Agenda for February 13, 2017 *** Richland Public Library Conference Room A *** Program: Introductions (as needed). Your Great News: Who queried / got accepted / published / agented last month? Discussion: Amazon Worlds, DeeAnna Galbraith Discussion: Where Story Begins - Premise, by Michael Tabb Discussion: Posting News and Events to the Wordherders site, Barbara Seiders Questions: Your writing projects, successes, questions and/or lessons learned? Announcements: Allen Johnson is seeking readers for his new novel, Spike, Benny,…

Agenda for 3/13/2017 *** Richland Public Library Conference Room A *** Program: Introductions Your Great News: Who queried? Got accepted? Published? Signed with an Agent? Discussion: Your NaNo Novel Is a Hot Mess! How to Edit Your Book Discussion: Editing Your Book: What Else? Discussion: Good Grammar: Pet Peeves and Bad Habits Announcements: Upcoming Events, Conferences and Workshops: Next Meeting: 4/10/2017

Program: Introductions Your Great News: Who queried? Got accepted? Published? Signed with an Agent? Discussion: Promotions, discussion by DeeAnna Galbraith Discussion: How to Critique, discussion by Betsy Dickinson Discussion: The Nazi-Holocaust Survivor Romance Novel You Weren't Waiting For, by Katherine Locke Discussion: Is My Novel Offensive? by Katy Waldman Discussion: Sensitivity Reader Database, http://writeinthemargins.org/sensitivity-readers Announcements: Sell books at Adventures Underground 10th Anniversary Block Party? Yes! Friday June 2nd “Market Night” from 4pm-9pm, which…

Program: Introductions. Your Great News: Who queried / got accepted / published / agented / produced last month? Discussion: Surviving Nearly There Discussion: Surviving Nearly There Listening to Podcasts Story Grid Podcast - the ins and outs of what makes a story great. Wooden Overcoats - humor; one publishing-related episode, "Random Mouse" Discussion: How Not to Open a Short Story; Darin Ramsey Discussion: Data Mining Reveals the Six Basic Emotional Arcs of Storytelling Discussion:…

Program: Introductions Your Great News: Who queried? Got accepted? Published? Signed with an Agent? Discussion: Installing PrintFriendly extension on your browser https://www.printfriendly.com/extensions/chrome Note tabs for browsers other than Chrome Discussion: How Not to Open a Short Story; Darin Ramsey Discussion: In Which Steve Lays Bare His Soul and Shares Editor Comments with Us; Steve Wallenfels (Maybe Maureen too? I can't find my notes from the June meeting.) Discussion:  How to Find and Work with Beta…

Agenda Program: Introductions Your Great News: Who queried? Got accepted? Published? Signed with an Agent? Discussion: On Writing Memoire; Rosann Ferris Discussion: In Which Steve Lays Bare His Soul and Shares Editor Comments with Us; Steve Wallenfels  Discussion: TBD Announcements: Upcoming Events, Conferences and Workshops: 8/18 – 20/2017 Rivers of Ink Conference; riversofink.org 9/16/2017 - Inland Northwest SCBWI Conference, "Plot Your Course"; https://inlandnw.scbwi.org/events/plot-your-course-2017-inland-northwest-conference Next Meeting:  9/11/2017

Agenda Program: Introductions Your Great News: Who queried? Got accepted? Published? Signed with an Agent? Discussion: Levels of Conflict Discussion: Storytelling Strategies: Spotlighting Inner Conflict Discussion:  The Key Ingredient for Dramatic Tension–Understanding the Antagonist Announcements: Upcoming Events, Conferences and Workshops: Next Meeting:  10/9/2017

Program: Introductions Your Great News: Who queried? Got accepted? Published? Signed with an Agent? Discussion: Dialog and Subtext Discussion: Query Letters Part 1: The Pitch Discussion: Why Book PR Can Have the Most Impact BEFORE You Land An Agent Announcements: Upcoming Events, Conferences and Workshops: Next Meeting: 11/13/2017

Program: Introductions Your Great News: Who queried? Got accepted? Published? Signed with an Agent? Discussion: I Talked to 150 Writers and Here’s the Best Advice They Had Discussion: NaNoWriMo Pep Talk by Daniel Jose Older Discussion: NaNoWriMo Pep Talk by Roxane Gay Discussion: The Essential Ingredient Of Hard Choices Announcements: Upcoming Events, Conferences and Workshops: Next Meeting:  12/11/2017

Program: Introductions Your Great News: Who queried? Got accepted? Published? Signed with an Agent? Discussion: Interior Monologue Interior Monologue, by Richard Nordquist; The Complete Guide to Interior Monologue; Inner monologue examples: Writing characters’ secret lives Discussion: Unreliable Narrator Truth and lies in fiction—how to write an unreliable narrator, by Arlene Prunkl The 9 Types Of Unreliable Narrator, by Amanda Patterson 8 Tips to Writing Unreliable Narrators, by Deb Caletti Announcements: Upcoming Events,…

Program: Introductions Your Great News: Who queried? Got accepted? Published? Signed with an Agent? Discussion: Novel characters: 15 top character creation tips Discussion: 25 Things A Great Character Needs, by Chuck Wendig Discussion:  Legendary, by Donald Maass Announcements: C. Mark Smith is looking for some advice from the herd: I have a question for the group.  I’m trying to get their advice on what in their opinion are the best days of…

Program: Introductions Your Great News: Who queried? Got accepted? Published? Signed with an Agent? Discussion: Why Genre Matters, by Cathy Yardley Discussion: Going Deep, by Shawn Coyle Discussion: Genre Obligatory Scenes, by Shawn Coyle Discussion:  Storygrid Clover Info Graph, by Shawn Coyle Announcements: Upcoming Events, Conferences and Workshops: Next Meeting: 3/12/2018

Program: Introductions Your Great News: Who queried? Got accepted? Published? Signed with an Agent? Discussion: Going Deeper, Steve Wallenfels - Steve will discuss how to dig below the surface and find the points of tension, detail, and character development that strengthen your writing.  He calls it "the difference between going long and going deep". Discussion: Self-Editing Tips; Betsy Dickinson Resource: Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition: How to Edit Yourself Into Print, by by Renni Browne and‎ Dave…

Program: Introductions Your Great News: Who queried? Got accepted? Published? Signed with an Agent? Discussion: Wordherders Marketing 101 The document at the link has a summary from Donelle Knudsen who gathered many of the things she does to advertise her books, supplemented by other activities from articles from other authors. For our meeting Monday, do four things: Bring examples to share of the swag and materials you (or your agent and/or publisher)…

  Program: Introductions Your Great News: Who queried? Got accepted? Published? Signed with an Agent? Discussion: More Wordherders Marketing 101, or Book Barking Tips and Tricks At our April meeting, we talked about marketing strategies, thanks to Donelle Knudsen for sharing with us some of the techniques and tactics she uses, along with ideas from other authors. For our May meeting, I am planning something a little different. First, I have been *a little under the…

Program: Introductions Your Great News: Who queried? Got accepted? Published? Signed with an Agent? Has a book announcement soon? Discussion: Using Brandnames in Fiction http://www.betternovelproject.com/blog/trademarks http://publishlawyer.com/using-trademarks-in-fiction Possible Issues: Infringement Tarnishment or Defamation Dilution Discussion: What About Naming People? Using Real People, Places, And Corporations In Your Fiction – How Real Can You Get And Not Be Sued? https://www.sidebarsaturdays.com/2017/08/05/httpwp-mep7vddb-us Defamation and Libel Defenses against defamation and libel Truth Opionion Parody and Satire Invasion…

Program: Introductions Your Great News: Who queried? Got accepted? Published? Signed with an Agent? Has a book announcement soon? Discussion: Basics of Point of View; https://www.janefriedman.com/point-of-view or formatted for printing here (click to open before printing): https://www.wordherders.com/?attachment_id=1825 Discussion: Make Your Narrative Voice Sing; http://www.writersdigest.com/qp7-migration-all-articles/qp7-migration-fiction/make_your_narrative_voice_sing or formatted for printing here (click to open before printing): https://www.wordherders.com/?attachment_id=1827 Discussion: Define Your Characters Voice; http://www.well-storied.com/blog/how-to-define-your-characters-unique-voice or formatted for printing here (click to open before printing): https://www.wordherders.com/?attachment_id=1826 Announcements: Future topics: Expanding Your Writing…

At our meeting last month, several Herders practiced their pitches for our panel of pretend agents. Many thanks to Maureen McQuerry, Steve Wallenfels, and our old friend Randy LaBarge for serving as our panel. They may have been pretending to be agents, but the advice they provided was the real deal. Thanks especially to Maureen who described the elements of a good pitch. I'm not 100% sure, but I think the article…

Program: Introductions Your Great News: Who queried? Got accepted? Published? Signed with an Agent? Discussion: Wordherders Marketing Discussion: Reading Wordherders Announcements: We will not have a Wordherders meeting for November, as the Richland Public Library will be closed for observance of Veterans Day on November 11, 2018. Our next meeting will be December 10, 2018. Upcoming Events, Conferences and Workshops: Mid-Columbia Libraries The Curator Is In...; Oct. 4 from 12 to 6…

Program: Introductions Your Great News: Who queried? Got accepted? Published? Signed with an Agent? Discussion: Wordherders Survey Results Discussion: Top 5 Developmental Issues by Naomi Hughes Discussion: Scene Craft by Naomi Hughes Marketing: What’s Up? Announcements: Upcoming Events, Conferences and Workshops: Next Meeting: January 14, 2019

Program: Introductions Your Great News: Who queried? Got accepted? Published? Signed with an Agent? Survived Snowpocalypse? Discussion: Cindy Shaw, SCBWI Inland NW Local Coordinator for the Tri-Cities and Walla Walla Discussion: "Writing What You Don’t Believe" by David Corbett Marketing: What’s Up? Last year, DeeAnna Galbraith rented a stall at the Richland Farmers Market to sell her books. She was kind enough to point out that if any of the Wordherders are…

Let's continue with the fundamentals - this month we'll discuss some basic building blocks of story telling: sentence structure and action/reaction sequences. And if we have time at the end, maybe we'll have a little grammar trivia from the new book, Dreyer's English, by the copy chief of Random House, Benjamin Dreyer. Program: Introductions Your Great News: Who queried? Got accepted? Published? Signed with an Agent? Resources: Recent Guardian article on Piracy: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/mar/06/i-can-get-any-novel-i-want-in-30-seconds-can-book-piracy-be-stopped Discussion: Sentence…

Program: Introductions Your Great News: Who queried? Got accepted? Published? Signed with an Agent? Discussion: Seven Ways to Create a Killer Opening Line for Your Novel, by Brian A. Klems; https://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/7-ways-to-create-a-killer-opening-line-for-your-novel; The First Five Lines, by Donald Maass; https://writerunboxed.com/2019/05/01/the-first-five-lines Discussion: Writing Advice from Matt Stone & Trey Parker (re the lines in between) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGUNqq3jVLg Discussion: Writing Closing Lines in Novels; https://www.novel-writing-help.com/writing-closing-lines.html; Three Tips on How to End a Story; https://blog.reedsy.com/how-to-end-a-story Discussion: Examples of First Lines, Last…

Program: The setting for your story can establish the mood; ground your scenes; carry the plot; act like a character; provide continuity - or discontinuity - across multiple points of view; and/or convey change over time. In The Martian by Andy Weir, the setting dominates the story. In The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, the "black-and-white-with-an-occasional-shock-of-red" setting grounds the story and adds to the mysterious mood. In Maureen's book, Between Before and After, I like that she uses New York…

Program: This month's topic will be a discussion of the creative process. How do we go from the idea of a story to a finished manuscript? What's your process? For those of you who have written or are writing more than one book, how has your process evolved? In her article, "A Snapshot of My Writing Process" Cathy Yardley describes using a variety of tools - Word, Excel, Post-It Notes, a timer,…

Introductions Name What you write How you write it (e.g. genre) Why you write News to Celebrate: Your Great News: Who queried? Got accepted? Published? Signed with an Agent? 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? Water2Wine Cruise? ... ... Possible themes? Appropriate events? Announcements: Shut Up and Write! Tri-Cities Meetups - This group meets every Wednesday, from 5:15 pm to 6:45 pm, at different locations around…

Introductions and Your Great News Marketing and Community Engagement Lenora Good invites us to join her and her friend, Lynn Small Knapp, for a book signing, Saturday, December 14, from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm at Walla Walla’s Book and Game on the corner of First and Main. She will be signing two of her books, Madame Dorion: Her Journey to the Oregon Country, a historical novel about Marie Dorion who crossed overland…

Introductions and Your Great News Marketing and Community Engagement Discussion This month, we'll spend time preparing for readings of our books. Whether for schools, book stores, or special groups, reading your work is a great way to get the word out and make sales! Lucinda Etienne, who is active in Toastmasters, will share with us some principles and practices for public speaking to help when we stand up in front of an audience and read. In…

Introductions and Your Great News Marketing and Community Engagement Discussion Let's try this again! Since we cancelled last month thanks to the snow, we'll spend time this month preparing for readings of our books. Whether for schools, book stores, or special groups, reading your work is a great way to get the word out and make sales! Lucinda Etienne, who is active in Toastmasters, has agreed to come and share with us principles and practices…