Writers Sauce - WWC - MWS 10-June-2021
Welcome to Writers Sauce. We have three new topics for you to check out.
See CONTENTS below.
Cas, Alice, Cat, David, Evan, Rhonda, Kaya, Graeme, Michelle, Megan, Jo, Markus, Oliver, Daniel, Angela, Adouve, Tyrone and Tania are our our newest subscribers. We now have 333 subscribers. You’ve joined a great group of writers :)
If anyone would like to invite friends to join us, just forward this email to anyone anywhere in the world.
Also, we need more members for our writer website! You will have your own author profile page and special promotions once you become a paying member.
https://www.worldwriterscollective.com/wwc
Do you want to add to this email with your own words of wisdom? Well, we want you to as well. Get in touch with anything you think writers would like to know. We can also/otherwise add info to our NEWS section on the WWC website.
It’s all free and it’s off our own backs’. Please get involved if you have the time.
Thank you,
Mat Clarke
www.worldwriterscollective.com/mat-carke
Contents:
(Look for the *NEW* stamp below for content you haven’t read yet)
1. Book Review (more reviews on books wanted)
*2. Writing competition *NEW*
3. Promote your blog
4. Creating Real Characters Via Research
*5. How is screenwriting different from other writing?
*6. Melbourne Writers Social Group upcoming events *NEW*
7. All Write! upcoming events NEW
8. We want to hear from you
9. Join us and we’ll promote you
10. Essential Information for Writers
11. Important links
1. Review a book title - It will be posted on the WWC website
READ MORE HERE: www.worldwriterscollective.com/writers-sauce
Are you someone who likes to review books (poems, short stories, movie scripts, blogs, non-fiction, etc.) and give honest feedback on content, interest, characters, structure, or if you think it was just really good reading? Submit your review via this email.
For 2021 please review any book or script or poetry you like (yes, you can submit a review done on your story if you like).
Here’s a review by Magz Morgan of Cecile Ravell’s story: https://ravellc.wixsite.com/ravell-the-writer
‘Coming, Frankwen’. The voice of the three-year-old child calling to her brother and hero, opens Child Magical. Cecile Ravell’s story is a memoir of a childhood in transit, from Brooklyn, New York, to Malta then Melbourne, Australia.
In a series of poignant and funny cameos, seen through the eyes of a little girl, Ravell brings to life an intimate immigrant tale. The vignettes follow this feisty little girl from moments of triumph, to moments of indignation, as she becomes aware of her position as an outsider in a society that values fair-haired children, and as a girl who plays second fiddle to a family culture that reveres boys.
Child Magical provides valuable insights into the reality of what it feels and looks like, for a girl, growing up; in particular, an immigrant girl.
Read it slowly, savour it in your favourite armchair, or read it quickly on public transport. Either way, Ravell’s story is a good read, piquant and thought-provoking.’
Magz Morgan, author, ‘Motherlands’.
www.magzmorgan.com
2. Current Writing Competition (FREE)
Short story competition - World Writers Collective
Top five to six winners are published in our anthology: https://www.worldwriterscollective.com
Become a World Writers Collective member, which helps support everyone in the group as indie writers and allows you to collect prizes if you win.
Want to get published or publish your own works and have our members spread the word about your works, book launch, or other? It’s only $20 a year to join which helps pay the few hundred dollars it costs for the domain and host the website each year.
www.worldwriterscollective.com/writing-competitions
If you are one of the top winners of the competition, you will be included in the 2022 anthology. That's just one of the great reasons to get involved with the anthology!
We also want to promote you. All you have to do is say the word.
3. Promote your blog
We want to promote your blog. Email us a link of one of your blogs and an explanation of why WWC people would enjoy reading it.
Here’s one from Mat Clarke:
https://matclarke.blogspot.com/2019/12/roadside-thriller-story.html
It’s an interesting short thriller story written and performed as a podcast by Mat Clarke and directed and produced by Noel Anderson.
4. Creating Real Characters Via Research
You've likely looked up how to create believable characters and discovered the research you need to do to get under a character's skin and see what their motivations are, what makes them afraid, their influences, their life-story and what they eat, etc. However, what if the character you need in your story is so alien to you or anyone you know, there is no way you could get inside of their head. How do military types talk to each other. What do astronauts think about when they stare into the sky? How does an elite athlete sleep at night with muscles so sore they want to cry themselves to sleep?
Some characters require more extensive research.
A main area I was interested in was the police. This was due to writing thrillers and often needing to accurately represent my characters as being in the job for a number of years. Much of this I was able to understand from books, movies and TV shows, but it did not fully put me in the mind of an actual police officer.
I attended Thrillerfest in New York in 2015 and researched a seminar that was going to talk about police, which was the number one session I wanted to see. It entailed the basics of an author and cop talking about the realities of police life (wife and husband team). There were some great points made, such as calling your career, the job. Reason: there is no other 'real' job in many police officer's minds', so it is called, the job. However, I still did not understand the true mind of a cop. I decided I would go for a ride-along with a cop to better hear the way they talk and interact with civilians. This never came about due to time constraints in the US, but in the end it didn't matter, because I eventually joined the Police in my home state. It wasn't just to learn about the way police talk etc., it was actually because as an author, I needed a job/money and this seemed to tick many boxes. I actually work as a Protective Services Officer, which suits me and my age and my preference to not to stay in the police forever. It's a great job, but without me needing to be in my twenties and start at the bottom and work five million hours a week.
Okay, so what's the answer for you when you need to get into the mind of a person who works in a career that is totally alien to you?
Research!
I often spend time on blogs to work out how people talk and interact with each other. On one occasion I needed the personality of a 18 year old living in Cleveland to fit one of my characters. I searched online until I found a blog that was open and honest and allowed me to create a character based from this personality, although I also used many others I came across on other blogs too.
Maybe you need to understand a homeless person to realise why they say and do what they do? I wish I could remember the writer who mentioned to me that he had gone and sat with them and chatted with them to understand them. To take it further, you could dress like someone you want to get to know about and sit with them and see how people react to you.
To finish up, here's physician and best-selling medical thriller novelist Richard Mabry's take regarding medical doctor research:
-What Type of Medical Scenario Do You Want?
-What do you want to accomplish.
-Compile a list of important dates associated with milestone medical advances so you can write realistically about an accident or illness in a given time period.
-You can submit a question to one of the medical professionals whose blogs supply great answers, which is also listed on this information site.
-And lastly, watch out for sites that have something to sell, whether a procedure, a hospital or physician’s particular expertise, or even a surgical approach.
Website for more insites: https://www.livewritethrive.com/2015/03/09/infusing-medical-details-into-your-fiction/
Notes:
-Get under their skin, afraid, happy, influences, life-story, death.
(Some characters require more extensive research)
-Books, movies, TV shows ... show us a lot, but some may not show us what is real.
-Is it real cop talk and the realities they go through?
-Research online. Blogs are best. Mixture of world stats and local crime reports too.
-Create a well rounded character.
-Homeless person or other dress-up. Sit talk with them. Dress the way they do to see how people react to you.
By
Mat Clarke
www.worldwriterscollective.com/mat-clarke
READ MORE
5. How is screenwriting different from other writing?
by Graeme Farmer
Graeme enjoyed a successful full time professional career as a screenwriter for iconic shows such as Neighbours. At our Tuesday event in the city, we were given the opportunity to see into his world and learn how screenwriting can be a different career choice to novel writing. See below for the main points covered. If you have any questions, we encourage you to attend our Tuesday night events in the city where Graeme is happy to chat to you in detail.
- Length of novel, play, screenplay. Brevity, focus, compression or concision. Leave out most things you put in a novel.
- Reductive rather than proliferative.
- Eye of god - privileged POV. The screen is more democratic than the novel.
- Present tense, not past tense - arrow of time.
- It is a visual medium. You must try to articulate the visual - words creating sight. Visual fluidity so that it mimics our monkey mind.
- It is the most cold-blooded of all writing and yet it stands or falls on inspiration. Your illusion of control erodes your humility. You must renounce yourself in favour of your characters.
- Leave out, don’t put everything in, don’t make sense quickly.
- How powerful the pause, beat, incomplete sense, ellipsis.
- EXCITE EXPOSE EXIT
6. Melbourne Writers Social upcoming events
During the virus outbreak we suspended some of our events, with most returning January 2021. Our main flagship event is running again at the Wharf Hotel on the third Tuesday of the month. Please join us - all are welcome even if you are only thinking of starting out in a creative field.
This may change as the Victorian COVID condition changes. Click here to RSVP, check time and place of events: https://www.meetup.com/Melbourne-Writers/
We meet online every Monday from 6.30pm and show each other our work and chat about everything creative.
South Bank Write Now: Second Saturday of the month. The venue is generally quiet, opens early, free wifi, good coffee, food as well as drinks if you need them for later ;) There is music, and it is a cafe, so bear this in mind and wear head phones if you need them while you write.
Melbourne Central: Fourth Sunday of the month. We are nestled in the back corner of the upstairs food court near the windows, past the colourful piano, behind the big clock. We meet to write mostly, but you are free to chat with others who would like to do so.
Eastern suburbs meet. Laura, Stephanie and Mat are exploring a cafe in Croydon to meet at, which will be run on certain Sundays. We will get back to you soon on how it will be run and what the format will be. Likely it will involve the return of our writing games event with prompts to get you writing and enjoy yourself.
Not currently running: Writers of the South, let’s write: This is for southern Melbourne, down as far as the Clayton and Mentone area. Anyone can attend and join in and write your heart out (and have ice cream).
Not currently running: Writers Workshop: If you want to work through a piece, then come along to the Eltham Library and let us help you create your best work.
Not currently running: Treehouse Writing: Join us in Olinda for a sanctuary in the hills where we write and relax.
As with all our events, please get in touch if you would like to help with running events. The best way to do this is to come to one of our events and chat to the current event hosts about what you would like to do. We prefer to have two event hosts at each event, so where there is an opening we are happy for you to get involved.
There are many other Writing groups in Melbourne that you may be interested in as well. Go to them all and see what you like . . . but then come back to MWS and bring more great people with you. Haha ;)
https://www.meetup.com/Melbourne-Writers
More links below
7. All Write! upcoming events
A place where you can write in Melbourne Central. All you do is turn up and write with others. You can chat to other writers as well if you like and grab a bite or a cuppa.
Most of all, enjoy yourself.
https://www.meetup.com/Melbourne-Writers
More links below
8. We want to hear from you!
Yes, we really do.
We want feedback in any way shape or form. Even if it is to tell us you love us.
Stuff you may wish to reply about for our next Writers Sauce:
1) A few sentences on what writing means to you.
2) A paragraph or two about how you became a writer (or want to).
3) A great skill you picked up regarding editing, writing, publishing, etc.
4) The best place to write.
5) How chatting to others about writing made you a better writer.
9. Join us and we’ll promote you
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Come Take the Journey With Us
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10. Essential Information
Sites Authors Should Know
This is an unofficial list I have created as a useful writer’s tool. I receive no royalties, or kickbacks from any sites below. Use as advice only.
-(Dean MacAllister)
SELFPUBLISHINGADVICE.ORG- Before submitting to a publisher or self-publishing I highly recommend you check out the ‘Writers Beware’ section of this site! It has lists of scams to look out for and lists the less-than-reputable companies that have ripped writers off globally. Learn from the mistakes of others.
Smashwords- Creates and publishes E-books in all formats for free.
Takes some getting used to and has to be done properly. For a small fee people on site will convert your file through the “meat-grinder” converter for you.
Kindlepreneur- Writer who joined most author sites to compare.
Links to the best author friendly tools. Marketing advice included. Free website with free manuals. (Highly recommended!)
Goodreads- Author/Reader site. Many discussion forums. Very popular. Good place to find fans, create an author profile and source reviews.
Librarything- Poor-man’s version of Goodreads, but much less commercial.
READ MORE HERE: www.worldwriterscollective.com/writers-sauce
11. Important Links
Post news about your writing, book launch, events, or event just a link to your latest blog/post/tweet: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1629658520414716
Important information about writing in general, and the Melbourne Writers Group: https://www.facebook.com/MelbWriters
Discuss anything you like that’s creative: https://www.facebook.com/groups/169777419779168
For people who want to discuss writing on a forum that is for everyone around the world: https://www.facebook.com/groups/570847673015529
Your work edited for free by other writers. Give feedback to other writers to gain more practice editing your own work: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/mx9e9m43ljweh11/AAD3I7-VKOT5XSL8As6k1UOxa?dl=0
Information on writing, writing competitions, professional editing, getting published, and more. Become a member for discounts: https://www.worldwriterscollective.com
Near Melbourne? Come to our group and meet other writers and chat. Everyone is welcome:https://www.meetup.com/Melbourne-Writers
Previous email-outs with great information.https://www.worldwriterscollective.com/writers-sauce
The Story Mint newsletter for even more information. Subscribe here:http://www.thestorymint.com
Writers Sauce - WWC
World Writers Collective
