A little break.

You might have noticed your faithless leader has disappeared. Do to a family illness, I am not currently able to managed this group. I am sorry for any inconvenience this might cause. However, once the mischief is managed I will be returning.

July Meeting

July's meeting will be held:


3:00 p.m.-4:30 p.m.
Saturday July 17, 2007
@ Serenitea Tea Co.
121 N. 5th Street
Downtown Paducah

Please join us.

Two meetings for the price of one! (Which is, of course, free.)  June's meeting is really soon, on the 19th. As an apology, July's meeting is scheduled and it will be on the 17th. Hope to see you then!

May's Meeting

May's meeting will be in June. I know! Doesn't even make since does it. Sorry. We should be back on track for the rest of the summer.

April's Meeting

Writers meeting today! I am bringing something to read. How about you?

February's Meeting

I had a great time Saturday at Serenitea Tea Company (Thank you Erin!!!) I am so excited to be getting back in the swing of things! I think connecting with other writers really makes a difference. I am motivated, again.

New Meeting Location

Serenitea Tea Company

121 North 5th St.

Paducah, KY 42001

Erin at Serenitea is kindly allowing us to meet on February 20th from 3 to 4:30. I hope to see you there!

Growing as Writers

On the blog sphere, there are a lot of great, educational websights. I like using blogger to follow a few (dozen) of them. I'll share a couple I follow with you.

I was just reading ain interesting blog post by The Literary Lab . Davin Malasarn was writing about outgrowing her writing group. While that is not an issue for our fledgling group, It reminded me of what I am striving for. I group where we can grow as writers. The truth is we all have different amounts of time and interests in writing, and no, no other writer out there is exactly like you. So each writing group isn't the perfect fit for everybody (you can please some of the people some of the time...).  This is a good blog with three regular writers and a wide variety of topics.


Editorial Ass is addressing the re-occuring issue of racism in publishing. This issue is worth following if you wish to be published. Not only is it relevant to ethnic writers, but also to writers who are white. How you address culture in your work is noticed. It doesn't mean you will be austrisized for having a racist character, but when the ethnic characters in your works are flat and stereotyped, people notice. The worst part is, if your main character is African, Asian, or Arabic, they will probably be white on the cover. Can you imagine how hurtful that is? And as a "white" I am offended that the publishing houses think I would not read a book with a black protagonist. A lot of us book junkies are looking for content above all else. What journey will this book take me on?

My question is, are you reading any great blogs?

Literature as a high art

I am currently taking English 161 through the community college. It is an analytical literature class where elements of story are broken down and picked to pieces. Since I have almost worked up the courage to tell my family that I want to be a writer when I grow up (at 31 and the mother of 2 I would have thought this would have already happened- growing up, I mean).




Patience has suggested I share what I am learning. Which I will happily do, though I promise no great insights or comprehension. For today, I will make a list of what I have learned in the last couple of weeks.



1. "Real" literature is depressing. Okay, I already knew that, I hated everything they made me read in high school except "To Kill a Mockingbird".



2. What a short story consists of. Everyone else in the world probably already knew this, but I couldn't quite piece together a complete tale that wasn't full on novel. I think that a short story is more than just a scene out of someone's life, but a scene or compilation of short scenes that holds some true human meaning. That's why a guy driving to town isn't a story, but a guy driving to town to kill a bunch of people at the mall and and accidentally shooting his own daughter is.



3. Reading Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily" I learned that you can not only write in the collective We, but you can also skip around in a story without making the reader feel confused. (You know the sensation, "Wait, when am I again."



4. I am really not as smart as I thought I was. I am glad about that. I like learning. Learning gives me hope. Stephen King once wrote that a bad writer will never be a good writer and that a good writer will never be a great writer. While I do believe that you have to be willing to work hard and have some aptitude toward the written word, He is wrong. At least a bad writer can become good. And how many "great" writers are there anyway.

Muses Unite

I am currently googling Plotters block and plotting for idiots. Yes I am so stuck. I have worked myself into a state where I am certain I can have no fresh ideas, that I will never complete anything, and that I will simply slip away into meaninglessness. I can't write my own name at this point.

Next maybe I will start looking for other peoples plots to steal. That's healthy right?

November Meeting

Lets meet at Etcetera Coffee House at 320 N. 6th Street on Saterday the 14th at 3pm.

October

No meeting. Sorry. The Library is currently unavailable. We will schedule early November and keep on track at a new location.

Thank you!

Bill and Patience,

I wanted to think you for your advice in the last meeting. I really enjoyed learning with you.

Bill, I was especially struck by what you said about magic and technology. Consistency is hard, but necessary for good writing. I have some decisions to make about the world I am creating.

October Meeting

I have had two personal family emergencies already this month, and have not scheduled the meeting for October. Sorry, I'll get on it!

Meeting Day Changed for September

A little change to schedule this month. PPW meeting is scheduled for SUNDAY, the 27th at 3-5 pm. It will be in the MEETING ROOM instead of the conference room. (Their schedule was full this month).

I hope to see you there!

August meeting

Our next meeting will be August 29th. Please join us at McCracken County Public Library at 3pm.

July's Meeting

July's meeting is scheduled for the 25th at 3 pm.

I was aiming for Saturdays because it is usually the easiest time for people to make it to things. Someone has requested Thursday's. Please e-mail me about your opinion. I obviously can't please everyone, but if most of you prefer a week night, I will make it happen.

Paducah Sun Error

The Paducah Sun listed PPW meeting for tomorrow the thirteenth, which is incorrect. The meeting will be the 20th.

-Kristy

June's Meeting

PPW will meet on June 20th at McCracken County Public Library in Paducah from 3 to 5 pm. Please join us!

Also, I am so excited over the posts that have been made on our work page. Remember, if you want to post, click here to email me.

June's meeting

To do:

Must schedule June's meeting...

I think I have developed a phobia of scheduling meeting after last months fiasco where I scheduled during the Arts Festival.

Okay, no room for cowards here. (HA!) I will check ilist for major Paducah events, and then schedule. This Week!

So check back (FYI: if you follow on blogger, there will be a place at the bottom of your dashboard that will show new posts automatically).