August Meeting

We had a tremendous meeting this week with a total of 16 budding authors in attendance plus our guest speaker, John McCabe, from the Wheeling Newspapers.

We had a lot of new people due to Rich’s article being published in the newspaper last week with the time and place of the meetings.  Since this was the 1st Anniversary of the club, I believe that this was the most that we have had in attendance since 18 showed up at our very first meeting.

Congratulations are in order to Jo for landing the on-line free-lance assignment.  Thanks for the links, Jo.  Keep turning out the good work.  Those small remittances will soon add up to something substantial.

Jo mentioned that she had to use the AP Stylebook in her new assignment.  John McCabe repeated this advise.  This book can be purchased at http://www.apstylebook.com/ .  It may be cheaper to buy a copy at Amazon or you can use an on-line version for any questions that may arise.  Per John McCabe, a new edition is published each year since changes are constantly made to it. 

John McCabe gave us some good guidance on writing for the newspaper.  The main thing deals with critical thinking – be skeptical about anything.  Don’t be afraid to dig deep for your assignment.  If you have an idea for an article, contact John McCabe or Mike Myers before you start your research.  They’ll point you in the right direction or tell you if it’s not right for the Wheeling Newspapers.  Remember there are other newspapers out there to pitch.  There is a Writers’ Digest with the contact info for any newspaper in the United States. 

Another helpful book that we discussed was CRAFTING SCENES by Raymond Obstfeld. 

Finally we had a sign-up sheet for Rich’s live readings that will begin with the next meeting.  We have a total of 10 on the sign-up sheet.  Remember to have your story ready by the next meeting.  You may not have to read it at the next meeting, but be prepared in case a lot of the people can’t make it.

Bill