Introductions and Your Great News

• Congratulations, Jeanette Mendell for winning First Place in the PNWA Middle Grade Literary Contest for her story, “Kea Theif”!
• Well done, Kyle on being selected as a finalist in the PNWA Historical Literary Contest for his story, “From Acorns”!
• Other Great News? … ahem… Diana? Greg?

Marketing and Community Engagement:

• Wordherders: Multi-Author Reading Event(s)?
  • https://twitter.com/TheStorySuite/status/1162154655217930240
  • https://classes.bainbridgebarn.org/event-3545627
  • … Wordherders? Bookwalter? Library? Schools? …

Discussion:

• PNWA conference and master classes read out
• SCBWI conference read out
• SCBWI Revision Workshop read out
• NaNoWriMo and Strategies for Getting Unstuck
  • November is NAtional NOvel WRIting MOnth, or NaNoWriMo. NaNoWriMo is a great event for helping to dispel that inner editor that keeps us from getting words on paper. Aside from wanting to write All The Perfect Words, what other barriers do you face in writing? What is your best strategy for overcoming them?
  • Barriers
    • I am a perfectionist – I want to write All The Perfect Words.
    • I need to clean my desk, office, house, yard, neighborhood.
    • I can’t write because I’m too busy with my day job.
    • The middle of my story is bogged down.
    • Have you seen that beautiful weather outside?
    • Family.
    • Wedding, baby, move, travel, birthday, illness, injury …
    • My writing sucks.
    • I have to completely restructure what I’ve written so far, ugh.
    • Squirrels.
  • Strategies
    • Let yourself live your life.
    • Be gentle with yourself. As DJ Older says, writing begins with forgiveness.
    • NaNoWriMo.
    • Set aside your WIP and do some journaling or try a short story or poetry.
    • Ask your critique partners for help.
    • Writing prompts and games.
    • Try rewriting the hard part of your story in a different voice or point of view.
    • Spend time reading – in your subject area or specifically NOT in your subject area if you need a change of pace.
    • Spend time researching the science, setting, time period, culture of your WIP.
    • Sign up for a retreat or writing class.
    • Take a writing holiday: book an overnight stay and use the away time to focus.
    • Develop a self-editing list and go back over what you’ve already written.
    • Draft or revise your pitch letter for your WIP.
    • Draft or revise your author bio.
    • Update your author webpage.

Upcoming Events, Conferences and Workshops:

• NOTE: This is the Saturday before the next Wordherders meeting!
  10/12/2019, 9:30 am – 12:00 pm, Richland Public Library, At this Revision Workshop in Richland, Heidi Lang, Maureen McQuerry, and Steven Wallenfels will offer revision advice, then assist participants in small groups. Whether you’re revising after a critique, getting your post-conference submissions polished, finishing a draft, or looking for a fresh perspective, these authors, along with our supportive writing community, will help you dig into the work of revision. Bring up to 500 words from your Middle Grade or Young Adult novel, along with your revision questions for this 2.5-hour workshop. $15 SCBWI members; $18.00 non-members. Register: https://inlandnw.scbwi.org/events/richland-revision-workshop
• 10/15/2019, 6:30 pm, Kennewick Library, 1620 South Union Street; Rosann Ferris: “Life in Iran Before and During the Iranian Revolution of 1978-79”
• 10/16/2019, 5:15 pm, Shut Up and Write! Tri-Cities Meetups – This group is dedicated to writing, in a social environment. Check their webpage for the location of the Wednesday October 16 Meetup.
• 11/9/2019, 2:30 – 4:00 pm, Richland Public Library Gallery Tri-Cities Writers Social with Pie! Instead of our usual November Wordherders meeting, we will be partnering with SCBWI Inland Northwest, Shut Up and Write! Tri-Cities, and Randy’s Reel wRiters* to host a community social with any and all writers in the Tri-Cities. With pie. Come. Also, bring pie.*I made this up. It refers to Randy LaBarge and other local screenwriters.

Next Meeting:

• Reminder: no regular meeting in November.
• Next meeting: December 9, 2019, with discussion on using themes in your writing.