Sepllnig mttaers not to unredsadntnig, but punctuation does.

Turn off your spell checker and get the first and last letters right and you are all set.

I pledge to be more tolerant of misspelled words - just as long as all the letters are present and the first and last letters are correct.

Now, if only the same also applied to punctuation.

The sentence - A woman without her man is nothing. - might offend some people when punctuated as follows:

A woman, without her man, is nothing.

Then again it might well offend others with this punctuation:

A women: without her, man is nothing.

Does anybody have other favorite 'eats shoots and leaves' type punctuation examples?

Wayside Magazine

Did anyone see the new quarterly magazine serving the towns of Lincoln, Wayland and Sudbury - very glossy, way upmarket advertisements and contributions from local writers.

There are no indications on pay rates (if any) and the website www.waysidemagazine.com is not up, but can not be far away and they are requesting submissions. It says it is distributed free to all homes in the listed towns.
Will the Lincoln Review answer the challenge and go glossy?

There is a very good article on CSA's in Lincoln and also one on Sophie Freud. The photographs are superb.

Write Stuff stay united as one.

The group decided not to split into two groups to provide a growing membership more reading slots.

Rationale:

• Leadership - someone has to volunteer to facilitate a second group. (Personal note: Neil is a tough act to follow.)
  
• Accommodation - loss of space due historic vault construction will make one group more difficult to arrange, let alone two.
• Many participants are not active writers, but provide comments - freeing up reading slots.
• Actively critiquing other's work can be as valuable as having one's own work critiqued.
• If participants limit comments to two things that work well and two that could be improved, then everyone will get a chance to speak.
• Some people prefer not to speak, but to provide written comments*.
• Summer's 'a coming' and numbers always drop.
• We know and trust each other and its helps to introduce new members into a consistent environment.
• We can procrastinate, which is a writer's second favorite pastime.
  

*caveat - providing comments only to the author does not contribute your insights to benefit the group

Feel free to add your own spin by clicking on the word comments below.

Note:
You do not need an account to add comments. Just find the anonymous 'radio button' on the comment page that opens.
Out of respect for others, if you do post using anonymous, please add your given name at the end of your comment.

Geoff

Writing exercises to do at lunch

Kate Flora - who incidentally is one of the publishers of Level Best Books, a collection of short stories that will include the Al Blanchard winner - posted these useful tips on getting the most out of your lunch time.

The post is on the Writers Plot blog that on Thursdays hosts our own Jeanne - who is keeping exalted company these days.

You can go straight to Kate's article by clicking on the title of this post.

Crimebake 2008

Jeanne mentioned the Mystery Writers of America annual conference sponsored by the New England Chapter and Sisters in Crime at our last meeting.
Jeanne also mentioned the Al Blanchard Award for short story fiction set in New England or by an New England based writer.
Al was a Lincoln resident, and among many things in his life time a teacher, mystery author and President of The New England Chapter of the Mystery Writers of America.
In what I can only describe as a sad twist of a story no one could have imagined, Al Blanchard passed away in his hotel room at the Crimebake conference in, I believe, 2004.

Details of the competition for stories of 5000 words or less can be found at

http://www.crimebake.org/Al.htm

Deadline is April 30, 2008. Last year there were only 80 entries, so the odds are better than those of winning the lottery. The prize is publication, a free dinner and attendance at Crimebake.

It's too early to register for Crimebak but I have added a link to under useful links on the left hand side.

It would be fun to attend with fellow Write Stuff members - it is after all where I met Jeanne, who told me about this particular group.