18 replies to this topic

[Joolissa]

Hey all!
I've been out of touch again, oops. I've not been keeping up with much online lately. How's everyone doing? What's going on in Storyist land?
- Jools

[Thoth]

Joolissa, on 03 November 2011 - 10:22 PM, said:

Hey all!
... How's everyone doing? What's going on in Storyist land?
- Jools

I'm fine. How are you Joolipoo?
-T

[Marguerite]

Hi, Julie G.,
Good to see you back. I have finished another draft of "Lynx" and am waiting for one last set of comments before shopping (I almost wrote schlepping, which seems all too appropriate) it to agents.

Meanwhile, I am preparing "The Not Exactly Scarlet Pimpernel" for e-publication—by early next year, I hope.

Then on to Lynx 2. And you?

We've missed you. I hope you were preoccupied by more than no power.

We were lucky in southeastern PA. You and Whirlybird took the brunt for the rest of us.
How are the animals?
M

[whirlybird]

Marguerite, on 04 November 2011 - 01:37 AM, said:

Hi, Julie G.,
Good to see you back. I have finished another draft of "Lynx" and am waiting for one last set of comments before shopping (I almost wrote schlepping, which seems all too appropriate) it to agents.

Meanwhile, I am preparing "The Not Exactly Scarlet Pimpernel" for e-publication—by early next year, I hope.

Then on to Lynx 2. And you?

We've missed you. I hope you were preoccupied by more than no power.

We were lucky in southeastern PA. You and Whirlybird took the brunt for the rest of us.
How are the animals?
M

HI Jools.

I'm fairly new here so it looks like we haven't met. It sounds like you one of the people who is so very helpful and nice to the newbies like me. M and T have been wonderful.

I live in outside of Reading and just got my electricity back. Are you close and did you lose power?

M-are you real close to Philly or closer to Reading?

-W

[Marguerite]

whirlybird, on 05 November 2011 - 12:54 AM, said:

HI Jools.

I'm fairly new here so it looks like we haven't met. It sounds like you one of the people who is so very helpful and nice to the newbies like me. M and T have been wonderful.

She is indeed. Thanks for the kind words.

whirlybird, on 05 November 2011 - 12:54 AM, said:

M-are you real close to Philly or closer to Reading?
-W

I live south of Philly Airport, about halfway between Philadelphia and Wilmington. We lost power for a couple of days last spring (I forget which hurricane that was), so I know what it's like. Irene and the latest mess were kind to us, though. (fingers crossed)

Do you know about PennWriters? Their conference often meets in Reading, although I've never attended one.
M

[whirlybird]

Marguerite, on 05 November 2011 - 03:50 PM, said:

She is indeed. Thanks for the kind words.


I live south of Philly Airport, about halfway between Philadelphia and Wilmington. We lost power for a couple of days last spring (I forget which hurricane that was), so I know what it's like. Irene and the latest mess were kind to us, though. (fingers crossed)

Do you know about PennWriters? Their conference often meets in Reading, although I've never attended one.
M

You're very welcome, M. The praise is richly deserved and those of you who are so generous with your time and assistance is another reason I love Storyist so much.

I used to live in Swarthmore and Media so I know a little of Delaware County and the Delaware Valley. Back then I had no idea where Reading was actually located.

Thanks for the heads up regarding PennWriters. I never heard of them before but will finding out more. They're last convention was in Lancaster which isn't too far away. Have you every attended any of their meetings, etc?

-W

[Marguerite]

I joined PennWriters for about two years. It costs about $50/year ($55 to join, $45 to renew). I found my writers' group through them. They put out a bimonthly newsletter, which is quite useful, and maintain various online groups that generate zillions of e-mails (not so much), including one on LinkedIn. I'll probably join again at some point, but I've never attended any of their meetings. How useful they are depends on where you are in the process, I think. A novelist friend of mine gave a presentation to one of them: that's how I heard of them. The people in her group were real beginners; she discovered only during the Q and A that she'd been talking way over their heads.

But if you're looking for critique partners or you have a finished project and want to pitch in person to agents or just to keep up on the marketplace, it's worth the membership and perhaps the conference fee. It's a much smaller venue than the big conventions, so your chances of making an impression on an agent or editor are higher. Of course, most of the big agents/editors don't attend....

The group fosters online critique groups as well as local ones, for what it's worth.
Best,
M

[Joolissa]

Hey All
Glad to hear everyone is doing well. Kudos on Lynx, Lady M!

Welcome WhirlyBird, I have seen you on one of my lurks, I'm glad you've found our little community.

I live not too far from the Valley Forge area, so about 45m-1h from Philly, Reading, Lancaster areas. I have a friend in Reading who only just got her power back two days ago or so. And I'm pretty sure there are still people without power somewhere around, unless they finally fixed it. Crazy!

PennWriters definitely sounds interesting. I will have to check them out. I really want to start my own writing group since I very much miss the one I had when I lived in New England, but I need to find a room somewhere to hold it.

I hope you're all having a good weekend!
- Jullese

[whirlybird]

Marguerite, on 06 November 2011 - 03:46 PM, said:

I joined PennWriters for about two years. It costs about $50/year ($55 to join, $45 to renew). I found my writers' group through them. They put out a bimonthly newsletter, which is quite useful, and maintain various online groups that generate zillions of e-mails (not so much), including one on LinkedIn. I'll probably join again at some point, but I've never attended any of their meetings. How useful they are depends on where you are in the process, I think. A novelist friend of mine gave a presentation to one of them: that's how I heard of them. The people in her group were real beginners; she discovered only during the Q and A that she'd been talking way over their heads.

But if you're looking for critique partners or you have a finished project and want to pitch in person to agents or just to keep up on the marketplace, it's worth the membership and perhaps the conference fee. It's a much smaller venue than the big conventions, so your chances of making an impression on an agent or editor are higher. Of course, most of the big agents/editors don't attend....

The group fosters online critique groups as well as local ones, for what it's worth.
Best,
M

Thanks so much for the information, M. Definitely worth a look see. You say that you found your writers' group through them. Do you still get together that group still/often? I think it would nice to find one up here by me.

What did your friend do after she found she was talking way over anyone's heads?

-Whirlybird

[whirlybird]

Joolissa, on 06 November 2011 - 06:05 PM, said:

Hey All
Glad to hear everyone is doing well. Kudos on Lynx, Lady M!

Welcome WhirlyBird, I have seen you on one of my lurks, I'm glad you've found our little community.

I live not too far from the Valley Forge area, so about 45m-1h from Philly, Reading, Lancaster areas. I have a friend in Reading who only just got her power back two days ago or so. And I'm pretty sure there are still people without power somewhere around, unless they finally fixed it. Crazy!

PennWriters definitely sounds interesting. I will have to check them out. I really want to start my own writing group since I very much miss the one I had when I lived in New England, but I need to find a room somewhere to hold it.

I hope you're all having a good weekend!
- Jullese

Hi J (not sure which name to use since you and the others keep on coming up with more )

Thank you for the welcome. I was a lurker for quite awhile until I added a post saying I agreed with adding highlights instead of just a colored font. Then I realized there was a section for everyone to introduce themselves and it snowballed from there. Everyone has been extremely nice and supportive in this little community. And I am also very impressed with how helpful Steve has been.

Start a group here in Reading (or nearby) and I've there!

-W

[Thoth]

I'm feeling a touch left out. I have some friends in Connecticut who are still without power. They can't believe that the storm had left Da Glorious Bronx completely unscathed. (Storms know better than to mess with Da Bronx!) Two days after the storm all the snow had disappeared (except for a few small patches suitable for snowball fights). So I guess I have nothing to contribute.

Basking in the warm glow of a reliable* power supply.
-Thoth

*Cables for electricity, telephone and cable TV are all snugly underground in my area.

[whirlybird]

Thoth, on 07 November 2011 - 05:23 PM, said:

I'm feeling a touch left out. I have some friends in Connecticut who are still without power. They can't believe that the storm had left Da Glorious Bronx completely unscathed. (Storms know better than to mess with Da Bronx!) Two days after the storm all the snow had disappeared (except for a few small patches suitable for snowball fights). So I guess I have nothing to contribute.

Basking in the warm glow of a reliable* power supply.
-Thoth

*Cables for electricity, telephone and cable TV are all snugly underground in my area.

Hi T,

Don't feel bad about being left out. It was an unhappy 4+ days for me. I'm hoping everyone has their power back on. My neighborhood has underground cables but the trees that the took our power out were located outside the development.

I just hope you aren't speaking too soon since the winter hasn't even started yet (not wishing you anything bad).

-W

[Marguerite]

whirlybird, on 07 November 2011 - 01:28 PM, said:

Thanks so much for the information, M. Definitely worth a look see. You say that you found your writers' group through them. Do you still get together that group still/often? I think it would nice to find one up here by me.

What did your friend do after she found she was talking way over anyone's heads?

-Whirlybird

Yes, my group still meets once a month: it's a great resource. In fact, my group is still listed on the PennWriters website, even though I've told them about a dozen times that we aren't looking for new members (it's listed as being at maximum, and since you know the area, I'm sure you'll have no trouble identifying it). As far as using PennWriters to start a group, you basically have two options.

Option 1: PennWriters runs its own groups, in addition to online round-robin critique partnerships. They have a coordinator, meet once a month at a local bookstore or coffee shop, and are open house. You show up at the assigned time with 5 pages of writing. There are all kinds of rules to make such a setup workable, and the coordinator's main job, besides notifying people of the meeting schedule, is to make sure the group operates according to the rules. I'm 90% certain such a group meets in the Reading area, and you could find out where it is and attend a few meetings before poaching some like-minded souls for option 2.

Option 2: As far as I'm concerned, that kind of group is fine if you just want to meet other writers. But my two finished novels are 300 pages and 400 pages, respectively. At 5 pages a month, I'd still be critiquing the first one. So my group, from the beginning, has been 3-4 women who write novels and meet at one another's houses (we started at 4, then lost a member when she moved south). We exchange 1-2 chapters a month, with variations as needed (if someone is working on her synopsis, she submits that; right now the other two are reading my entire work in progress, so I can do one more round of corrections before sending out query letters). We've been meeting steadily for four years, so we really know each other's strengths and weaknesses, stories, characters, plans, you name it. The local PennWriters rep helped me set up my own group via e-mail. That's actually a third option: you find out who's representing your area of Pennsylvania and write to him/her for suggestions.

The one thing you have to watch with option 2 is that you link up with supportive and perceptive fellow writers. People who have an ax to grind or a hidden agenda are murder in a group like that (and they're murdering your "baby," to boot!); and people who like everything are fun to be around but not much help in terms of improving your writing. So it's worth taking time to find the right people. Option 1 can be great for that.

Joolissa., there is a PennWriters group that meets in the Valley Forge area. At least, there used to be. I joined PennWriters originally because the group met at my local Borders, only to discover that the week I wrote the check it moved to Valley Forge. You can show up to three meetings before they "suggest" that you join PennWriters. Check out the website (linked in my previous message) and you can find out where it meets.

Not sure what my friend did. She's a good novelist but has no experience in teaching. I'm guessing she backtracked like crazy!
Best,
M

[Thoth]

Marguerite, on 07 November 2011 - 06:56 PM, said:

...
...
Joolissa., there is a PennWriters group that meets in the Valley Forge area. At least, there used to be. I joined PennWriters originally because the group met at my local Borders, only to discover that the week I wrote the check it moved to Valley Forge. You can show up to three meetings before they "suggest" that you join PennWriters. Check out the website (linked in my previous message) and you can find out where it meets.
...
...

I don't think I'll be commuting to Pennsylvania (named in honor of Adm. Sir William Penn, and means “Penn's Woodland”). But I was wondering, is this like a Jehovah's Witness coffee house? You show up for good cheap coffee and get proselytized to within an inch of your life? Just what do you mean by, "they suggest that you join PennWriter"? How much arm twisting is involved? Water boarding? Gunplay?

"Be wary of the woodland's many traps." - Hawkeye in The Last of the Mohicans.
-Thoth

[Marguerite]

I don't know, Thoth. I didn't attend any of the coffee-house/bookstore meetings, because the group moved to Valley Forge.

I suspect that forced latte drinking marks the limit of their evil torments.

Join, or face decaf with almond syrup!
M

[Thoth]

Marguerite, on 08 November 2011 - 07:40 PM, said:

I don't know, Thoth. I didn't attend any of the coffee-house/bookstore meetings, because the group moved to Valley Forge.
I suspect that forced latte drinking marks the limit of their evil torments.
Join, or face decaf with almond syrup!
M

-T

[whirlybird]

Marguerite, on 07 November 2011 - 06:56 PM, said:

Yes, my group still meets once a month: it's a great resource. In fact, my group is still listed on the PennWriters website, even though I've told them about a dozen times that we aren't looking for new members (it's listed as being at maximum, and since you know the area, I'm sure you'll have no trouble identifying it). As far as using PennWriters to start a group, you basically have two options.

Option 1: PennWriters runs its own groups, in addition to online round-robin critique partnerships. They have a coordinator, meet once a month at a local bookstore or coffee shop, and are open house. You show up at the assigned time with 5 pages of writing. There are all kinds of rules to make such a setup workable, and the coordinator's main job, besides notifying people of the meeting schedule, is to make sure the group operates according to the rules. I'm 90% certain such a group meets in the Reading area, and you could find out where it is and attend a few meetings before poaching some like-minded souls for option 2.

Option 2: As far as I'm concerned, that kind of group is fine if you just want to meet other writers. But my two finished novels are 300 pages and 400 pages, respectively. At 5 pages a month, I'd still be critiquing the first one. So my group, from the beginning, has been 3-4 women who write novels and meet at one another's houses (we started at 4, then lost a member when she moved south). We exchange 1-2 chapters a month, with variations as needed (if someone is working on her synopsis, she submits that; right now the other two are reading my entire work in progress, so I can do one more round of corrections before sending out query letters). We've been meeting steadily for four years, so we really know each other's strengths and weaknesses, stories, characters, plans, you name it. The local PennWriters rep helped me set up my own group via e-mail. That's actually a third option: you find out who's representing your area of Pennsylvania and write to him/her for suggestions.

The one thing you have to watch with option 2 is that you link up with supportive and perceptive fellow writers. People who have an ax to grind or a hidden agenda are murder in a group like that (and they're murdering your "baby," to boot!); and people who like everything are fun to be around but not much help in terms of improving your writing. So it's worth taking time to find the right people. Option 1 can be great for that.

Joolissa., there is a PennWriters group that meets in the Valley Forge area. At least, there used to be. I joined PennWriters originally because the group met at my local Borders, only to discover that the week I wrote the check it moved to Valley Forge. You can show up to three meetings before they "suggest" that you join PennWriters. Check out the website (linked in my previous message) and you can find out where it meets.

Not sure what my friend did. She's a good novelist but has no experience in teaching. I'm guessing she backtracked like crazy!
Best,
M

Sorry to be so out of touch. Thanks for all the info, M, especially concerning the two options. I did guess which one you're in and it's obviously doing well if your group is at it's max for membership. Too bad that the one group moved after you wrote the check.

-W

[Callista]

My goodness, I feel like every time I come back the forums have had an overhaul. o__o

[Thoth]

Callista, on 13 March 2012 - 02:53 AM, said:

My goodness, I feel like every time I come back the forums have had an overhaul. o__o

Yeah. I don't much care for the new editor. Too twitchy.
-T