Milwaukee Writers Workshop

Hello everyone,

I've had a few people express an interest in this group or at least learning more about it. So I will do my best to explain it here. If you're interested, please let me know, so we can start working on setting up a preliminary meeting and discuss days/times/etc. of the meeting.

Here's the idea:

Each session will require an entrance "fee" of a certain amount of material (whether it's word count or page count) that must be posted to the site by a certain day, thus guaranteeing you a seat at the table. The sessions will be a much looser critique that focuses more on whether or not the material presented is going in the right direction, has good flow, is working or not. It will be first draft or even unfinished material, but that's the point. It's a group meant to motivate folks to finish stories they've "been meaning to get around to."

So that's that. If you're interested, please let me know.

Cheers,
Boone

On Monday the 24th, Boone offered up some general information about the work a writer needs to do once his or her novel is ready for submission: creating a platform, finding appropriate agents, writing queries and synopses, etc. He also went into a history of the publishing industry and where it is today, including P.O.D. and e-Books. At the very least, I think everyone who attended found it informative and beneficial.

As for what’s up next, with Labor Day looming, we’ll be meeting 6:30 this Monday, Aug. 31st at the Wauwatosa Library at which time we’ll review the first 72 pages of Ziggarut, a 50K word novel from Eric Thelen. For anyone interested in reviewing the novel, please contact Eric directly via email: erikthelen@gmail.com.

Also, while I think reviewing novels in three segments makes a ton of sense, with about 20K words down and 30K words remaining, it seems silly to break this novel up into two 15K-word pieces for review. So, if Ami can be ready to post her first 50K words by September 14th, I think it would make more sense to finish up Eric’s novel in two sessions and move straight into Ami’s. We’ll discuss this further at the next meeting.

Hope to see you there.

(Rev. 8/26) http://blog.nathanbransford.com/ had two great posts back-to-back on Monday August 24th and Tuesday August 25th...extremely pertinent to Boone's discussion. A good read for all MWW members.

Just wanted to send out one more reminder about this week'd Novel Group meeting. Boone will be presenting an overview of the publishing process this Monday at the Wauwatosa Library Conference Room #5 starting around 6:30. For more information about that, click
http://www.milwaukeewritersworkshop.com/content/marketing-presentation.

The next session after this (TBD), the group will be reviewing its third novel. So, if you've been thinking about joining the Novel Group of the MWW, now would be the ideal time as we'll be starting on the critique of Ziggarat. In the words of the author: "On the eve of the American invasion of Iraq, an accident at an archaeological site takes the life of one teenager and compels another to pursue a mystery as old as written language. Something potent touched the earliest inhabitants of the site, and it is still there, waiting. Ziggurat is an engaging account of a determined girl's search for answers in the ruins of Babylon."

We'll be cutting the novel into thirds and reviewing the first section to see if the story and/or writing grabs our attention.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions (plafferty@wi.rr.com).

Thanks and I hope to see you on Monday.

Our next meeting is 6:30pm Monday, August 10th at the Wauwatosa Public Library (second floor, conference room #5). We'll be reviewing the final Destalis chapters 31-35 (Conflux thru Empyrean). Use the Final Review critique form. Find both the chapters and review forms at www.destalis.com.

Hey Everyone,

I just wanted to put in a plug for Boone's Marketing Presentation at 6:30 on Monday, August 24th at the Wauwatosa Library Conference Room #5.

Boone is going to be providing an overview of the writing process (from the initial idea to how to spend the money you'll get from optioning the film rights) with an emphasis of what to do with your story once it's been critiqued by the people at the MWW and edited for the final time. Since it is being given at the novels group session, he'll be talking about agents and query letters and publishers. However, since the process is essentially the same for all forms of writing (with slight variations), the session should be applicable to most members and should offer some insight as to how you can move your writing from a great story to a great PUBLISHED story.

Hope to see you there...with one caveat. There's only enough space in the room for 10 to 12 people, so I'd like to request that those who take up those 10 to 12 spaces are seriously considering joining the novels group moving forward.

Thanks

Pat Lafferty