Tag: Fiction

Plot Lines and Puzzles: How to Master the Craft of Writing

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Anne Kaler Head ShotBy Anne K. Kaler

My plot line, you ask. No, no, I say, I wouldn’t want to spoil the ending for you.

What I am really saying is that I have no plot and possibly no ending and very possibly no novel at all. . . on paper. What serves me as a plot is like an elusive butterfly floating somewhere in my mind waiting to settle down so that I can capture it. Quick, hand me that butterfly net, please.

The mind of a writer seldom determines the entire plot of a piece of prose before the actual writing begins. While the brain may be able to retain knowledge by repetition – think nursery rhymes or familiar songs – the mind does not work that way. Think of the familiar drawing of the brain as a series of connecting dots and lines. Each dot is a separate experience which must reach out and touch another experience to become active and solidified. Continue reading “Plot Lines and Puzzles: How to Master the Craft of Writing” →

Jigsaw Puzzles as Writing Strategies

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By Anne K. Kaler

How can a jigsaw puzzle help you with your writing?

Let’s start with the metaphor of your writing as a boxed jigsaw puzzle.Anne Kaler Head Shot

You already have everything you need to complete the puzzle picture on the box because no puzzle maker would stay in business long if he left out some pieces. Those writing pieces are lodged securely in the storehouse of your brain, just waiting for your agile mind to activate them. So you already have all the pieces within your life experiences.

Just like the jigsaw puzzle box your mind contains all the “pieces” necessary to re-create “the picture on the box.”

But there’s the problem, isn’t it. After you open the box, spill the pieces out on the table, shuffle through them, just where do you start the re-creation process? Continue reading “Jigsaw Puzzles as Writing Strategies” →

Spring Writing Conference 2017

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By Cynthia L. Louden

The Pearl S. Buck Writing Center presents

“Ready! Set! WRITE!”

Saturday, April 8, 2017 from 9am – 3 pm

in the historical Barn Culture Center

Presenters:     Orlando R. Barone, op-ed writer, poet, author and educator
Jennifer Lin, noted TV journalist and author

Registration is $75 and includes an abbreviated Writers Tour of the Pearl S. Buck’s National Historic Landmark House. Presenters will also read from their works, and have books to sell. A panel of authors & editors will take questions and offer additional writing suggestions to interested participants. Bring your own bag lunch. Coffee, tea, water will be provided. A 10% Discount on Gift Shop purchases is also included. Register for the Spring Writing Conference at www.pearlsbuck.org/writing

Continue reading “Spring Writing Conference 2017” →

2017 Writing Center Calendar

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By Linda Donaldson

Our PSB Writing Center’s calendar of 2017 workshops, classes, discussion groups and Writers Guild meetings is now always available through the heading Calendar of Events appearing as a link at the top center of our blog. The calendar is organized by date.

To register and pay online for any program, visit PSBI website’s Writing Center page http://www.psbi.org/writingcenter and choose the programs you’re interested in. During inclement weather, we urge you to refer to http://www.psbi.org for cancellation information.

Following is a summary of 2017 calendar:

First, classes that offer something for everyone!

  • Creative Writing is Needed for ALL Writing – 8 classes
  • Writing as a Platform for Social Change – 7 classes
  • Writing Short Stories in a Year – 7 classes
  • Write a Novel in a Year – 6 classes
  • Journaling and How to use it in Your Other Writing – 8 classes

Dates for our 2017 Writers Guild Meetings: March 19, April 16, May 21, June 18, July 16, August 20, September 17 and October 15.

Save These Dates!

  • Spring Writers Conference – Sat., April 8, 2017 at 9:00 am – 3 pm
    = Ready! Set! WRITE!

Plus two Susan Wagner Workshops!

  • Labyrinths & Wellness Writing Workshop – Sat., July 15, 2017 at 9:00am
  • Poetry Writing Workshop – Sat., October 21, 2017 at 9:00am

There are Discussion Groups of Pearl S. Buck’s works held each month from March through October. The Book Discussions are from 2:00 to 3:00pm on the 3rd Mondays of each month. The Short Story Discussions on the 2nd Tuesdays from 10:00 to 11:00am.

Welcome back to Anne Kaler, Sue Wagner, Anita Nolan, Sandra Cody and Orlando Barone as returning presenters. We look forward to Janet Ruth Falon’s new course: Journaling and How to use it in Your Other Writing.

We’re proud to offer such a comprehensive list of programs. Three cheers to Cindy Louden for coordinating these offerings!!!

 Now, more than ever, we have an abundance of reasons to Keep Writing!

 

2016 Wraps and 2017 Beckons

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By Linda Donaldson

Here is a much-delayed recap of our October 2016 meeting, followed by a call for submissions to our Spring Issue of the 2017 Pearl S. Buck Literary Journal.

We began our last 2016 meeting with an Authors’ Tour of the Pearl S. Buck residence led by Cindy Louden that highlighted both Buck’s libraries, her office, and Richard Walsh’s office. Continue reading “2016 Wraps and 2017 Beckons” →

Fall 2016 ♦ Volume 1, Number 2

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Pearl S. Buck Literary Journal

From Gateways to Graves

Seeing the works of Pearl S. Buck through her use of the strong symbol of gateways, our first issue of the PSB Journal centered on that theme from her best known novel The Good Earth. The theme of the second issue of the PSB Journal grew out of that natural cycle of our human existence on this planet. What starts to live must also come to death and, so, the theme became our writings on the Living Earth and the Dying Earth.

Since the Journal is an outreach to continue the awareness of Pearl S. Buck through her life, her literature, and her legacy, we found especial inspiration in two recent events which confirmed Pearl’s resurgence into the literary limelight after years of neglect. Continue reading “Fall 2016 ♦ Volume 1, Number 2” →

A Conference of Pearl S. Buck Enthusiasts

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By Anne K. Kaler, PSBVA

The question why people come to academic conferences answers itself — WHY. Having been an academic who has attended professional conferences for almost forty years, I feel qualified to speak on conferences. So WHY did I come to the recent Pearl S. Buck and the Pulitzer Prize Gateways Conference held in Morgantown, West Virginia, and what did I learn?Anne Kaler Head Shot

I discovered to my pleasure that the study of Pearl S. Buck’s works, life, and legacy has sprouted new roots across the world.  In PSBI’s case, this new growth has captured the interest of scholars who have found her stories and life experiences a fertile field to explore for new growth.  This conference showed the human curiosity of scholars who ask WHY certain authors feel so strongly about the topics about which they write.  A meeting of presenters like this provides a vital nutrient to encourage digging deeper to unearth better soil.  What really keeps academic detectives going, however, is that big WHY some things were written and others not written. Continue reading “A Conference of Pearl S. Buck Enthusiasts” →

Guild Meets Sunday Oct. 16

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Whew! This year certainly sped by. Our Guild meetings included many lively discussions of the talented selections that were shared. We enjoyed essays, poems, memoirs, novel excerpts and proudly launched our biannual Pearl S. Buck Literary Journal.

Tomorrow our October meeting concludes our 2016 Writers Guild season. At promptly 1:30pm tomorrow, Cindy Louden will be leading a private authors’ tour of the Pearl S. Buck house for Guild members. The tour will last about 30 minutes. Please be on time because our tour time has been reserved! Anyone who cannot negotiate the steps is welcome to wait in the Cultural Center until 2pm when our regular Guild meeting will begin. Continue reading “Guild Meets Sunday Oct. 16” →

September Writers Guild Meeting Recap

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We bookworms met early in the parking lot for our tailgate book swap. Many prizes headed home with new readers, but, sadly, quite a few ended up in our trunks.

Good news, though! One carton of books related to writing were rescued – to keep on hand for a lending library at future meetings: writing techniques, grammar tips, phrase finders, root word dictionary, screenplay writing, copyright and libel rules, creating characters, writing for children & teenagers, writing science fiction, fantasy and horror.

Our meeting began with the first of seven excerpts brought for reading and discussion. Continue reading “September Writers Guild Meeting Recap” →

Meeting, Swap, Signing & Contests

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A full calendar of events is unfolding at the Pearl S. Buck Writing Center over the next two months.

Tailgate Book Swap – Discover and Discard!

We begin with our Tailgate Book Swap at 1:00pm this Sunday September 18th in the parking lot adjacent to the Cultural Center (the big Red Barn). Pack your books – spines up – in boxes in your car trunks to make them easy to browse. Bring shopping bags in which to take home your treasures!

September 18th Writers Guild Meeting

Our September Writers Guild meeting will be held in the Center directly after the book swap from 1:30pm to 3:30pm. Bring 15 copies of any excerpt of your work you’d like to share. Try limiting selections to 3 pages, and add your email address on your work.

Anne Kaler, Cindy Louden, and John McCabe will share their experiences at the Pearl Buck Living Gateway Conference held at the West Virginia University campus earlier this week. They all presented papers on Pearl S. Buck along with other PSB volunteers, scholars and PSBI staff.

REMEMBER: Deadline for Fall Issue of Literary Journal is Sept. 30th!

Irish Festival & Sullivan Book Signing a Good MatchIrish Front Cover Only

Paul Sullivan’s new novel The Irishman’s Song will find a welcoming crowd at the Bucks County Irish Festival on Saturday October 1st. Paul will be featured at this outdoor event with vendors and lots of Irish music! Head over between Noon and 6pm to the Fallsington American Legion, 300 Yardley Avenue, Fallsington, PA, 19054.

Tethered by Letters 2016 Fall Writing Contest

Tethered by Letters is offering $1600 in prizes for our Fall Contest winners! Matt Gallagher will be judging short story submissions; Ken Arkind is the poetry judge; and Sari Wilson will select the best flash fiction submissions.

In addition to a weighty cash prizes, winners of the Fall Contest will be considered for publication in F(r)iction, our tri-annual journal of fine art and literature.

Click here to learn more about submission guidelines! Hurry! The deadline (November 1st) is fast approaching!

Editor’s Note: The Short Story contest costs $15.00 per submission, and both the Flash Fiction and Poetry contests cost $8.00 per entry or $12.00 for 3 entries.

Tweet a Twitter Journal…

Sue Wagner says, “This might be fun for people to try. Would make a good writing prompt for fiction or memoir.”

Can your writing go #viral? Tiny Text is looking for #ViralLit to share with the world!

Tiny Text is a Twitter journal (@Tiny_Text) that publishes #LittleLit: Twitter-length fiction and memoir, as well as serials. What is Twitter-length? 140 characters or less—spaces count! Each section of a serial should adhere to that, as well as be able to stand on its own. We’re looking for stories that amaze us by how much can fit into such a small space.

Please follow us on Twitter for weekly writing prompts and send up to three stories or memoirs at a time (including your name and Twitter handle) via a Twitter direct message or via email to teeny.tiny.textATgmail.com

We publish one piece of Twitter-length prose every other Monday and every publication gets two unique promo Tweets earlier the same day—but we’re hoping to expand that number, so send away! Submissions are eagerly read year-round. Please allow us 4 weeks to get back to you before sending more work or inquiring about the status of your submission.

We at Tiny Text look forward to your words!