NEW WRITE ON! CONTEST – September Challenge: Getting to Know You
Write On! Online is pleased to announce our latest series of contests, designed to encourage you to give those writing muscles a workout. There will be an exercise for both the non-fiction and the fiction-writer … and a winner in each category. Since any exercise can do wonders to get you in writing-shape, I encourage the fiction writers to try the non-fiction exercise and vice versa.
Non-Fiction: Choose someone you see frequently, but do not know very well: your mail carrier, a local store owner, your significant other’s best friend. Spend a few minutes, interview him or her, and write a 300 to 400 word profile. It can be personal or professional. Just take the time to learn something about that person and share it through your writing. This is also a great way to practice interviewing skills and interpersonal communication.
Fiction: Choose someone you see frequently, but do not know very well: a bank teller, the barista at your favorite coffeehouse, your new neighbor. Study this person, and then write a 300 to 400 word character profile based on what you see — or what you think you see. Who is this person? What does the body language tell you? What’s his or her story? Be as conservative or outrageous as you’d like. Just be creative and have fun! This is a wonderful way to create characters for use at a later time.
Prizes: 1st Place: iScript; 2nd Place: a copy of Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript from The Writers Store; and 3rd Place: Bookkeeping Basics for Freelance Writers by Brigitte A. Thompson, (non-fiction) and Save the Cat! by Blake Snyder (fiction).
Submit your entry in the body of an email to writeononline@yahoo.com by Wednesday, September 30. Winners will be announced on Tuesday, October 13, 2009, in the October Write On! Newsletter.
MEMBER NEWS
Congratulations to Cindy DeMone, September winner of an iScript, for posting goals on Write On! Online. Post your October goals on the Write On! Online Facebook Page and be entered in the monthly drawing to win a FREE iScript (www.iScript.com).
Ask Al A Carte (aka Alexandra Anne Carte) is collecting recipes for her upcoming ebook. Send your favorite recipe – along with a paragraph telling why it’s your favorite. You can even include a pic! Send to askalacarte@cs.com. By submitting, you are giving permission for your essay to be published.
Laurie Graff’s The Shiksa Syndrome is coming out in paperback on September 8. Read Laurie’s Write On! Author Q&A from March.
Birgitta Strobel, a Write On! member in Norway, shared her Long ‘n Lean yoga presentation from Fashion Week. Congrats, B!
Michele Wallerstein will be a guest speaker at the Big Bear Lake Int’l. Film Festival the weekend of September 18 – 20th.
The September StoryLink eZine theme is Back to School, and feats an interview with Comedy Writer Rob Kutner (The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien). Read it here: http://www.storylink.com/ezine?ezine_id=27
EVENTS
Sublime Primetime 2009 on Thursday, September 10, at 7:30 pm, at The WGA Theatre in Beverly Hills. Celebrating excellence in writing for television, the Writers Guild of America West and Writers Guild Foundation present a selection of the year’s best television writers for a lively discussion of their craft, their nominated projects, and the business of writing for television. The panel, moderated by Rainn Wilson (The Office) includes Emmy-nominated writers from Mad Men, 30 Rock, Lost, The Simpsons, Grey Gardens, and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. For complete panel and details on tickets, go to http://www.storylink.com/event/SublimePrimetime2009
Basics and Beyond: Marketing through Blogging and Social Networking will be on Saturday, September 12, at 11:00 am, at The Writers Store in Westwood. The workshop, given by Debra Eckerling, will offer strategies for marketing yourself on the web, including why and how to create a blog, using social networking effectively for self-promotion, enewsletters, and more! Price: $49.95 includes an assessment of your blog and additional recommendations. To register go to StoryLink or email debra@writeononline.com.
Matt Byrnes, host of AltScreenplay, will be doing a table-read of his screenplay Party Pirates, which was workshopped at the group. The reading will be on Sunday, September 20th at 2 pm at Beyond Baroque, 681 Venice Blvd., Venice, CA. For more information: http://inscreenwriting.com.
Want to hear your work read? AltScreenPlay meets on Thursdays 7:30 – 10 pm, at Beyond Baroque, 681 Venice Blvd., Venice, CA, and is moderated by Matt Byrnes, mbbyrnes@gmail.com. First reading starts at 8 pm; and readings begin in the order in which the author arrived. Bring 1-10 pages of your screenplay, and make enough copies for each role. No RSVP necessary. Feel free to sit in without bringing any material of your own. For more information: http://inscreenwriting.com.
The Los Angeles Public Library now has a Screenwriters Workshop four Saturdays of the month at different branches, from 10:30 am – 12 pm, and every Sunday in the Farmers Market community room from 3 – 5 pm, hosted by Sasha Karova. Learn format and workshop original material (screenplays, 1/2 hour sitcom, and 1/2 hour and 1 hour episodic) with an open reading or read-through. Open reading is on a first-come, first-served basis. Please RSVP to WritersUnblock@aol.com.
Writers Boot Camp hosts networking breakfasts on Wednesdays each month: breakfast starts at 7:45 am, speakers begin at 8:30 am. Mention Write On! and receive the Write On! Breakfast rate of $15 (regular price is $25). Write On! members also receive a discount on enlistment in Writers Boot Camp. For more information and/or to rsvp to the business breakfast, contact Christine Baroumand at 800/800-1733 ext. 313, or christine@writersbootcamp.com.
Meditation Thursday Nights at the Learning Garden. Gates open at 7 pm; Meditation begins promptly at 7:30 pm. Please dress in layers and bring a blanket and cushion to sit on. Meditation lasts about 40 minutes around a fire in the peaceful surroundings of the Garden. Donations go to the Learning Garden. For more information contact Camille at (310) 382-4323.
Laurie Gibson will be presenting a seminar called, Book Publishing 1-2-3: From the Writer’s Fingers to the Reader’s Hands, on Saturday, September 26th, from 10am to 12pm at the West Valley Regional Library (19036 Vanowen St., Reseda). Join Laurie for this behind-the-scenes glimpse at the journey of a manuscript as it becomes a printed book. Bring a pen, paper, and your questions. Free; no pre-registration needed. Each attendee receives a free, professional review of 10 double-spaced pages of writing (hard copy). For more information call the library at (818) 345-9806.
The next MedioBistro Mixer – hosted by Michelle Thatcher, Beth Howard, and Debra Eckerling, and featuring special guest author Stefanie Flaxman – will be at The Crocker Club in Los Angeles from 7pm – 9pm on October 1. For details and to RSVP: http://www.ersvp.com/reply/cocktailpartyla
WRITE ON!
Our October Meeting will be on Wednesday, October 14. Please have newsletter items to me by October 12.
Write On! Online Author Q&As are posted every Tuesday and Friday. Check out the columns posted since the last newsletter:
Debra Olliver, What French Women Know
Garrett Peck, The Prohibition Hangover
Anna Broadway, Sexless in the City
Jennie Nash, The Only True Genius in the Family
Filmmaker Edgar Michael Bravo, One Hour Fantasy Girl
Elliott Katz, Being the Strong Man a Woman Wants
Kristin Harmel, Italian for Beginners
Mark David Gerson, The Voice of the Muse
Published authors: Share your knowledge by participating in a Write On! Q&A. Email debra@writeononline.com for more information. Also, if you have previously participated in an Author Q&A, please keep us posted on current projects!
Read “Jen’s Gems … for the Healthy Writer: Headaches” by Seattle-based movement and fitness coach Jennifer Waak.
FINAL NOTE
New Write On! Online Columns Debuting this Month
– Thursday, September 10 – Moving Write Along: Advice from the Experts
– Thursday, September 17 – Techno Tools for Writers
