By Lee Pulaski, vice president, called the Feb. 17 meeting of the Shawano Area Writers to order in the Elsie Engel Room at the Shawano Public Library. Members attending were Lee Pulaski, Wendy Goerl, Irma Brunner, Marilyn Kroenke, John Mutter, Barb King, Twilla Beyer, Nick Wudtke, Trudy Bosman, Tom Thorstenson and Lana Allen.
The minutes were approved. John Mutter presented the treasurer’s report, which was approved.
Mutter gave an update on the Student Writing Contest. A few entries have come in. There was a question about what was expected in nonfiction essays. Mutter has developed a sheet for students with examples of fiction and nonfiction writing. It will be posted on the Shawano Area Writers website.
A short discussion was held about whether to contribute to Bridge the Gap. It was decided we wouldn’t because it did not strictly apply to writing.
Questions were brought up about writing and ideas given by all members.
Q: How does someone start writing?
A: Some writers make an outline and write a summary of each chapter.
Other writers basically know how the story will start, the climax and the ending. Once they start writing the story, it naturally fills in by what you want to come next.
Still others start in the middle or the end and work to the beginning.
To start writing, start with an idea you are interested in and sit down and write your thoughts on the topic. Write until you feel you have expressed yourself. Don’t worry about spelling, punctuation, etc., because that is editing. Right now, you just want to get your thoughts down. When you are finished, walk away. Read the entire piece from top to bottom the next day. Now you edit. Straighten out all the mistakes and you may want to describe something in more detail or add more ideas, or sometimes start over.
Q: What do you write?
A: Write what you know. Write what you’re interested in. When you feel more comfortable with the writing procedure, then let your imagination go wild.
Some writers like to use prompts or take a writing course on the web, such as Great Courses.
Q: Do you stick with one genre?
A: Some writers do because they might be good in one area like mystery, fantasy or romance. Others try different genres to find what they feel most comfortable writing.
Q: How do you know how long a chapter should be? Some chapters are 26 pages long, some three.
A: A chapter is a scene. The chapter ends when you have told what you wanted to tell in that scene.
Irma Brunner started the readings with her story, “The Black Iris,” which she plans on sending to Green Prints, a magazine that focuses on the joys of gardening, not just what to plant.
Marilyn Kroenke shared a haiku about flowers and two limericks. One entitled “The Recipe” and the other “Talented Lady.” She also read a short piece entitled “NIMBY,” where people want to help their community until the rehab building, or the lower income housing, is near their property and then they say “Not In My Back Yard.”
Trudy Bosman wrote a poem entitled “Lost and Found.” A diamond came out of her wedding set, and the family looked everywhere. Bosman saw something sparkling in the trash can, and there was her diamond. They couldn’t afford to have it placed back in the setting at that time, so she put it in an envelope with the words “diamond for ring” and tacked it to the bulletin board. Two years later on her birthday, she opened a present from her husband with a necklace containing the lost and found diamond.
Barb King read another chapter from her book “The Children in the Garden.” Jillian’s friend, Lindsey, thinks it would be a nice way to meet the neighbors and get a good start at cleaning the house if she held a tailgating party for the neighborhood — only without the tailgate.
Nick Wudtke read a passage from his book “Parabolic, Magnetic Key.” Mick is telling the story of Dave and him and the magic swords. They decide to go to a geological anomaly called the Tharbjorn Escarpment about 20 miles from their hometown. They discovered that millions of years ago a river ran through this area.
Tom Thorstenson kept us laughing with one-liners in his story “The Largest.” Tom is driving to Memphis and south of Madison sees advertising for the World’s Largest Culver’s Restaurant.
Lee Pulaski read from his latest book “Night of the Hodag.” Luke and Adam are looking for the hodag in a field when Luke finds himself hanging upside down in a snare.
Wendy Goerl read the chronicling of the creation of her “Heartstone” saga. She uses the jigsaw method of writing, which is a non-linear method.
Shawano Area Writers meets the third Thursday of every month in the Elsie Engel Room in the Shawano Library at 10 a.m. The next meeting is March 17. Everyone is welcome.
