WRWA Newsletter.pub - Wisconsin Writers Association

Page 26
This edition of The Wisconsin Regional Writer marks the
addition of a new regular feature, “Useful URLs.” A “URL” is
a Uniform Resource Locator—Web speak for the address of a
Web site. The World Wide Web (WWW) includes literally
hundreds of millions of sites. Many are helpful to writers. I’d
like to encourage all WRWA members to submit the URLs for
sites that you believe would be of broad interest and value to
members. Please submit only those sites relating to writing.
Send the URL and a brief description (use the items below for
examples). I will try to include a few in every edition and will
acknowledge the member who contributes each one. Here are
a few of my favorites to get us started. Remember, I’m looking
for quality, not quantity.
—————
http://www.worldwidewords.org/
Michael Quinion’s World Wide Words provides a rich source
of information on word origins and meanings. The site includes
articles, questions and answers, reviews, topical words,
turn of phrase, and weird words. Have you ever wanted to
know where such terms as these came from.
Bulldozer; Hokey-pokey; Mongo; Bellwether; Across the
board; Ultimo; High dudgeon; Swan song; Biosimilar;
Gringo; On the ball; Darknet; The elephant in the room; Barbarian;
Since Hector was a pup; Pulchritudinous; Losing one's
marbles; Fink; Geronimo; Impignorate.
If so, this is the site for you.
—————
http://www.quoteland.com/
Quoteland.com helps you find just the right quotation for the
point you want to make. It’s also useful if you want to be sure
you get it right. And, who said that You can look up quotes
by topic—love, friends, dreams, happiness, sports, and many
more—by author, and by other criteria. The site also supports
a variety of user forums, such as “Who said it” “I need a
quote,” and “Scholarly Pursuit.”
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http://www.fictionfactor.com/
This is an online magazine for fiction writers. It contains articles
on the craft. You are offered the opportunity to “Select a
Writing Category.” Your selection takes you directly to articles
on the subject of your choice, such as author interviews,
Useful URLs Compiled by Boyd Sutton
writer alerts, markets (by category), nuts and bolts, creating
characters, novels, short fiction, children, romance, horror,
fantasy, agents, copyright, and many more.
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http://www.poynter.org/
This site is for people who think of writing as journalism. You
don’t have to be a professional journalist to gain value from
this site. And it isn’t essential that you be writing for newspapers.
The site offers articles on writing, such as “Sentence
Length and Power,” by Peter Clark. It allows you to post
questions about writing and get answers from staff and others.
There is a lot on this site and it often is a challenge to find
what you are looking for, but the result is certainly worth the
effort
----------
http://rhymezone.com/
This multifaceted site is an online dictionary (and much, much
more) with several great features. You can type in a word and
instantly find other words that rhyme with it, synonyms, antonyms,
definitions, related words, similar sounding words,
homophones, and quotations in which the word is found. The
site also offers a way to search for words and phrases found in
Shakespeare, to search for famous quotations by many authors,
to search for words or phrases in the Old and New Testaments
of the Christian Bible, the Constitution, the Declaration
of Independence, and the complete Mother Goose stories.
Hey! I didn’t put the site together. I’m just telling you what’s
there. Cool!
----------
http://www.imdb.com/
You might be surprised that I list this site—the Internet Movie
Database—as a writers’ resource. Well, this site gives you the
plot, characters, actors, producers, directors, and more for just
about every movie or TV program ever made in the US. Just
think, how often have you read a book or watched a movie in
which the dialogue involved some reference to movies, TV
programs, famous episodes, special characters, and the like A
lot! You can search by titles, episodes, names, companies, key
words, characters, quotes, bios, plots, or all of the above
(inclusive). #
Wisconsin Center for the Book: Annual Book Mark Poetry Contest
The Wisconsin Center for the Book/Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters announces its Annual Book Mark Poetry
Contest. Submissions must be postmarked by June 1, 2007, and the winner will be notified August 1, 2007. The grand prize is
1,000 bookmarks with your poem & photo and a reading at the Wisconsin Book Festival. The contest is for Wisconsin poets only.
Guidelines for submission:
1) Submit 3 unpublished poems, 18 lines maximum for each poem, any style or theme, and a $10 entry fee payable to WCB/
Wisconsin Academy.
2) Enclose a single cover letter with your name, address, and phone. Names should not appear on poems themselves.
3) Send copies only; poems will not be returned.
4) Mail contest entries and fee to: Mary L. Grow, WCB Book Mark Poetry Contest, 307 S. Lexington Street, Spring Green, WI
53588.
5) E-mail to Mary Grow - growml@merr.com, Margot Peters - margot @gdinet.com, or James Gollata - james.gollata@uwc.edu
[Thanks for the tip from Chris Byerly, Frederic Public Library.] #