In the Chair

Fellow writers!
I'm blogging from Sonoma Coffee Cafe on 66th St. just north of 70th Ave. Only open about 4 months, it is much less crowded than Panera, Starbucks, etc. Free Wi-Fi, but no, I'm not doing my nanowrimo thing here. I'm working on my first novel. Just read some statistics that say only a few first novels ever get published. That won't deter me! It may be that it's just the way to get your feet wet in the process, to understand the amount of work involved. Because it's a lot! I'm not going to kid you.

I'm looking forward to Donna Cutting next month. I'll firm up the topic on Tuesday when she calls, but it's about presentation. When I observe people at book signings, the ones who can speak seem to have the most success. That might be a good reason to do the open voice poetry readings. (No mic, so nothing will blaring!) You would have a chance to practice in front of an audience.

Okay, my butt's in the chair, it's nice and quiet here, uncluttered, and I'm going back to my revising and rewriting.

Success to all,
John

FWA puts the Dazzle in Shimmer

Congratulations, group! Bev Browning, ghostwriter from Gainesville (and professional writer for 25 years), told me that our group offered greater responses to her Shimmer workshop prompt than any other she has taught. She was impressed with your capabilities! (I am, too, and honored to know so many of you.)

Her unique approach to creating subtext, to building depth in our words, enlightened everyone who attended in the refreshed atmosphere of the remodeled library. I shared with her later that I had never come across someone diagramming sentences the way she did. It gave a visual sense to the rhythm and cadence, clarifying something that we sometimes think of only with our ears, and not our eyes.

I know she was excited to be here, and I mentioned that I felt the same that she would come and share her knowledge with us from that far away. Her bonus material on the law was also well-received, generating good questions and forcing me to trash a couple of ideas that were floating around in my library of story ideas.

As we close out the year next month I am grateful for all that I have learned from you, the members of FWA, and our guests, through your generosity of spirit and insightful analysis of my work. I hope everyone feels they have grown stronger this year as a writer, love the process and the time spent writing, and find continued and greater success next year. Every time you put fingers to keys, pen to paper, in my mind, you are successful.

Thanks!
John