Voice from the Grave

If you aren't already a follower of Abbie Johnson's blog, Abbie's Corner. I hope you will click on the first link below and hear her sing this beautiful song. She has a pure voice like a fresh mountain stream, clear as it ripples over smooth rocks. The song is haunting and touches me deeply.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/15213189/wherever%20you%20are.mp3

Visit Abbie's blog here:  https://abbiescorner.wordpress.com/2015/09/10/anniversary-gift/

You can now pay for classes with Paypal

Check the sidebar today. Something new has been added. 

You can now pay for classes with Paypal. If you usually order online with your Paypal account, you can now pay for classes at Writers Circle with your Paypal account.

Click on the button and the fee for Scott Owens' class appears. I hope this makes registration for classes much, much easier. If you have any problems, let me know.

I thank Karen Holmes who pushed me to get this done. I hope you all appreciate it and will use it.

Thank you, Karen, and thanks to all of you who support Writers Circle around the Table. Without you, we would not open the doors nor bring these excellent writers and teachers to our area in Western NC.

I really appreciate you.

Glenda

How Leadership Helps You as a Writer - Seven Tips

Leaders become influencers. Leaders pave the way for themselves and others.

If you are a writer, it is likely you don’t want the limelight. You work best in the quiet of your own space. You don’t need people around and you don’t want to be bothered. You are happy working on your book – whatever it may be.

But eventually you have to think about what you will do when the book is finished, published or ready to be read by the public. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could just mail the manuscript to someone who would take over and print it, promote it, sell it, and send you a big fat check each month? You could just write and write and never leave the house.

I see many writers who believe that is the life of an author. Sadly, that's one of the myths the public has believed for years. In today’s world the author must be seen and heard. The author is the one who markets his/her book.

Painless methods an author can use to reach an audience. Take on a role of leadership. Don’t volunteer for more than you feel comfortable doing, but try the following suggestions.

1. If there is a writing organization in your town or area, join and attend the events. If you don't feel you will gain any new knowledge, you will likely be surprised. You can offer encouragement and good advice. People will remember how you make them feel.
2. Find ways you can serve the organization – lead a critique group, become the helper to the leader, and if there is no job, make one, then do it.
3. Offer to do the publicity for your writing group. Write articles about the members and publish them in the local newspapers with your name listed as guest writer. Be the one to put your local literary group on the map. Use photos with each article.
4. Join your state literary group. Connect with the leadership and staff. Call or email and tell them that you appreciate their work for members. 
5. Become a mentor for beginning writers. Don’t fear being unprepared. If you have been writing long enough to complete a book manuscript, you know more than a fledgling wanna-be poet or writer.  
6. Hold an open mic event in a local coffee shop or book store once a month. Write an article for the local newspapers about who attends and who reads, and be sure to write about the event on social media. 
7. Promote other writers and poets on social media. Be generous with your appreciation and congratulations to writers you know. Send notes or emails when you hear of someone's successes. Write to authors and tell them how much you enjoy their books or stories you have read. In your signature on your email, be sure to list your position with your organization.

Karen Paul Holmes joined NCWN West after taking a poetry class taught by Nancy Simpson, original leader of NCWN West.

 Karen Paul Holmes now leads Writers Night Out, another writing group in Atlanta, and serves writers in North Georgia as NCWN representative. She is also a member of the Georgia Poetry Society. She schedules readings throughout the mountains and in Atlanta. Her first poetry book, Untying the Knot, was recently published, and the book is getting much-deserved attention. 

Karen connected with poets on Social Media who then offered to interview her and promote her book through their blogs and websites. Through NCWN Karen networked with other influential writers, too. Karen promotes other poets and supports literary organizations online. She is a perfect example of what I am writing about today. 

Writers today must build a reputation with the public in order to build a readership for their work. 

It is time to Register for Scott Owens' poetry class, The Stuff of Poetry, September 12, 2015

Scott Owens, Award winning poet, editor and teacher

September 12, 2015 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.     Fee: $35.00

Class description:
The Stuff of Poetry: This workshop will focus on creativity, originality, and imagery, answering the questions, "Where do we find the stuff for poetry?" "How do we know what to include?" and "How do we make it good?"

Participants should bring an object of "value" (something kept for years) with them, expect to generate several new ideas for writing, and expect to have their comfort zones challenged.

Scott Owens will read his poetry on Friday, 7:00 p.m. September 11, for Writers Night Out in Blairsville, GA.


Scott is originally from Greenwood, SC. He holds degrees from Ohio University, UNC Charlotte, and UNC Greensboro. He currently lives in Hickory, NC, where he teaches at Catawba Valley Community College, edits Wild Goose Poetry Review, owns and operates Taste Full Beans Coffeehouse and Gallery and serves as vice-president of the NC Poetry Society.
He is a Regional Representative of North Carolina Writers' Network, and Coordinator of Poetry Hickory. His 12th book of poetry, To, was released by Main Street Rag last year.

His work has received awards from the Academy of American Poets, the Pushcart Prize Anthology, the Next Generation/Indie Lit Awards, the NC Writers Network, the NC Poetry Society, and the Poetry Society of SC, and his articles about poetry have been featured in Poet’s Market twice.


Scott Owens
www.scottowenspoet.com                     www.ncpoetrysociety.org

To register, send check made to Glenda Beall. Mail to 581 Chatuge Lane, Hayesville, NC 28904

Copy registration form at top of page and include with your fee.

How to Write the Best Bio for your Guest Posts

We had the opportunity to learn from Tara Lynne Groth on Saturday so much about getting our names out there to the public, promoting our work online, and building the platform that will last. She talked about guest posting on blogs and how that enlarges your readership and builds your platform.

Today I read this blog post on How to Write a Bio that will Turbocharge Your Guest Posts.

I have been writing bios for years, but this article tells us what is important to include. We need to put links, use humor when we can and find a way in a few words to get readers of your guest blog to go to your home page to see who you are and what you do.

This is a post I will copy and keep for my own records. Let me know if you read it and what you think.

Thanks for reading this blog and I appreciate your responses either in the comments section or by email: glendabeall@msn.com 

Let Me Help You Tell Your Story

We had a terrific course of writing at Tri-County Community College, Murphy, NC back in the spring. We will begin another series of four classes on Tuesday, September 1, 6:00 p.m.  This is a two hour class in the Community Enrichment Program once each week and everyone can be home before it is dark.

These are some of the dedicated writers from my spring class, 2015 at Tri-County Community College

I can tell we will be writing interesting and informative true life stories as we always do in these classes. My students get excited about sharing their work and hearing answers to their questions. 

We write to learn about ourselves as well as tell about our loved ones.  We find the writing of others will trigger a memory we had long forgotten, and I see students grabbing pens to jot down those memories before they slip away like a wisp of smoke. That is what can happen to memories if you don't write them down.

I hope, if you have thought about taking a class on writing true life stories (non-fiction) about yourself, your family, your experiences, your war stories, your college stories, your stories that you want to tell someone, maybe your family and friends, or just to write because it is fun,  this is the class to take.

Email: glendabeall@msn.com with any questions 

or call Tri-County Community College in Murphy, NC (828) 835-4241 and ask for Lisa in the Community Enrichment Program.
Email her at: lthompson@tricountycc.edu 
She will explain registration procedure.

The Editors Blog has a cheat sheet for you.

I saw this article on The Editors Blog and I want to share it with everyone. Visit the link below or just google The Editors Blog. What are compound words and how do we use compound words? How do we write them? This blog offers a Cheat Sheet for those of us who struggle with "when to hyphenate" those words and when we do not.

http://theeditorsblog.net/2015/08/15/compound-words-using-this-cheat-sheet-is-not-cheating/

Don't Double Space at the End of a Sentence - here's why.

If you are a writer who still double spaces after a period, please read this post by Alice Osborn. 

In my classes I always find writers who learned in typing class to double space at the end of every sentence, but today in the computer world, we use only one space. I am asked why the change.

Alice, in a light-hearted, humorous way explains why. Check out her blog for many good tips on writing. 

What do I need to know to change from writing nonfiction to fiction?

I am a fan of Bobbie Christmas, editor of Zebra Communications, and author of excellent books on the writing craft. In one of Bobbie's newsletters she answered a question by a reader. She has given me permission to post that exchange here on Writers Circle around the Table. Thank you, Bobbie.

From newsletter by Bobbie Christmas

Q: I've been a freelance writer for magazines and newspapers for many
years, but I have a novel in my head, begging me to write it. I'm not
sure I can successfully switch from writing nonfiction to writing
fiction. What are some of the things I need to know?

A: Quick answer: everything.

Let me explain. I worked with newspapers and magazines for the first
twenty years of my writing and editing career, so I thought I knew
enough to write a novel. Boy, was I wrong! The best thing I did was
join a critique circle for novelists, and I quickly saw that I knew
almost nothing about how to write fiction. I knew a great deal about
how to form a strong sentence; I knew grammar, and I thought I knew
punctuation. Quickly I learned, however, that I had been using
punctuation, capitalization, and abbreviations standard in AP style,
whereas novels and nonfiction books call for Chicago style.
As a gift, my son gave me a copy of The Chicago Manual of Style, and I
went into overwhelm, because of the volume of the book. I didn't think
I could learn it all. I soon realized that I did not have to learn
everything, but I did need to look up specific things, when I wasn't
sure.

Members of my critique circle had been writing fiction much longer than
I had. I could help them when it came to grammar and strong sentence
structure, but they helped me tremendously with details of Chicago
style as well as the many elements of fiction. They made me aware of
point of view, setting scenes, scene changes, character development,
plot development, exposition, backstory, flashbacks, and much more that
I had never encountered as a writer and editor of newspaper and
magazine articles.

Go ahead and begin writing your novel, but find a good critique group
that concentrates on novels and get feedback and information from
members more knowledgeable in writing fiction.

In addition, pay attention while you read your favorite novelists and
see how they handle openings, chapters, flashbacks, backstory,
exposition, dialogue, scenes, character development, plot evolution,
climax, and denouement.

I also offer a lengthy free report on some of the differences between
AP style and Chicago style. It has good information for anybody not yet
fully familiar with Chicago style. Ask for Report #118 by e-mail
(Bobbie@zebraeditor.com), and I'll send it right away.

The switch from nonfiction to fiction isn't simple, but if your heart
is in writing a novel, you will enjoy entering a whole new world of
writing.    

(Bold fonts in post are mine. Glenda Beall)

Bobbie Christmas

Author of Write In Style: How to Use Your Computer to Improve Your Writing 

(To learn more, click here: http://tinyurl.com/o4trud2 )

Owner, Zebra Communications 

Excellent editing for maximum marketability

Coordinator, FWA Editors Helping Writers

230 Deerchase Drive, Woodstock, GA 30188

(1)770-924-0528 

www.zebraeditor.com 

Sign up for The Writers Network News, my free newsletter for writers, at www.zebraeditor.com.

                                 

Chat with a Poet on July 24

A few places are left in the class on Saturday, July 25, with Michael Diebert. 

Our space is limited to ten people in a class at Writers Circle around the Table, so contact me and send your fee for this most interesting class. See registration form at top of page. 

When Michael Diebert taught at Writers Circle a couple of years ago, his student evaluation sheets told me he was greatly appreciated for his work.

This class is especially interesting as it uses bits and pieces of old poems, parts that you have cut out of a poem or a line you really like, but didn't find a good way to use it.

I have many of those bits and pieces in my files and I am looking forward to seeing how I can bring them back to life, salvage them from the junk yard of used words. 

I am also looking forward to Michael's Chat with a Poet  at Joe's Coffee House, 82 Main Street, Hayesville, NC on Friday afternoon, July 24, 4:30 p.m.

We get to hear some of Michael's own poetry and talk with him about poetry, about how he selects poems for the Chattahoochee Review which he edits. Beginning poets will find his talk interesting and will be able to ask those questions you have been wondering about.

We will have some snacks furnished by Writers Circle and Joe's has great coffee and tea as well as a wine bar. There is no cost for the event, but Joe would like for you to pay for the coffee, tea or wine.