Summer is nearly here and the QPK Society has many exciting things planned - besides lounging on the dock at the cottage and relaxing with a good book. There will be many new updates on the blog, including book recomendations for some of the books that we read this summer, the other posts in the series for starting your own writing group, and some more activities! Plus, updates on our writing and meetings. Sadly, the full group will not be able to meet until the end of the summer because S and K will not be at the cottage, but R and I (as in me, M) will have a few meetings and write whenever we can. 
I am looking forward to summer primarily because I get to spend more time writing and blogging (although swimming is a plus too!). I would really like to finish revising my novel by the end of the summer, but I also plan on taking some open courses on writing and other subjects that interest me, to become a better writer. Here is the site to find courses in case anyone is interested: http://www.openculture.com/freeonlinecourses

I'd love to hear what our readers' writing goals and plans are for the summer, so post in the comments about what you're going to do!

Write, write write :)
- M
    

Hey everyone, M here!
I told you earlier that I'd keep you updated on how I did in the short story contest I entered, so....................I WON! I'm really excited because my story will be published in the local newspaper and I get to go to a special banquet dinner this summer. Plus, I get a big bag of books!

    This contest has been such a great writing experience for me. I started out with a good concept and worked very hard to revise my work before submitting. I really proved to myself that if I work hard and follow through, great things can happen. I suggest that everyone enter contests because who knows? You might win!
Here are the steps I took when writing my short story:
1. Come up with an idea. This step is a must for every story, for obvious reasons. Finding your idea can be as simple as listening to things people say in your everday life. 
2. Write the first draft of your story. I wrote the first draft of my story in one sitting. It didn't take long, but the first draft was pretty messy.
3. Revise. I went through and cleaned up as many mistakes as I could see and improved language here and there. I also tightened up the plot by adding extra details.
4. Find a trusted friend to read your work. My first reader picked out all the parts that they thought I could improve on or that were confusing.
5. Repeat Step 4. I repeated step 4 countless times. It was an involved process, but it paid off in the end.
6. Have your family read your work. My family pointed out things they thought were confusing and I fixed them up.
7. Copy edit. I went over my story several more times and checked for grammar and punctuation errors.
8. Submit. I submitted it to the contest! Make sure when you do this that you follow all the rules, including the word count, the genre, and the number of copies you need to submit.

Last friday night, a woman from the contest called me to tell me that I'd won. It kind of felt like I was in a dream. At first I was even afraid to tell people because I thought it was all in my head - seriously, it's a crazy feeling, you can comprehend it until you experience it.  Basically, I screamed for a little while and then called my family and the other group members to tell them the news.

So, find a contest in your area, and enter it...you never know how it will turn out!
Happy Writing,
-M

Hello fellow writers! This is the first post in a new series about how to make your own writing group. With each post, we will give you tips and suggestions on finding members, picking a name, finding a time to meet, and how to organize your meetings, as well as how we started our group last year. I hope you enjoy what we have to say, and start your own group using the advice.

I love to write. It's something I couldn't imagine not doing. Growing up, I read soooo many books that I couldn't have avoided inspiration, and sure enough, it came pounding into my head. Also, having a grandmother that is a writer really helped. When I found out that my three cousins shared this love of writing, we started having reading and writing hour every night at our cottage. After several years of this, I came up with the idea of creating a writing group. When I shared this idea with my cousins, they all loved it.

The first thing we did was pick a meeting place and a name, the name being one of the most fun experiences in creating our group. We chose to meet in a small room in the basement of our cottage, away from the noise of a house buzzing with the sounds of our family. When you are choosing a place to meet with your group, here are some factors to consider:
1. Enough room for all your group members.
2. Away from noise and distractions
3. Out of the way of your family.
4. A place that appeals to your creative mind.

Next, the name, the motto or slogan, and other fun things...
As you know, the name that we chose for our group is The Quill, Pen and Keyboard Society, but before we found this name, we went through many others. To decide on names, we split into two groups of two, and went off on our own for a little while to brainstorm.  Then, we reconvened and presented our ideas. It came down to two names, the one we have now, and The Literettes (literacy, all girls). After much deliberation, our name was chosen, because Literettes sounded more like a group based around reading, and The Quill, Pen and Keyboard Society, suggested writing.

Next, we split up again and tried to come up with our motto and our slogan. We finally found ones that we liked:
Motto: Peace, Love, Write. (as shown on our home page).
Slogan: Ideas today, bestsellers tomorrow (because ideas were what we had and we aspire to publish our writing).
For these, think of things that you want your group to truly represent. If you are religious, you might want to include that. If you write a certain genre of fiction, put that in your slogan or motto.
Last, we created a group pledge. I'll post this sometime, but I don't have it written down near me right now. Each group member had to hold a pencil, and say the pledge (a little cheesey, I know, but it was fun). We also named our dictionary at this time. We added a bonus rule to our pledge for him:
Respect Reggie.
I don't know how we came up with Reggie as the name for our dictionary. It might have been based on the Archie comics. Having a name for our dictionary was humorous of course, but it also reminded us to look in the dictionary for words, and value the power of language. 'Respect Reggie' doesn't just mean 'Respect the Dictionary', it means respect language, and realize how powerful it is. 

I hope you enjoyed the post, and are inspired to start your own group.
The next post in the series will be on meetings and organizing them, and the jobs of each member. 

Happy writing,
-M

Hey everyone, at the request of Lauren B, over the next little while, each of the group members is going to give a little update on how their writing is going. So, here's mine!

I've been very busy lately so there has been very little time to work on my novel that I mentioned on the 'Members' page. I am slowly rewriting the beginning of my novel and taking out a lot of the backstory that I included in the first draft. Trying to piece parts of my first draft together with the new chapters I'm writing is kind of like piecing together a complicated jigsaw puzzle. A lot of my 'writing time' is spent sitting at my desk and trying to think out how my novel fits together.

The other reason I have been taking a break from my novel is to work on a short story. I have been working on it since February and a couple of weeks ago I submitted it to a contest. I'll hear back mid-June about the results of the contest so I'll post an update on the website when I find out.

Over the next little while, I'm going to work on some poetry, and get back into revising my novel. With any luck, I'll be able to finish my novel this summer!

-M

Based on experience, I've compiled a list of the top five reasons I get bored when writing my novel. It's this boredom that leads future famous novelists to say "Good Riddance!" and begin a new project.

1. Your novel is dreary. You might as well be watching paint dry.
Fix: Make your characters more interesting by giving them odd quirks or more difficult goals to achieve. Add some spice to your plot by throwing in a few really tense scenes. If it's a certain part of your story that is making your eyelids droop, stop where you are and skip to a different part! Maybe you'll find out the you don't need the boring part after all.

2. You hate spending time with your characters. Occasionally you say to yourself "Why don't I drop a bomb on all these lousy people."
Fix: First, why is it that you don't like them? For me, I often read a really good book and think about how my characters have nowhere near as much depth and interest as the characters I read about. If this is the case, consider what the author you are reading has done to create such lifelike characters. Try and apply some of the techniques she/he used to your characters. Characters can always be remolded. Nothing is set in stone. You can always go back and change your characters appearances and give them litle quirks and different voices.

3. You're watching TV and using "I think my novel's boring" as an excuse for not using your time productively. 
Fix: I'm not sure whether there's too much advice I can give you about this one, but one thing I can do, is say that, at least for me, once I sit down and start writing, I find it hard to start watching TV again.

4. Cute Baby Animals, nuff said.
Fix: Seriously, this is a big one. I play on a soccer team, and whenever any dogs are in the vicinity, no one focuses on soccer for a good ten minutes. The best thing you can do about this one is to plan your writng time when there are no cute things around (babies included).

5. You've been working yourself too hard.
Fix: Maybe you have been busy with other work, or you need to clean your room, maybe you've walked your dog, or already worked on your writing every day this week. No matter what the reason is, the only thing you can do is TAKE A BREAK. Just have a nap, or read a book, go for a walk, or play a  sport. Even watch a little TV! Go on, I give you permission to rest for as long as you need to get rejuvenated.

So go ahead! Fall back in love with your writing!
Happy Writing!
-M

Here are some new words:
1. Mimsy - rather feeble and prim. This word was invented by Lewis Carrol, author of Alice in Wonderland. It is a combination of miserable and flimsy.
2. Gratuitous - done without good reason or purpose, eg: gratuitous violence.
3. Attenuate - make weaker; make thin or thinner.

Use them wisely!
-M

Hi everyone, I just wanted to give you a  bit of info about commenting.
First of all: We LOVE to hear from you. If you have any suggestions, questions, absolutely anything.
Secondly: When  you comment, it asks you for your email and a website. Both of these are completely optional, so if you don't have a website or you don't want to share your email, that's completely fine.
Last: Commenting helps us know what YOU want to hear about. If there's something you're interested in, we can give you our thoughts and experiences, as well as research that other writers have to say on the subject.
Happy Commenting!
-M

Actually, this post has nothing to do with frog spawn, other than the spawn part; but in this case, we're spawning ideas - lots of them.
I'm a fairly lucky writer, I have to say. I know writers that struggle for months, years even to come up with a viable idea for a novel that they can carry through to the end. I, on the other hand seem to have several novel ideas all buzzing around at once as I try to work on my current work-in-progress.
 The way I find my ideas is through external stimulation - a lot of media, books, newspaper and things that happen in my life. Even when I'm learning about dull topics I try to find something in them that I could include in a story.
When I first started out, coming up with ideas was hard, but now my idea radar is on pretty much 24/7.
If you're looking to start a novel here's some tips on getting ideas. not everything will work for you, but try some of them out - what have you got to lose?
1. Read.
2. Read the newspaper. Look especially for articles that fall in the genre you like to write, or things that interest or disturb you.
3. Read books in the same genre as yours. Books in your genre (the well written ones) are like how to guides. When you're setting out on your novel writing voyage, take a few of your favourite books with you.
4. For young writers: When you are in your classes, listen for things that could be modified to fit into a story. Such as places that you could include in your stories, animals, and various strange phenomenon that could work their way into your writing.
5. Ask yourself 5-10 (or more) "what if..." questions daily - these questions are the start of great stories. For example: There was a man standing near a convienience store today wearing a formal suit and tie. At first I thought he was talking to himself, but then I noticed his blue tooth. Every few minutes he would raise his hand to his mouth to block out what he was saying.
What if....this man was part of a secret organization trying to defend the world against a form of alien that could tap into thoughts and control your brain.
This was a fairly random example, but doing this will help you find ideas.
Try out some of these tips for yourself.
Happy Writing,
-M