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Page 14 New Magazine Seems Tailor-made for Many WRWA Writers Thanks to WRWA member Dave Rank for this tip for a new publishing opportunity. DRG Publishing is launching a new magazine, Town Square, which celebrates life and nostalgia in small town America, and they're looking for writers to share stories and photos! Town Square is a magazine in which readers share the joys they find from simply living in their towns. This magazine wants to highlight vibrant, active, smaller communities where people know their neighbors, count many of them as friends, and often depend on them. The publishers says, Town Square will be filled with stories and photos from people who live in, or used to live in, smaller communities and absolutely loved it, showcasing people from coast to coast, sharing the joys of small-town life. To submit an article, all it takes is a letter or picture that describes what you believe to be the best parts of living in your hometown. Are you part of a quilting circle Do a bunch of you meet at a local diner and crochet Maybe a bunch of you meet at a friend’s house every week to scrapbook. Whatever it is, tell us about it and send in a picture of you doing what you do. Is there someone in your town who always brightens your day Maybe it’s the mail carrier who always hands you the post with a smile, or the counter lady at the local bakery who slips in an extra cookie for your child. Is there an annual event that brings everyone in your town together Share photos of past events and tell a little bit about your annual church rummage sale, pumpkin festival, fireman¹s picnic, carnival and fair. The more unusual the event, the better. Be sure to include the dates of your next event so readers can be invited to join in the fun. Do you have a signature dish you¹re practically required to bring to every potluck gathering Do you have a few surefire favorites that draw raves and requests—and guarantees an empty dish to bring home Share the recipe with the rest of us—along with a photo of the last gathering you brought your dish to! Don¹t be shy. Send them in! You can start by checking out www.TownSquareMag.com. You can send your submissions directly from our Web site, by e-mail to stories@townsquaremag.com, by regular mail to Town Square stories, 306 East Parr Rd., Berne, IN 46711, or by fax to 260- 589-8093. [Editor’s Note: This magazine seems tailor-made for many WRWA writers, so I e-mailed Town Square for submission guidelines and heard back from Managing Editor Dianne Schmidt: “We do not have formal writer's guidelines because we are not looking for professional writers. We are looking for fun, heartwarming, unique stories of small town life and activities. We will include stories of various lengths from only 2-3 paragraphs to up to about 600 words. We will consider a story whether it is submitted electronically or sent by mail (even handwritten is ok). If writers in your association are from small towns they may have some great stories to send to us. For all stories published we will send the contributor 2 comp copies of the magazine as well as a special gift. If a story is submitted that we feel makes a good one-page feature and includes photos we will also pay a nominal fee (approximately $50-$75) as well.”] # Quality Women’s Fiction Now Based in Waukesha Less than two years after opening her creative writing studio, AllWriters’ Workplace & Workshop, Waukesha writer Kathie Giorgio now takes on independent magazine publishing. The British literary journal, Quality Women’s Fiction, was originally launched in December 1994. Giorgio’s short stories appeared in the magazine several times. When the chance came to own and publish an already established magazine, Giorgio jumped at the chance. “QWF is an excellent international literary magazine, and I plan on taking it to the next level, and the next and the next,” she says. “I am very excited to be at the helm of a magazine that supports and encourages women writers.” The magazine now finds its home in Waukesha, Wisconsin. The first American published issue, which will be QWF’s 50 th issue, is planned to come out in January 2007. Submission guidelines and subscription rates are listed on the AllWriters’ Workplace & Workshop website, http://www.allwriters.org/ qwf.asp. All Writers’ Workplace and Workshop offers on-site and online writing courses in all genres and abilities of creative writing. It also provides coaching and editing services. A schedule of classes and registration is available online at http://www.allwriters.org. For more information, call (262) 446-0284. Wisconsin Wrights New Play Project UW-Madison Continuing Studies in Theatre, in partnership with the University Theatre and the Madison Repertory Theatre, is proud to announce the Wisconsin New Play Project. Created to foster the development of new works, Wisconsin Wrights features an opportunity for three playwrights to receive workshops and readings of their work as part of the University Theatre Summer 2007 season. In addition, one of the three selected plays will be featured as part of the Fall 2007 Madison Repertory Theatre Madison New Play Festival. Deadline for submission: January 15, 2007 Complete details about eligibility, submission guidelines and requirements, and the play selection process are available at the Wisconsin Wrights website. http://www.dcs.wisc.edu/lsa/theatre/new-play-project.htm WFOP Poetry Contest Muse Prize for Excellence in Poetry Sponsored by the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets Opens December 1 and closes February 1, 2007 Rules and Entry Form posted at: wfop.org Prizes: 1st place - $200.00 and trophy, 2nd - $100.00 3rd - $75.00 skileen@globaldialog.com
Page 17 Midnight Musings by Bill Nelson A Handfull of Gems for Resourceful Writers “Every paragraph, every sentence, every word must carry its weight— must do a job.” That’s a snippet from Paul Raymond Martin’s The Writer’s Little Instruction Book, one I copied in a notebook and later posted on my computer. As a lifelong writer, I’ve kept an ever-growing notebook of written and spoken wisdom on wowing—or at least intriguing—readers. It’s a connection that starts by impressing an editor and earning publication. The insights might come from a TV or radio interview with an author. Or a magazine or newspaper feature on or by a writer. Or an informational piece on the Internet. Sometimes, in my next stint at the keyboard and if the project warrants it, I’ll incorporate one of the concepts. So, here’s a sampling of the pearls of wisdom highlighted in my notebook over the years: Don’t be impatient. Writing takes a long time and is a LIFE- TIME COMMITMENT. If that’s your inclination, keep at it. FOUR of our deepest desires are to think well of ourselves; to have others think well of us; to have things to look forward to; and to be constantly challenged. Writing delivers all FOUR. Good writers see the world as their journalism laboratory, a storehouse of article/story ideas. They have an eye for the offbeat and they’re voracious collectors of information, which means that they take notes like crazy. They immerse themselves in the story/article. They live it, breathe it, dream it. They plan and rehearse the story passionately, writing it in their minds, considering their options, always looking for new directions and fresh information. “Seize the subject,” a Roman statesman once said, “and the words will follow.” They love to tell stories. They are constantly searching for the human element, for voices that enliven the writing. Figure out the obvious way to write an article/story. Then don’t write it that way. In other words, when others zig, that’s often a good time to zag. Art requires an instinctive knowledge of what to include and what to leave out. (Luckily, you get better as your experience grows.) Good writers understand that an important part of the writing process is the mechanical drudgery of organizing the material. They respond to this by developing careful filing systems and plotting out the basic course of their material early in the process. They regularly rewrite. They love computers because they permit maximum playfulness during revision. They can move paragraphs around, invert word order for emphasis, find stronger verbs and occasionally purge the entire story to achieve a fresh start. As you’ve heard several times in Midnight Musings, good writers tend to be Bleeders, not Speeders. Hemingway put it nicely when he said, “Easy writing makes for hard reading.” To amplify Paul Raymond Martin’s advice, cut out every unnecessary word, phrase, sentence and paragraph. Except for the first few takes of Genesis, every story ever written would be better if it was 10% shorter. Remember, too, that personal is better than impersonal; simple forms are best (limit the use of words bearing prefixes and suffixes), and short is better than long. Another tip: Listen to what your ears tell you. They’re a great ally to the eyes. (Read your work aloud.) Good writers take chances in the writing. They love the surprising and the unconventional approach. They prefer failing in print from time to time because those failures represent the price of inventiveness. Remember, too, that good writing, like music, has rhythm. Vary your sentence lengths and structures. Short, punchy anecdotes, strong quotes and, where appropriate, a touch of humor help keep the reader reading. An old-time city editor once wrote: “Writers must learn to avoid adjectives and to swear by the little verbs that bounce and leap and swim and swoop.” Yes, it’s true. The standards of skilled writers grow higher and higher so that early drafts seem painfully weak and incomplete. But that adds to their impetus in tackling subsequent drafts. Fiction has its origins in personal experience. It may be necessary, however, to modify that experience to make it usable. Also, fiction must grow toward universality—an I’ve-experienced-that-too-feeling—even though the piece is based in personal experience. All writers, even the most successful, need editors to provide objectivity and another viewpoint. Stories/articles are never really finished until they are published. All good writing is in some sense experimental, which makes writers creative people and their profession constantly challenging. # PDF Conversion and more http://www.primopdf.com/ Free PDF Converter - not a trial version. Print to PDF from virtually any application. Create PDF output optimized for print, screen, e-book, or prepress. No annoying pop-up ads, no registration requirement - no catch! High-quality, easy to use PDF creator for all users. Create PDF documents from MS Word and other files. It sets up as a “printer” option, but actually creates a savable file as a .pdf file. A friend has been using it to archive documents and loves it.
Page 1 and 2: Wisconsin Regional Writers' Associa
Page 3 and 4: Contents Articles Tax Tips for Writ
Page 5 and 6: Page 5 WRWA Online Discussion Forum
Page 7 and 8: Page 7 Hayward Northworders: Doroth
Page 9 and 10: Shawano Area Writers (SAW): John J.
Page 11 and 12: Northern Lakes Writers’ Guild: La
Page 13 and 14: Page 13 Welcome 23 New Members Mich
Page 15: Page 15 (Redbird Studios continued)
Page 19 and 20: Board Decisions and Actions by Boyd
Page 21 and 22: Her owl-like eyes pierced the darkn
Page 23 and 24: Page 23 From Time to Time—Members
Page 25 and 26: How To Send Blind Copy E-mail Messa
Page 27 and 28: Preferred Spelling of Internet and
Page 29 and 30: WRWA Fall Conference in Janesville
Page 31 and 32: Page 31 Patricia Fry—The Right Wa
Page 33 and 34: Some Reflections on the WRWA Jade R
Page 35 and 36: More Pictures from the WRWA Fall Co

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