Tuesday, February 18, 2014

The Joy of Discovery



In January we talked about creation & its complexity - so complex that we are still discovering aspects of this incredible world. Then Chris Parker led us on an exploration of common, everyday sights & sounds to mine details we often overlook. At our February meeting we searched the Market Guide, stretching to understand implied meanings & mysterious symbols and find markets we may never have heard of before. Discovering, exploring, searching - these verbs are critical to us as writers, for our writing and also for finding venues to share our words.
When we put a foot forward to discover, explore & search, our attitude is important to our success. There are treasures to be found, but fear of the task - of going where we’ve not gone before - will slow us down.
Mysteries to uncover and the curiosity that sets us on a search are gifts that are never exhausted. Paul says in Romans, “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!” He goes on to say that God’s judgments are unsearchable and His paths are unfathomable! (11:33) There is no end to the discoveries that await us.
The Bible also speaks to our ability to explore & employ these discoveries. Paul tells us in Ephesians that God “is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us (3:20).
Take Home Thought: Stir the anticipation of discovery; still the angst of the unknown. 

Note date & time change for our March meeting:


  • March 8 (2nd Saturday rather than the 1st) 
  • 11-1:00 (rather than 10:00) 
Assignment for our our March meeting: 
  • Report where we are on our publishing journey
  • Write two pages and bring them for critique - since our group has grown it would be burdensome to critique everyone's work so we will spend time at the meeting, in small groups if necessary, to critique each other's work. Remember the guidelines, especially to state your market.
Hope to see you in March - I look forward to hearing what you've discovered and reading what you've written! 
Write for Him, Barbara
 

Monday, February 10, 2014

Helpful links for writers and change of date notice


Calendar note:
Next meeting will be on Sat. March 8 (not 1st) at 11:00 (not 10:00).
More details to follow, but wanted to give you a heads up

A beautiful prayer/hymn for writers: 


At our last meeting, we discussed sources for free ebooks -
     Vessel Project:

     BookShout:
     http://www.bookshout.com/

     Free Books for Kindle facebook page:
     https://www.facebook.com/ChristianBooksforFree

     Free Ebooks:
     http://www.free-ebooks.net/

     Pixel Of Ink:
     http://www.pixelofink.com/category/free-kindle-books/


Info on social media: 
What drives an editor crazy:http://www.chipmacgregor.com/uncategorized/what-drives-an-editor-crazy-5/


Enjoy this one. How to publish your book:
http://visual.ly/how-publish-your-book
How to Publish Your Book

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

NJCWG Meeting this Saturday, February 1



Susan Panzica will maneuver us through The Christian Writers' Guide.

  • Learn what those mysterious symbols & abbreviations mean.
  • Search for a potential market for the piece you've been writing - you will be asked to share this with the group
  • Bring paper for notes or be willing to write in your market guide (Copies of previous Market Guides will be available to borrow if you don't own one.)
See details at right for location and time.



Thoughts from January's meeting
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” So reads Genesis 1:1. God spoke the word and the world came into being - day & night, land & sea, plants & trees, sun & moon, fish, birds & animals. Within each created thing was all that was necessary to sustain and/or multiply it. Talk about words being “pregnant” with meaning! 
Being created in God's image, our noblest desires mirror His. As writers we want  our words to go beyond their structure and definition to import truth and life and hope and beauty and sustenance.
We write from a desire to create - to express, to expand, to convey truth. Our ability to create is God-given. Without Him working through us we have nothing worth saying. When we weave words together to  create a picture or convey a thought, it is His creativity flowing through us.
Thought to ponder
If the simple truth is that all creativity is from the Creator God, what better way is there to equip ourselves for creative writing than to have an intimate, mentoring relationship with Him? 
Looking forward to seeing you Saturday,
Barbara                       

Thursday, January 02, 2014

Happy New Year



The next NJCWG meeting will be
January 11, 2014
A guest presenter will offer a creative writing workshop to kick off a new year of writing.
In order to give ample time to our guest (Elise's husband and a college professor)
 we may not get to critiques at this meeting.


Last month our focus was Strong Beginnings and our take-home thought was this: 
The purpose of strong beginnings is to engage readers so that, as the story unfolds, they will experience the delight of discovery.

Our January meeting will give us a strong beginning for 2014 and, I believe, we will enjoy the delight of discovery through our able presenter.
                                    

Saturday, November 30, 2013

December Meeting




Saturday, Dec. 7
10:00 - 12:00

High Mountain Church
681 High Mountain Rd., No. Haledon, NJ 07508
 
We will share a light Christmas brunch 

We have one week to complete our assignment: Write the all-important opening paragraph of a Christmas piece, fiction or non. Read up on Cecil Murphy's posts about Beginnings at http://cecmurpheyswritertowriter.blogspot.com/, scrolling back to October 15 for his first post. Be prepared to share your paragraph with the group.

November's Focus was Choose your Verb

During the meeting Susan encouraged us to use strong, descriptive verbs. Prior to that, our devotional challenged us to create writing habits that can be described with active, not passive verbs.
It is easy for us to substitute action with intention. Good intentions, careful lists and stated goals can make us feel as if we're actually doing something when, in reality, little is being accomplished.
James knew how readily we fall into this deception about our Christian life. He wrote, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says" (James 1:22). He knew that mental exercise is not enough in our Christian walk, physical effort is also required.
The same applies to our writing. Are we active or passive in our writing?
If you are active, what verb describes your writing activity since we last met? Did you type or edit? Stumble or soar? Research or outline? Submit or query? Limp or progress?
Whatever your writing verb is, let it be a powerful action verb.
Take-home thought: Don’t merely entertain good ideas or inspired thoughts. Act. Write. Research. Edit. Submit.

Thursday, November 07, 2013

December meeting preview

For any who missed the November meeting, here's heads-up for our December meeting: 

Barbara's assignment to us for next meeting (12/7/13) is to write the beginning paragraph of a Christmas story. 
We will have a casual brunch at the meeting and share our "beginnings". 
​ 
 

She mentioned Cecil Murphy's blog for writers as a highly recommended resource that we should all subscribe to. He's running a 9 part series on Questions About Beginnings. Here's the link to the blog:
http://cecmurpheyswritertowriter.blogspot.com/Scroll back to Tues 10/15 for the first post on BEGINNINGS

​.





Happy writing! 

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Strong, Stronger, Strongest




November Meeting
Saturday, Nov. 2
10:00 - 12:00

High Mountain Church
681 High Mountain Rd., No. Haledon, NJ 07508



Strong, Stronger, Strongest

Strong words, verbs in particular, pump your writing and propel the reader along. 

Come to the meeting prepared to get "pumped up!" 

We'll be exercising, but with paper and pen! 



For those interested in the critique group, 
please look for a separate email coming soon.