine embedded in a brass placque and hung outside my door.

No, I'm not. But I am still reveling in pride over my personal triumph.

Newspaper article: In talking about the past month of frantic writing, we decided that I would write a short article for the local newspaper telling them about NaNo. You can read the article here (MS Word format, click on NaNo Article.doc).

Homework assignment: We also decided that I would email out a "homework" assignment to all the members of our group, not only the people that show up for meetings but also the many members of our Yahoo! group who are unable to come to our meetings. I decided I would also email the same "homework" assignment to my own Lone Prairie Group and see what kind of response I could get. If you decide to take part and are unable to make it to a meeting of the Lake Region Writers' Group, I encourage you to leave your written efforts in the comments section of this blog post.

Think of it as attending the writers' group by proxy. Anyway, here's the assignment. If you're reading this, whether you're a member of any of these groups or not, you are more than welcome to give them a try!

1. The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest: Basically, bad writing is rewarded. Check out their website for more information on the details. It's fairly self-explanatory and our group will be working on this for the next few months. The official contest deadline is mid-April, but we are asking members of our group (and non-members, too!) to either bring a few samples to the next meeting or post them here, in the comments section. Write both a worst opening line and a best opening line.

2. Write the best opening "hook" paragraph of a story or novel. There is a 250 word limit on this paragraph. Basic goal? Hook your reader big time in the first paragraph.

Book recommendations: Various members of the writing group bring books and other materials to meetings if they think others might find them useful. You can download a list of these books at the writers' group site or at my own Lone Prairie group site. (MS Word format, click on LRWG Book Recommendations.doc)