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Guest Speakers, inspiration, poetry, Writing

Inspiration with Carolyn Martin, April 2019

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Carolyn Martin  should need no introduction; but for anyone who’s not been to one of Carolyn’s Writers’ Mill workshops before, she’s  a Portland poet with an absolutely beautiful website (just follow the link in her name), and some equally beautiful books of poetry, including a Penchant for Masquerades, which has only just come out. Continue reading Inspiration with Carolyn Martin, April 2019 →

inspiration, Minutes, Writing

Writers Mill Minutes 201904

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Writers Mill Minutes April 28th 2019

Nearly 20 people, including several new members, were present on Sunday to enjoy Carolyn Martin’s inspirational poetry session . Much poetry was written by all. Much inspiration was shared. And some fascinating and amusing discussions ensued. Rohan’s Indian snacks were a great addition to the meeting too. Thank you! Continue reading Writers Mill Minutes 201904 →

Guest Speakers

Don’t miss Words, Words, Words with Carolyn Martin, April 28th

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Words, Words, Words

Welcome to another lively, interactive workshop with poet Carolyn Martin. In this class, we’ll “steal” words from famous writers like Mary Oliver, Shakespeare, John Donne, and Ellen Bass and play with a Word-of-the Day list that may spruce up your writing in the future. Come prepared to have fun, write, and share your creativity with your colleagues.

– Carolyn A. Martin, Ph.D.

“All my life I have tried to find the truth and make it beautiful.” – Sting

Guest Speakers, websites

How to make a website in a hour: notes from Zita Podany’s talk, March 17th 2019

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How to make a website in a hour: notes from Zita Podany’s talk, March 17th 2019

Some of use have used Weebly, some WordPress, some Blogger, some Wix, some googlesites…  Zita recommended Weebly; it may not be the most robust, but it’s easy and it keeps up with the times—use of images, handheld devices to read webpages etc. She followed up her recommendation with an excellent demonstration of what it has to offer. Here is my attempt at interpreting her instructions, for anyone wanting to “try this at home.” Continue reading How to make a website in a hour: notes from Zita Podany’s talk, March 17th 2019 →

Minutes, websites

Writers’ Mill Minutes 201903

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Writers’ Mill Minutes March 17th 2019

With sunshine and St Patrick’s Day providing alternative attractions, only 12 of us made it to March’s Writers’ Mill meeting, which means a lot of us missed out on Zita Podany’s excellent demonstration of how to create a professional looking website in JUST ONE HOUR ! I tried to take good notes, which I’ll include at the end of these minutes. Continue reading Writers’ Mill Minutes 201903 →

Guest Speakers, Uncategorized

Narrative Voice – from Sheila Deeth’s talk, Feb 2019

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Why does Voice matter?

  1. There’s a significant reader commitment when they “buy” your book – 12-24 hours of reading aloud, 6-12 hours spent silently in company of this voice
  2. There’s a significant author commitment too – lots more hours than that writing in this voice, so you’d better enjoy it
  3. Reader/author contract – you will make it worth the reader’s time (they’re paying you in time and money)
  4. Reader expectations –
    1. If it’s a legal contract, should be written in legaleze, but equally…
    2. The tale of a sweet old lady in small-town America probably shouldn’t devolve into pages of swearing
    3. A hard-bitten ex-marine story shouldn’t devolve into delicately phrased romantic pillow-talk
    4. And what about memoir? And what about when it’s not memoir and the comments say,“So sorry this happened to you…”
      1. How do we avoid being identified with first person narrator, vs.
      2. how do we prove we have the right to tell the tale? (Try, “I have some experiences in common with this character, but she isn’t me…”?)

Continue reading Narrative Voice – from Sheila Deeth’s talk, Feb 2019 →