MEMBERS CORNER

COLLECTION OF LIMERICKS

By Findlay McKechnie

I'm stuck in this poor old body

I'm trapped in this poor old shell

But beneath the skin

I'm the same old Fin

But how the hell can you tell?


By Carol Jell

There was young pup called Tia
Sometimes known as Tia-Maria

She pee-ed on the floor
Carol shouted "no more"

Now Tia's known as "Tia the pee-er."


By Helga Parl

There once was a hen called Wendy
Her eggs came often quite handy

The cock cried hurray
I will have my way

His name was deservedly Randy.

By Jennifer Nosovich

There once was a short man named Drew
Who loved a tall lady called Sue

Because he was short
He thought that he ought

Show her he had parts that grew.


By Anna Arnold

We danced till the morning came
Passions burning,we felt no shame

He held me tight
For just that night

And I never did learn his name.



By Lorraine Cobcroft

There once was a young man named Dean

Who fell madly in love with the queen

He sent his message of love

On the wings of a dove,

But its droppings did cause quite a scene!



By Maarten Wijnberg

A French aristocratic baby in Brest

Possessed an impressive crest

The young and the old

Gave him jewels and gold

But he thought, just give me the breast

Handy Information on Novel Writing

Lorraine has provided some invaluable information on how to write a novel which are:

1. Write a log line

2. Write a brief precise

3. Answer these questions about character and conflict:

• Describe the main character, focusing on exposing the conflict that is central to the story
• What does the main character want? (Describe the over-arching want that drives the story. There will be less important shorter term goals throughout the story.)
• What stands in the way of the main character achieving his objective? Who is the villain and how do they obstruct him?
• By the end of the story, does the main character achieve his goal, change his goal, or accept defeat?
• How is the main character changed by the end of the story?

Now draw up a spreadsheet or table with the following columns:

 Scene name; Scene style (narrative, dialog or live action); Purpose or theme of scene; Character motivation or goal; Beginning style (narrative, dialog or live action); Beginning hook; Ending style (narrative, dialog or live action); Ending hook.

 For each scene in the story, determine whether the scene is primarily a live action scene (things happening in real time), narrative (the narrator telling what happened); or dialog. Also determine whether the scene opens and closes with narrative, dialog, or live action.

For each scene, describe the purpose or theme of the scene and the main character's motivation or goal in that scene.

For each scene, describe the opening and how it hopefully 'hooks' the reader and drives them to continue reading. What questions will the opening generate in the reader's mind?

For each scene, describe the ending and how it hopefully 'hooks' the reader to turn over and read the next scene.

Now divide the book into chapters by highlighting the cell containing the beginning hook of each scene that starts a new chapter, and the cell containing the ending hook of each scene that ends a chapter.

 By looking down this table, you should be able to instantly see the following possible flaws in your novel:

• Too much narrative. Does the 'scene style' column have too few 'live action' entries?
• Too many narrative beginnings or endings to scenes. Do the beginning and ending style columns have too few 'live action' entries. Focus particularly on chapter starts and ends. Are most of these 'live action', or at least dialog?
• Weak hooks. Not every chapter should end with a cliff hanger. Readers will get very tired and bored if they end every chapter hanging by their fingernails, but endings should be powerful enough to drive readers to read on. Beginnings should grab reader interest quickly.
• Irrelevant scenes. Are there scenes with a theme that doesn't really fit or isn't important to the story. Are there scenes you can delete without taking away from the story?
• Scenes that don't move the story forward. Are there scenes where the character goal or motivation isn't in line with the over-arching motivation described above? Every scene should move the story logically forward toward the conclusion of the character ultimately achieving his goal, changing it, or acknowledging defeat.
• Do the chapters start and end in the most appropriate places? Would the start and end hooks be more effective if you moved a scene or two up into the previous chapter or forward to the next?
• Does every scene fit with the overall theme and message of the book?

You can then add columns to record tension levels in each scene/chapter. Does the tension level rise and fall in the right places?

If your story is told from multiple points of view, record whose POV each scene is told from. An 'at a glance' view of where points of view change can be helpful in identifying possible problems.

WHAT IS POETRY?

Here is the link to what I think is a very useful article for would-be poets kindly provided by Lorraine and The Pottsville Writers Group.

http://wordsflowwriters.blogspot.com/2008/07/how-do-you-tell-difference-between.html

Writing Exercise for October

FAIRFIELD WRITER’S GROUP:
WRITING EXERCISE FOR OCTOBER 2010

Generating Story Ideas starting from Character
The blank page can be daunting! Writers often complain that they simply don’t know where to start─how to find an idea for a story.

Stories can begin from either plot, message, or character.

Beginning from plot:

A story that begins from plot is one that starts with a the writer having a fixed idea of what is going to happen in the story. While this is a valid way to begin, writers risk populating such stories with puppets created to serve the plot. If a character is invented merely to fill a purpose in the plot, that character may not be credible, or may be uninteresting.

John Grisham’s novels generally begin from plot, but succeed because the storyline is genuinely breathtaking. The enthusiastic young lawyers who appear are there to drive the story along, but Grisham usually succeeds in making them reasonably believable, and giving them a personality readers will react to.

Beginning from message:
A story that begins from message is one that seeks to convey a social or political message─a story with a moral, or written to urge action or change thinking. Such stories can have great plots and characterization, but there are risks that interest and/or credibility will be lost in a sermon!

Examples of books that began from a message are State of Fear by Michael Crichton (described by some as a ‘thinly veiled manifesto for the anti-global warming lobby’), and Jurassic Park, which highlighted the ethics of zoos, genetic engineering and environmentalism in what was, nevertheless, a great story.

Beginning from character:
Many of the most successful stories started with character. Character-based stories are memorable when the character really comes to life in the reader’s mind, and succeed when the character is so well defined that the plot can only take one direction─a direction consistent with the decision this character would logically make in the situation in which the author has placed him or her.

Many successful series are written based on a character, and conceived by placing that character in a situation and testing his or her response. One of my favourite examples of this is Agatha Christie’s series of Poirot mysteries. Readers find themselves able to predict the reaction or response of their ‘passionate about order’ egg-headed friend and would quickly identify any error were the author to make one.

Enid Blyton’s “Noddy” stories are among the more successful character-based stories for young children, and many older readers will recall the “Smiley” series. Of course most of us know Sherlock Holmes and Frankenstein. And more recently, Harry Potter has made himself very well known to readers and helped his creator achieve outstanding writing success.

Do you begin your stories from plot, character or message?

When writers create a character, some document every aspect of the character’s physical appearance background, mannerisms, thoughts, and personality. Others focus specifically on the traits that will be referred to in the story. Both approaches are valid, but if you want a story to be credible and interesting, it is wise to ensure that you know your central characters intimately─inside and out─and that they are people you can successfully ‘bring to life’ in the story. They should be people your readers will respond to emotionally.

There are books and software programs that purport to assist characterization by personality profiling. Characters can be created using much the same process as a psychologist uses to conduct examination. While such programs and methods can be helpful, authors can be equally successful creating exciting and believable characters based on real people they know, characters from a book they read, or their own observations and imagination. Once you have created a character, you can begin a character-based story by putting your character in a situation and observing how he/she responds, or by asking your character questions.

Begin with someone you saw in a coffee shop or walking through the park. Where did they come from? Why are they there? Where are they going? What are they carrying, and why? A man might be carrying a briefcase or a woman a handbag. What is in it? Someone may be approaching to meet your character. Why?

Choose one of the following approaches to creating an exciting, believable character and, in no more than 1000 words, tell a story that reveals your character’s unique personality to your reader.

1. Start with a picture of people─beautiful, ugly, dull, or interesting. Ask yourself who they are, how they got to where they are in the picture, why they are there, where they are going,what relationship they have to each other, how they met, if they like each other. Write a story about the people in your picture. (Don’t forget to bring the picture to the meeting along with your assignment!)

OR

2. Take a character you know from a favourite book or one you have written about at some time and ask yourself what are their best and worst memories. How did those memories affect them? What triggers their memories─a word or phrase, a song, a smell, a place?

Write a story about something that happened as a result of something triggering a memory.

OR

3. Look for someone in a coffee shop or store or walking along the road carrying a bag. Imagine that character reaching a table and emptying the contents of their bag onto it. What comes out? Why did they have those things in their bag? Ask your character to tell your reader which object is most important to them and why. (You will need to write this story in the first person, as if the character is speaking to your reader.)

OR

4. Think of someone who made a strong impression on you. Why? What was it about them that made them interesting or memorable? Write a story (it can be truth or fiction) that reveals why they made an impression and what you will remember about them in years to come.

WRITING ARTICLES: NOVEL WRITING

Hi Fellow writers,

Lorraine has kindly sent us some information about writing a novel and has including her own comments. Have a read as it maybe useful for Octobers homework.  
Anna :)


When considering the importance of characterisation versus plot in a novel, or the question of which to begin with, writers might observe that there are two distinctly different types of novel: the 'entertainment novel' and the 'serious novel' or 'literary work'.


Until I read "The Plot Thickens" by Monica Wood, in a book called The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing, which is a collection of articles by successful writers, I hadn't observed what is obvious when pointed out.

Entertainment novels have strongly developed (and very predictable) plots, and less well developed characters. Serious novels and literary works focus less on plot and more on character development.

Is there more merit to writing a 'serious' novel? Some would say so, but entertainment novels entertain readers, sell, make money for writers, and satisfy our desire for self-expression. Those are all noble goals.

So what types of novels are 'entertainment' novels?

"Entertainment plots are largely determined by the conventions of the genre", says Monica Wood.

Romances, westerns, crime stories... Stories in which there is a formula that must be followed and regardless of the character's individual traits and unique personality. The plot must move in a specified direction.

The detective must investigate the crime and find the perpetrator (or at least make a valiant effort and head in the right direction). He cannot run off to the Bahamas with the criminal's girl friend!

The Marshall in a western must pursue the bad guys and prevail in the 'shoot 'em up'.

The girl in the romance must win her man. She cannot decide it's all too hard and join a convent.

If you think about it, novels of this type have a very defined structure and plot, and only the details of the telling vary. It's the same story over and over, but told in a trillion different and very individual ways.

In 'entertainment' novels, there is generally minimal character development. Hercule Poirot doesn't change is character from the start of a novel to the end. He only changes the way he perceives things related to the crime. James Bond, Dirk Pitt, or Captain Kirk don't change much either.

Serious novels, or literary works, on the other hand, typically focus on the development of a character. The character faces a crisis - generally a moral or ethical dilemma. The character struggles with this dilemma, gradually exposing more and more of their unique personality and way of thinking to the reader. The character may ultimately resolve the dilemma, or not. It's not about what happens in the story. The focus isn't plot. The focus is on presenting social issues - moral, ethical, religious or political problems - and exposing the manner in which a particular personality respond to these issues. The protagonist often goes through a character transformation - as in A Christmas Carol, in which Scrooge reforms from a miser to a generous man; or The African Queen, in which Charlie Allnut reforms from a hopeless drunk to a responsible husband.

But sometimes there is no marked change in the character's behaviour, but only a recognition and acceptance of what is, which, in itself, is a transformation for one who previously could not recognise or accept. (There must be a resolution of some kind, otherwise the story is incomplete.)

Serious dramatic fiction is transformational by nature. The plot isn't just a sequence of happenings. The plot is a planned progression toward the resolution of a predicament, and that progression transforms the character in some way.

Enertainment novels are also typically 'plot line' stories. That is, everything that happens leads directly (and generally fairly obviously and almost inevitably) to the next happening.

Alternately, though, novel can follow a 'story line', in which the events are not causally related, but are part of the same chain of events that are progressing toward a resolution. In a story line novel, the character development is usually greater, because the characters are growing older and also changing as they progress toward a resolution of the central problem presented by the author.

A story line novel is more difficult to write, because the emotions of the characters tend to evaporate over time between events of the plot.

Story line and plot line can be combined in thesae story. Usually the story line comes first, serving as a background to the plot line. Zorba the Greek combines both. Most of the book has a tightly woven plot line, but the last chapter relates Zorba's life of many years after he leaves Crete.

Monica Wood goes on to discuss plotting problems, and says that the most common one occurs when a character refuses to do what author planned for them. This, she says, is a problem that occurs when authors identify too closely with the character. The author plots the story, rather than letting the character dictate the story.

Alternately, the character might lie dead on the page. That occurs when characters are not well orchestrated and pitted in conflict with one another.

Monica Wood offers six tips for successful plotting, prefacing her tips by advising that all good plots result from dramatic characters who are "on fire to obtain goals and who work like hell to achieve them".

1. Chart each major character's development through the actions.
2. In a work of entertainment, chart each major character's actions and indicate his/her motivations, making sure each is being as clever and resourceful as possible. (Agatha Christie's Poirot series would fail if Poirot were a clumsy fool who constantly failed to identify the killer!)
3. Spend some time brainstorming. Make lists of things the character might do. Don't judge the ideas. Allow yourself to be outrageous... even insane. You can prune the list later.
4. Conduct interviews with your characters and write diaries in their voices.
5. Follow the "Would he really?" test for believability.
6. Make sure your characters are well orchestrated. Pair them up with people who contrast markedly with them and create logical, believable conflict. (Monica refers to the TV series Leave it to Beaver, pointing out that Mr and Mrs Cleaver are so alike in their values,opinions, hopes, and ambitions that there would be no story at all if sociopath Eddie Haskell didn't rescue the series from total boredom. She also points out that The African Queen worked because of the marked contrast between the drunken sot ad the straight-laced, bible thumping Rose. A less dramatic contrast, or a combination of two drunks in the boat, would have failed dismally.)

Stories must have conflict, and conflict is created by well-orchestrated characters.

A comment from Lorraine: "Conducting an interview with your character" might be a useful exercise for FWG at some time. This might actually be an interesting approach to the novel group meetings - since we have struggled to find a suitable meeting format for dealing with longer works. Maybe we could set some exercises that assist novel development, like:

Interview your main characters

Write a series of diary entries in your main characters' voices

Contrast at least two of your characters and describe how the contrast in their personality, goals, ideals, opinions, etc. creates a conflict that your story will resolve.

Define the conflict on which your story focuses, and outline how each of the main characters responds to that conflict, and their role in its resolution

Draw a time line of story events and describe the changes in your character at each critical point, showing the progression towards conflict resolution.

I have been struggling with the thought that critiquing individual sections of a book, in isolation, might result in 20 or 30 great extracts, but these don't necessarily combine to make a successful novel. Working on the overall characterisation and conflict might be helpful to ensure that all those well-written extracts ultimately combine successfully.

COMPETITIONS

PROLE-Poetry Competition
Prole is a print literary journal that publishes high quality poetry and prose from around the world. We have just published our second issue and have achieved sales in Europe, the USA, Australia and New Zealand.

We are open to submissions year round and have a profit sharing scheme as a means of paying our contributors.

Prole has just launched its own poetry competition. I have appended details below this message.

Full details regarding submissions, the competition or purchase can be found on our website at: http://www.prolebooks.co.uk/

Deadline First Prize Summary
December 24th 2010 £100, publication in Prole and showcase on our website.
2 runners up, bdanders@socket.net £30 each and showcasing on our website.
Entry fee £3 for first poem, £2 for subsequent poems. Search for Prole Laureate

We’re looking for entries that represent the editorial ambitions of Prole: to make writing engaging, challenging, entertaining and accessible.
All forms of poetry welcome, any length considered.
Entry by post or email.
Full details are on our website: www.prolebooks.co.uk
Click on the competition link.
Winners will be announced April 2nd 2011

WRITERS DIGEST-Short Story Competition
Writers Digest are running a short story competition. It is open to non-US residents. Here's the link for details if you're interested. http://www.writersdigest.com/popularfictionawards

An ode of English Plural

Thanks to Lorraine for sending this funny but quite true observation!

An ode of English Plural

We'll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes,
But the plural of ox becomes oxen, not oxes.
One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,
Yet the plural of moose should never be meese.
You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice,
Yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.

If the plural of man is always called men,
Why shouldn't the plural of pan be called pen?
If I speak of my foot and show you my feet,
And I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?
If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,
Why shouldn't the plural of booth be called beeth?

Then one may be that, and three would be those,
Yet hat in the plural would never be hose,
And the plural of cat is cats, not cose.
We speak of a brother and also of brethren,
But though we say mother, we never say methren.
Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him,
But imagine the feminine: she, shis and shim!

Let's face it - English is a crazy language.
There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger;
neither apple nor pine in pineapple.
English muffins weren't invented in England.
We take English for granted, but if we explore its paradoxes,
we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square,
and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing,
grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham?
Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend.
If you have a bunch of odds and ends and
get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught?
If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?
Sometimes I think all the folks who grew up speaking English
should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane.

In what other language do people recite at a play and play at a recital?
We ship by truck but send cargo by ship...
We have noses that run and feet that smell.
We park in a driveway and drive in a parkway.
And how can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same,
while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language
in which your house can burn up as it burns down,
in which you fill in a form by filling it out, and
in which an alarm goes off by going on.

And in closing, if Father is Pop, how come Mother's not Mop?

Author Unknown

We are seeking quality manuscripts

Hello writers,

If anyone is looking for a publisher please read the following information.
PLEASE NOTE:
Lorraine has kindly written some information about the implications of some advertisements and offers.

Enjoy
Anna:)

We are seeking quality manuscripts

Are writers in your group looking for a publisher?
If they are, would you please pass this information on to them:

If your manuscript has been polished and you believe it is ready for publication, why not send it into our submissions department for assessment.

We need a letter of inquiry, synopsis and three sample chapters from you to be able to ascertain if the manuscript is worthy of publication. Whether your book is accepted or not, we will always let you know. Sometimes changes may be suggested to help your manuscript have a chance of finding a market.
Zeus Publications have been in the publishing industry in Australia for over 13 years and we know how the industry works. We have a professional team of submissions editors, book editors, graphic artist and marketing publicists who can help you along the way. Most are writers themselves so they understand the writing process.
For information on manuscript guidelines and submission details go to:
http://www.zeus-publications.com/new.htm
Seeing you hold your book in your hands is our greatest joy!


WHAT KIND OF PUBLISHER ARE YOU TALKING TO?
(A WORD OF CAUTION TO WRITERS SEEKING PUBLISHING DEALS)

by Lorraine Cobcroft

Once upon a time, most published works were printed and marketed by commercial publishers at their cost/risk and the writers were paid royalties on sales.

Is that what you believed? Actually, if you check history carefully, many of the most famous authors of past generations paid for 'vanity press' publication of their early works, and marketed themselves. But it's true that commercial publishers traditionally did take on the cost and risk of printing and marketing many books. They still do today, though to a lesser extent.

The world of publishing is changing fast, and publishers are becoming increasingly reluctant to accept risk, particularly in relation to works from unknown authors. The chances of any unknown writer securing a 'traditional' publishing deal are diminishing rapidly. But writers might receive offers of publication or requests for manuscripts from two types of publisher, and it's important to understand their offering correctly.

1. Vanity publishers: These are publishers YOU pay to print your book. Some help market it to a limited extent. Others only print it. You pay for their services. They take no risk and invest nothing in you.

This group loosely includes the multitude of POD (Print on Demand) publishers who are now springing up everywhere. POD publishing is typically lower cost and lower risk than other vanity publishing, because you can order books as you need them. The per copy print cost is higher, but you don't pay for thousands of books that you might be unable to sell or take many years to sell. They offer a great service for writers, but choose carefully because the quality of their work and their prices vary radically. (Love of Books, Moorooka, is one I highly recommend!)

2. Subsidy Publishers (e.g. Zeus Publications): These publishers SHARE the cost and risk of printing and marketing your book with you. The amount they contribute varies from almost nothing to a considerable portion, depending on the publisher. Depending on the ethics of the management, their offer may be honest and disclose all relevant facts, or may be very deceiving. Many authors are so flattered by an offer that they fail to critically examine the terms and check out the publisher's background and references.

NEVER accept an offer from a Subsidy publisher without expert advice on the contract and verifying their credentials carefully. You can carry out extensive background checks on the Internet quite easily. (Try typing in the name of the publisher followed by words like 'con' or 'sucks' or 'deception'. If they have 'burned' other writers, you'll find the horror stories. Remember, we are talking about WRITERS here! Most will be quick to write about their bad experience!)

Some subsidy publishers offer a brillliant service and they might well give you your first big break. But caution is essential.
Beware, particularly, of publishers who keep changing their name, and/or those with very persistent and aggressive marketing tactics. (There are lots of writers seeking publication. If you are being hounded with an offer, treat it with suspicion!). Some of those I've had offers from and suggest writers should be particularly careful of are Dorrance Publishing, Publish America, and Childrens Literary Agency (a division of Writers Literary Agency).

Type 'beware of vanity/subsidy publishers' into Google's search field when you have lots of time to read about other writers' reports and cautions. I guarantee you will be shocked!

Are there 'good guys' out there in publisher/agent land? Absolutely! (I recommend Wombat Books for Australian Christian writers. They are struggling to get wide market acceptance, but are beyond reproach in their honesty and ethics and will work hard for you.)

Should unpublished writers give up hope of being published? Definitely not!

Persistence pays off. Some of us will get lucky and some will reap the just rewards of hard work and patience. But in the meantime, PLEASE TAKE EXTREME CARE when evaluating offers from POD publishers, electronic publishers, vanity publishers and subsidy publishers. Check them out thoroughly and read the fine print. Demand protective clauses in contracts that limit your risk. Investigate their background thoroughly, by finding people who have worked with them (NOT people they refer - they will be primed to tell you only the good news!).

Note: The writer has had NO experience with Zeus Publications and makes no comment as to their specific business model, integrity or ethics or the merits of any offer they may make. If your manuscript is accepted by them, I would be happy to help you with background research and critical examination of the terms of offer.

Don't be Afraid of What You Don't Know by Rob Parnell

Hello fellow writers,
Rob Parnel  http://www.easywaytowrite.com/ has writen a great article about what publishers look for in manuscripts.
Thanks to Lorraine for sending it.
Enjoy!
Anna :)

Don't be Afraid of What You Don't Know
by Rob Parnell

I attended a writer's workshop last Saturday night. (Clearly no rocking out in clubland for me anymore!)

The guest speaker was a successful editor for a well known publishing house. It was fascinating to have so many submission issues confirmed from, as it were, the horse's mouth.

I'll summarize here some of the most pertinent points she made.

First off, she said around 85% of all the manuscripts she received from budding authors were a waste of her time. They were clearly written by people who had never bothered to read guidelines, format correctly or even study basic punctuation, spelling and grammar.

This is a startling statistic. In essence, over 4 out of every 5 writers, in her words, deserve to be rejected simply because they don't bother to research the craft of writing before they start firing off their manuscripts.

Ironically, she said, this makes her job easier. Because, in order to save time, she never reads on if there are simple errors on page one. Why should she? If a writer can't get the first page error free, what hope is there that the writing will get any better?

Presentation is so very important.

Of the remaining 15%, the contenders for publication, the issues were more to do with story and style.

She confirmed to me that originality, though nice, was not often a consideration. Simply because the chances of a writer coming up with something original AND well written were so slim that it could never be a deciding factor.

What interested her most was 'voice' - the nebulous quality she said only the best writers seemed able to master. She said it was apparent that only after the writer fully understood the mechanics of writing (grammar especially) that the voice was able to come through with any degree of effectiveness.

Pet peeves included: the overuse of 'that' 'and' as well as 'had'. She said good writers should be able to spot their overuse and rearrange sentences to avoid relying on them.

She didn't like what she called 'filters'. This was the use of words that distance a reader from the characters. Words like 'felt', 'thought', 'decided' and 'realized' - as well as vague qualifiers like 'very', 'almost', 'nearly', which were to be avoided (read, deleted.)

Also, the old chestnut, "Don't use adverbs," she said, "ever!"

She loathed the penchant of newbies to write long compound sentences where the subject becomes obscured - and the grammar becomes suspect at best. Keep the sentences short and easy to understand was her advice, unless you know exactly what you're doing (which 98% of us don't, she said.)

Most of her job - after reading manuscripts - was editing them for publication.

Her decisions over who to publish therefore were often based upon her assessment of how easy a writer was going to be to work with.

If the manuscript was full of stylistic errors (she reasoned from experience) then the writer was probably going to be difficult. She'd heard the, "It's not incorrect, it's my style" argument all too often - and yes, it generally only came from newbies.

Contrary to myth, most professionals embrace alterations to their work. And compromise makes for a pleasant working relationship.

Towards the end of the workshop you could almost feel the exasperation of the writers. How were they ever going to be good enough for publication, one writer asked.

We were missing the point, she said.

Studying the craft of writing was something she expected writers to do - on an ongoing basis. She wanted well presented and well written manuscripts first, then she looked for good stories told with a strong voice.

Until she found them, she wanted writers to at least look as though they were writing to the very best of their ability.

Don't be intimidated by what you don't know," she said, "but do study and research the rules of writing consistently."

To which she added, "It's the only way to improve - and maximize your chances of publication."

I agree, don't you?

Poem: Advice from the Mirror by Lorraine

Mirror, mirror, help me please
I’ll not complain if there are fees
To look again as I once did
To be again a pretty kid

Can you smooth the wrinkles; tint the grey?
Can you trim the fat, so that I may
Charm him again in that same way
As when I sought to win him.

Alas, my friend, the glass replied
I cannot alter what you spy
But do not fear, for can’t you see
This image isn’t you…it’s me!

I can’t reflect a loving heart
And that’s your most important part
Your beauty shines from deep within
And that’s what’s seen by kith and kin.

Author: Lorraine