Copyediting Resources from Melanie Gold

Are you a writer trying to edit your work, or a copyeditor looking for ideas and resources?  Perhaps you’re simply a grammar geek who is always open to “one more book” to add to the shelf.

Regardless of your background, Pennwriters member Melanie Gold offers an excellent collection of resources for writers and editors drawn from her years of experience.  Check out her two part series of articles:

• The Copyeditor’s Bookshelf – Melanie’s Top 5
• The Copyeditor’s Transcript

 

Your turn: what / who / where are your favorite copyediting resources and tools?  Share in the comments!

Pennwriters Presents Guest Star Abby Zidle

Pennwriters members: join us on Monday, August 11, 2008 for this week’s Pennwriters Presents Guest Star Abby Zidle, a Senior Editor for Pocketbooks at Simon & Schuster.  Have your questions ready for Monday morning, or begin posting your questions over the weekend.

Pennwriters Presents is an online weekly program exclusively for Pennwriters members.  Each Monday Pennwriters features a Guest Star author, editor, or agent who is available online for Question & Answer with all Pennwriters members.  Join us in the Pennwriters Yahoo discussion forum every Monday for Q & A with a writing expert from 9am-9pm EST.  For more details, contact our Pennwriters Internet Activities Coordinator Nate Hardy.

Beta Readers needed

Hey fellow writers,

I’m experimenting with the new Internet model of publishing. In September I’ll be launching my first interactive project under a larger author’s cooperative. Because this is a totally new thing, I’m having as many people as possible take a look at a short excerpt of the project and let me know what they think. If any of you can spare about ten minutes of your time to take a look, the URL is:

http://www.suelangetheauthor.com/textileplanet/TextilePlanetwithcss.html

Send comments to me at suelange1@verizon.net

Thanks!

Sue Lange

Pennwriters Valley Forge Writers’ Critique Group Meeting this Wednesday

This is your friendly reminder that our Pennwriters Valley Forge Critique Group is meeting this Wednesday, August 6, 2008 at the Valley Fair Barnes and Noble on Swedesford Road.  Valley Forge is located just outside Philadelphia proper near King of Prussia.  Our Valley Forge writers’ group is facilitated by Coordinator Suzanne Kimball.

New members are always welcome – we have lots of chairs.  For more details about this and other regional writing groups, be sure to visit our critique group page, or contact us with questions.

To learn more about Pennwriters or to apply for membership, visit our Official Pennwriters Website.

Come Blog with Us!

Want to see your name in lights?  Pennwriters Area 6 members are invited to blog with us here at the Pennwriters Area 6 HQ.

Your fellow member Sue Lange has already joined me as a regular contributor.  Be sure to check out her first post featuring Pennwriters in attendance at The Power of the Pen day at the Saucon Valley Farmers Market.

Coming up, I’ll be interviewing Sue Lange and other Pennwriters of Area 6.  This will give us a chance to shine the spotlight on our fellow writers, and get to know one another a little better.

If you would like to write a post, share a resource or event, be featured in an interview, toot your horn about an accomplishment, or become a regular contributor, please contact us any time.

Announcement: Pennwriters Area 6 Member Ash Krafton

Please join me in congratulating Pennwriters Area 6 member Ash Krafton as the Grand Prize Winner for the 2008 Maryland Writers Association Novel Contest.

Ash Krafton took First Prize in the Science Fiction / Fantasy / Speculative section for her urban fantasy novel Bleeding Hearts, which went on to win the overall Grand Prize for the contest.   You can learn more about the Maryland Writers Association at their website.

Ash Krafton also recently received the distinction of second honorable mention in the 2008 Cassell Network of Writers / Florida Freelance Writers Association (CNW/FFWA) Writing Competition in both the Poetry and Nonfiction categories for her works “Six Words for Edgar” and “The Dry Sink.”

To learn more about her work, take a peek at Ash Krafton’s MySpace page.  Ash Krafton prefers a light-hearted approach to life, and tries not to take anything too seriously.  Stay tuned: in August we’ll be interviewing Ash right here at the Pennwriters Area 6 HQ blog.

Again, congratulations!

Inspiration and Dedication: Creative Resources

For our post on Writing Well, Pennwriter Sue Lange comments, “[W]hat keeps me writing is that I keep getting ideas.”  Fortunately, this is true for most artists.  However, at some point we all could likely use a hand with inspiration and dedication in the pursuit of our creative work.

Below are a few resources to help keep your ideas flowing.  Please feel welcome to share your favorite sources of inspiration in the comments!

Inspiration

I personally agree with the concept that “art begets art.”  We artists are perpetually inspired by our contemporaries and predecessors; we are inspired by the same surroundings, situations, and human conditions.  Collaboration and exposure to the works of others is always a great way to spark inspiration.  Here are few places online to do just that:

Soul Food Café is a great, thriving community where writers and artists can gather to get inspired and get connected.  According to their website:

“The Soul Food Café is a portal for artists and writers alike. It is a safe haven where creativity flourishes. Soul Food Café aims to promote creative pursuits as a daily practice.”

Words of wisdom can also be a helpful source of inspiration.  One of our Area 6 members shared the Air Equation and Willpower Equation websites as a resource for quotes from the greats.  (You can also find these quotes syndicated each week in the Pennwriters discussion forum).

If you’re stuck with a piece of your writing, you may want to try a tool like Mark McElroy’s Bright Idea Deck.  This colorful deck of cards features a variety of images and a helpful workbook for problem solving.  You can use these exercises to help you get your stories and projects back on track.  Don’t know what your character should do next?  Draw a card and see what comes to you!

Finally, why neglect the obvious?  Your local museum, library, park, or forest are endless sources of inspiration.  Online there is a whole world of blogs, artist portfolios, and creative organizations positively brimming with fresh ideas.  Take a look around your world!

Dedication

Part of ensuring artistic growth is staying dedicated to your craft.  This can be a challenge when inspiration, time, and energy wane.  It can be helpful to take a little time to remind yourself of why you create, what makes it important to you, and what goals you set for your work.  Below are a few places to help you rededicate yourself to your creative activities:

Pennwriter Gretchen Lockwood recently shared the activity of “Finding and Naming Your Muse” with the Valley Forge critique group.  She had tried this exercise at another writers’ group with great success.  The idea resonated well for me (I seemed to blurt out a name as soon as she mentioned ‘name your muse’), so I performed a quick google today and found a couple links to get you started.  Whether you choose to follow these suggestions step-by-step, or find that your muse just “comes to you,” a muse can be a helpful tool for visualization.

Dr. Leslie Owen Wilson, a professor at the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point, offers a massive collection of creativity resources.  Included among them is a series of articles on “Finding and Caring for Your Muse.”

For those of you who don’t read Lorelle on WordPress, she is an excellent resource for blogging tips, tricks, and ideas (and that goes for writing too).  Check out the article “7 Ways to Find Your Blogging Muse”  by engtech of Internet Duct Tape (There are ideas in there for more than just bloggers.)

About ten years ago a dear friend gave me a copy of Affirmations for Artists by Eric Maisel.  This was my first introduction to the formal idea of “affirmations,” and I continue to find this book to be extremely helpful.  This is the kind of book you pick up and set down at various times throughout your career.

Finally, setting and reviewing goals is an obvious way to help you stay dedicated to your work.  Create manageable goals which stretch you a little.  Don’t kick yourself when you don’t reach a goal: periodically revise your list and start fresh each time.  If the goals were all easy to complete, they wouldn’t offer much of a challenge!

Your turn: where do you go to renew inspiration and dedication for your creative work?  Tell us in the comments!

Pennwriters at Saucon Valley Farmer’s Market

July 6–Saucon Valley Farmer’s Market, Hellertown, PA–Four Pennwriters members found themselves selling their books at this year’s Power of the Pen Day at Saucon Valley Farmer’s Market. The weather was great and the crowd friendly. The event gave us an opportunity to let area consumers know about our organization as well as our work. Shelley Goldberg, The Market’s Representative sent us a wonderful message the following day:

“Thank you for sharing such an awesome day with the Saucon Valley Farmers’ Market. Your energy and talents were appreciated by all.
In peace & friendship,  Shelley Goldberg”

The organizers were most gracious and seemed anxious to have us back next year. That would probably be a good thing for Pennwriters and hopefully we’ll be able to do that. Thanks go to Jack Hillman for getting us organized. Here we are under the canopy, smiling and enjoying the day.

Pennwriters in attendance (left to right) Jack Hillman, Carol Haile, Pam Garlick, and Sue Lange. Also pictured Larry Diebert (non-member)

Writing Well

Last week I read a post by BlogLily entitled On Not Writing.  BlogLily describes some of the challenges that all writers face in putting one word in front of the other to compose our thoughts into meaningful, complete sentences (or stanzas, depending upon your medium of choice).

What I really appreciate about BlogLily’s post is the description of her relationship with her writing.  Her discussion got me thinking about all the different things that motivate us writers to do what we do.  Granted it’s an assumption, but I’m going to extend the possibility that most of us don’t just want to write – we want to write WELL.  Writing well is not just a matter of will – it’s a matter of practice, patience, and persistence, among other things.

In the absence of affirmation, meaningful feedback, noticeable improvement, or consistent confidence, what is it that keeps us all writing?  When you get stuck with your work, what is it that brings you back?  A deadline?  A goal?  An intangible force?  Something else?

We’ve heard from BlogLily, now let’s hear from you.

Meet me in Philly?

Or thereabouts… I will be visiting the Philadelphia area in September for a few days in order to attend the Pennwriters Board of Directors meeting.  I would like to take this opportunity to organize a small meet-and-greet to connect with other Area 6 members.

Want to join me?  Contact me via email at jadeblackwater [at] brainripples [dot] com to RSVP so I can arrange a date and location that works best for everyone.  See you in September!