I recently returned from a road trip to the places where Laura Ingalls Wilder lived. Being a writer, I noticed the desks that were on display at De Smet, South Dakota, and Mansfield, Missouri. Two belonged to Laura, and the rest to her daughter, Rose.
And I realized that desks have evolved over the years.
In 1894, when Laura moved from De Smet to Mansfield, she took along a lap desk. Most of us have seen something similar: about 18 inches by 12 inches and 3 or 4 inches deep, with a top that lifts up so that you can store stationary and writing implements inside. Lap desks were great for a society that was always moving (usually farther west) and that wrote with pen and ink.
By the early 1930s, Laura was well settled in Mansfield, where she lived out the rest of her days. She wrote her books on a desk more than three feet wide. It has a pull-down writing area that, when closed, would cover the cubbyholes at the rear of the desk. Although it would be possible to put a typewriter there, the desk is set up with a pad of paper. Since the curators left things pretty much the way it was when Laura died, she might not have adopted the “more modern” mode of writing using a typewriter.
The museum at Mansfield also has three of Rose’s desks. Rose was a newspaper correspondent as well as a novelist, and two of the desks there are the type you see in newspaper offices in old movies. These desks are possibly 4 or 5 feet wide by 3 or 4 feet deep and have a lowered typewriter shelf in the middle.
But it was Rose’s desk in the house at De Smet that had me salivating. No photos were allowed, so I have to rely on my memory. And now I wish I’d taken more time to look at the desk. I think this was the largest desk of all, built in an E shape without the middle prong. Or, if it were a house, I would describe it as having a long main wing with shorter wings extending from the front on each side. It is all the same height (with the possible exception of a lowered typewriter shelf where the doors to the main hall would be located). Instead of an entrance courtyard, there is a cut-out for a chair, and the shorter wings have built-in bookcases where the walls would be. Does anyone know how to steal a desk without getting caught?
Even though the room was filled with Rose’s possessions, she never lived at De Smet, and I don’t know when she owned this desk. It may have been one of her latter desks, possibly even the one she was using at her death in 1968. And big as it was, desks got even larger once PCs started replacing typewriters as the mode of writing. Think of all the space needed for a monitor and a printer and a keyboard and a hard drive.
But now we’re back to the lap desk, which we call a laptop or a notebook or an iPad. And we are also back to being a society on the move, even though our travels are usually temporary forays away from home rather than searches for new ones.
So are we progressing or regressing? I’ll let you answer that question.
Kathryn Page Camp
Monday, June 7, 2010
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Research history of your family by Katherine Flotz
My passion is to search out family history – memoirs of worthwhile facts that are usually hidden away in the minds of our older relatives. I lost my parents early in life. I cannot ask them about their fondest memories, their adventures, and their stories of family functions. I depend on friends of my parents, still alive, to fill me in.
There are many questions we want to ask but it’s often too late. In my memoirs ‘A Pebble in my Shoe” I write about my memories as a child and later as a wife and mother. I wish that I could ask my parents or grandparents about their childhoods and the culture at the time. So much change in fifty years.
In this wonderful world of the Internet, so much more is possible. I have saved all the emails my grandson sent us during his college years. I bound the copies into a book and will give that to him when he settles down with a family. In reading the emails over, I learned so much of his character, his likes and dislikes, his feelings for teachers and classmates and his ambitions.
I also write a Christmas letter each year and have done so for thirty years. My relatives and friends out of town wait for those letters. Again, I bound them into a book and check back when I want to know what happened in a specific year. It is a diary of sorts, as well as a historical family keepsake. It spans children’s births, school activities, weddings, and deaths. It’s a lifespan of history.
Ask your older relatives for a visit and make it a day to remember and chat. Make them feel important and you will reap the benefits along the way. Grandfathers probably served in WWII, fathers perhaps in Korea or Vietnam. Grandmothers may have worked in unusual places during those years. Mothers may have served in the armed forces as well. No facts are useless; the lives of your family are important and worthwhile to record.
It’s easy to write what you know. This is a project that can serve as a practice session for future novels. Life is a novel. You only need to change the facts and the story falls into place.
If you can get photos of family members no longer alive, include them into the memoirs and honor their memory. Children can see who their ancestors were, even though they never met them.
There are many questions we want to ask but it’s often too late. In my memoirs ‘A Pebble in my Shoe” I write about my memories as a child and later as a wife and mother. I wish that I could ask my parents or grandparents about their childhoods and the culture at the time. So much change in fifty years.
In this wonderful world of the Internet, so much more is possible. I have saved all the emails my grandson sent us during his college years. I bound the copies into a book and will give that to him when he settles down with a family. In reading the emails over, I learned so much of his character, his likes and dislikes, his feelings for teachers and classmates and his ambitions.
I also write a Christmas letter each year and have done so for thirty years. My relatives and friends out of town wait for those letters. Again, I bound them into a book and check back when I want to know what happened in a specific year. It is a diary of sorts, as well as a historical family keepsake. It spans children’s births, school activities, weddings, and deaths. It’s a lifespan of history.
Ask your older relatives for a visit and make it a day to remember and chat. Make them feel important and you will reap the benefits along the way. Grandfathers probably served in WWII, fathers perhaps in Korea or Vietnam. Grandmothers may have worked in unusual places during those years. Mothers may have served in the armed forces as well. No facts are useless; the lives of your family are important and worthwhile to record.
It’s easy to write what you know. This is a project that can serve as a practice session for future novels. Life is a novel. You only need to change the facts and the story falls into place.
If you can get photos of family members no longer alive, include them into the memoirs and honor their memory. Children can see who their ancestors were, even though they never met them.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Love the Ugly Red-headed Stepchild: The Role of Creative Writing in Academia by Janine Harrison
With increased emphasis being placed upon assessment in schools from Kindergarten through college, and especially in a time of economic turn down when the arts are increasingly in jeopardy, it is imperative that creative writing as an academic discipline continue to flourish as it has been for the past three-and-a-half decades in the United States. According to The AWP Official Guide to Writing Programs, undergraduate creative writing majors grew from a mere three in 1975 to currently exceeding 137. Although creative writing has been often deemed the "ugly red-headed stepchild" of the English department, it is a vital component to English education.
Creative thinking is as necessary to thought processes as critical thinking and to have one without the other is to be ill-equipped for tasks that require "out-of-the-box" thinking. Furthermore, today's educational system focuses so intently upon informational writing that the "affective" side is frequently neglected. Creative writing can serve as an outlet for not just emotional release, but genuine exploration of the intersection between ideas and emotions, conflicting truths, and expectations and reality; it is a mode of discovery and the marriage, the very manifestation, of creative and critical thinking.
In their December 2009 Writer's Chronicle article, "Out of the Margins: The Expanding Role of Creative Writing in Today's College Curriculum," Chad Davidson and Gregory Fraser posit that advantages to including creative writing are that it:
1. Promotes close-reading skills
2. Challenges the myth of linear process
3. Encourages both detachment from, and investment in, one's writing
4. Implicitly critiques the myth of the isolated genius
5. Fosters a beneficial apprentice mentality
In addition, it gives students a respite from the shallow characters and predictable plot structures that mass media has been attempting to shovel into their mouths since their first silver spoons. Students are often searching for something deeper, more substantive, something that will make them see and think in new ways.
Another reason that creative writing course curriculum is valuable is because of its interplay with linguistics. Creative writing teaches syntax as students are advised to vary sentence construction and length and to tighten structure. It teaches etymology as they examine word origins and semantics as they explore connotation and denotation. It teaches phonology as they listen closely to words for alliteration and assonance. And creative writing instructs students about sociolinguistics as they explore dialogue of characters with socioeconomic backgrounds dissimilar from their own.
I instruct college creative writing. Recently, a student e-mailed to thank me for my introductory course because she had never had an opportunity to write creatively before. As much as I appreciated receiving the communique, it also wounded me to know that the student had made it through 13 to 15 years of formal education without such exposure. Creative writing, as major, as minor, supports professional writing, journalism, communication, broadcasting, computer graphics technology, theatre, advertising/marketing, culture and media, and other majors. In K through 12, it helps to flower imaginative minds that may otherwise wilt.
For the past two years, I have seen less and less creative writing job postings. We live in a world with state budget cutbacks impacting schools across the nation. And what suffers most? The arts, deemed "superfluous" when during times of strife, individual stories need more than ever to be voiced. Love the flaming hair, the accompanying freckles. Spread the word.
Creative thinking is as necessary to thought processes as critical thinking and to have one without the other is to be ill-equipped for tasks that require "out-of-the-box" thinking. Furthermore, today's educational system focuses so intently upon informational writing that the "affective" side is frequently neglected. Creative writing can serve as an outlet for not just emotional release, but genuine exploration of the intersection between ideas and emotions, conflicting truths, and expectations and reality; it is a mode of discovery and the marriage, the very manifestation, of creative and critical thinking.
In their December 2009 Writer's Chronicle article, "Out of the Margins: The Expanding Role of Creative Writing in Today's College Curriculum," Chad Davidson and Gregory Fraser posit that advantages to including creative writing are that it:
1. Promotes close-reading skills
2. Challenges the myth of linear process
3. Encourages both detachment from, and investment in, one's writing
4. Implicitly critiques the myth of the isolated genius
5. Fosters a beneficial apprentice mentality
In addition, it gives students a respite from the shallow characters and predictable plot structures that mass media has been attempting to shovel into their mouths since their first silver spoons. Students are often searching for something deeper, more substantive, something that will make them see and think in new ways.
Another reason that creative writing course curriculum is valuable is because of its interplay with linguistics. Creative writing teaches syntax as students are advised to vary sentence construction and length and to tighten structure. It teaches etymology as they examine word origins and semantics as they explore connotation and denotation. It teaches phonology as they listen closely to words for alliteration and assonance. And creative writing instructs students about sociolinguistics as they explore dialogue of characters with socioeconomic backgrounds dissimilar from their own.
I instruct college creative writing. Recently, a student e-mailed to thank me for my introductory course because she had never had an opportunity to write creatively before. As much as I appreciated receiving the communique, it also wounded me to know that the student had made it through 13 to 15 years of formal education without such exposure. Creative writing, as major, as minor, supports professional writing, journalism, communication, broadcasting, computer graphics technology, theatre, advertising/marketing, culture and media, and other majors. In K through 12, it helps to flower imaginative minds that may otherwise wilt.
For the past two years, I have seen less and less creative writing job postings. We live in a world with state budget cutbacks impacting schools across the nation. And what suffers most? The arts, deemed "superfluous" when during times of strife, individual stories need more than ever to be voiced. Love the flaming hair, the accompanying freckles. Spread the word.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Artistic Connections by Susan Pound
It’s an inspired Monday.
Last night, for the first time, I attended an event at the Acorn Theater in Three Oaks, Michigan. The building itself is a treat. It’s a turn-of-the-century former corset stay factory that’s been lovingly converted to an intimate performance space. The venue is perfect for live entertainment—music, spoken word, movement, comedy, drama, visual theater, and more. Tuesday is open mic night.
The theater also houses a wine shop (but that’s an adventure for another day).
My husband and I met some friends at the Acorn to see a band called Tempest. They describe their music as “a globally-renowned hybrid of high-energy folk rock fusing Irish reels, Scottish ballads, Norwegian influences and other world music elements”. The creative juices were flowing!
I found myself thinking about the marvelous confluence of talent in this region. As writers, we sometimes get caught up in our own little worlds. We tend to forget to patronize local artistic events and venues. Not only are we not actively supporting other artists, we aren’t supporting those who hold the space for them to share their artistry.
And . . . we are missing opportunities for creative inspiration. Including ‘cross-discipline’ infusions of artistic energy. Last night’s musical experience brought with it a feeling of tangible connection to my Celtic and Viking roots. Ideas are knocking on my writing door.
Speaking of connections, artists and gatherings—we have three writers’ events coming up right here in Northwest Indiana.
· On Saturday, April 24, our own New York Times best-selling children’s author Peggy Archer will be making a presentation for the launch of her new picture book, Name That Dog!
· Purdue University Calumet will host the Indiana SCBWI conference, ‘Focus on the Novel’ on May 14 &15. Info at www.indianscbwi.com.
· Also on May 15, the Indiana Federation of Poetry Clubs is holding a Spring Meeting, hosted by the Northwest Indiana Poetry Society. It will begin at 9:00a.m. at the Lowell Public Library.
On May 14, the Society will hold an open microphone round robin at the New Comfort Inn at I-65 & Rt. 2.
Last night, for the first time, I attended an event at the Acorn Theater in Three Oaks, Michigan. The building itself is a treat. It’s a turn-of-the-century former corset stay factory that’s been lovingly converted to an intimate performance space. The venue is perfect for live entertainment—music, spoken word, movement, comedy, drama, visual theater, and more. Tuesday is open mic night.
The theater also houses a wine shop (but that’s an adventure for another day).
My husband and I met some friends at the Acorn to see a band called Tempest. They describe their music as “a globally-renowned hybrid of high-energy folk rock fusing Irish reels, Scottish ballads, Norwegian influences and other world music elements”. The creative juices were flowing!
I found myself thinking about the marvelous confluence of talent in this region. As writers, we sometimes get caught up in our own little worlds. We tend to forget to patronize local artistic events and venues. Not only are we not actively supporting other artists, we aren’t supporting those who hold the space for them to share their artistry.
And . . . we are missing opportunities for creative inspiration. Including ‘cross-discipline’ infusions of artistic energy. Last night’s musical experience brought with it a feeling of tangible connection to my Celtic and Viking roots. Ideas are knocking on my writing door.
Speaking of connections, artists and gatherings—we have three writers’ events coming up right here in Northwest Indiana.
· On Saturday, April 24, our own New York Times best-selling children’s author Peggy Archer will be making a presentation for the launch of her new picture book, Name That Dog!
· Purdue University Calumet will host the Indiana SCBWI conference, ‘Focus on the Novel’ on May 14 &15. Info at www.indianscbwi.com.
· Also on May 15, the Indiana Federation of Poetry Clubs is holding a Spring Meeting, hosted by the Northwest Indiana Poetry Society. It will begin at 9:00a.m. at the Lowell Public Library.
On May 14, the Society will hold an open microphone round robin at the New Comfort Inn at I-65 & Rt. 2.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
It Takes a House to Write a Novel by Debra A. Kemp
It seems to take an entire house for me to write a novel. I have an office where I do most of my work. It's cluttered with three ring binders and notebooks and tattered bits of paper and sticky notes. Stacks of cd cases of inspirational music are near to hand on the floor next to my "throne". Currently Rush is my music of choice. And in a side thought, I realized, why bother playing Rush if you can't crank it up to 11? (I had to turn it down for a brief stint on the phone.)
But back to the topic. I have noticed bits of my work in progress in nearly every room of my house. There's a stack of notes next to my side of the bed. A yellow legal pad, tossed on the dresser, has the opening of chapter 4 penned by hand in fountain pen--blue ink. With a mere glance, I can see sticky notes marking passages in the towering stack of research books on the floor beside the bed. Far too many for the bedside table. That has a limit of five.
We made the formal living room our library, since we needed a place for the books anyway! This houses the majority of my books, including my prized Arthurian collection. I could probably open any one at random and find scrap of paper with a note I'd scribbled with some thought of how to use a passage in the House Pendragon series. My special collector's copies of Firebrand and Recruit are in the barrister case next to my first copy of "Once and Future King"--where it all began. Oddly, my working copy of Firebrand--the one I've marked up--is on top of the record player. (Rush Live in Rio playing.) The book has a large piece of paper sticking out from it with more of my scribbles.
It's a natural segue from there to the formal dining room. I'm writing the rough draft of this in pencil, at my dining room table, whilst a princess watches from on high and beside to a display case filled with Arthurian scenes and characters rendered in pewter--acquired in England. On the table where I'm writing, beside my coupons, is another legal pad--this one lilac--with chapter one lovingly penned in fountain pen. Leaning against the side board is another binder. This one has my outline for book 3. I had been looking for that the other day in the office.
Passing into the kitchen, my e-reader is on the counter re-charging. It has both Firebrand and Recruit uploaded on it and the current incarnation of #3's manuscript. A handy, portable device--no need to lug all the pages or a laptop on short trips. Inside my purse--on the table--is yet another notepad filled with scene and character sketches. Nearly time for a replacement.
From there it's the family room. I keep a note bad and pen on the table next to my chair. The top page has a note I made while watching a show on the history channel the other day. Hmm, need to get that to my desk where it will get lost.
So it takes an entire house for me to write a novel. I can't contain it in a single room. Perhaps if my office were the size of my house and I was better organized?
As always, thanks for reading!
Debra
Debra A. Kemp
The House of Pendragon continues!
http://amberquill.com/Firebrand.html
http://www.myspace.com/debrakemp
But back to the topic. I have noticed bits of my work in progress in nearly every room of my house. There's a stack of notes next to my side of the bed. A yellow legal pad, tossed on the dresser, has the opening of chapter 4 penned by hand in fountain pen--blue ink. With a mere glance, I can see sticky notes marking passages in the towering stack of research books on the floor beside the bed. Far too many for the bedside table. That has a limit of five.
We made the formal living room our library, since we needed a place for the books anyway! This houses the majority of my books, including my prized Arthurian collection. I could probably open any one at random and find scrap of paper with a note I'd scribbled with some thought of how to use a passage in the House Pendragon series. My special collector's copies of Firebrand and Recruit are in the barrister case next to my first copy of "Once and Future King"--where it all began. Oddly, my working copy of Firebrand--the one I've marked up--is on top of the record player. (Rush Live in Rio playing.) The book has a large piece of paper sticking out from it with more of my scribbles.
It's a natural segue from there to the formal dining room. I'm writing the rough draft of this in pencil, at my dining room table, whilst a princess watches from on high and beside to a display case filled with Arthurian scenes and characters rendered in pewter--acquired in England. On the table where I'm writing, beside my coupons, is another legal pad--this one lilac--with chapter one lovingly penned in fountain pen. Leaning against the side board is another binder. This one has my outline for book 3. I had been looking for that the other day in the office.
Passing into the kitchen, my e-reader is on the counter re-charging. It has both Firebrand and Recruit uploaded on it and the current incarnation of #3's manuscript. A handy, portable device--no need to lug all the pages or a laptop on short trips. Inside my purse--on the table--is yet another notepad filled with scene and character sketches. Nearly time for a replacement.
From there it's the family room. I keep a note bad and pen on the table next to my chair. The top page has a note I made while watching a show on the history channel the other day. Hmm, need to get that to my desk where it will get lost.
So it takes an entire house for me to write a novel. I can't contain it in a single room. Perhaps if my office were the size of my house and I was better organized?
As always, thanks for reading!
Debra
Debra A. Kemp
The House of Pendragon continues!
http://amberquill.com/Firebrand.html
http://www.myspace.com/debrakemp
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Writing Groups: When it is time to break up with your venue By Gordon Stamper Jr.
Depending on a writing group’s nature, some are quiet, academic, and perfectly happy to meet in a library room or reserve a campus classroom. However, if you want your gathering to be a bit more boisterous and have more potential to draw writers of all genres, it’s probably more conducive to meet in a public commerce place such as a bookstore, coffee house, or restaurant.
But with this comes the reality that some writers and business venues don’t mix, or the nature of their relationships negatively changes with time. Sometimes it’s necessary for your writing group’s survival to part ways. Still, sometimes a little communication or mutual support will salvage your relationship. In the process, a business can reap material benefits, while you’ll help your writer’s group succeed with a steady place to gather and grow.
When It’s Time to Part Ways
No venue is perfect, but usually at least two of these factors should make your writer’s group seriously consider a new home.
--Noise levels reach unacceptable levels and your host makes no accommodations to reduce them. Writing groups themselves should generate some noise with active discussion, but when the barista wants to play Metallica at 11 and the owner isn’t willing to turn off a speaker in your section or lower the volume, it can be impossible to concentrate on your work(s).
--Despite having a long-standing partnership, the needs of others, beyond reasonable business concerns, are considered before your group. You have met every Friday evening for 10 years, but management decides to put you and your fellow scribes in a small, invisible side room every time a special musical guest performs or board games tournament convenes. . .or whenever the mood strikes them.
--Instability in the host’s management results in inconsistent considerations for your gathering. With one assistant manager, your group is treated like royalty with special accommodations. With another, you’re lucky to get any seating and avoid casual comments like “I guess it’s time for the freak show again.”
--Physical remodeling of a business makes it virtually impossible to meet. Highland Writers Group ran into this problem with the original remodeling of the Highland Borders location. It didn’t allow for any community group meeting space that the old layout did, and the cafe area at the time was a cacophonous ringside seat to cappuccino machines.
--You are basically being shoved out the door. This seems to be common sense, but I was a part of an area writers group that allowed it to happen. Part of a book store’s community event calendar for more than seven years, they were moved from a prime central table with comfortable seating to a significantly less traveled side section, and finally were delegated to crouch in the children’s reading section (stymieing any serious discussion of adult-oriented writing). It was time to leave for about a year.
Ways to Avoid an Unnecessary Breakup
--Communicate your concerns. Don’t wait for both rest rooms and your seating area to become filthy candidates for the next episode of Gordon Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares. Don’t wait for the fifth time the owner moves you for another one of his tone deaf cousin’s impromptu folk singer sessions. Share your complaints and suggestions early so minor issues don’t become angry, insurmountable problems. If your concerns are dismissed or you’re ignored, that venue isn’t the only place in need of loyal customers.
--Actively support the host business. “Talk it up” with family. Promote it via email to friends. Become the business’ “friend” or “follower” on Facebook and Twitter. Recommend your hosts’ services (book sales or great food, for example) or qualities (friendly, great ambiance) so that great meeting spot for your writers’ group remains open and the owner knows you’re an asset for his store.
--When partnering with a retailer, save your purchase receipts. If it’s an issue of a new or veteran manager questioning your time slot due to sales, their concerns can be easily addressed with your group members’ sales receipts, a pile of evidence showing your financial support. But if you’re already disliking your experience for a number of other reasons (such as those listed above) or management starts asking “what’s the use of your writing group anyway,” this could be an excellent time to calmly end your partnership.
--When possible, partner with a local business over a corporate chain. For your writing group, there are two reasons for this, one selfish, one altruistic. The selfish reason—local stores are usually much more consistent in terms of management style. You know who you need to talk to, and usually they are at the counter. Corporate chains have a high turnover of store managers and community relations directors—people are regularly fired, promoted, and transferred. The altruistic motive—helping someone’s small business dream succeed, and the American Dream be something more than a writing topic at your next meeting.
But with this comes the reality that some writers and business venues don’t mix, or the nature of their relationships negatively changes with time. Sometimes it’s necessary for your writing group’s survival to part ways. Still, sometimes a little communication or mutual support will salvage your relationship. In the process, a business can reap material benefits, while you’ll help your writer’s group succeed with a steady place to gather and grow.
When It’s Time to Part Ways
No venue is perfect, but usually at least two of these factors should make your writer’s group seriously consider a new home.
--Noise levels reach unacceptable levels and your host makes no accommodations to reduce them. Writing groups themselves should generate some noise with active discussion, but when the barista wants to play Metallica at 11 and the owner isn’t willing to turn off a speaker in your section or lower the volume, it can be impossible to concentrate on your work(s).
--Despite having a long-standing partnership, the needs of others, beyond reasonable business concerns, are considered before your group. You have met every Friday evening for 10 years, but management decides to put you and your fellow scribes in a small, invisible side room every time a special musical guest performs or board games tournament convenes. . .or whenever the mood strikes them.
--Instability in the host’s management results in inconsistent considerations for your gathering. With one assistant manager, your group is treated like royalty with special accommodations. With another, you’re lucky to get any seating and avoid casual comments like “I guess it’s time for the freak show again.”
--Physical remodeling of a business makes it virtually impossible to meet. Highland Writers Group ran into this problem with the original remodeling of the Highland Borders location. It didn’t allow for any community group meeting space that the old layout did, and the cafe area at the time was a cacophonous ringside seat to cappuccino machines.
--You are basically being shoved out the door. This seems to be common sense, but I was a part of an area writers group that allowed it to happen. Part of a book store’s community event calendar for more than seven years, they were moved from a prime central table with comfortable seating to a significantly less traveled side section, and finally were delegated to crouch in the children’s reading section (stymieing any serious discussion of adult-oriented writing). It was time to leave for about a year.
Ways to Avoid an Unnecessary Breakup
--Communicate your concerns. Don’t wait for both rest rooms and your seating area to become filthy candidates for the next episode of Gordon Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares. Don’t wait for the fifth time the owner moves you for another one of his tone deaf cousin’s impromptu folk singer sessions. Share your complaints and suggestions early so minor issues don’t become angry, insurmountable problems. If your concerns are dismissed or you’re ignored, that venue isn’t the only place in need of loyal customers.
--Actively support the host business. “Talk it up” with family. Promote it via email to friends. Become the business’ “friend” or “follower” on Facebook and Twitter. Recommend your hosts’ services (book sales or great food, for example) or qualities (friendly, great ambiance) so that great meeting spot for your writers’ group remains open and the owner knows you’re an asset for his store.
--When partnering with a retailer, save your purchase receipts. If it’s an issue of a new or veteran manager questioning your time slot due to sales, their concerns can be easily addressed with your group members’ sales receipts, a pile of evidence showing your financial support. But if you’re already disliking your experience for a number of other reasons (such as those listed above) or management starts asking “what’s the use of your writing group anyway,” this could be an excellent time to calmly end your partnership.
--When possible, partner with a local business over a corporate chain. For your writing group, there are two reasons for this, one selfish, one altruistic. The selfish reason—local stores are usually much more consistent in terms of management style. You know who you need to talk to, and usually they are at the counter. Corporate chains have a high turnover of store managers and community relations directors—people are regularly fired, promoted, and transferred. The altruistic motive—helping someone’s small business dream succeed, and the American Dream be something more than a writing topic at your next meeting.
Friday, March 5, 2010
An invitation to the literary community of Northwest Indiana
On Friday May 15, 2010 Evening From 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. the Northwest Indiana Poetry Society will host an open microphone round robin at the New Comfort Inn at I-65 and Rt. 2, (The northwest corner a little East and slightly north of the interchange.) All poets and the public are invited to this event to welcome the Indiana federation of Poetry Clubs to our part of the State.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)