Upcoming Meetings

SEPT 19 & OCT 17 Meeting details
Middleton Library 9:30 a.m.

September ~ Kathy Steffen
Brainstorm Through Writer’s Block (or…Grab Your Muse, Pin Her to the Wall, and Make her Sing!)

Do you find yourself doing laundry or cleaning instead of writing? Do you have trouble finding time to write? When you sit down, do you stare at a blank computer (or screen) as panic builds and your mind feels like a vast wasteland? Or do you flail around, not sure when or where to start or which way to go with your story? Where do you get ideas, how can you brainstorm to find lots of inspiration? And how do you stay on track and keep writing?

Be prepared to engage both sides of the brain as we talk about what writer’s block (or avoidance behavior) really is, and how to pinpoint its reasons and get over them quickly. Then, get inspired with lots of exercises and brainstorming lists to help you boost creativity. Take home worksheets to help you conceptualize elements of your next book. Free yourself to enjoy writing instead of worrying about where (and when) the next idea will come.

Come, share your own experiences and learn new ways to jump-start creativity and find ideas.


October ~ Jenna Reynolds
Tarot for Fiction Writers

This workshop will show you how to use tarot to brainstorm ideas for stories, come up with characters, plot your stories, write scenes and description, work through blocks and snags in your writing and be more creative.

Since I won't be spending that much time going over the basics, (I did that at the workshop for the 2008 retreat), I would suggest checking out the following websites if you're not familiar with the tarot.

You don't have to memorize the meanings or anything like that. But it will help if you could have an overall sense of the structure of the tarot. I will also be providing handouts about the tarot.

Aeclectic Tarot - Here you will find tons of information about tarot. Decks, books, articles, etc.. It's a cornucopia of info about tarot.

http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/

Here you can learn the basics of reading tarot:

http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/learn/

If you're looking for a Tarot book check out this list, especially if you're a beginner

http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/books/beginners.shtml

Many of these books can be found at the local library, so if you don't want to buy one you can check them out there.

We're going to be using tarot in the workshop so if you don't have a deck and don't want to buy one, don't worry. I'll bring along decks for you to work with.

If you're looking to purchase a deck, however, you can find decks listed by themes here:

http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/themes.shtml



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