Chico Writer's Group » chico writer’s group

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)

Kathie — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:40:20 +0000

In less than a week thousands will be sitting down to write a novel. Challenged by Chris Baty, the wonderbrain behind this mad adventure, writers of all types and around the world are spirited along to write fifty-thousand –that’s right, 50,000– words in thirty days. And if you’ve been so inspired to do this that you actually churn out a book (which are typically another 40-50K more words depending on your genre), literary agent Colleen Lindsay doesn’t want you trying to pitch it to her. But don’t let her stop you from pitching it to others. Just be sure it’s worthy of the agent’s time and not just sent out to a pool of agents on December first. Not cool.

Last year, Chico Writers Group hosted a number of write-ins as several took the challenge. This year, however, we won’t be hosting write-ins. We will most likely continue holding our write-ins at the library on Wednesdays between 9:30 and 11:30 am, except we might be moving to the inside portion at the back of the reference area where it might be a tad warmer (see diagram below). If you plan on coming and haven’t been before, you might want to stop off at the comment section and give us a holler so we know to be looking for you — and that you’ll be looking for us. If you have a laptop you’ll be using and require power during the two hours, we suggest you bring a suitable extension cord as the number of open and available outlets is limited. There are some nearby our location, but for some, it might be a stretch.

Click on the picture above to enlarge.

If write-ins are your thing, one of our members will be working with the Chico NaNo liaison, Lynn, and hosting write-ins at her offices on Rio Lindo Avenue after 5:00 p.m. Want more information? Go to NaNoWriMo.org and register. Once you’re done, edit your profile and select Chico, California as your region and be sure to sign up to allow the liaison to send messages to you. Still need more or can’t figure that out? Hit that comment box and let us know. Just be sure to use a valid email address so someone can respond.

Update on Meetings and Write-Ins

Kathie — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 07:52:52 +0000

Here’s a list of our upcoming meetings which are open to new members. There is never a fee (no dues or membership fees). We just ask that if you plan on attending to please leave a comment here to let us know to look for you!

The following are held at the Butte County Library, Chico Branch (1108 Sherman Avenue, cross street First Ave.), Public Meeting Room (directly across breezeway from the Circulation Desk).

1-3 pm Saturday, October 24, 2009
1-3 pm Saturday, November 7, 2009
1-3 pm Saturday, December 5, 2009
1-3 pm Saturday, December 19, 2009
1:30-4:00 pm Saturday, January 2, 2010
1:30-4:00 pm Saturday, January 16, 2010
1:30-4:00 pm Saturday, January 30, 2010

We will also be holding closed session meetings, only open to active members in good standing. The locations are to be announced via email prior to the session. The tentative dates for these sessions are as follows:

Saturday, November 21, 2009
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Saturday, April 10, 2010

Our meetings are structured in the following format:

15-30 minutes (by member/participant votes) free writing from prompt followed by with sharing (optional, not required)
30 minutes craft chat – each session we will be talking about various elements of the craft of writing on topics selected by member interest during the previous session followed by a selection of the upcoming meeting’s craft chat topic
Remainder of time is spent critiquing manuscripts that have been distributed to the current, active members of the group whom are in good standing. New and interested members are more than welcome to stay for the critique portion of the meeting (unless an author scheduled for critique prefers not to have their work discussed with others outside of the current group), however, we regret we are unable to provide extra copies of the manuscripts selected nor are we able to distribute manuscripts to anyone prior to the session as we do require all recipients have attended at least one full meeting due to privacy and copyrights.

For more information, take some time and browse this site as we have published a number of articles and links to supporting documents and sites pertaining to our group.

Write-Ins

During the month of November when many of our writers participate in the National Novel Writing Month, otherwise known as NaNoWriMo (visit http://www.nanowrimo.org for more information and registration), we typically beef up our write-ins. These are open sessions for writers of all kinds, ages, genres, etc. It’s a time to set aside and meet at an agreed upon location to do little more than write. It’s a great motivational event, if you haven’t done this before, give it a try!

Because this was popular and a great motivator, we’ve continued to hold write-ins. We usually meet every Wednesday from 9:30 to 11:30 am at the Butte County Public Library, Chico Branch (1108 Sherman Avenue, Chico, cross street is First Ave.) at the very back tables just before the magazine and newspaper section. As the attendance varies, we suggest you leave a comment here to let us know you plan on attending. Also leave your current, working email address and check prior to attending as we do sometimes cancel and don’t always publicize cancellations for a number of reasons.

Do you have to arrive and leave on-time? Absolutely not! This is your time to write.

Can we chat while we’re attending a write-in? Generally this is frowned upon as (a) we’re in a library and (b) we’re there to write.

For more FAQs on this topic, see our post: Upcoming Write-Ins and What is a “Write-In”?

Craft Chat: Describing Setting through Character’s Eyes

Kathie — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 19:55:44 +0000

The Chico Writer’s Group will be hosting a Craft Chat Saturday, September 12, 2009 on the topic of how to describe a setting through the character’s eyes. This is a free event, writers of all walks, all levels of experience, are invited to attend.

Craft Chat and Critique Workshop

Date:	Saturday, September 12, 2009
Time:	1:00 – 3:00 p.m.
Location:	Butte County Library, Chico Branch
Address:	1108 Sherman Avenue (cross 1st Ave.)
	Chico, California
	Public Meeting room directly across breezeway from the circulation desk.

What to Bring:	Pen/pencil, writing tablet or a laptop/notebook

	Agenda
1:00 – 1:20 PM	Free write. Using prompts, writers will be given the opportunity to write for fifteen minutes, then share what they’ve written to the other members of the group.*

1:20 – 1:30 PM	Craft Chat: What are some effective ways to describe the setting in your fiction through different character’s eyes that is unique to the character’s own voice? We’ll explore this question, exchange ideas, and review resources available to add to our writing toolbox.

1:30 – 3:00 PM CLOSED SESSION	Critique Workshop: Members in good standing will be offering critiques to authors of assigned manuscripts which are distributed prior to the meeting. Members: Please attempt to use the critique worksheet, available for download, when reading the manuscript, complete it and bring it with you to the meeting.

About:	Closed sessions are still open to the public, we just ask that anyone interested in this segment enters prior to the session, understands they are only there to observe, and may ask questions, enter into a conversation with the members after the session concludes (however, after session discussions should be conducted outside the meeting room). Anyone under the age of 16 must be accompanied by a parent at all times due to the nature of the conversations that take place. If, however, the authors do not feel comfortable having their manuscript reviewed in the presence of minors, we reserve the right to ask anyone under the age of 18 to please leave the room.

*Sharing written free write work	This portion of our group meeting is not critiqued. Other writers are encouraged to give feedback, provided it’s positive. The free write portions of our group meetings is meant to inspire, challenge and bring about new and exciting ideas about the written word to those participating. While you are not required to read your work aloud, this is an invaluable opportunity to hear the differences in points of view and often quite enjoyable both for the writer and the members of the group. Alternatively, provided your writing is reasonably legible, you may always invite another member to read your work out loud to the rest of the group.

Coming Saturday, September 26, 2009: Writing Conference Review. Chico Writer’s Group members who have attended writing conferences over the summer will be sharing useful information with us. This is also a free event, open to the public. If you are interested in attending this special presentation, please contact us (you may leave a comment here, just be sure to provide a working email address so we can reply. Email addresses are never published publicly.) as space is limited.

The Chico Writer’s Group, is not affiliated with the Meetup Group with a similar name.

Resource Links

Kathie — Mon, 04 May 2009 22:58:34 +0000

From our March workshop on Culture, Race and Ethnicity, here are some resourceful links:

Required reading: Transracial Writing for the Sincere by Nisi Shawl. Other links from the handout:

A primer on privilege: what it is and what it isn’t by Betty
“Check my what?” On privilege and what you can do about it by Andrea Rubenstein
Stephen King’s Super-Duper Magical Negroes by Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu
Appropriate Cultural Appropriation by Nisi Shawl
I Didn’t Dream of Dragons by Deepa D.
Mary Anne Mohanraj Gets You Up to Speed, Part II by Mary Anne Mohanraj
White people, its not all about you, but for this post it is by Deepa D.

Crafting Opening Lines and Critique Workshop

Kathie — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 08:41:41 +0000

Agenda

4:30 – 5:00 p.m. Flash Fiction Writing Exercise and Craft Chat: Opening Lines

How do you pull your readers into your story from the very first line? What makes for a good first line? When should you write it?

6:00 – 7:30 p.m. Critique Workshop

Manuscripts have been turned in and distributed to the members in good standing. Order of critiques are as follows: R. A., K. L., D. H.

Date: Saturday, May 2, 2009
Time: 4:30 – 7:30 p.m.
Place: Butte County Library, Chico Branch – Conference Room
Address: 1108 Sherman Avenue, Chico (cross street – First Avenue)

Chico Writer’s Group Calendar Link

Kathie — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 21:22:11 +0000

The link to our meeting (and manuscript due dates) calendar is now found under “Useful Links” in the navigation column. For regular members of the group, we recommend bookmarking the calendar and refering to it frequently. That location is: http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=h3n5onp2sb5pp4musqqa0rt8ao%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/Los_Angeles (see why you should bookmark it?)