Write Angles 2-09

8/9/2019 Write Angles 2-09

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Bronze StatueJack London SquareOakland, California


2/10February 2009 WriteAngles 1

Table ofContents

The Mysterious World of

Intellectual Property 1

The View From the Helm

AL Levenson 2

Member NewsAnne Fox 3

Tidbits 3

Prevailing Winds 4

Even in Paris

Alex Campbell 5

Why I Write 6-7

A 7-Step Program

for Rejection

Charlotte Cook8

The Mysterious World of Intellectual Propert

At a joint luncheon meeting on Saturday, February 14, 2009, the Mou

Diablo and Berkeley Branches of CWC will hear speaker Robert G. Pimm,

literary arts attorney, speak on Legal Aspects of Writing and Publishing.

With more than 20 years experience, Robert Pimm has expert

understanding of all aspects of the book publishing industry. He has worked

both major and small press publishers and with booksellers throughout the U

from giant chains to independents. He will share his rst-hand knowledge of

retailing and distribution, small press publishing, and author representation.

A Doctor of Law from the University of San Francisco, Bob serves o

the Board of Directors and as a Panel Attorney for California Lawyers for th

Arts (calawyersforthearts.org). He is Book Publishing Program Chair of the

American Bar Associations Forum on the Ente

tainment and Sports Industries. From 2002 to 2

he served as Editor-in-Chief of Entertainment aSports Lawyer, the Forums quarterly publicatio

An author in his own right, Bob has written boo

chapters, and numerous articles on legal and business aspects of the industry

He knows about new publishing technologies and the emerging eBook indus

Visit his Web site at rgpimm.com.

CWC members and guests are welcome to come, learn, and network

other local writers at Zio Fraedos Restaurant, 611 Gregory Lane,

Pleasant Hill (near the intersection of Gregory Lane and Pleasant Hill Road)

There is ample parking both in front of and behind the restaurant.

Sign-in begins at ll:30 a.m., with the meeting scheduled 12 to 2:30 p

Cost: $20 Members, $25 Non-Members. Reservations are required an

must be received no later than noon on Wednesday, February 11. Contact Be

Iverson, via e-mail at [email protected], or by phone at (925) 376-363

Expect conrmation only if you e-mail your reservation.

Menu entrees: Petrale Sole Dore, Chicken Parmigiana, Spaghetti and

meat balls, Pasta Primavera.

CARPOOL: Are you a driver or a passenger? Drop AL an email with your

location ([email protected]), and well see what we can arrange.

BART TRANSPORT: Take BART to Pleasant Hill, then transfer to County

Connection Bus # 116, which will take the rider to Monti Circle. The Zio Fra

restaurant is right across the street. For more information, go to

transit.511.org or call 511 from the Bay Area, [or 510-465-2278], ask for

Public Transit, then BART, then Transit Information Center.


3/10

The View From The Helm

February 2009 WriteAngles 2

As president of the Berkeley Branch I enjoy many unlikely benets. One recent one is the reconnection with

riend Id lost track of. A woman who had written four novels, none of which had been published. She saved her

pennies to pay for professional editing and dutifully did the major rewrites suggested

by her editor. When we reconnected, she had completed her fth novel, and it was in

he hands of an editor. She was looking for an agent and was also considering

elf-publishing. It seems to me self-publishing and platform are two heavy loads of

rustration atop the struggle of getting words down on paper in the rst place. I can

understand someone giving up before reaching the goal line of one novel. I thought

here must be some writer steroids I did not know about that could sustain someone

hrough ve. And so I asked, Why Do You Write? And the answer was not what I

xpected. Dont you love it when that happens?

So I picked out several members of the Berkeley Branch whom I barely knew if at all, and asked the same

question. Elsewhere in these pages nd four thoughtful answers.

Prompted by those answers, I imagine many of you will have a little conversation with yourself about why y

write. If you nd yourself at your keyboard tapping out 150 to 300 words on the topic and feel like sending them to

[email protected], I would love to read them. Perhaps they may nd their way into a future issue ofWrit

Angles.

* * *

A hundred years ago this month, Jack London, Berkeley Branch member #1, was returning to California abo

his sailing yacht, Snark, after eighteen months of cruising adventure. London did not complete his intended

ircumnavigation but logged sufcient nautical miles for the stuff of another book: Cruise of the Snark, published b

MacMillan in 1911.

In a most elegant bit of symmetry, I welcome the Berkeley Branchs rst new member of our centennial yea

I met Randy Garrett on the front steps of my ofce where he was taking advantage of the free WiFi I provide

he cruising sailors who pass through my little corner of Alameda. Randy retired a couple of years ago and moved o

R3, the 40 sloop he owns with his wife, Ramona.

In a year and a half of cruising the west coast of North America, Randy has translated notes from his cruise

ournals into saleable articles. His marine photography not only enhances his articles but also stands alone. One of h

photographs was purchased for the cover of a British sailing magazine for a princely sum.

These days Randy writes twenty hours a week. He has come this far without a writing lesson, without a criti

group, without a writers club. He was overjoyed to make a connection to the oldest writers club in the country.

Because the R3 is heading for the South Pacic intent on its own circumnavigation, it will be years, if ever, beforeRandy actually shows up on a third Saturday for a branch meeting. But in this age of Internet connectivity, he expec

o be in touch. He is pleased to be counted with member number one and hopes to connect via email with a critique

buddy in the branch. Any writers out there who would like a pen pal and a unique experience exchanging work with

Randy? Drop him an e-mail at: [email protected].

In the excitement of hearing Randys story, I failed to tell him of the motto of the California Writers Club, an

he will probably learn it right here: Sail On.

- AL Levenson, President


4/10

September 2008

February 2009 WriteAngles 3

Member News

Madelen Lontiong contributed her writing to Home and Garden for the December 24, 2008, issue of the San

Francisco Chronicle. Her piece, Home for the Holidays Is an Elusive Place, was in the special section, Home

for the HolidaysReaders Reections, and is available at sfgate.com.

Diane Capito had a travel article on Marble Falls, Texas, published in the December 2008 issue of theHillCountry Sun, a Texas monthly. She is currently working on an update of her bookWalking Hill Country Towns,

published by Maverick Publishing of San Antonio, Texas.

Continue to follow the literary trail of Lucille Bellucci, whose name and references to her writing are sprinkled

through some ten pages of Google.com. Also, her novel, The Snake Woman of Ipanema, is mentioned in Volume

12 ofThe Mammoth Book of Best New Horror. Her collection,Pastiche: Stories and Such, is available at

amazon.com. Go to narrativemagazine.com for Lucilles Shanghai, China among Readers Narratives.

Carol Newman-Weaver received Honorable Mention in the UNPUBLISHED NONFICTION ARTICLE/

ESSAY/BOOK CHAPTER Category in the 2008 CNW/FFWA Florida State Writing Competition.

In January 2010, HarperCollins will publish Elizabeth Wageles The Career Within (working title,) the rst boo

on using the Enneagram, a system of nine types of people, for discovering your personality type and getting to

know who you are in order to match yourself up better to the right career. See Elizabeths colorful Web site for

news and information about her activities and her many published books: wagele.com.

Attention Members: What have you done, what are you doing, thats connected with language? Whether youve

written a letter to the editor, a ller, a puzzle, ction, nonction, been in a contestall is worthy of note and a

source of inspiration for CWC members. Please send the vital statistics to Anne Fox, [email protected].

February 2nd Saturday support/critique

writers group is cancelled.

Important Deadline:

For Susan Bono's Tiny Lights Publications'

fteenth annual personal-essay contest, the

deadline is Feb. 14, 2009. Generous cash

prizes awarded. Guidelines at

tiny-lights.com.

Charlotte Cooks Classes for Writers

Charlotte Cook resumes teaching this spring at

Piedmont Adult School with her workshop class

"Write Ideas," beginning April 2nd for six weeks

from 7 pm to 9 pm. She also continues her

private workshop classes. For the rst, go to

piedmontadultschool.org; for the second, contact

Charlotte at [email protected].

February 3rd Saturday support/critique writers

group is meeting on February 28,

Rockridge Library, 1 to 5 p.m.

Tidbits

Meeting Time Changes

archetypewriting.com/articles/articles_ck/getPub.htm.

writehabit.org

zebraeditor.com/solutions.shtml

authorsden.com

WEB SITES FOR WRITERS:



Beyond the Horizon

The distance to the horizon depends on the height of the eye. As program chairman scheduling speakers sev

months in advance, I get to look farther than the horizon. I am especially pleased with the lineup of speakers throug

June, and I want to let you know about the treats in store for us.

In March we have our own Charlotte Cook, publisher, teacher, coach, editor, conference presenter, as well a

evangelist for the Berkeley Branch.In April we have Janis Bell, San Francisco writing teacher and author ofClean, Well-Lighted Sentences: A

Writers Guide to Avoiding the Most Common Errors in Grammar and Punctuation.

In May we have Janis Cooke-Newman, writing teacher and author ofMary, Mrs. A. Lincoln, the best book

read in 2008. Janis was a presenter at the 2008 Squaw Valley Writers Conference.

In June we have Molly Giles. Currently a professor at the University of Arkansas, she also taught creative

writing at San Francisco State University and is acknowledged in the books of a number of best-selling authors.

- AL Levenson

Publicity News

Thanks to these folks (and corporate supporters) for supporting the CWC, Berkeley Branch.

Barnes & Noble Booksellers in Jack London Square and B&Ns Community Relations Manager Barbara

Tavres for the new signage near its Event Loft. Look for the sign (and our enhanced 100th anniversary logo) alertin

patrons to the CWC-Berkeley Branchs monthly meetings.

CWC member Anne Fox for sending out meeting notices to Bay Area newspapers each month. Recent

rst-time guests read about the CWC in theBerkeley Daily PlanetandEast Bay Express.

CWC member Carol Newman-Weaver for volunteering to help research potential grant makers.

Reminder: If you would like to help secure grants to promote the Club (and by extension your work) or ha

your name and published materials mentioned in CWC stories that Publicity Chair Linda Brown is developing, plea

1) see the December 2008 Write Angles for details and 2) contact her at [email protected].

- Linda Brown, Publicity Chair

Minutes (abridged):

Board of Directors meeting

Berkeley Branch, CWC. January 17, 2009

AL Levenson requested the board set aside $1000 for a writing contest and chapbook. The motion was table

pending submission of a more detailed cost summary.

Linda Brown will be the Berkeley Branch delegate to the meeting of the Central Board of the California

Writers Club.

Checking balance: $2,476.31

New members: Elizabeth Wagele, Wendi Lelke-Wallway, Vernon Dolphin, and Randolph Garrett.

Members: 70

PREVAILING WINDS



With a twinge of recognition, I gazed at the chair yawning empty in front of the

faded Olivetti typewriter abandoned on the counter of a closet-size nook. The setting

brought to mind Basic Writing Rule #1: Put Your Seat in the Chair.

I was standing just outside the nook, in a narrow hall crammed both sides, oor

to ceiling, with shelves of books, on the second oor of a Parisian bookstore,

Shakespeare and Company. This reincarnation of the shop writers of the Lost

Generation made famous between the World Wars not only sells English language

books, but also offers new writers a bed and writing space in exchange for working in

the store.

I moved closer for a better look at the Olivetti. Four keys from the manual

AZERTY keyboard were jammed just where they should strike the blank paper. I remembered how I had often

felt jammed when I faced the white page, waiting to shoot words on the y, as one author put it, then being

torn between choosing one word over another. Yet theres Basic Writing Rule #2: Get it Down. Pull the damn

trigger. Write one word on the page. And then anotherTo the left of the nook, a small room opened from the hall. There, four walls of books. Two young men

one sitting in a wooden chair, the other on a cot pushed against one wall, both reading. They did not look up.

Well, even in the best of times, I reected, we have to stop writing, even get up from the chair. Unfortunately,

sooner or later, to resume writing, we must face Writing Rules #1 & 2.

As I descended the stores narrow, winding staircase, two other patrons squeezed by on their way up.

I steadied myself against one wall with one hand. The gesture reminded me of a technique used by another

writer to help him pick up where he left off. His description of his writing habit became my Basic Writing Rul

#3: Leave a Handhold. Stop writing in the middle of a sentence, and pick up the thought when you resume

writing the next day. Finishing the incomplete thought is easier than having to think of new words. The word I

leave in midsentence is the handhold.

Like pump priming: writing the words to nish the sentence gets things owing again. In fact, knowing

that the unnished sentence is waiting reassures me that Getting It Down will resume and reduces my resis-

tance to Putting Seat in Chair. (Incidentally, in my experience, breaking off the sentence at the verb is most

effective.)

Downstairs, I paid for a book. I asked the young woman counting my euros, Are you one of the

resident writers here?

No.Where are they, then, upstairs writing?

I hope so.

I gently closed the shop door and shouldered into the cold Paris evening. Around me, the rise and fall o

voices, scufing feet, the moan and hiss of trafc merged into an undulating whisper: Put Seat in Chair, Get I

Down, Leave a Handhold.

Even in Paris.

- Alex Campbell

Even in Paris



Why do I write? I write because I need the peace in the alpha state that

settles around me like a warm quilt. I need this peace as clearly as I need to

breathe. I go to a place in my mind and heart where time does not exist. All

worries and duties fall away, and Im able to use words and create stories as I hav

done since I was a child.

I have been writing seriously for fteen years. Ive always kept a journal when I travel to exotic and

foreign places. A yearlong backpacking trip from Amsterdam to Nepal in 1974 was the basis for my rst novel,

Love Like a River.

My second novel,Looking for a Water Hole, was based on the notes and journal I kept while living and

working in Las Vegas as an exotic dancer.

I have written and completed ve novels, and I have two others that are waiting for completion.

Sometimes I work on two or more novels at a time. It may sound difcult, but it really isnt. Its almost magical

how the characters from each novel stay in my mind in a particular compartment. When Im ready to return to a

novel, they come forward and begin acting out their lives.

Im very much an intuitive writer. Often while I am typing the words, plot and story takes shape under myngertips. With the last novel I have written, a mystery entitled Murder in Forest Bay, I did have to plot it out.

However, I had a very difcult time sticking to the outline. My characters wanted to do other things, so I would

often give them free rein. After I had completed a rough draft, I spent many hours rewriting and redirecting the

action and the plot, and making sure I left the clues at appropriate places. It was not an easy job. However,

during all of this, I was consumed with a passion and depth of focus that insulated me from time or events excep

for the words on the page.

- Colleen Rae is a member of the Marin Branch of the California Writers Club. She now lives in

Michigan by the shores of Gitchigoome (Lake Michigan) and works as a reporter for a local newspaper. She has

been a member of the Marin Branch since 1998.

* * *

Why do I write? I write to nd out what I'm thinking. If I put an event from my life into a story, I get a

different perspective. New thoughts and ideas emerge; memories that relate to how I'm feeling will ood back.

I'll see the event from the other person's point of view and sometimes take away a large life lesson.

I wake up in the morning with jumbled thoughts and vague feelings, usually relating to what I'm

working on. Sitting down and putting them on paper pulls it all together. It's like someone who knows me

better than anyone is listening and giving feedback. To just write down thoughts doesn't work for me; it has to bea scene or a story.

If I don't write, I tend to feel a victim of day-to-day tedium, slightly depressed. If I do write, my life has

purpose; my quest for truth and clarity is satised for the day.

- Carol Newman-Weaver, Berkeley Branch member for two years, is currently workshopping and

looking for an agent for her 270- page memoir/novel and screenplay titled, A Radical Feminist in a Topless

Band.

* * *

Why I Write



Why do I write? Because I am a writer. Ive heard many denitions of what makes a writer, every-

thing from youre a writer if you say you are to a writer is someone who writes, period. But these miss the

essential essence of why writers write.

Writers are different from other people. We think differently, process information differently, see the

world differently from nonwriters. Some people make sense of experience in a primarily visual way, while

others must hear or physically touch something in order to truly understand it. Writers, on the other hand,experience the world by connecting concepts and ideas through the lter of their

writerly imagination.

In the same way that a sculptor can see an unreleased form inside a block of

marble or a photographer can see a phenomenal photograph in a scene that appears

ordinary to others, writers form connections where others perceive randomness. Its

a quantum inner tool composed equally of intellect, emotion and intuition, a sort of

internal forge that assimilates raw materials, melts them down, and reconstitutes them as something entirely

new.

This forging is the writerly process through which we experience the world. Its an always-on, au-

tonomic process that we cant turn off. Interestingly, its this unique turn of mind that characterizes a writer

regardless of whether it results in actual words on the page. Being a writer is not something we do so much as

who we are.

Im not drawn to writing, I am a writer. Its a process I cant stop any more than I can stop breathing.

Its both startlingly simple and maddeningly inexplicableI write because Im a writer.

-Deborah Hymes is a professional writer with her own company, WanderNot, Inc. She writes personal

essays, feature articles, proles and literary nonction. You can visit her Web site atwandernot.com. She has

been a member of the BB for three years.

* * *

Why do I write? This is the sort of question I ask myself frequently on those days when squeezing

even a couple of halfway decent sentences out of my poor, overworked brain feels like torture.

But on the days when everything goes well, the creative juices ow, my energy is up and I cant wait to

get goingnow thats when I know why I write.

Except for the odd feature article, I have always written about travel. They say you should write about

what you know. In my case, that is travel.

I almost always do my travel independently, which requires lots of research pre-trip and much slog-

ging around en route. I believe when you have no xed itinerary and are free to come and go on a whim, you

stumble upon the best material. Wanting to write about it and share what Ive learned is a natural.

Even though times are tough and markets are shrinking, the urge to share my travel knowledge hasnt

diminished over the years, and thats really why I write.

-Monica Conrady is a founding member of the Bay Area Travel Writers and editor of Romantic

Traveling: the newsletter for new and longtime lovers. She has been a member of the BB for over ten years.



In my years as publisher and acquisitions editor of Komenar Publishing, I h

sorted through thousands and thousands of query letters and submissions. Ive elde

massive number of telephone calls and e-mails. A lot of focused, often talented

writers want to be published. Publishers and agents large and small are inundated wi

requests and calls for publication. The trick is to demonstrate that you, the writer, an

your manuscript are ready for the attention of an agent and publisher.Can you show clear talent and discipline along with an original manuscript that demonstrates maturity and

conscientious writer sensibilities? That means ne-tuned edits, strong word choices, careful rewrites. It also mean

that the manuscript has a single agenda: to be read by readers who dont know the author and wont be frustrated

any roadside rests and distractions, the indulgences of the writer that divert the momentum of the story.

If you really want to get from Point A to Point B as you have dreamed, here is the list of my consideration

for not choosing a manuscript:

1. First chapters and prologues that aren't a complete dramatic scene but tell and inform. Best example: A

character nds a chest containing a variety of items that bring back memories that "set up" the story. Few prologu

are true set-ups--and that's a topic for another time.

2. Present tense instead of simple past tense as a verb tense choice. This one indicates a writer who doesn'

realize that present tense is a device that readers don't appreciate and rarely read.

3. Untagged dialogue--lines of dialogue without simple attribution--suggest a writer who isn't thinking

readerbut is thinking writing peers. Also untagged dialogue that is the rst line of the rst chapter of the book. W

is speaking? God? Charlton Heston as God?

4. Lots of back story used to inform the reader, explain the story and rationalize characters' behavior. Of

course this is "telling," often in the form of summary sentences that start paragraphs that go onto explain, explain

explain. But, the writer says, it's important "history." Not a good rationale for material the reader doesn't want orneed.

5. Using an omniscient narrator who is actually the writer, a writer who wants to be a part of how the stor

told and developed, much like the director of a lm.

6. Promises the writer made during all of those years that came before the actual writing of the novel. Exa

ples include a main character's pet named Snowball like the writer's current pet, stories from a character's childho

about Dad's rst wife, sentimental descriptions of cars and houses, and more--all described at length and included

without evidence of relationship to story or character development. Promises the writer entertained before the wri

nally put "pen to paper."

7. Starting the story with a kind of immediacy that actually depends on a book jacket summary of the stor

orient the reader. Lots of readers dont read book jackets, reviews or even listen to anything that is story-oriented

So there you have it. You can ignore or rationalize your use of any of these things. But can you erase from

the mind of the agent or publisher that these strategies of yours didnt work? I certainly have heard all the reasons

why I should let someone keep this or not x that. Each interaction has ended in frustration for both of us. And th

unfortunate, dont you think?

- Charlotte Cook, member for 17 years

A 7-Step Program for Rejection


10/10

President:ALLevenson

VicePresident:DaveSawle

Secretary:

E velynWashington

Treasurer:KenFrazer

Program:A

LLevenson

Members h

ip:OPEN

Hospitality

:OPEN

Childrens

Contest:Lucil leBellucci

News letter

Editor:ALLevenson

Copyeditor:A nneFox

Publicity:LindaBrown

We bmaster:StanSciortino

DelegatetoCentralBoard:LindaBrown

TheCALIFORNIAWRITERSCLUBisdedicatedtoeducatingmembersan

dthepublic-at-large

inthecraftofwritingandinthem

arketingoftheirwork.Formoreinformation,visitourWebsite

atwww.berkeleywritersclub.org.

Copyright2009bytheCaliforn

iaWritersClub,BerkeleyBranch.Allrightsreserved.Write

Anglesispublished10timesayear(September-June)bytheCaliforniaWritersClub,Berkeley

Branchonbehalfofitsmembers.

CWCassumesnolegalliabilityorresponsibilityforthe

accuracy,completeness,orusefulnessofanyinformation,process,product,

methodorpolicy

P.O. Box 15014Oakland, CA 94614

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