If you would like to participate in our White Elephant gift exchange, please bring something wrapped.
For more details about a White Elephant Gift Exchange, clickHERE
Dinner begins at 5
EVERYONE IS WELCOME
Rogers/Bentonville Writers' Night Out
TUESDAY, December 15 6:30 p.m Jones Center for Nonprofits at St. Mary's
1200 W Walnut St, Rogers
NEW LOCATION
As requested, Alison will demonstrate ways of organically weaving in backstory. If you have some examples of transitions into and out of backstory, bring them to share. Pick up your dinner on the way and we'll eat together at 6:30.
If you are going to arrive after 6:30, call Alison so she can unlock the door. (479 292-3665)
Your Tax-Deductible Donation Can Grow a Story!
Would you like to help a senior on a fixed income afford a writing workshop so that their story can be preserved? Donate to our Scholarship Fund!
Do you believe in the power of story to heal and connect? Support our general mission fund!
Remember that you can deduct any donations to the Village Writing School, a501c3 nonprofit corporation.
A donation in December 2015 will help you in April 2016!
A Different Kind of Photograph
Dr. Tom Eaton spotlights a few of his Maumelle students in word pictures.
The photo to the right is a gift from my writing students, people with a dream who completed three eight-week sessions, (Introduction to Creative Writing,Workshop and Editing your Creative Work, and Approaching Publishers and Agents.) a total of 48 hours of instruction on writing and publishing. My little typewriter symbolizes the writer’s life, as we type again, over and over, with passion and disappointment. Of the twenty plus students who took one or more of my workshops last time, I'd like to share word portraits of a few who have done the work to become dedicated writers.
Miss Polly writes family-based southern historical fiction. She made inroads in getting her own voice.She hails from different regions of Arkansas, and shows a deliberate connection to Northeastern Arkansas but a loyalty to the state overall. She published her first piece during our publishing session as a local voice on the radio program, “Tales from the South.”
Miss Karen has been working diligently on a memoir and both her voice and beauty in writing are starting to emerge. She has been backing away from the editor on her shoulder and is writing a story with a bit of romance, a bit of practical experience in relationships, a bit of history in restoring an Arkansas home, and best of all, having some fun with the craft that we call writing. I hear Connie Fowler and Kate Gibbons in her work, and although she has graduated, I will watch, applaud and help her along the way. She told me, “When I was ready for a teacher, a teacher showed up.” That was a gift to me and reminded me why I teach creative writing.
K. Largo, a writer shy of the spotlight, has a passion for nature, hunting and car racing, stories that celebrate the tradition of being a man. His work started out full of his own terrific knowledge, but I have watched him transfer that knowledge to telling a great story. Another writer who thought that all we knew had to go on paper, K. Largo is letting go of that idea and is merging his own natural voice into his work, having completed a collection of associated fishing and hunting stories. We are working together to find a market for his work. He reminded me of the joy of being a man, how a wrench, a rifle, a pencil, and a family adventure were a lot of the tools that we could celebrate as men.
The “R” family is a recipe of what a writer needs to do: Record, Refrigerate, Revise/Remove, Relinquish, and Repeat.
These students are ready to do just that.
***
Dr. Thomas Eaton is the Associate Director of the Village Writing School, Central Arkansas. His bio and contact info HERE.
Quick | P u b O p
H u r r y !
You have one week to send your TIME TRAVEL story to
Lines and Stars
All poems and short stories in this themed issue must be
focused on the future, either literally or figuratively.
This app is a wonderful way to preserve stories of aging family members or keep an amazing memory alive.
And it’s free!
StoryCorpsinterviewers swipe through pre-prepared questions at their own speed, passing the phone back and forth between questions and answers to ensure a high-quality recording. When finished, users snap a photo, then email the content to the interviewee, or post excerpts to social media.
Tap “Publish Interview,” and the dialogue will be automatically uploaded to the StoryCorps website and the Library of Congress for safekeeping.
The most important things to remember about back story are that
(a) everyone has a history
(b) most of it isn’t very interesting.
—Stephen King
Eureka Springs
Maumelle/Little Rock
Rogers/Bentonville
Fayetteville
WRiT ~~ Across a Continent
Village Writer Maryanne Van Dyke is having way too much fun with her WRiT mentor, author Pamela Foster. Despite Pam's move to the west coast, these gals are polishing Maryanne's story of Sam, the mystery-solving Shih Tzu. Between their love of dogs and their humor, they make a perfect team.
If you have taken our core workshops and would like to participate in our WRiT program, sending your work to a published author for critique and discussion, contact Alison. Commit to making 2016 the Year of YOUR Book.
After taking Dana Reynolds' workshop on Kindle publishing, Village Writer Chuck Peterson created a free eBookon making your own chapbook. He uses this technique for his family stories project.
The MISSION of the Village Writing School is to foster a vibrant literary community in Arkansas and
to provide resources for ALL writers who seek to improve their craft.
Become a FRIEND of the Village Writing School
Donate as Little as $10 per Month
WE GROW THROUGH YOUR SUPPORT
THANK YOU TO OUR 2015 FRIENDS: David Auernheimer, Tandy Belt, Wendy and David Carlisle, Jean Elderwind,Crow Evans, Alice French, Valerie Fondetti, Linda Harrison-Gracia, John & Nancy Grosella, Gary Guinn,Nancy Harris, Kate Lacy, Shirley Lamberson, Gail Pierce Larimer, Judith McCartan, Stacy Murphy, Richard Schoe, Cris Senseman,Shiva Shanti, Greg Sherar, Debbie Smith,
Maryanne Humm Van Dyke, Judith Ulch, Brent Wendling
The Village Writing School is a 501c3 organization.
You are receiving this email because you asked to be kept informed about writing workshops and coming events.
Publisher: Alison Taylor-Brown
Editors: Alice French & Jessie Rex
