WOW! Women On Writing Blog: writers group

Monday, April 20, 2015

A couple weekends ago, I attended a leadership and strategic planning meeting for the Missouri Writers Guild, in honor of its 100-year anniversary. If you are unfamiliar with the MWG, it was founded in 1915 by Walter Williams who was the dean of the Journalism School at the University of Missouri Columbia at that time. Over the years, the organization has encompassed writers of fiction and nonfiction who are professional writers, however you want to define the term "professional."

One hundred years is a long time for any organization, which will surely have its ups and downs during its history, and MWG has had some of those. It seems in recent years, volunteers were few, and the work was plenty. Besides this, with all the changes in the publishing industry and the need for writers to connect with one another and improve their craft, the MWG has to realign its goals to the needs of its members and create a sense of passion and enthusiasm for writing, too.

But what does any of this have to do with you if you don't live in the Midwest? (which by the way ANYONE can be a member of the MWG) I started thinking of my own career of 15 years, which isn't as long as 100 obviously, but it also has had its ups and downs, and I'm currently in some sort of a writing funk. So what can I learn from my weekend of planning with the MWG? Here are a few things:

1. People do still care about books and writing! When the market becomes saturated with authors and new books, it's hard to remember that each writer and each book makes a difference to someone. Even if you are not on the bestsellers list or receiving a movie contract, your book can still touch the lives of your readers. If you have a story in you, write it--no matter what happens with it. Big success is great, but so are the little ones!

2. It's important to take some time to look at what works and what doesn't for me. Just because my writing buddy can sit at the computer on a Sunday and churn out 5000 words doesn't mean I can. I have a beautiful four-year-old daughter and freelance work, so I have to fit in creative writing when I can. I shouldn't get down on myself because I have a self-publishing idea with a friend, but we haven't written a word of it yet. I am making goals and seeing what works for me, and what I need to change, so I shouldn't compare myself with anyone but myself.

3. Whatever makes me feel enthusiastic, stay with it! What project is calling to me at this time? The self-publishing one and another Maggie Mae picture book. I tried to force myself to work on a novel, which I do like, but it just wasn't flowing. It will eventually, and in the mean time, I need to stick with what is working.

Although the MWG conference wasn't a usual one with editors, agents, and workshops, it was still motivating--it was a group of writers, brainstorming together to make a strong, professional, and helpful organization for its members. And it showed me that I can do the same for my own career!

Margo L. Dill is the author of the picture book, Maggie Mae, Detective Extraordinaire: The Case of the Missing Cookies, to which she wants to write a sequel soon. To check out more about Margo and her two novels, please see her website at http://www.margodill.com or the novel writing classes she teaches for WOW! at http://www.wow-womenonwriting.com/WOWclasses.html.

keyboard photo by orangeacid on Flickr.com

4 comments effective writing goals, Margo L. Dill, planning, writers group, writing funk

Does Your KidLit WIP Need Fresh Eyes?

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Living in a rural area, I have limited writer resources. Two writing groups in the entire county. An annual one day writing workshop. Zero bookstores. Published authors...some. But it's difficult to make connections. That's why, when I stumbled on KidLit 411 Manuscript Swap it was like a dream come true.

I have several children's picture books that get sporadic attention. I will send them out to a few agents or publishers, get back rejections, refine them, send them out again. What I really needed was someone objective to read them and tell me all the harsh truths. Someone who knows something about children's books.

Because I work at a job that puts me in touch with dozens of teachers I thought of asking some to read my manuscripts or allow me to read them to their students but I wanted the manuscripts to be at their best before taking that leap. So hooray for KidLit 411 Manuscript Swap! It's a Facebook group where members post what type of children's manuscript they have and what they're asking of other members. Some requests are wide ranging like "fresh eyes", others have specific things they're looking for: "Is the ending weak?", "Which scene should I cut?", even line by line edits. Although picture book writers usually offer their entire WIP, most chapter and middle readers offer 2-3 chapters. Members do a critique for critique swap and you can choose what you critique as most members post type of book, genre, word count and often a brief outline such as "a rhyming picture book about vampires".

Three members critiqued two of my manuscripts and they were wonderful. They asked questions I hadn't even considered, pointed out problems and made suggestions as well as telling me where they thought my writing was strongest. It wasn't only the critiques I received that helped me. Doing critiques for other writers helped me with my own work. Dissecting their work made me look at my work in a different way. KidLit 411 Manuscript Swap is an incredible tool that all children's writers should be using!

Jodi Webb is a blog tour organizer for WOW-Women on Writing and would love to hear about your book and promotional needs at jodi@wow-womenonwriting.com. She blogs about books and writing at Words by Webb and Building Bookshelves. Like all mama writers she has a children's book manuscript (or two or four...) in the works. None about vampires, but one about a pig that thinks she's Carmen Miranda.