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Please join us as Wordsowers favorite, author and editor Lee Warren, shares his expertise.

Are you ready to get serious about establishing a writing routine? National Novel Writing Month starts November 1. It’s the perfect time to fast draft the manuscript you’ve been thinking about. Yes, you can write a first draft in thirty days, even with a day job or other responsibilities. During this month’s meeting we will talk about the mindset you will need to pull it off, then we will get practical.

Award winning author Lee Warren has written 19 books and hundreds of articles for various newspapers, magazines and websites. He’s also a contract editor for Barbour Publishing and Electric Moon Publishing, and is on staff with The Christian Communicator manuscript critique service.

Lee has taught at the Florida Christian Writers Conference, the Glorieta Christians Writers Conference, the CLASSeminars Christian Writers Conference, the Heart of America Christian Writers Conference, the Write-to-Publish Christian Writers Conference, the Nebraska Writers Guild Conference and the Wordsowers Christian Writers Conference. Lee also served on the Wordsowers leadership committee for an extended period, and continues to be an invaluable resource for the group.

Get a jump on your writing with Lee’s superlative resource, Write That Book in 30 Days.
https://www.amazon.com/Write-That-Book-Days-Inspirational-ebook/dp/B0165NETNE

Please note: October wraps up our monthly Zoom meetings for 2022. We’ll take our normal November/December holiday break so members can enjoy time with family, friends, and most important–with the Lord. We hope to see you for the last Wordsowers meeting of 2022, October 27th at 7:00 pm CST!

Please join our private FB group if you would like to be a part of this informative meeting.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/261653995038722/

We meet online on the 4th Thursday of the month from 7:00-8:00pm CST. For the health and safety of our Wordsowers family we’ll continue meeting on Zoom while reevaluating when we can resume in-person meetings in 2023.

We welcome you to explore our Facebook page.


Wordsowers Monthly Meeting


Online


Oct. 22nd 6:30-8:00 pm

NaNoWriMo–What’s that?


November is National Write a Novel month. Join us as Susan Bristol shares her “NaNo” expertise with us.

The NaNoWriMo website states, “National Novel Writing Month began in 1999 as a daunting but straightforward challenge: to write 50,000 words of a novel in thirty days.
Now, each year on November 1, hundreds of thousands of people around the world begin to write, determined to end the month with 50,000 words of a brand new novel.

Writing a novel alone can be difficult, even for seasoned writers. NaNoWriMo helps you track your progress, set milestones, connect with other writers in a vast community, and participate in events that are designed to make sure you finish your novel.”

Join the Wordsower October meeting and get ready to tackle your novel in November!

For the health and safety of our Wordsowers family we’re going to continue on Zoom.
Please join our private FB group if you would like to be a part of the meeting.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/261653995038722/

While you’re busy creating your platform, make sure you prepare your author’s bio. It’s a short summary paragraph of your writing credentials.

Creating a bio can be a challenge for new, pre-published writers.

cartoon dog boxing gloves
Courtesy of Mister GC @freedigitalphotos.net

Picture yourself in an arena. The bell rings, the announcer grabs the mike, gestures to your colleague and rattles off her bio:

In this corner, weighing in at 89,750,000 followers, with 327 New York Times’ best sellers, famous writer Sharon Queensbury!

He points to you and says,

And in this corner, the newcomer, who’s written a grocery list and a note to the babysitter.

My first author’s bio read something like, “Jeanie walks upright, and breathes in and out on a regular basis.”

Because I owned zero writing credentials, I gave an abbreviated work history synopsis: “Jeanie’s enjoyed a variety of careers, from computer programming to teaching exotic animal programs. She enjoys visiting with family and friends, and praise dancing. She’s a member of Wordsowers Christian Writers Group.” Not the most professional, but it was all I had.

Here are a few tips to keep you from getting K.O.’d:

  1. Write it in third person.
  2. Avoid terms like “new” and “aspiring.” It erases your credibility, and reminds people of their nutty Aunt Jane who tried to write. Don’t get relegated to the crazy relative corner. Come out of yours swinging.
  3. Draw on your highlights. Pull from life experiences to show expertise.
  4. Define yourself honestly but with flair. If you’re a school crossing guard writing a childrens book you can say, “Mary Smith draws from her decades of experience working with children.”
  5. Look at other authors’ bios for ideas. Note: please don’t copy and paste  their work. Use it to get the creative juices flowing.

Now on to

Jeanie’s Super-Secret Newbie No-No’s

( Yes, I used the term newbie. This isn’t a bio.)

 

man working laptop quiet whisper finger
Photo courtesy of graur razvan ionut @ freedigitalphotos.net

 

To recap what we’ve learned so far:
Week 1- Exclamation marks scream, “Newbie!”
Week 2- Annihilate Adverbs.
Week 3- Eradicate empty words. Really just skip them. I’m very serious.
Week 4- Use “Invisible” Words: said, ask, answer, and reply.
Week 5- Run off Run-On Sentences.
Week 6- Clear out Clichés.
This week- Pass on Passive Voice
Think of it as something done by someone. A quick way to identify passive voice is to do a search for the word “was” in your writing.

Passive: The race was won by Mary.
Active: Mary won the race.

Passive: The vicious guard dog was owned by Mary.
Active: Mary owned the vicious guard dog.

Passive voice slows our writing, adds superfluous words, and bores our readers.
Most new writers don’t realize that editors hate passive voice. When they receive a submission filled with plodding passive sentences, they contact Mary. She sends her vicious grammar-guard dog to eat your manuscript.

Passive: My manuscript was eaten by a vicious grammar-guard dog.
Active: The vicious grammar-guard dog ate my manuscript.
Even in active voice, that scenario stinks, so exercise your active voice.

Since we all need to move forward, my Current Lofty Goal (AKA something I need to do, but put off) get prepped for NaNoWriMo.

Their website says, “National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to creative writing. On November 1, participants begin working towards the goal of writing a 50,000-word novel by 11:59 PM on November 30.”
(GULP)

What challenges do you face in your writing life? We at Wordsowers want to help. Connect with us here or on our Facebook page.

Great news: sign up for our free monthly newsletter to get help delivered straight to your inbox. It’s easy–the button is on the right side of this page, near the top.