The Word & the Sentence Tools to Manipulate Your Reader
Language works in many ways. Good writing is more than the sum of its parts, more than the dictionary definition of the words added together.
Diction, style, connotation, figurative language, sentence structure, and sounds devices such as alliteration, assonance, and consonance, all work subliminally to lure the reader into the writer's vision.
We'll be teaching the meaning and the strategy of each of these devices (and more) on February 7 in Rogers in this special workshop created by our director.
These techniques are tools in your writer's paint box to help you create the picture you want in the mind of the reader.
In our new Rogers/Bentonville location at Whole Hog Cafe, 1400 SE Walton Blvd, Bentonville
Jessie will serve a selection of savory wraps (including gluten-free) with all your favorite fillings.
Writers' Night Out begins at 5.
We welcome anyone interested in writing.
We'll be joined, via Skype, by our first instructor Mike Hancock, who will talk about the publication of his book Fallen. More about Mike.
From the Director . . .
That Other Big Thing.One of our group on Thursday night mentioned her difficulty starting her writing project because of a "laser focus" on caregiving a family member.
This "laser focus" resonated with me. Helping the Village Writing School reach its potential is very satisfying. For over a year, that was all I thought about. My personal writing suffered.
But then, when I'm rolling on my novel, I procrastinate on VWS business, and Jessie has to say, "What about the press releases? What about the newsletter?"
Real life includes many responsibilities. And sometimes we have another big thing, like caregiving or a job. How can we divide our "laser focus" and find balance?
It has helped me is to ask the question: how much of me is a writer? I concluded that my dream life would be 70% writer and 30% teacher and VWS director. Using that standard, I should be writing about 2/3 of my working hours.
In the other writer's case, her caregiving responsibility is huge—maybe 95% or 97%. Yet, if she wants to write, she must carve out that 3%.
Put the pencil to your life. If you work full time, your writing percentage may be small, but don't squander that time on TV or FB. Even 3% of your time translates to words on the page. If you're retired and the boss of you, how much of you is a writer?
What's Your Writing Percentage?
Make it Happen.
Quick Tips
Pub Ops On Writing
A prize of $2,000 and publication in Colorado Review is given annually for a short story.
Choosing the right voice is important. Be it raw, childhood, public, private, colloquial, 1st or 3rd person, learn to hear your voice and shape it into a story. -- Nancy Harris, Librarian, VWS
Debbie attends workshops and Writers' Night Out when she's not feeding the homeless in Fayetteville. Debbie writes church history thrillers. She and our director can be found walking around Eureka exclaiming, "But the body in the sarcophagus cannot be the dwarf!"
Around Our Villages
Eureka Springs
Rogers
Bentonville
Little Rock
Maumelle
Maumelle/Little Rock VWS Associate Director, Thomas Eaton, visits with kids at Our House. Tom read from his children's work, One Fine Day in Fort Laramie, and visited with the kids about the stories they wanted to write. Our House provides education, support, lodging and job training for parents in transition to the workforce.
Poetry Roundelay is cancelled this week as Wendy had shoulder surgery.
Kenzie has organized another Open Mic at Brews in Eureka Springs February 6 @ 6 pm Poetry, Prose, Comedy, Music, Short Performance Located at 2 Pine, on the corner across from the post office
Writers' Night Out in Eureka: 14 writers, 4 Scrabble boards, and nachos
Social Media Links The MISSION of the Village Writing School is to foster a vibrant literary community in Northwest Arkansas and to provide resources for ALL writers who seek to improve their craft.
S U P P O R T O U R M I S S I O N
THE VILLAGE WRITING SCHOOL IS A 501c3 ORGANIZATION.
