NJCWG Meeting: Saturday, June 1st - YOUR SUMMER FOCUS

Meeting: Saturday, June 1st

10:00 am - 12:00 noon

(optional Blogging Workshop: 12:00 - 1:00 pm)

High Mountain Church

681 High Mountain Rd.

North Haledon, NJ

Productive, effective writing requires focus. This is true whether we are working on a piece for a publisher or creating a personal blog. So what is your focus? How fruitful will your writing be over the summer? Will you actually submit that magazine article, short story or book proposal? Will you create, re-create or tweak your blog? Discuss your goals & options with fellow writers at Saturday’s writers’ gathering. Be prepared to participate in our writing exercise by choosing one of the following topics:

     

•      Miracles
•      Multitasking Mom's Survival Guide
•      O Canada The Wonders of Winter
•      Overcoming Challenges
•      Stories about Cats or Dogs
•      The Dating Game
•      Reboot Your Life
•      Think Positive For Kids

                           -Future topics from Chicken Soup for the Soul

Saturday special: Pack a lunch and stay for a one hour blogging workshop. One of our own, Susan Panzica, will offer blogging tips and guidelines. 

Next meeting - Saturday, May 4

We have a special guest presenting at this Saturday's meeting. Penny Musco, a successful writer for magazines, will share from her experience. If you wonder where to find markets for articles, want to know how to approach a magazine editor, or would like tips on conducting research, you won't want to miss this meeting. Not interested in writing articles? You will still be able to pick up writing pointers that will enhance your craft.

Hope to see you in the cafe at 10 am.

You're A Writer

http://kmweiland.com/images/Manifesto.jpg

Next meeting - April 6, 2013

It's a "do-over" day! Since last month was hampered by illness and activities, we will cover our topic from March.

Please note that we will meet in the upstairs conference room, not the Cafe as had been announced.

FocusWriters write but, unless you've made a name for yourself, it takes more than writing to get published.

Come with a proposal or piece you want published and at least two possible publishers. If you have a copy of The Christian Writers' Guide (or a writing guide of preference), bring that as well. Our discussion will endeavor to fine tune our focus and bring us closer to publication.
Reminder, pieces to critique should be submitted by Friday morning. Please limit yourself to two pages, double spaced.

Write for Him,
Barbara

Next Meeting - March 2 - 10 am

Focus

Writers write but, unless you've made a name for yourself, it takes more than writing to get published.

Come with a proposal or piece you want published and at least two possible publishers. If you have a copy of The Christian Writers' Guide (or a writing guide of preference), bring that as well. Our discussion will endeavor to fine tune our focus and bring us closer to publication.

Reminder, pieces to critique should be submitted by Friday morning. Please limit yourself to two pages, double spaced.

Write for Him,
Barbara

Feb. 2 meeting: THE RULES

The next meeting of NJCWG is:
Saturday, Feb. 2
10:00 - 12:00.

Our topic will be the CRAFT of writing.
Are there set "rules" to follow?
Or are there just "guidelines?"

• WHAT are they?
• WHO should use them?
• WHEN do you use them? 
• WHY is it important to follow them?
• HOW do you apply them to your writing? 

High Mountain Church
681 High Mountain Rd.
North Haledon, NJ 07508
[upstairs conference room]

Next meeting - Jan. 5

Correction!
The correct date for Saturday's meeting is Jan. 5th.

Hope to see you there!


Sat. Jan. 5th
10:00 - 12:00

upstairs in the conference room at:
High Mountain Church
681 High Mountain Rd.
No. Haledon, NJ

January Meeting

Happy New Year, Writers! May many uplifting words find their way to publication for the NJCWG in 2013.

Our next meeting is this Saturday, January 7,10-12:00, in the upstairs conference room.

We are privileged to welcome screenwriter Kevin Caruso as our guest speaker. He is best known to us as the son of Maude Pych, a longtime member of NJCWG, but he is known to others by his accomplishments in the bio below.

Please be encouraged to invite guests to this special meeting. We will begin promptly at 10.

Kevin Caruso’s screenplay THE RUT was a Nicholl Fellowship semifinalist and won the Cinestory Screenwriting Competition.  THE RUT is currently being packaged with director Karyn Kusama (GIRLFIGHT, JENNIFER'S BODY) with actress CHLOE GRACE MORETZ (CARRIE (2013), KICK ASS, HUGO), JEFFREY DEAN MORGAN (Starz Channel's MAGIC CITY, THE WATCHMEN, THE LOSERS) and RAY LIOTTA (GOODFELLAS) attached. 

He co-wrote the film I TRIED, featuring Hip Hip luminaries Bone Thugs N Harmony, for CodeBlack Entertainment.  The DVD went platinum, selling over 250 thousand units.

His screenplay EXPOSURES OF WAR received a perfect score and the highest monetary award ever from the New Jersey Council of the Arts.

In 2010, his “Southland” spec was the First Place winner in the Scriptapalooza TV Competition. 

Kevin is a graduate of William Paterson University in Wayne, NJ. 

Kevin is currently repped by Joanne Wiles at ICM and managed by Scooty Woop Entertainment.

November Meeting Cancelled

Hello friends,

Some of us have power. Some do not. The church does have power and is available for anyone in need to sleep or to warm up. 

Since most of us are struggling to find gas, we think it best to not expend gas driving to the meeting. 

The next meeting will be our annual Christmas brunch on Dec. 1st at 10:00 am. We'll work out the details through emails to come. Until then, stay safe and warm! And use the "found" time to write!! 

Blessings,

Susan

Next Meeting - Saturday Nov. 2nd

Hi all! 

Hope you all weather the storm without incident! Right now, my house is among a few in my area who still have power. Thanking God for His ultimate power than calms storms! 

The next meeting of the NJCWG is this Saturday at 10:00- 12:00 at the newly renovated High Mountain Church. We are out of the gym and back upstairs! We'll be meeting in the upstairs conference room. Enter  through the side entrance. Proceed up the stairs, and go straight ahead. Conference room is last door on the right. 

The topic for this meeting is: Expanding on our Expertise.

Hope to see you all then! 

Susan

Rules of Writing

Seen on facebook, this brought a smile to my face and conviction to my heart! 

Susan

Note new meeting time this Saturday

Saturday, October 6 we will begin our new meeting time

10:00 am - noon

Clare will lead a discussion about writing techniques.

Please remember to submit pages for critique before Friday.
Kudos to you S. Jane, for your early submission!

1000 words

Can you relate? LOL

A bit of humor... and meeting reminder

Wish I didn't identify with this so much! Hope you are all having a blessed and restful Labor Day. Looking forward to getting together this Saturday after our summer hiatus. 

Reminder from Barbara's last post:

Our September 8 meeting will focus on Revision & Self-Editing. We will meet from 2-4:00. Please be prepared to share your summer progress and new goals for the fall. Submissions for critiques should be submitted no later than the Thursday before we meet. They will be reviewed in the order they were received. (See guidelines.)

 

September is coming

June's Take-home Thought from Psalm 139 was this:
Part of what God wove into us when he created us are the gifts he chose to give us. His expectation is that we will cultivate and develop these gifts and use them to bless others.

I hope you cultivated and developed your writing gift as you pursued your summer goals. We shared some lofty aspirations at our June meeting -- I am feverishly working to complete mine before we meet in September. Clare and Anne both had their articles about teachers accepted for publication, using their gifts to bless others.

You may recall that we decided to meet on September 8, rather than on Labor Day weekend. I hope that still works for everyone. I believe that Sr. Jane and Sr. Mary Jude are unable to attend on the 8th so we look forward to seeing them on October 6.

Our September 8 meeting will focus on Revision & Self-Editing. We will continue to meet from 2-4:00. Please be prepared to share your summer progress and new goals for the fall. Submissions for critiques should be submitted no later than the Thursday before we meet. They will be reviewed in the order they were received. (See guidelines.)

Write for Him,
Barbara

Congratulations Clare!

Congratulations to Clare Cartagena!
Her "teacher short story" was accepted for publication at Write Integrity Press.
Kudos Clare, and keep pursuing that dream ;D 

June meeting

Our next meeting is June 2, 2-4:00.

We will not meet in July, August is pending.

Please prepare your assignment with as much detail as possible:

Bring a written plan for your summer writing. Include goals & dreams, potential markets and a suggested writing schedule.

Critiques should be emailed to those on the list by Friday noon, June 1.

Next Meeting -

This Saturday, May 5 at 2:00

Susan Panzica will speak about "Writing to Today's Audience"

Thoughts to Ponder

From April’s meeting

 

O my people, hear my teaching; listen to the words of my mouth.

 I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter hidden things, things from of old — 

 what we have heard and known, what our fathers have told us.

We will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation the

praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done.

Psalm 78:1-4

These verses tell us that we have been entrusted with truth—the mystery of the ages. It is our charge to reveal the mystery. We are to tell of the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, of His power and His wonders.

As writers let’s prepare ourselves to share this revelation of God’s truth in all venues, at every opportunity. We cannot limit ourselves to one effort, one project or one venue. We must be open and alert, ready for unexpected chances. 

I see us as sprinkling God’s wisdom and truth wherever we find opportunity

Meeting Reminder

April 14 is our next meeting since the first Saturday falls on Easter weekend.

Remember your assignment as previously posted!

Assignment: Look in a market guide for a periodical, anthology or web opportunity that holds possibility for you. Jot down thoughts, notes or a completed piece for that market. Be prepared to share the market and your notes/article at the April 14 meeting.

Expanding our Horizons

 “The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life.” Those are the words from Proverbs 10:11 that we discussed last month. We ended with the challenge to ask God to flow from our hearts through our words and then to let our words flow.

Today I want us to ask, “Where?” Where would the Lord want our words to flow? Most of us have something on our hearts to write. This is good and should be prioritized. But is there more? Are we stretching ourselves? Are we using our gift to its fullest potential? Are there manuscripts, publications, avenues that we’ve not considered?

Prov. 31:26 says, “She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.” There may be “instruction” on our tongues that is so familiar to us, we are not aware of its value or potential.

Could God have more for us than we’ve considered?

Take-away thought: Are there new places, un-thought of places where God wants to flow through us? Ask Him.

Next month: April’s meeting will be the second Saturday, April 14, since the first Saturday of the month is Easter weekend.

Assignment: Look in a market guide for a periodical, anthology or web opportunity that holds possibility for you. Jot down thoughts, notes or a completed piece for that market. Be prepared to share the market and your notes/article at the April 14 meeting.

Join us Saturday, March 3, 2-4:00, and explore

Expanding our Horizons

Are there untapped resources hidden within? 

Are there opportunities not yet considered? 

Let's talk about it!

If you have a writer's guide please bring it.

Thoughts To Ponder

Thoughts to Ponder

From the February 4 meeting

"If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him," Jesus (John 7:37-38).

What does that look like—streams of living water flowing from us?

Christ is the outflow of a life filled with Him. Like refreshing streams, the Living Water tumbles from our lives, extending its blessing to others— generous, abundant, constant blessings.

What does this say to us as writers?

Prov. 10:11 tells us “the mouth [words] of the righteous is a fountain of life….” Our words are more than letters on a page. They are a fountain of life, sparkling with refreshment.

Take-away thought: Ask God to flow from your heart through your words and by all means, let your words flow.

~ Barbara

Meeting - Feb. 4 - Release the Writer Within You!!

The next meeting of the NJCWG -


Saturday Feb. 4
2:00 - 4:00 pm


High Mountain Church
681 High Mountain Rd.
North Haledon, NJ 07508


If you're a regular attendee who canNOT make our meeting, please contact Barbara or reply to this email. Thank you!


This month's topic: Release The Writer Within You! 


Receive encouragement to release the writer within.

Be prepared for a brief writing exercise and bring suggested topics you would like addressed in 2012.

Next Meeting - Sat. Jan. 7

Dear fellow scribes,
Let's start the new year off right!

Our next meeting (sorry for the last notice!) is tomorrow - Sat. Jan. 7th at 2 pm.
Same place:
High Mountain Church
681 High Mountain Rd.
North Haledon, NJ 07508

Bring your goals for 2012!

Active vs. Passive Voice

One of my greatest struggles in writing is my bent toward Passive Voice. My husband says it's because I'm a passive person ;D Maybe that's it. Maybe it's because we're Christians, or just naturally polite, we'd rather say "I am loved by God." rather than "God loves me." OR "I was hoping that..." rather than "I hope that...." Just two quickie examples. I'm sure you can come up with many more. 

Here 2 posts from Grammar Girl to help us identify and overcome the Passive monster within. 

Active Voice:

http://tinyurl.com/86llxae

Passive Voice:

http://tinyurl.com/74uh8ht

 

December meeting - Note TIME CHANGE

The next meeting of the NJCWG is 
Saturday, Dec. 3rd 
10:00 - 12:00
681 High Mountain Rd., North Haledon, NJ


Our meeting will be a Christmas brunch. 


Please bring a 250 word Christmas-themed piece to share with the group. 










Food signups:
 - Orange Juice and Fruit Salad: Ann
 - Veggie Salad: Sr. Jane
 - Coffee Cake: Roberta
 - Potatoes: Clare
 - Quiches: Susan
 - Muffins, Bagels or Rolls: Barbara
 - Decorations & Paper Goods: Clare and Barbara
 - Salmon Mousse: Maude
 - Coffee: Debbie

If you weren't at the Nov. meeting to sign up and want to bring something,please just check the list above and fill in with whatever you'd like to bring.

Looking forward to being with you all on the 3rd!
Blessings,
Susan

Query Letters

Jody Rein of Author Planet is writing a series about writing effective query letters for nonfiction books. She shares excellent information, and another post in the series is coming tomorrow. Be sure to check her blog at:
http://authorplanet.org/

Query letters.  Yet again.

Holy smokes there’s a lot of query letter advice out here on the World Wide Web.   

And like everything in information-overload-land, that’s good and bad–it’s terrific for writers to have easy access to models and thoughtful counsel, but at the same time I’m a little concerned about the stressing out I see–the agony over each detail in each query; and the stridency of the dogma.  As in, “All query letters must start with x, end with y, and never, never include Popsicles.” 

Query letters are crucial, don’t get me wrong.  And yes, each book pitch does haveto include some standard elements, like, well, the title of the book. 

But ultimately each letter is as individual as the book that is being pitched and the author who is writing it.  So rather than trying to fit your query into someone else’s mold, I suggest you sit back, take a deep breath, scribble out a quick rough draft, andthen ask yourself if you’ve achieved the following goals.  I’ll elaborate on each in future posts.

To read the rest of the post including Jody's Seven Goals for Query Letters, click here: http://bit.ly/rvTr05

Next Meeting - Saturday, Nov. 5

Next meeting: Saturday, November 5, from 2-4:00 pm

We will continue to discuss blogging with these focus points:

• Defining your goal
• Narrowing your focus
• Writing to be read
• Connecting to other bloggers

Our exercise will be to write a Thanksgiving blog post appropriate for our real or imagined blog. A children's blog is a viable option.
We will critique our writing and consider its adherance to the parameters defined in our discussion.

You do not need a blog to benefit from this meeting. You only need to be a writer!


Meeting at:
High Mountain Church
681 High Mountain Rd.
North Haledon, NJ 07508

Hands-On Blogging Workshop

Saturday Oct. 22 at 9 a.m 

Here are the particulars:

BRING:

-your laptop (make sure it's fully charged) 

-your questions (start thinking of them now & if you can - email them to me ahead of time so we can be sure to discuss them) 

WHERE:

Starbucks - in back of Market Basket shopping center

816 High Mountain Rd.

Franklin Lakes ,  NJ   07417  

201-848-5045

click on the link here for directions: http://www.starbucks.com/store/16961/  

WHAT: This will be a VERY informal, VERY hands-on blogging session. We will go over the basic mechanics of blogging using your own blog. We'll set up Feedburner subscriptions, go over any questions you have, provide resources, and talk about how to promote your blog (not in the cheesy sense of marketing, but in the sense that God has gifted you with words to share and bless others and to NOT promote your blog is to bury the gift He has given His servant - you). 

And to get us started: Here's "65 ways to drive traffic to your blog":

http://www.problogger.net/archives/2011/10/16/65-ways-to-drive-traffic-to-your-blog/ 

(many of these tips apply to business bloggers - don't let it worry or overwhelm you) 

I am by no means an expert in blogging. I'm just a little ahead of you and (as Paul said) I'm passing along to you what was passed on to me. But as iron sharpens iron, we will all learn from each other. 

Looking forward to gathering together on Saturday!

Blessings,

Susan

A Reading List for Writers

For some reason known only to the mysteries of the internet, I received a year-old email from agent Chip MacGregor of MacGregor Literary. That message contained his suggested reading list for writers which I am passing along to you. Enjoy! Don't try to read it all at once ;D. This list does not contain books about the craft of writing or books about the publishing industry. I will compile and post those in the near future.

The archives of Chip's blog (which is no longer posting) are still online and contain a treasure trove of helpful writer advice. http://chipmacgregor.typepad.com/main/ 
Susan
---

I've had a bunch of people ask me, "What would be on your list of great books for writers to read?", so I decided to share my list of suggested books to make yourself well read…


Ancients: Homer’s ILIAD and ODYSSEY; Sophocles’ OEDIPUS REX; Euripides’ THE TROJAN WOMEN and ELECTRA; Herodotus’ THE HISTORIES; Thucydides’ HISTORY OF THE PELOPPENESIAN WAR; Sun Tsu’s THE ART OF WAR; Aristophanes’ LYSISTRATA; Plato’s SELECTED WORKS; Virgil’s THE AENEID


Classics: Augustine’s CONFESSIONS; Dante’s DIVINE COMEDY; Chaucer’s CANTERBURY TALES; Shahrazad’s THE THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS; Machiavelli’s THE PRINCE; Miguel de Servants’ DON QUIXOTE; Shakespeare’s COMPLETE WORKS; John Donne’s SELECTED WORKS; Galileo’s DIALOGUE CONCERNING THE TWO CHIEF WORLD SYSTEMS; Hobbe’s LEVIATHAN; Descarte’s DISCOURSE ON METHOD; Milton’s PARADISE LOST; Moliere’s PLAYS; Blaise Pascal’s PENSEES; Bunyan’s PILGRIM’S PROGRESS; John Locke’s SECOND TREATISE ON GOVERNMENT; Daniel Defoe’s ROBINSON CRUSOE; Jonathan Swift’s GULLIVER’S TRAVELS; Voltaire’s CANDIDE; Henry Fielding’s TOM JONES; Laurence Sterne’s TRISTRAM SHANDY; James Boswell’s LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON; Thomas Jefferson’s BASIC DOCUMENTS IN AMERICAN HISTORY; Hamilton, Madison, and Jay’s THE FEDERALIST PAPERS.


Moderns: Jane Austen’s PRIDE AND PREJUDICE; Stendahl’s THE RED AND THE BLACK; Hawthorne’s THE SCARLET LETTER; Thackeray’s VANITY FAIR; Dicken’s THE PICKWICK PAPERS, DAVID COPPERFIELD, HARD TIMES, THE OLD CURIOSITY SHOP; Charlotte Bronte’s JANE EYRE; Emily Bronte’s WUTHERING HEIGHTS; Anthony Trollope’s THE WAY WE LIVE NOW and THE WARDEN; Herman Melville’s MOBY DICK; George Elliott’s THE MILL ON THE FLOSS; Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s FAUST; Gustave Flaubert’s MADAME BOVARY; Selected poems of William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Ralph Waldo Emerson and Walt Whitman;  Alexis de Tocqueville’s DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA; the short stories of Edgar Allen Poe; Thoreau’s WALDEN.


Moving Toward Contemporaries: Dostoyevsky’s CRIME AND PUNISHMENT and THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV; Tolstoy’s WAR AND PEACE; Mark Twain’s HUCKLEBERRY FINN; Lewis Carroll’s ALICE’S ADVENTURE IN WONDERLAND; Henry Adams’ THE EDUCATION OF HENRY ADAMS; Thomas Hardy’s THE MAYOR OF CASTORBRIDGE; Henry James’ THE AMBASSADORS; Joseph Conrad’s NOSTROMO; Anton Chekhov’s THREE SISTERS and THE CHERRY ORCHARD; George Bernard Shaw’s MAJOR BARBARA; Edith Wharton’s THAT HOUSE OF MIRTH; Marcel Proust’s SWANN’S WAY; Thomas Mann’s THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN; the poetry of Yeats.


Contemporary: The poetry of Robert Frost and T.S. Eliot, and W.H. Auden; E.M. Forster’s A PASSAGE TO INDIA; James Joyce’s ULYSSES; Virginia Woolf’s TO THE LIGHTHOUSE;  D.H. Lawrence’s SONS AND LOVERS; Eugene O’Neill’s LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT and THE ICEMAN COMETH; Aldous Huxley’s BRAVE NEW WORLD; William Faulkner’s AS I LAY DYING; Ernest Hemingway’s THE SUN ALSO RISES; George Orwell’s 1984; Albert Camus’ THE PLAGUE; Saul Bellow’s THE ADVENTURES OF AUGIE MARSH; Aleksander Solzhenitsy’s CANCER WARD; Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s 100 YEARS OF SOLITUDE; Thomas Pynchon’s GRAVITY’S RAINBOW; Samuel Becket’s WAITING FOR GODOT. 

Writing Opportunity

Do you have an angel story? Cec and I have a contract for a compilation book. Check out www.heavenlycompanybook.com for guidelines and submission details.

Do you have an angel story to tell but can't write it yourself? Email the details to heavenlycompany@gmail.com. If we believe the story has potential for the book, we will contact you for more information and will write it for you.

Deadline for story submissions is November 12.


Thanks to Cecil Murphy & Twila Belk - http://tinyurl.com/3uwwtz7