Writing Group

Welcome to the Writing Group @ Kamiah Library

Anyone interested in writing is invited to join us on the 2nd Tuesday of each month at 4 p.m. unless otherwise noted below.
No experience is necessary and all genres are welcome. Each month we choose a theme to write 300 words on for the following month.

For starters, here's a video with author Lee Child sharing what's he's learned about dialogue usage and how research factors into his writing.

Writing Group Meeting Recap

Feb . 2020 - In attendance this week: Jeff, April, and Christina. We talked about NaNoWriMo editing challenges and writing plans for the year. After reading our submissions for the month, the group picked the theme of "willow tree" for the 300 words due in March.

Jan. 2020 - In attendance this week: Jeff, April, and new member Debbie. April passed out info on a writing contest from the Palouse Writer's Guild. Jeff read a 5-page first chapter of a different story he wrote. We talked about whether we're ready to edit our NaNoWriMo projects. For the next meeting on Feb. 11, each member should bring 300 words on the theme "a villain who thinks they're a hero."

Nov. 2019 - We held weekly meetings to get progress reports and encouragement on our NaNoWriMo projects.

Oct. 2019 - In attendance this week: Jeff, April, Michelle and new member Christina. Jeff shared a poem using a play on the theme "forceps" as "for CEPs" and other submissions can be read here and here. Christina recommended On Writing by Stephen King and Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, both available from Valnet. April recommended the DIY MFA podcast. The group decided to meet weekly in November for support through National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). Every Tuesday at 4pm in November the group will meet for a progress report. Stickers, buttons and bookmarks for NaNoWriMo are also available at the library. The library is registered as an official Come Write In location for the whole month. A theme for Nov. 5 could be "mountain" if you're not working on a novel, but still want to participate. November meeting dates: Nov. 5, 12, 19, and 26 from 4-5 p.m.

Sept. 2019 - In attendance this week: Jeff, April and Michelle. Jeff shared three classic poems including one from Edgar Allen Poe on the theme "beer" while April and Michelle continued their own stories. The group chose the theme/word for October to be forceps. April shared two books on writing that are available to borrow via Valnet - First You Write a Sentence and Part Wild : A Writer's Guide to Harnessing the Creative Power of Resistance. **October's meeting will be pushed to the FOURTH Tuesday, which is Oct. 22.

Aug. 2019 - In attendance this week: Jeff, April and new member Michelle. Submissions can be read here. The group chose the theme for September is beer. **September's meeting will be pushed back a week to the THIRD Tuesday, which is Sept. 17.

July 2019 - In attendance this week: Jeff, April, Pam, new member Darlene. Jasmine wasn't able to attend, but submitted her piece via email. The theme for next month is library.

June 11, 2019 - In attendance this week: Jeff, Norma, Pam, Arnetta, and April. Submissions can be read here. The group chose the theme for July to be freedom.

May 14, 2019 - In attendance this week: Jeff, Norma and April. Jeff's piece can be read here and here The theme for next month was chosen by Jeff randomly pointing to a word in the dictionary - insurgent.

April 16, 2019 - We pushed the meeting a week due to bad weather. In attendance were: Norma, Burton, April and new member Lois. The theme was rock and submissions for this month can be read here. The theme for May will be wild.

March 12, 2019 - In attendance were: Norma and April. The theme was water and both submissions for this month can be read here. The theme for April will be rocks, the verb or the noun.

Feb. 12, 2019 - In attendance were: Norma, Arnetta and April. The theme was sidewalks. The theme for March will be water.

Jan. 8, 2019 - In attendance were Rick, Pam, Anne and April. Each person read their piece and voted to have sidewalks be the theme for February.

___hiatus in note-taking___

May 8 - In attendance at the May meeting were: April, Jeff, Ardith, Arnetta and Norma. Ardith read a story about searching for an onion and finding a portal to another dimension.

Jeff suggested that for the June meeting, all attendees bring a 500-word story on a theme (no names) and then the pile is shuffled and redistributed and read. Then we guess who wrote what. The theme will be posted here ASAP!

March and April meetings - no notes available.

Feb. 13 - In attendance at the third meeting were: Wendy, Norma, Burton, Arnetta, Pam, Jeff, Donna, and Cathy. New members Donna and Wendy introduced themselves.

To begin, these two items were shared by April:

For #BlackHistoryMonth, check out this interview on Marc Maron's podcast with author Ta-Nehisi Coates. Marc and Ta-Nehisi talk about the impulse to pull back when things start to get good, the burden of being treated as a representative for a larger community, and the reason Ta-Nehisi finds Black Panther so relatable. They also discuss two of Ta-Nehisi's biggest influences: James Baldwin and David Carr. Ta-Nehisi Coates' books are in VALNet and on OverDrive.
A writing contest celebrating the style of Hunter Thompson is open through March 28. The annual Gonzo Literary Contest, part of GonzoFest Louisville, was created to honor legendary writer and Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson. Writers from all corners of the world are invited to enter a single piece of literary journalism that captures the essence and spirit of Hunter’s legacy. The winning author will receive a $1,000 cash prize, and the winning entry will be considered for publication. Enter here.

We are still getting to know each other by sharing personal pieces of writing:

Jeff shared a poem entitled Spring about his time in Mio, Michigan. The group asked him to round out the series of 4 poems, so he also shared Fall, Winter and Summer. You can read them here.

Pam shared a poem she wrote after experiencing a vision quest called When the Smoke Disappeared. She's made it available here.
Arnetta shared a story about a pheasant called The Silver Bell that you can read here.
Donna shared a spiritual piece about traveling the Middle East and then then the moment of remembering learning about it as a child. Her piece was called He Spoke To Me.

Several members stated they were working on pieces they hoped to share next time. Cathy is exploring deep topics like the portrayal of women in music and the isolating effects of technology. Norma wants to write a piece for the CSM that touches on human interactions during power outages. Burton is working on a supernatural piece, but needs help punching up his writing with adjectives and adverbs.

Pam suggested compiling area authors' writing into a book that could be sold as a fundraiser for the library. Sounds awesome - Pam will keep us updated!

We also talked about the ethics of writing the stories/memoirs of others versus making it your own (especially with strained relationships), whether sharing is integral to the writing process, and the popularity of serial short stories.

For the March 13 meeting we will continue sharing personal pieces of writing, so don't be shy!

Jan. 9 - In attendance at the second meeting were: Roxanne, Scott, Lance, Barb, Cathy, Charlie, Pam, Deana, Arnetta, and Burton. New member Scott introduced himself.
We continued with introductions of new members and then a few people shared their writing for feedback. Issues of a few writing magazines were available to take home for inspiration/reading.

Arnetta shared a short piece called, "Planting Chrysanthemums" with vivid sensory descriptions of childhood activities in a flashback.
Lance shared a piece of nature writing about a hike into a lake in a seemingly desolate but actually active environment.
Cathy shared a humorous piece she wrote after selecting 5 random words from the dictionary about a scientist exploring an island.

For the February 13 meeting, we'll continue sharing pieces of writing with each other.

Dec. 12 - In attendance at the first meeting were: Roxanne, Lynette, Norma, Jeff, Deana, Arnetta, Barb, Lance, Cathy, and Janelle.
We made introductions through talking about our favorite genres to read and write and discussed what the group's purpose will be. Many people indicated they would like constructive criticism, so for the next meeting we will have volunteers from the group sharing a personal piece of writing.
Ideas for future meetings included writing prompts like Flash Fiction, Round Robin, 10-Minute Plays and Random Words from the Dictionary.

Handouts (optional and mostly for your personal use this week):