Topic List and Meeting Recap for July/August 2012
This Month's meeting was hopping! We are redesigning our club and everything is in flux at the moment. I will outline some of the proposed changes the club has come up with and then ask the community to weigh in about it all!
First though, I'll list the topics we have chosen this month.
*Poetry- Everyone has written poetry! Doesn't matter if it's good, campy, heart wrenching, or sweet share it with us.
*Vacation Stories- While this can be a fictional account we are looking for more non-fiction stories. Think of this as a "What I did over Summer vacation" exercise.
Open Topic- As always this is a place where anything goes! Whatever strikes your writing fancy.
I have a scheduling conflict with the time of the meetings so we will be moving the Monthly meeting to an earlier time frame and even, perhaps, a different day. I'll have another forum for this discussion though!
Now let's get into the meat of this Month's discussion. I asked the club to hit me with their ideas about what would make the club more fun, exciting and just plain indispensable. These are some of the suggestions we came up with:
*The format of having mini lessons aimed at improving writing in general was well received and broadened to include guest speakers on topics such as writer's block, writing longer pieces, different forms of writing (poetry, erotica, non-fiction, ect.), proper grammar. We have decided that review writing should also be included in the mini lessons so that Eden Lit becomes a writing club aimed at the whole of EdenFantasys! We are tentatively thinking of changing our focus. Instead of being a clearinghouse for the writing of our members we will be a place to showcase, discuss, and improve the writing here at EdenFantasys across the board!
*We are discussing how to give writer's who are involved in writing longer works a place to display their work, get feedback, and possibly even help. This would mean removing the prohibition on posting incomplete works.
*The idea of having writing prompts during the meeting as well as serial stories that span Months was kicked around.
*The idea of having Mini-projects that involve intense writing for a prescribed period of time and then a judging of some sort was a prominent feature of the discussion.
*The club members agree that this is not an erotica writing club it is a writing club, and as such, should share it's focus with non-fiction, sci-fi, poetry, essay writing and just about anything else any member has a desire to write. We are calling for writers of ANYTHING, even review writers, to join us in elevating the level of the club and the writing on the site!
*Discussion prompts were a favorite suggestion, we will be hashing out the mechanics of this over the next few months.
*We have decided to provide support to SexIs magazine by helping interested but very shy writers develop the courage to actually send in their work!
*Story starts and serial works by the club are also ideas that were kicked around.
*We will also be broadening out topic choices so that our male writers feel included. We have tended to be much more female focused int he past and we will be working to be more inclusive!
*We will also be attempting more creative exercises during meetings, especially on slow nights when the discussion is flagging. We might have 15 minute free writing exercises during the meetings. This should be interesting for writers as well as readers!
*While our focus has usually been on shorter stories we will be branching out into writing longer pieces rather than more frequent shorter ones.
*Lots of smaller prizes will be incorporated slowly into out meetings rather than predictable rewards. We will be aiming more toward recognition and celebration of the effort the authors put into the work rather than "paying" for their work!
*Some of the contests that have been suggested are: A poetry open, short story competitions, longer story competitions, non-fiction story competitions.
We are looking for more suggestions and even some feedback on what has already been discussed. Over the next few months we will continue the discussions, writing prompts and planning for competitions. Help us out by jotting down what would make the club something exciting for you and we'll see what we can do!
This Month's meeting was hopping! We are redesigning our club and everything is in flux at the moment. I will outline some of the proposed changes the club has come up with and then ask the community to weigh in about it all!
First though, I'll list the topics we have chosen this month.
*Poetry- Everyone has written poetry! Doesn't matter if it's good, campy, heart wrenching, or sweet share it with us.
*Vacation Stories- While this can be a fictional account we are looking for more non-fiction stories. Think of this as a "What I did over Summer vacation" exercise.
Open Topic- As always this is a place where anything goes! Whatever strikes your writing fancy.
I have a scheduling conflict with the time of the meetings so we will be moving the Monthly meeting to an earlier time frame and even, perhaps, a different day. I'll have another forum for this discussion though!
Now let's get into the meat of this Month's discussion. I asked the club to hit me with their ideas about what would make the club more fun, exciting and just plain indispensable. These are some of the suggestions we came up with:
*The format of having mini lessons aimed at improving writing in general was well received and broadened to include guest speakers on topics such as writer's block, writing longer pieces, different forms of writing (poetry, erotica, non-fiction, ect.), proper grammar. We have decided that review writing should also be included in the mini lessons so that Eden Lit becomes a writing club aimed at the whole of EdenFantasys! We are tentatively thinking of changing our focus. Instead of being a clearinghouse for the writing of our members we will be a place to showcase, discuss, and improve the writing here at EdenFantasys across the board!
*We are discussing how to give writer's who are involved in writing longer works a place to display their work, get feedback, and possibly even help. This would mean removing the prohibition on posting incomplete works.
*The idea of having writing prompts during the meeting as well as serial stories that span Months was kicked around.
*The idea of having Mini-projects that involve intense writing for a prescribed period of time and then a judging of some sort was a prominent feature of the discussion.
*The club members agree that this is not an erotica writing club it is a writing club, and as such, should share it's focus with non-fiction, sci-fi, poetry, essay writing and just about anything else any member has a desire to write. We are calling for writers of ANYTHING, even review writers, to join us in elevating the level of the club and the writing on the site!
*Discussion prompts were a favorite suggestion, we will be hashing out the mechanics of this over the next few months.
*We have decided to provide support to SexIs magazine by helping interested but very shy writers develop the courage to actually send in their work!
*Story starts and serial works by the club are also ideas that were kicked around.
*We will also be broadening out topic choices so that our male writers feel included. We have tended to be much more female focused int he past and we will be working to be more inclusive!
*We will also be attempting more creative exercises during meetings, especially on slow nights when the discussion is flagging. We might have 15 minute free writing exercises during the meetings. This should be interesting for writers as well as readers!
*While our focus has usually been on shorter stories we will be branching out into writing longer pieces rather than more frequent shorter ones.
*Lots of smaller prizes will be incorporated slowly into out meetings rather than predictable rewards. We will be aiming more toward recognition and celebration of the effort the authors put into the work rather than "paying" for their work!
*Some of the contests that have been suggested are: A poetry open, short story competitions, longer story competitions, non-fiction story competitions.
We are looking for more suggestions and even some feedback on what has already been discussed. Over the next few months we will continue the discussions, writing prompts and planning for competitions. Help us out by jotting down what would make the club something exciting for you and we'll see what we can do!
