by CWC Marin administrator | Jan 5, 2021 | Classes and Workshops
Want to be taken seriously as an author, even though you have yet to publish the Great American Novel or place an article in The Atlantic? You need to learn to treat your writing–poetry, fiction, nonfiction–as a business. Believe it or not, one of the best ways of getting the literary world to notice you is to manage the less-sexy aspects of your practice. That means realizing that writing is a business, not just an art. Marketing is a critical, often overlooked aspect of our craft. In this presentation, you will get a brief overview of the seven habits that will enable you to boost your writing career!
Lyzette Wanzer, MFA is a San Francisco writer, editor, and writing workshop instructor. Her work has appeared in over 25 literary journals, magazines, and books. She is a contributor to The Chalk Circle: Intercultural Prizewinning Essays (Wyatt-MacKenzie), Civil Liberties United: Diverse Voices from the San Francisco Bay Area (Pease Press), and 642 Tiny Things to Write About (Chronicle Books). Lyzette is the current judge of the Soul-Making Keats Literary Competition’s Intercultural Essay category and the Women’s National Book Association’s Effie Lee Morris Writing Contest’s nonfiction category.
Lyzette has received grants from the Center for Cultural Innovation, San Francisco Arts Commission, the Creative Capacity Fund, and the Horned Dorset Colony. She enjoys presenting her work at conferences across the country, and has been awarded writing residencies in CA, NE, NY, OR, VA, and Canada. Her newest projects are an essay anthology called Trauma, Tresses, & Truth: Untangling Our Hair Through Personal Narrative, and Professionalize Your Creative Writing Practice: Building A Career As A Literary Artist, a professional development workbook for creative writers.
See more at linkedin.com/in/lyzettewanzer and lyzettewanzermfa.com.
by CWC Marin administrator | Nov 6, 2020 | Classes and Workshops, Events
It’s Time to Celebrate You, Your Writing Community, and Your Spectacular Talent!
Everyone is invited to enjoy the festivities and perhaps walk away with an awesome reading list or even do a little holiday shopping. Even if you don’t have anything ready to share, come join in on the fun.
Do you have a book, poem, news article, essay, script, play, song or some other literary work that you want to read to the group?
Or maybe you want to practice what it would be like on a mini-book tour? Here’s your opportunity to present you and your works in a friendly, supportive space.
The amount of time each member gets to showcase will depend upon how many people sign up by November 15. (For now estimate five minutes.) You can feature more than one work, but you’ll have the same time limit as everyone else. We’ll do Q&A if we have time. So grab a beverage of choice and celebrate with us on Zoom as we see & hear the wonders that Marin branch members have created.
Sign Up to Present by Thursday, December 3 at Noon.
Send us an email at marincwc@gmail.com, with your name, what work(s) you plan to present, and when they were published or completed. The work need not be published or even for sale to showcase it. Writers with works completed since January 2019 will be showcased first, but we expect everyone to have an opportunity to showcase.
Register to attend the showcase by December 5 at cwcmarin.com/december for the Zoom link.
by CWC Marin administrator | Oct 13, 2020 | Classes and Workshops
Please register on this form to get a reminder with the Zoom link, and pay with PayPal below. CWC members (any branch) — $5.00. Non-members — $10.00.
You can also make a donation that goes to the presenter, Susan Spann
Pay via PayPal
by CWC Marin administrator | Oct 5, 2020 | Classes and Workshops, Events
In this entertaining and interactive class (at least as interactive as zoom allows!), Kerry Schafer will share her secrets for using elements of psychology and Myers-Briggs Personality Typing to create characters so lifelike readers feel like they could sit down with them for a cup of coffee — or follow them off on an adventure!
Kerry (who also writes as Kerry Anne King) is a Washington Post and Amazon charts bestselling author who writes quirky paranormal mysteries and compelling and transformational stories about family and personal growth.
Kerry has been chosen as the 2020 Writer of the Year by the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Association. Her most recent novel, Everything You Are, is a finalist in the Nancy Pearl Awards hosted by the Pacific Northwest Writers Association. In addition to writing, she is enthusiastic about encouraging and supporting other writers and is the host of Tell Me Your Secrets, a videocast/podcast featuring lively, informal interviews with authors and other people involved in bringing books into the world. She also loves speaking and teaching on a variety of writing related topics.
When not absorbed in creative pursuits, you’ll find Kerry Anne hanging out with her real-life Viking on their little piece of heaven in rural northeastern Washington. www.writeattheedge.com
Register at cwcmarin.com/october.
by CWC Marin administrator | Jun 4, 2020 | Classes and Workshops
We’re thrilled to welcome Linda Joy Myers for our June 28 meeting. She’ll be speaking on “The Magic of Memoir — Weaving Memory and Story.”
To sign up, fill out the RSVP below and we will email you the link in advance of the presentation.
The presentation is free, however, we are asking for donations, which will contribute to the honorarium for our presenter. You can donate before or after the presentation.
(In-person meetings are $5 for members and $10 for non-members.)
by CWC Marin administrator | Jun 3, 2020 | Classes and Workshops, Events
Here is the Zoom link for Sunday’s presentation:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86249626335?pwd=aCt2OHRjSitoZ0Q0NnFKT1RnOWxDQT09
Password: 075913
Here are three handouts:
When you write a memoir, you draw layers of challenge and skill: telling your story, having it reach the hearts of others, and managing the labyrinth of doubts and fears about consequences of revealing your personal truths.
Several key elements unlock your story: finding the structure, writing scenes, managing your inner critic, and locating the main growth points in your story. By weaving truth and craft, you create new insights for yourself and the arc of your story will lead to meaningful takeaways for your readers.
In this session you will learn:
- How to discover the major moments that create the theme of your memoir — turning points.
- How to weave through time — scenes and flashback.
- The power of writing scene to create insight in the writer and the reader.
- Truth—and the inner and outer critics—writing about family.
- Ways to focus deeply into your story and allow it to have its own path.
The journey of writing a memoir offers you an opportunity to stand in the shoes of who you were in past while you also explore your story through the eyes of yourself now. Learning to writing strong scenes is an important skill that allows you to dip into the stream of time, to taste and know and feel that time and bring the reader into that world.
RSVP and we’ll send you the link before the presentation.
