Here at QPK, we are considering changing the look of our website to something that is more related to writing.
So...what do you think? Change it, or not?


READ THE POST ABOVE THIS FOR THE NEW SURVEY.
 
Hello Writers!
I just posted a new activity to the activities page. Go over there and have a look!
Enjoy
-M
 
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Hey, What's up? It's R! After a few relaxing summer days, I've already come up with a story idea. It's a fantasy story and M has challenged me to write at least 30 pages over the course of the summer. Since my last story was a short story, this will be a big change for me. I encourage people to challenge themselves as well and write longer stories this summer, or try a writing style that's different from the one you usually use. 
    Tonight I'm going to start doing character sketches and story plans, which is always a good way to start out if you are unsure of where you want your novel to go. I hope to get my story done by the end of the summer because I'm often busy during the rest of the year. Hopefully M and I will be able to do a short meeting soon, and add some activities to the activities blog.
Write, write, write!
-R

 
    Sorry for the absense, but I've been busier than I thought! I'm now 40 pages into revisions of my novel. I hope to have 100 pages revised by the end of the month. In addition, I've been helping R come up with ideas for a new story. I hope that she can give you an update soon on how her writing is going. Once I've revised 100 pages, I'm going to write a blog post with some revising tips. Does anyone have any ideas that I can include? If so, post them in the comments.
Time
 
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I said in my last post that the 29th of June was another beginning, besides the beginning of my writing summer. Here it is - My Jane Austen Summer.
Many of you probably know Jane Austen. She lived about 200 years ago and wrote 6 novels in her lifetime, as well as parts of novels, and some short works when she was young. Likely her most famous novel is Pride and Prejudice. It is about a family living in England in Jane Austen's time. When I first read Pride and Prejudice, I LOVED it. Jane Austen created a realistic yet romantic world that I could completely get lost in.
Here are Jane's six novels:
-Pride and Prejudice
-Emma
-Northanger Abbey
-Sense and Sensibility
-Mansfield Park
-Persuasion

So...here's my summer reading challenge:
By the end of the summer, I would like to read all Jane Austen's books. So far, I've read Pride and Prejudice (of course) and Emma. Right now, I'm part way through Northanger Abbey, and I will continue in the order above. Every so often, throughout the summer, I'll post updates on how my reading is going.

Now, as for my writing, I'm still trying to get back into my ritual of writing every day, at a certain time. Various events and activities have prevented me from forming a routine thus far, but as things settle down and I get used to cottage life, I hope to get a lot of writing done. Also, good news! Tomorrow, R will be coming up to the cottage, so we might be able to have a mini QPK meeting! 
That's all for now,
Happy Writing!
-M
 

 
Here it is. The final post in the series about how to start your own writing group. In this post, I'm going to talk about some of the special things you can do with your writing group, and some other things to consider when starting your group.
As a group, the QPK Society has done many things that have connected  us to the writing world, and to the world in general, so that we become more knowledgeable.

Here are some things to think about doing with your group:

Interview with a writer - Our interview was with Julie Johnston. For those of you who don't know her, she has won two governor general's Awards for her books, as well as countless other awards. Here is a link to a site about her:
http://www.tundrabooks.com/authors/Johnston_j.html
and here is a site about her books:
http://www.tundrabooks.com/authors/author.pperl?authorid=14667
She is an amazing author and you should really check out her books.
For our interview, we were able to contact Julie Johnston in person. If this option is not available to you, you may want to send a writer an email with some questions for him/her. Don't be too disappointed if they don't answer - writers are very busy writing their books, and likely get lots of emails. If you're lucky, you may be able to get some tips that you can apply to your writing.

Go to a book signing, or listen to a writer give a talk - If you check with a local library or book store, you may be able to find out about writers that are speaking in your area. It's a great experience to go withyour group to one of these events, and you can learn a lot.

Have a writing getaway - Everyone wants to get away from the buzz of everyday life. Pick a weekend where you all meet at the house of one of your group members, or a cottage if you can. You can all contribute to bringing food and cleaning up, and you can spend lots of time writing, reading, and discussing writing.

Go for walks, go to sports events, or volunteer - It's a lot of fun to get together with your writing group to do these activities. Having a break from writing can help you be more focussed, and, who knows? You might find the perfect idea for a novel or story that you've been wanting to write.

Participate in contests together - If you all live in the same area, find a local writing contest and have each person can submit a piece. Before you submit, you can read eachother's work and give suggestions, so everyone will have a better chance to do well in the contest. 

Other factors to consider when starting a group:

There are many options to consider when starting a writing group. Maybe you want to meet only to write, and not do writing activities, or vice versa. Perhaps you don't want to meet at all, and want to email eachother pieces of writing for critique. You also may want to think about the type of writers that you want in your group. Should they all be the same age? Do they have to write the same genre of fiction? Do you want to allow poets, short story writers and novelists in your group? How about non-fiction writers? Before you go searching for group members, take some time to consider these points.

Things you need for your meetings:
-
a writing notebook. This is a place to do all the activities you do at each meeting, to jot down new words, and to scribble notes about new story ideas. You can also draw pictures and maps in your notebook.

- a dictionary and thesaurus. Officially, we only have a dictionary that we use at every meeting, but I also have a thesaurus that we use when necessary (and yes, she does have a name - Veronica).

-pens and spare paper. As a writing group, these are a must have. You never know when you're going to need pens and paper!

- Love - this is the cheesiest of all things that you need, but it's only partly a joke - love is important. You must love your writing, love words, and love the books that you read. You must nurture your other group members and their writing, because they feel the same way you do. Maybe you think that you won't be able to make it in the writing world. We all have  these doubts. Sometimes at meetings, we talk about our doubts, and how to overcome them. We all have the fear that our writing is going to go to waste, that it's not going to make a difference and that it will not be read. But, it all comes down to this:

The big secret in life is that there is no big secret.  Whatever your goal, you can get there if you're willing to work.
                                       -Oprah Winfrey
A writing group can improve your work in many ways. It certainly improved mine! Even if the only thing that changes when you find a writing group is that you write more often, everything counts in the long run. All you have to do is get out there and take the initiative to start something amazing. Where it goes from there? You'll have to wait and see.

-M
 
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Not My yummily superawesomlicious (Reggie does not approve of these words) Chai tea, but my plans for the day, and my QPK Society mug!

Today is the first day of my writing summer. Which means...the party is over - I'm writing every day until the end of the summer. But, in some ways, said 'party' has just begun. 

I love to write. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Writing is something I'd like to do for the rest of my life. So, although I won't be spending the summer relaxing in front of the TV, I'm doing something that is very important to me, and also better for my brain. By the end of this summer, I would like to finish revising my novel, which will only get done if I write every day.

Next - my lovely mug. For my birthday a few years ago I was given this wonderful mug, and a special pen to draw on it with. The QPK Society seemed like a perfect thing to celebrate with the mug, so that's how I got my beloved (and HUGE) mug that I use for tea. Note about me: I am a tea lover.  

So, with my mug poised and my novel ready and beckoning, my writing summer begins. Also, another special event is beginning today...but that'll be for the next post.
Ciao,
-M


 
Here are today's words of the day:
1. Cachet - a distinguishing mark or seal.
2. Daub - spread crudely or roughly,
3. Gossamer - a delicate, filmy material; light and flimsey.

Use them wisely......
-M
 
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Hey Everyone, I just added some new words to the Words from Reggie page of the site. As a writer, adding words to your vocabulary is very important. When I find words for Words of the Day, or to add to Reggie's page, it is a great way for me to learn words as well. Words are not to be trifled with. Pick the right word, and it could have great power, if arranged with hundreds of other just right words. Remember: as all races are run one step at a time, and all lives are lived one day at a time, all books are written one word at a time. Even if you write novels, every word matters, just like in a short story and a poem.
Enjoy the new words, incorporate them, into your writing, and think about their meaning. I'll post more soon,
-M

 
    I hope you enjoyed the first post in the series! This post will discuss meetings,  the jobs of each group member, and how to organize your meetings.

Meetings
    The Qpk Society has several times when we meet up  - Christmas, and other holidays where we are all together, the Family/Memorial Day weekend, and at the end of the summer. Sometimes we also meet over Skype. It is difficult to meet regularly because we don't live in the same city, but we keep in touch as often as we can, and often send pieces of our writing through email so other group members can read them. 
    When creating a group, if everyone in your group lives in the same area, it is ideal to meet once a week, or once every two weeks. Make sure you find a time when everyone in your group is available. On days when you don't meet, make sure that you work on your work-in-progress so that you can discuss it at the next meeting. The way we make sure we don't use up our writing time because of our meetings is to have two meetings a day when we are all together. Our first meeting takes place from 3:45pm until 5:00pm. At this meeting, we do writing activities and all the things mentioned in the meeting post. The next meeting time goes from after dinner until we go to bed. This time is called Reading and Writing Hour, where we spend time working on our novels or stories, or reading. At various intervals, we stop and read parts of what we've just written to entertain everyone, and to get feedback. It is a good idea to meet with your group to do a version of Reading and Writing Hour because it allows you to have an audience for your work. Plus, if you don't feel comfortable sharing your work, you always have the option of just working on your writing and not sharing.

Whoa thats a lot about meetings. Briefly, enjoy this picture of a cute cat in a box!


Awww...kitty :)

Now, back to the post.

The Jobs of Group Members
    To keep our meetings running smoothly, each group member has certain jobs that they do in the meeting and to prepare for the meeting.

President - M
I'm the president of the group, which means I have to make sure everyone is prepared and on time for the meeting. I also have to plan out the order in which the meeting will go, and speak at the start of each meeting about what the goal of the meeting is. As you have probably noticed, I'm also the primary poster on the blog.

Vice President - S
S is the vice president of the group. She helps the President organise group events and makes sure the room where we meet is set up for our meetings. She also dicusses with the President what the goals for the group are, and updates we should make to the website.

Secretary - R
R deals with concerns related to people outside our group. She organizes when we have visitors, and makes sure the visitors are signed in and prepared for the meetings. R also does the words of the day at every meeting.

Assistant/Alternate - K
Whenever one of the other group members needs help with an activity or if they aren't able to attend the meeting, K fills in for them.

In addition to these jobs, each group member prepares an activity for the group to do.

Planning Your Meetings

Everyone has a preference about how things are organized, so you will have to discuss an order of events for your meetings with all the group members.

Here is a typical plan for the QPK Meeting:

Opening announcements - M - We usually just repeat the group motto and slogan and dicuss what we are going to do at the meeting.

Words of the Day - R - R chooses three words from Reggie and reads them to us with a definition so we can write them down.

*NEW* Writing News - Alternates Members at Each Meeting -  This new part of the meetings, which we will start at the next meeting, is where we find articles about writing in the newpaper or online and share them with the group.

Free write - Find a pencil or pen and paper. Set a timer for five minutes. Write whatever comes into your head and don't lift your pencil from the page. If you think: eat to like the cookies and the bullfrogs that sing when the breeze goes the trees that are glowing red and orange, write that down. Write anything and everything that comes into your head. It doesn't have to be gramatically correct.

K - K does her activity with the group. The order in which we do our activities changes at each meeting.

R - Activity.

S - Activity.

M- Activity.

Extras - Anyone else who wants to do an activity can do theirs at this time.

Closing announcements - We generally talk about what we learned from the meeting, what our favourite parts were, and what our goal is at Reading and Writing Hour.

Your meeting can include any or all of these activities, plus anything that you want to add that we don't have. For the activities, you can use activities that we talk about in our meeting posts, or ones that we post on the activities blog. I'm sorry that there are not many up there right now, but as the summer progresses, we'll add some more.

In the last post in the series, I'll be talking about special activities that you can do with your writing group, and some other things to consider when creating your group.

In the comments, we'd love to hear some suggestions from you about what we should add to our meetings. We're always interested in new ideas!

Hope you got some great ideas from this post!

 -M