It's a new year (in case you haven't noticed that everything looks different), and I have three wishes for the Utah Children's Writers community.
1. I wish for a lot of news of new books from within the community.
Over the last several years, it seems like Utah writers have been especially successful. When I joined the Utah Children's Writers discussion group on Yahoo several years ago, it seemed like we only had a handful of successful writers. Since then, quite a few Utahns (or people with Utah ties) have been published and seen some great success, including national awards. At the same time, it seems like the number of people who are working to become published, or who are writing for the love of it, has exploded. Our community is large and varied. So, my biggest wish for the year is that we can look back at the end of the year and say the class of 2014 is the best and biggest yet. To accomplish this, we can help each other, and we can use conferences and social media to promote ourselves and other Utah writers by spreading any good news quickly.
2. I wish for a stronger community.
As our community has grown, it sometimes feels scattered. The nice thing about a community is that we can all help each other bring more respect to Utah writing by building and strengthening our community, mentoring each other, and sharing news and tips. We have a bunch of ways to do that now. We have the Yahoo discussion group that helped to create that initial sense of community. We have a Facebook page that has the potential to become much more active. And of course, we also have this blog. There are other Utah writing groups besides our UCW family of pages.
I'd like to see the connections between all of our sites strengthened. I'd like to see us use social media to promote our fellow Utah writers, to spread news about the community, to help each other grow as writers, and to build a true sense of community among writers of all experience levels and interests. One thing Utah is known for is our strong communities, and we should be a reflection of our culture.
If there's a conference, a signing, a personal appearance, a class, a crit group that needs members, or if there's happy, cheerful publishing news from you or someone you know, use social media to spread the news.
Tweet. Create Utah Writers boards on Pinterest. Participate on the blog by reading and commenting. Share news and information on Facebook. Use the Yahoo group as another, more private way to access the knowledge that overflows from Utah writers. Cross-post. Ask questions. Give answers. Be visible. Being a visible part of the community with enhance your own reputation as a writer, as well as building the community.
3. I wish for a lot of words.
The best way to build our community is to write a lot and build Utah's reputation in those big coastal cities. Show them that Utah is serious about writing. Put our high level of education and trans-world experience to use. Show those agents and editors that a Utah return address indicates reliability, dedication, and quality, and that we're not some backward state in the middle of nowhere. The way to do that is to write. A lot. And to do it well. Write, revise, and write some more. Good, bad, or great, let's pile on the words. The only way to be a writer is to write, something I have to remind myself often.
Let's make 2014 the Year of the Utah Writer.
Showing posts with label utah authors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label utah authors. Show all posts
Friday, January 3, 2014
Friday, October 11, 2013
Working a Writing Group into Your Busy Utah Schedule
Let's face it, Utahns have extraordinarily busy lives. Between work, larger-than-average families, time-consuming religious obligations, a tendency to be involved in our communities, outdoor activities in our mountains and canyons, our habit of putting our kids (and ourselves) into cultural activities like dance, music, and sports, and the countless hours we spend arguing about who will win The Big Game, our lives are jam-packed with stuff that crowds our schedules. It's amazing that we can work in writing time, much less time for a writing group.
I've been in two groups in Utah. Both have been mostly good about getting together regularly, but there are definitely challenges. In the first group, those challenges eventually led to the group dissolving.
The group I'm in now, along with some of the other contributors to this blog, has found a workable solution over the course of the past couple years. The solution has been mentioned in this blog before, but not for a while, so I'll spill our secret for all of you right now.
Google Drive (formerly known as Google Docs).
We try to meet once a month in person, but sometimes it's hard to make our five busy schedules work together to get a second meeting (two a month seems to be our magic number, where my former group tried to meet weekly). In fact, there are many months, especially during the summer and the holiday season, when getting together once is difficult, or when some of us can meet, but not all. Because we are all writing and revising, having both meetings is important. Any fewer than two and it slows our progress.
Taking it online has made the difference and kept us going. The way we do it is fairly simple.
In a perfect month we meet once near the beginning of the month, and critique online in the second half. Or, if schedules don't work out, we'll flip that. And if necessary, we'll do both critiques online for a month.
When we meet in person, we try to post our scenes (about ten pages, again, a length that works for us) in Word format a few days early for pre-reading, but we don't make a big deal about it if one of us (too often this guy) does not have time to read the stuff ahead of time. We keep things fairly unstructured and fluid, mostly to work around our crazy schedules.
When we critique online, we set a due date, then post somewhere around that date, using email to alert each other than our latest stuff is up and ready to be run through our mental shredders. We critique online, using Google's comment feature to mark up a manuscript and to discuss the comments left by others, then we leave a general impression of the piece at the end of the document.
We also find it useful to write a summary at the top of the document, a synopsis reminding us where we are in the story and what went on before. This helps us get started.
Because editing in Google is in real-time, we occasionally edit at the same time as another person. This does not create any problems, and can sometimes be creepy or fun while we watch another person type magically on our screen.
When necessary, like when one of us has a deadline for a submission or when we want to go over queries, we'll post off-schedule and ask that anybody who has time jump in and take a quick look. This has also worked well.
Google Drive offers another useful feature. You can set up a group calendar with the group's schedule and other special events, like signings, publication dates, birthdays, or whatever. We haven't been consistent about using our calendar, but we could be, and maybe should be.
By going online, we can work our critiques into our schedules, even when our schedules conflict, as they so often do. Online groups are frequently larger than in-person groups, especially if some people in the group are writing less, but we find that the same five members submitting about ten pages twice a month works both in person and online.
Our most enjoyable critique sessions are, of course, the ones that happen when we're in the same room. They result in good discussions, and we can more easily bounce ideas off each other. Also, most of us find it useful (if not always enjoyable) to read our work aloud to the group. It's amazing what you can find when you read aloud. That could be a blog post of its own.
However, our online critiques have other advantages that we don't have in person, such as the amount of time we can spend (especially if we can't find time to pre-read) and, as I said, the ability to work critiques into the rare gaps in our personal schedules.
For the Sharks & Pebbles, combining the two techniques works wonderfully, and gives us what we need. Every group is different, but this works for us. Maybe it will work for you.
I've been in two groups in Utah. Both have been mostly good about getting together regularly, but there are definitely challenges. In the first group, those challenges eventually led to the group dissolving.
The group I'm in now, along with some of the other contributors to this blog, has found a workable solution over the course of the past couple years. The solution has been mentioned in this blog before, but not for a while, so I'll spill our secret for all of you right now.
Google Drive (formerly known as Google Docs).
We try to meet once a month in person, but sometimes it's hard to make our five busy schedules work together to get a second meeting (two a month seems to be our magic number, where my former group tried to meet weekly). In fact, there are many months, especially during the summer and the holiday season, when getting together once is difficult, or when some of us can meet, but not all. Because we are all writing and revising, having both meetings is important. Any fewer than two and it slows our progress.
Taking it online has made the difference and kept us going. The way we do it is fairly simple.
In a perfect month we meet once near the beginning of the month, and critique online in the second half. Or, if schedules don't work out, we'll flip that. And if necessary, we'll do both critiques online for a month.
When we meet in person, we try to post our scenes (about ten pages, again, a length that works for us) in Word format a few days early for pre-reading, but we don't make a big deal about it if one of us (too often this guy
When we critique online, we set a due date, then post somewhere around that date, using email to alert each other than our latest stuff is up and ready to be run through our mental shredders. We critique online, using Google's comment feature to mark up a manuscript and to discuss the comments left by others, then we leave a general impression of the piece at the end of the document.
We also find it useful to write a summary at the top of the document, a synopsis reminding us where we are in the story and what went on before. This helps us get started.
Because editing in Google is in real-time, we occasionally edit at the same time as another person. This does not create any problems, and can sometimes be creepy or fun while we watch another person type magically on our screen.
When necessary, like when one of us has a deadline for a submission or when we want to go over queries, we'll post off-schedule and ask that anybody who has time jump in and take a quick look. This has also worked well.
Google Drive offers another useful feature. You can set up a group calendar with the group's schedule and other special events, like signings, publication dates, birthdays, or whatever. We haven't been consistent about using our calendar, but we could be, and maybe should be.
By going online, we can work our critiques into our schedules, even when our schedules conflict, as they so often do. Online groups are frequently larger than in-person groups, especially if some people in the group are writing less, but we find that the same five members submitting about ten pages twice a month works both in person and online.
Our most enjoyable critique sessions are, of course, the ones that happen when we're in the same room. They result in good discussions, and we can more easily bounce ideas off each other. Also, most of us find it useful (if not always enjoyable) to read our work aloud to the group. It's amazing what you can find when you read aloud. That could be a blog post of its own.
However, our online critiques have other advantages that we don't have in person, such as the amount of time we can spend (especially if we can't find time to pre-read) and, as I said, the ability to work critiques into the rare gaps in our personal schedules.
For the Sharks & Pebbles, combining the two techniques works wonderfully, and gives us what we need. Every group is different, but this works for us. Maybe it will work for you.
Monday, July 8, 2013
Why Do We Read?
By Julie Daines
I recently read a book that asks the question Why do we read?
The author--through the voice of one of the characters--suggests that in literature, everything has a meaning. But it is the experiences in our own lives that shape what the meaning is and how it affects us.
Reading causes us to ask deep questions. Like what is the meaning of my life? Why am I where I am in life? Where will this path lead me? What is good and what is evil? What is love? What is my role in my life's story?
He suggests that as we read, we relate to the characters in such a way that we find the part of our lives or personality that parallels them, and we become them.
He says, "If we take these stories too literally, if we expect our personal lives to always end with a handsome prince, most of us will close our books with shattered dreams. Yet, on the other hand...if we don't take the meaning of those stories literally, if we treat these tales as simply entertainment, we miss the deepest, most life-shanging aspects of the stories. We miss the entire reason they exist." (The Rent Collector by Camron Wright)
I've always believed that reading is more than just entertainment. That by picking up a good book, I'm learning something about life, and more importantly, learning something about myself.
So that's the question. Why do we read?
I recently read a book that asks the question Why do we read?
The author--through the voice of one of the characters--suggests that in literature, everything has a meaning. But it is the experiences in our own lives that shape what the meaning is and how it affects us.
Reading causes us to ask deep questions. Like what is the meaning of my life? Why am I where I am in life? Where will this path lead me? What is good and what is evil? What is love? What is my role in my life's story?
He suggests that as we read, we relate to the characters in such a way that we find the part of our lives or personality that parallels them, and we become them.
He says, "If we take these stories too literally, if we expect our personal lives to always end with a handsome prince, most of us will close our books with shattered dreams. Yet, on the other hand...if we don't take the meaning of those stories literally, if we treat these tales as simply entertainment, we miss the deepest, most life-shanging aspects of the stories. We miss the entire reason they exist." (The Rent Collector by Camron Wright)
I've always believed that reading is more than just entertainment. That by picking up a good book, I'm learning something about life, and more importantly, learning something about myself.
So that's the question. Why do we read?
Monday, March 18, 2013
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