Next Meeting: Tuesday, May 14

The Mountain Empire Creative Arts Council's monthly Writers' Workshop will be meeting on Tuesday, May 14 at 7:00 PM in the Community Room of the Pine Valley Library. 

Everyone interested in the art and craft of writing or who like to learn more about the writing process is welcome to attend. 

Writers usually bring 1-3 pages of their work to read aloud to the group and be discussed, offering ideas for improvement. Writers are encouraged to bring 6-8 copies of their work for written responses by the group. 

We hope to see you there!!

And here's a quotation on writing to inspire you as you write this month:

"The role of the writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say." 

~Anais Nin

Writing with you,

Next Meeting: Tuesday, April 9th

Yes, the next meeting of the MECAC (Mountain Empire Creative Arts Council) Writers' Workshop will be this Tuesday, April 9 at 7:00 PM in the Community Room of the Pine Valley Library.

Bring along a page or two (three at the most) to share with the group, preferably with 6-8 copies so that the group can jot down any salient points for you. 

Also feel free to bring along a friend; anyone interested in the craft of writing is welcome to attend. 

Plus, please keep in mind that April is National Poetry Month!! The excellent site for the Academy of American Poets has a wonderful page with all kinds of poetry-related activities. The theme this year is epistolary poems (poems as letters and vice-versa), and you may find more information here: National Poetry Month.

And in honor of National Poetry Month, Robert Lee Brewer, editor of The Poets Market, is again hosting the annual April PAD (Poem-a-Day) Month in which prompts are provided for writing a poem each day throughout the month of April. You may read more about it here: April PAD 2013. 

As April 9th is our daughter's 21st birthday, I won't be attending the Writers' Workshop meeting for April, but I wish you all the best--have a lovely meeting!! 

Poetically yours,

"Being a poet is a condition, not a profession." ~Robert Frost

March Writers' Workshop Meeting 3/12!

Okay, so none of us are cool enough to have a bullet-proof vest labeled "WRITER" like Rick Castle does in the television show Castle (Mondays 10:00PM ABC). 

But the good news is that we have a Writers' Workshop Meeting this Tuesday, March 12!! 

As always, we'll be meeting in the Community Room of the Pine Valley Library at 7:00 to share a page or two of our writing with the group and receive feedback. 

Writers of all genres, as well as those who are interested in learning more about writing, are very welcome to attend!! 

In addition, Judith and I'll report back on the Writer's Symposium by the Sea at Point Loma Nazarene University two weeks ago. Both Cathleen Falsani and Billy Collins were amazing and inspirational speakers on the art and craft of writing. 

So we hope to see you all this Tuesday evening!! 

Writers Workshop Meeting This Tuesday, February 12!

We'll be meeting this Tuesday, February 12 at 7:00 PM in the Community Room of the Pine Valley Library.

Maureen cannot be with us this month, but I've invited a writer I keep seeing at the Alpine Starbucks; his name is Keith. I hope to see many of you tomorrow evening!!

Also, the Writer's Symposium by the Sea is coming up at the end of the month. Cathleen Falsani is speaking on Monday, February 25 at 7:00 PM, and Poet Laureate Billy Collins is speaking ay 7:00 PM on Tuesday, February 26. In addition, Donald Miller, author of Blue Like Jazz among other works, will be presenting a two-day writing event at PLNU on February 23-24. More info and tickets can be obtained at www.pointloma.edu/writers.

So bring along some snippets of your work to share, and we'll see you tomorrow night!!

Next Meeting: Tuesday, January 8!!

Happy New Year, fellow writers!!

We will be meeting tomorrow evening, Tuesday January 8, at 7:00 PM in the Community Room of the Pine Valley Library.

As usual, being along a snippet to share and be ready to offer feedback to others. And, as always, feel free to bring along a friend (or two) interested in writing!!

We also will share any of the "I am from" poems that we started last meeting. For those of you who weren't there for the December meeting, here's a link to what we started last time, and I'm hoping that many of us will bring along a finished product to share: http://www.georgeellalyon.com/where.html

See you Tuesday night!! 

Next Meeting: Tuesday, December 11

Holiday Greetings, All!

Although we have often skipped the December Writers' Workshop meetings because of the busyness of the holidays, everyone seemed to want to meet this month, so we shall do so.

As usual, we'll be meeting on Tuesday, December 11 at 7:00 PM in the Community Room of the Pine Valley Library. If you would like to bring along some holiday treats to share while we meet, please feel free to do so. I doubt anyone will complain. ;)

In addition to sharing our work, we'll also do a writing exercise that is quite common in writing groups such as ours. So bring along a pen and some paper or your laptop to do a little writing together!! We'll share our polished products in January.

Hoping to see you all on Tuesday night!!

Writing with you,

Susanne

P.S. The Writers Symposium by the Sea, which takes place every February at Point Loma Nazarene University, will be hosting the US Poet Laureate as one of the speakers. See the following link: Billy Collins Headlines 2013 Writers Symposium by the Sea 

Next Meeting: Tuesday, October 9!!

The next meeting of the Mountain Empire Creative Arts Council's Writers' Workshop will be this Tuesday, October 9, in the Community Room of the Pine Valley Library starting at 7:00 PM. 

We've had slightly larger groups than usual over the past few months, so bring 8-10 copies of your work to present for feedback. 

And, as always, feel free to bring a friend!!

Also note that the deadline for the "Atty Awards" in poetry at Wattpad.com (see post below this one) is October 31!! 

In addition, National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) 2012 begins on Thursday, November 1. See www.NaNoWriMo.org for more information on writing a 50,000 word novel for the month of November with over 100,000 writers around the globe!! 

Keep on writing!!

~Susanne

"How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live." --Henry David Thoreau