Michigan Writers Groups and Organizations

As I've delved into the world of indie publishing, I've really missed having a writing community. My writing community has fluctuated over the years. I've been involved in groups, gone to a handful of conferences and tried out online writing collaboration. Lately, my writing community mostly includes podcasts, the kboards and Facebook. Especially as I prepare to publish my second book - out next week - and I 'm searching for launch strategies and other ideas to get some momentum in the Born of Shadows Series.  However, I felt compelled to research writing organizations in Michigan in the hopes of reaching out to some other writers in the non-digital world. If you too are looking to connect with other writers in Michigan - here are some organizations to get you started. Also - feel free to shoot me a message if you want to talk writing!

Michigan Writers: Based in Traverse City, they do writing events, workshops and a Chapbook.

Mid Michigan Writers: Located in West Branch, they offer bi-weekly meeting, events and more.

Rochester Writers: Located in Rochester, they offer an annual conference, events and contests.

The Detroit Writer's Guild: Located in Detroit, they do various writing events and have a variety of member benefits.

Springfed Arts Metro Detroit Writers: Located in Detroit, they offer contests, workshops, events and more.

2017 Writer's Conference in Michigan

Fall is a great time to get recommitted to your writing - or to hone your craft - or network. As summer drifts away, we find ourselves more often in quiet contemplation. Add a boost to that reflective time by attending a writer's conference. Not only are conferences a great chance to meet other authors, they provide valuable -  and current - news about the world of writing and publishing. 

The Kent District Library in Comstock Park, Michigan is holding the KDL Writer's Conference: Crafting Edition on Saturday October 28th, 2017. If you're thinking about doing NaNoWriMo, this conference may offer a great jump start for writing your novel in November. 

For more information on the conference, visit the KDL website here. Pre-registration is required for the event.  

Beautiful Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore
 (The area that I call home)

Scrivener for Novel Writing

Wow - what can I say? Scrivener is awesome. Mind you, I've been writing novels in a basic word processor for years so Scrivener is like transitioning from a bicycle to a spaceship. At least that's been my experience so far. I downloaded the free trial of Scrivener a few weeks ago and it has seriously transformed my writing process. Being able to break down my novel easily into scenes, within chapters, within the entire manuscript - which is all easily seen and navigated to in a left side bar - saves a ton of time scanning back and forth through my document for previous scene information. I can't really offer a post with all of the aspects of Scrivener that are great because I'm still pretty new to the software; however, if you're writing novels and getting really bogged down in your process, consider trying out the free trial. Let me also add that I don't have any affiliation with Scrivener or benefit in any way from posting about the software. I'm just so blown away by how much it has helped organize my novels and ideas that I wanted to share. I've posed a link to the free Scrivener download below as well as a video that I watched to get acquainted with the software. I hope that you get some great results from trying it out.

Free Scrivener Download Link

Video: Top Five Reasons Scrivener is My Favorite Writing Software (this is not my video)

I don't believe in 'thinking' old. Although I've transitioned through many bodies - a baby, toddler, child, teen, young adult, mid-life and older adult - my spirit is unchanged. I support my body with exercise, my mind with reading and writing, and my spirit with the knowing that I am part of the Divine source of all life. Wayne Dyer

Snowflake Method of Novel Writing

Need some structure for that novel idea that has been floating around in your mind for a while? I stumbled across this website this morning by author Randy Ingermanson who details a novel writing structure known as the Snowflake Method. It seemed like a pretty effective tool for outlining so I wanted to pass it along. I hope that you find it helpful!

The Snowflake Method for Novel Writing

Writing is like prostitution. First you do it for love, and then for a few close friends, and then for money.

Moliere

Writing Through It

Lately I have felt paralyzed by the darkness in our world. Each time I get inspired to write, I open my laptop and make the mistake of tuning into Facebook or browsing the news feeds and suddenly I am not writing. I am reading about a mass shooting or a political scandal and the inspired me is shriveling and shrinking and crawling back inside so that I don't have to think about it. You see, good writing comes from that deeper self that is connected to it all. The self that feels huge love and compassion and fear and gratitude and hope and apathy and rage. The self that is a reflection of my truth and that cannot look upon these horrors and remain unaffected. Instead, I look and recoil and then try to back away. Rather than feeling inspired to write something positive to balance the energies of all that negative, I feel scared.

I am a new mother. I am a daughter, a wife (sort of), a sister, a grand-daughter, an aunt, a cousin, a friend. Like most of the world, I love. When I read about the death of a child, it reaches into the depths of my being and squeezes until I have to rip my attention away and put it somewhere else. Tragedy is hard, but when it is intentional, when it is committed by a person or persons with malice, it becomes this horrifying enigma. Now I am looking - not only at the injustice for the victim and the grief for the family - but also the motivation of the person who acted out their cruelty. Why did they do it? This is the cycle that cripples me. It is here in this tornado of shock, sadness and ultimately questioning, that writing becomes less than secondary. I can barely think of writing. I wonder what's the point? I might pen something that inspires hope, but will it merely be buried beneath the onslaught of another day's darkness?

Yes, it probably will. But still I do it. Not always, sometimes I just watch a movie and snuggle my baby and pray that love wins. But writing is my way out of that confusion. It is also this hugely powerful tool to influence the world in a positive way. Just as my heart breaks when I read about tragedy, it soars when I read a beautiful poem or laugh at a funny story. The pen is mightier than the sword. We can see that when we are broken by the stories of these tragedies. We were not shot, attacked or abused, but collectively we feel beaten when we're constantly steeped in the stories of those who were. It is our job - and by our I mean the whole of humanity - to cast our awareness onto all that is good and beautiful. We have to write about the love in those moments when we feel lost.

Beta Readers for Your Unpublished Manuscript

Somewhere along your book writing journey, you're going to have to stop slamming your laptop when people peer over your shoulder, and actually share your work. To non-writers this is a piece of cake; however, after you've spent years meticulously crafting your narrative, releasing it to potentially critical eyes can be pretty unnerving. Which is why it's especially important for those writer's who are the most terrified at the prospect of revealing their work. One of our greatest obstacles as writers, is coming out of the comfort of our writing room and interacting with other human beings. It's also a huge part of successful book marketing these days - even more so if you're choosing to self publish.

Beta readers come in all shapes and sizes. You might begin with friends and family, but keep in mind that they love you and don't want to hurt your feelings so getting truly honest feedback from them may be hard, if not impossible. Moving beyond that sphere, are you part of a book club or writer's organization? Ideally, your beta readers will not only be readers, but readers within your genre. Another option is to reach out via social media, especially if you have created a platform that communicates to an audience of people who like the kinds of books that you write. You might also consider seeking beta readers on websites such as WorldLiteraryCafe.com or another of thousands of websites that help connect writers with beta readers. One of the benefits of this final option is that you can get reviews that are not biased by a personal relationship with you.

When you find your readers, do your best to make the reading process easy for them. Make sure that your final draft has already been revised, spell-checked and organized into chapters. For friends and family, I send my manuscript in GoogleDocs with editing enabled so that they can put feedback in the body of the text. Make sure that the copy is clean and easy to read.

And then wait. A lot of our writing life is a waiting game, but begin another project in the meantime. When the feedback comes back, consider it carefully, but don't immediately start red penning your manuscript. Look for trends in criticism to see where multiple readers are noticing the same issue (i.e. a character who lacks depth). Everyone reads from their unique perception and not every piece of feedback will be good or even useful to you. When it's all said and done - thank your beta readers profusely - and if you have other books maybe even offer them a freebie to increase the chances that they will read and critique your next manuscript as well.

Self Edit

One of the most important, and often difficult, aspects of the writing process is editing. The following infographic is a quick guide to simplify your editing experience. 

Writing Contests: Summer 2015

There's really no end to the many avenues that writers have to improve their skills in the realm of writing. Blogs, articles, short stories, writer's prompts, novels and even greeting cards offer us a seemingly endless supply of ways to pluck from our imaginative pool and twist our words into a stream of prose meant to delight, inform or even terrify our readers. Contests provide us with an opportunity to meander off our finely beaten writerly paths and foray into a new genre - perhaps with a bonus at the end of publication or prize. Try your hand at one of these upcoming writer's contests below....

TLR Prose Poetry Contest: Accepts prose poems. Deadline 8/1/15

The Barthelme Prize for Short Prose: Accepts poetry, flash fiction and micro-essay. Deadline 8/31/15

The Sixth First Line Contest: Accepts starter sentences. Deadline 9/1/15

NANO Fiction Prize: Fiction works of 300 words or fewer. Deadline 9/1/15  

Cahoots Collaboration Contest: Must include a literary element. Deadline 10/1/15

War and Peace Fall Essay Contest: Accepts essays up to 3,000 words. Deadline 10/12/15

The Writer's Rule Book Infographic

Finding Inspiration in Summer at the 2015 Alcona Writer's Retreat

Michigan in summer is a rich harvest for writer's. Dense forests, glistening waters and a sweetness that crests each day with the rising and setting of the sun, provide inspiration for anyone seeking their muse. If you want to find a bit of community for your creativity, you might consider the Alcona Writer's Retreat in Northern, Michigan...

 "Wayne State University Press and Inspiration Alcona, a nonprofit arts group, will host the first annual Alcona Writers Retreat June 4-7 in northeast Michigan. Three prominent Michigan authors will teach memoir, poetry and fiction writing at Lost Lake Woods Club’s lodge on a small, quiet lake at the edge of the forest. Anne-Marie Oomen, author of several memoirs and a book of poetry, will teach memoir writing. Kathleen McGookey, author of four books of poetry, will teach poetry in verse and in prose. John Smolens, author of 10 critically acclaimed novels, will teach fiction. All levels of experience are welcome, including those who want to start writing. Learn more at www.InspirationAlcona.org."

 

 

Writing is nothing more than a guided dream.-Jorge Luis Borges

 

 

The Writer is a Dreamer

Are you looking for some deeper truth in your writing? Try recording your dreams and crafting them into stories. Dreams remove us from the mundane. Time and place become fluid and the self dissolves into a myriad of symbols that our conscious mind often cannot see. Through the recording of our dreams, we shine light into our writing and we also illuminate the darkness within ourselves. 

Voices of the Middle West Festival: Ann Arbor

If you're looking for some writing inspiration, mark your calendar for the Voices of the Middle West Festival held on the campus of the University of Michigan on Saturday March 21st, 2015. The festival brings together a variety of Midwest authors and writers including U of M faculty, students and additional writers and press. The festival will be headlined by award winning author and poet Stuart Dybek.

Voices of the Middle West Festival

Location: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Date: March 21st, 2015

Time: Begins at 10 am

Cost: FREE

For more information visit Midwestgothic.com/voices/

Never write anything that does not give you great pleasure. Emotion is easily transferred from the writer to the reader. -Joseph Joubert

Elizabeth Gilbert TED Talk

This TED Talk by Elizabeth Gilbert is fabulously inspiring and it reminds us to recognize the divine energy at work in our lives.  

2015 Michigan Writing Events

Connect with other writers, workshop your material, improve your technique and simply delve a little deeper into the writing life with these 2015 Writing Events in Michigan.


A Rally of Writers (Lansing Writer's Conference): April 2015


Rochester Writer's Spring Conference: April 2015


Interlochen Writer's Retreat: June 2015


Bear River Writer's Retreat: June 2015


Glen Lake Writer's Retreat: June 2015


8th Annual Rochester Writer's Conference: October 2015

You cannot hope to sweep someone else away by the force of your writing until it has been done to you.

Stephen King

Make a Living as a Freelance Writer

Making a career out of freelance writing is a labor of love. Many writers aspire to one day support themselves entirely with writing, but instead discover that they must work at the local coffee shop or spend their most productive hours answering phones to make ends meet. I get it. I've been there and still regularly occupy that space. Life is a dynamic process and freelance writing is especially thus. It's ever changing.One month, you might have five clients that you're working with and the next, you're checking your email every hour, hoping for a small editing gig. What I've learned more than anything else in the freelance business is that I am responsible for my business. If I'm not generating it, there won't be any.

My partner in crime is a musician and he is a great example of how to be successful in the freelance business. Every day, he works to create his business. He goes to jam sessions to network with other musicians, he regularly stops by music studios to offer his services as a music teacher and he composes almost every single night. I'm often envious of his amazing focus and determination in his chosen field of creativity.

If you're struggling to make writing your full time career, consider some of the tips and resources below to help jump start your June business.

Advice for Freelancers 

• Talk About Your Business: I recently started a new editing project for an attorney. She called me because she knew that I was a freelancer and she couldn't find anyone in her area that she trusted with confidential documents. Her business came as a result of conversations that I'd had with her more than two years ago. The more you tell people about what you do, the more likely your name is going to come up when someone needs writing or editing services. So allow the modesty to fall away for a bit and tell everyone that you meet for a week that you offer writing and editing or other freelance services, pass out business cards and remind your friends and family that any clients they send your way are greatly appreciated. 
• Practice What You Preach: I must admit that I often fail in this capacity. When I work with clients, I spend a lot of time optimizing their content, building a social media platform and finding ways to make their business relevant on the internet. Why do I do this? Because that's how their future clients and customers will find them. This is equally, if not more so, important for a freelance writer. Utilize the internet to find new clients and to let people know that you exist. I recommend Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram and any other sites that can advertise your area of expertise. 
• Do Stellar Work: Every client is a connection to future clients. When you create content that someone loves or optimize a website so that your client's business improves, other people will hear about it. It's an overused statement that actions speak louder than words, but it's extremely relevant in the freelance business. You can talk a great game, but if you provide mediocre service, you will lose a lot of word-of-mouth business. 

Writer's Resources

• MediaBistro: This is a great site for connecting with other writers, finding freelance jobs and finding informative articles about writing, publishing and more. 
• NAIWE National Association of Independent Writers and Editors: Though this organization is not free, it is still a great resource for writers. As a member of NAIWE, you receieve a hosted WordPress blog that appears in the associations blogroll in addition to professional level support. 
• All Indie Writers: Freelance writing jobs, writer's forum and writer's markets. 
• Writer's Market Directory: An online directory of paying writer's markets. 

Looking for Some Whimsical Fantasy?

I have posted several times about my good friend, Jon Kitson, who has found success publishing short stories over the last two years. You will soon be able to read one such story in both print and ebook format in a new anthology set for release on July 22nd. Please check out the details for FAE below....

Synopsis:

"Meet Robin Goodfellow as you’ve never seen him before, watch damsels in distress rescue themselves, get swept away with the selkies and enjoy tales of hobs, green men, pixies and phookas. One thing is for certain, these are not your grandmother’s fairy tales. Fairies have been both mischievous and malignant creatures throughout history. They’ve dwelt in forests, collected teeth or crafted shoes. Fae is full of stories that honor that rich history while exploring new and interesting takes on the fair folk from castles to computer technologies and modern midwifing, the Old World to Indianapolis. Fae covers a vast swath of the fairy story spectrum, making the old new and exploring lush settings with beautiful prose and complex characters. Enjoy the familiar feeling of a good old-fashioned fairy tale alongside urban fantasy and horror with a fae twist."

With an introduction by Sara Cleto and Brittany Warman, and new stories from Sidney Blaylock Jr., Amanda Block, Kari Castor, Beth Cato, Liz Colter, Rhonda Eikamp, Lor Graham, Alexis A. Hunter, L.S. Johnson,Jon Arthur Kitson, Adria Laycraft, Lauren Liebowitz, Christine Morgan, Shannon Phillips, Sara Puls, Laura VanArendonk Baugh, andKristina Wojtaszek.

Fae will be available in trade paperback and ebook via Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, Kobo.com, and other online retailers, and for wholesale through Ingram. You can also find Fae on Goodreads.

You can visit the Goodreads giveaway here: https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/92441

Happy Reading!

John Steinbeck's Writing Tips

Rest, Retreat and Write: Michigan Summer Writer's Retreats and Workshops

It's really easy to allow writing to be a solitary activity. Though solitude might be helpful for the act of writing, it can become destructive to the creative process. Hours logged in frustrated silence as we create and kill our characters, research until our brains bleed and secretly fear that no one will ever value our work, begins to take a heavy toll after a while. Creativity calls for sustenance and writer's retreats are fodder for even the most blocked mind. Retreats are a forum for collaboration, inspiration and renewal. What better way to truly enjoy our beautiful state of Michigan than to connect with other writers and breathe life back into your process? 

Bear River Writer's Conference: May 29-June 2nd, 2014

Summer Writing Classes by Holly Wren Spaulding (Poetry, Creative Writing, Mixed Media): June and July 2014

Peninsula Writers Summer Retreat at Glen Lake: June 2014 

Interlochen Academy for the Arts Writer's Retreat: June 16-19, 2014

Ann Arbor Book Festival 2014 Writer's Conference: June 21st, 2014

Inkstains Youth Writing Camp at Eastern Michigan: July 7-11

Keweenaw Writer's Workshops: July 19-20

In Harmony: A Grand Rapids Area Prose and Poetry Workshop by Ludington Writers: July 20th, 2014

“Not a wasted word. This has been a main point to my 

literary thinking all my life.”

—Hunter S. Thompson

Mark Your Calendars for Michigan Writing Retreats

If you're looking to spark some creativity and find a fabulous way to connect with other Michigan writers, attend a retreat. The following are a few upcoming writer's retreats in 2014.

Peninsula Writer's Winter Retreat - February 2014

Retreat from Harsh Reality - April 2014

Interlochen Writer's Retreat - June 2014

Bear River Writer's Conference - June 2014

The answer to all writing, to any career for that matter, is love.

Ray Bradbury 

The Many Perks to Writing Contests

I have to be honest, I don't participate in many writing contests. Life has taken me on a journey that seems to plummet toward and then dramatically swerve away from the public world of writing. I've gone from blogging daily and submitting several stories or articles to contests monthly, to working at a Digital Marketing Agency and Writing Copy, to focusing solely on writing and marketing my novel Ula published in 2012, to these days, journaling and slogging through my sequel while also substitute teaching and teaching yoga. It's an unpredictable life - something I love about it - but writing is always alive within me. It transforms, finds pools of thriving life and then recedes and dries in the desert sun. Despite the changes that my writing has undergone in my life, I return to it in one form or another and I am grateful when a unique opportunity to share my perspective, or craft a new story, comes along.

Several months ago, I submitted a very short piece of writing to Spirituality and Health Magazine as they were offering a contest to win a trip to Maui. Essentially, they asked readers to write about a spiritual practice and I wrote about nature. Nature is near and dear to my heart and I am never lost for words when it comes to waxing poetic about the trees and flowers and lakes that surround me. Much to my surprise and delight, I won the contest. Thus a few weeks ago, I spent an absolutely majestic ten days in Maui with my boyfriend. The prize included a five night stay at the tranquil, yoga-retreat center Lumeria and offered us a wonderful opportunity to relax, unwind and get centered during our visit. I wrote about meditation in my previous post and the powerful affect it can have on our writing. I felt this even more strongly as I pondered the winding path that life takes us on and how writing had taken me to a community designed to help us connect with the consciousness that lives beyond our individual identities. For me, it was evidence that my writing is most poignant when it is truly a reflection of my heart, and the writing contests that I have won have nearly always reflected this.

My good friend Jon loves science fiction. He began writing just a couple of years ago and hesitantly at first. A single father, in his late thirties, he did not necessarily feel capable of entering the mysterious and oft frightening world of writing. Despite his apprehensions, he began to write. He wrote science fiction stories and submitted them to flash fiction contests online. He got a few rejections and then he started winning. Suddenly, every time I talked with him, he told me about his latest contest win. The prizes ranged from $10 to $50, but ultimately the joy for Jon had nothing to do with winning some cash and everything to do with realizing his dreams and knocking down the walls he'd built around them. Since then he has written stories for published anthologies and in November he participated in NaNoWriMo (National novel Writing Month) and completed 50,000 words to a future novel.

When we open ourselves to the possibilities of where our writing might guide us, the whole world becomes available. There is no telling who will be touched by your words and what dark path, that you'd never gazed upon, might suddenly become illuminated. If you're searching for an opportunity, a contest, an inspiration, anything - try out one of the contests below; perhaps you will discover a new path awaiting you.


Inspiration Travel Writing Contest - No Entry Fee - Deadline: 2/14/14

Disquiet Fiction, Nonfiction and Poetry Prize - $15 Fee - Deadline: 2/15/14

Penny Fiction Flash Fiction Writing Competition - No Fee - Deadline: 2/17/14

SF/LFA Short Fiction Contest - No Entry Fee - Deadline: 3/4/14

theNewerYork Press Kissing Flash Fiction Contest - Fee ? - Deadline 2/28/14

Shanti Arts Inspired Stories Competition - $15 Fee - Deadline 3/1/14

Phoebe Winter Writing Contest - $17 Fee - Deadline 3/8/14

Ginsoko Flash Fiction Contest - $5 Fee - Deadline 3/1/14

Lunch Ticket Creative Nonfiction - No Fee - Deadline 3/30/14

Writing criticism is to writing fiction and poetry as hugging the shore is to sailing in the open sea.

John Updike