News and Announcements

posted 05/16/24

Signs of Stress

CHARACTERS UNDER STRESS OFTEN DISPLAY BODY LANGUAGE THAT INFORMS THE READER OF THEIR DISCOMFORT AND ANXIETY.

<-- Click to see some of those tell-tale signs:


posted 03/26/24

Behind the Book: Author Series

posted 03/19/24

Write With Style

Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion. I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward. 

- Kurt Vonnegut -

In 1985, Kurt Vonnegut  (author of Slaughterhouse-Five) released a little-known essay with his 8 tips on ‘How to Write With Style.’

posted 02/13/24

Query Letters

A query letter is a formal letter sent by a writer to magazine editors, literary agents and sometimes publishing houses or companies, to propose writing ideas.[1]

For example, a standard requested format for a manuscript query letter to a literary agent could be approximately 200–400 words, expressing the following information:

The literary agent would then decide whether to contact the author and request to see the manuscript, based on the contents of the query letter. In this sense, the query letter is an author's first step toward getting their manuscript published.


Here’s what literary agents like to see in a query letter.

posted 01/30/24

Hi Friends and TAWW Members,

If any or all or none of the above applies, no worries. We miss you and we would love to see you again to celebrate or commiserate.

We currently meet on Tuesday evenings 6:00 .. 8:00 pm at Hurst Public library. We also offer participation through the ether-space. Our Virtual Critique platform allows reticent writers to upload chapters and join the meeting remotely from the comfort of your cave.

We hope to see/hear/read you soon.













posted 12/12/23






posted 11/16/23


Join a meeting with your mobile device

Use a smartphone or tablet to participate in a critique session remotely via our virtual critique platform.   click to learn how

posted 06/27/23


No meeting July 4th neither in-person nor online







posted 01/31/23

Library Closed for Severe Weather

The Hurst Library will be closed today, Jan. 31, 2023, but we will still host a Virtual Critique meeting via voice teleconference and Google drive collaboration 6:00 p.m. 

Call in number and access code are available on the white board (members have access).

guest may request access by email: trinityartswriters@gmail.com 

posted 10/04/22

Hybrid Virtual Critique

Rolled Out

On 9/27 TAWW  'kicked the tires'  on a different approach for our critique meetings.

While we continue to meet in person at Hurst Public Library each Tuesday evening 6..8 pm, we will also expand our reach by utilizing our tried and true Virtual Critique platform facilities (teleconference voice + collaborative reading/review)

 Members may participate by uploading material to our online Virtual Critique folder and dialing in to read or comment.

posted 07/02/22

Face to face

We continue to meet in person at Hurst Public Library each Tuesday evening 6..8 pm

Please bring extra copies of the material you want to critique for the readers.





Saturday Virtual Critique meetings are suspended until further notice

posted 5/28/22

Annual Summer PlotLuck luncheon

We're meeting at a restaurant this time, so you don't have to bring anything except yourself and story ideas to share and/or plot problems to toss around.

Enter the limerick contest. Entries will be read and judged during the event. (family friendly please) Prizes will be awarded for 1st, 2nd & 3rd places. 

Come and enjoy seeing old friends and meet new ones.

We want to hear about your current writing project and catch up after the pandemic pause.

where:

Dixie House Cafe

900 Airport Fwy, Hurst, TX 76054

(817) 393-3535

When:

Saturday June 4th, 2022

10:00 am .. 12:00 noon    



posted 1/17/22

Quick & Dirty FREE website 

Demonstration example creating an author's blog


Join us at 7:00 p.m. on January 18th for a virtual online workshop via Zoom video. We will follow the step-by-step procedure to create a fully functional author's blog.

Presenter: Dennis Coburn












The 7 Harry Potter books have sold more than 500 million copies worldwide, including 180 million in the U.S. The 7th book in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, sold 8.3 million copies in its first 24 hours.

The Harry Potter books are so popular because J.K. Rowling is a masterful story-teller. 

Join Don Davidson at 9:15 a.m. on Saturday, November 6th, as he explores what makes Rowling so good.


Debunking Common Copyright Myths

There are lot of misconceptions about copyright. We debunk five of the most common ones here.

We had planned to start meeting in person again on August 7th, but Covid said, "Oh no. Nyet, nada."

Back to square 1. 

Our Saturday morning Reading and Critique Meetings will be held on the Virtual Critique platform until further notice.

Chekhov's Gun 

Chekhov's gun is a dramatic principle that states that every element in a story must be necessary, and irrelevant elements should be removed. Elements should not appear to make "false promises" by never coming into play. 


"If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired. Otherwise don't put it there." From Gurlyand's Reminiscences of A. P. Chekhov

















  Na na, na no wri mo







PlotLuck Summer - 2021


Dear current and long lost TAWW members and friends,

We're getting together for an old fashioned PlotLuck.  

Graciously hosted by TAWW member, Jim Barrow.

Saturday, June 5th,  

11:00 am .. 1:00pm

Check your email inbox for directions and RSVP.

Looking forward to seeing you soon.

It's how TAWW members and visitors connect and share

















"Trinity Arts Writer's Workshop is the perfect place to get the creative juices flowing for writers of all genres and skill levels. It strikes just the right balance of supportive camaraderie and critical feedback to stretch and build those literary muscles!”

Arissa Utemark - Member


The Old Testament can be difficult to understand. So let’s make it easier.

Part Two completes what Part One started, with 91 more easy-to-read chapters, each covering an Old Testament topic from 2 Samuel chapter 14 through Nehemiah, Job, and the major and minor prophets. As in Part One, each of these 91 chapters includes one or more thought-provoking—and discussion-provoking—questions relevant to that lesson.

Also included: a timeline of key Old Testament events, a chapter on biblical prophecies about Jesus, a chapter about the “Last Days,” and footnotes (e-book) or endnotes (paperback) with biblical citations and additional historical information. The paperback version includes an index for citations to biblical books and an index for people and places. The e-book includes abundant hyperlinks.

This book is great for self-study or a group Bible study, from high school to adult.

TAWW Offers Free Workshops

posted 5/1/21

Don shared materials from Writer’s Bloc presenter,  James Thayer     7 Novel Writing Mistakes    notes

Meetings Suspended

Effective immediately, all face-to-face meetings suspended until April further notice.  While we will miss seeing your faces, the virtual critique platform is available to members on the TAWW website. 

The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense. — Tom Clancy 













Using Intensifiers

Over time, intensifiers lose their power to strengthen. The intensifiers awfully and terrible are good examples. Even though these words derive from the powerful words awe and terror, they no longer radiate the same level of gravitas. Through common usage, they have lost their shock value.

To strengthen the intensifying effect, writers (especially in informal writing) often double up their intensifiers. For example: 

The use of intensifiers is considered by many to be lazy writing, and doubling up intensifiers is unlikely to be permissible in formal correspondence. In formal writing, the level of intensity you need to portray should be achieved through word choice (e.g., by using strong adjectives instead of intensifiers). For example: 

One effective way to use intensifiers is to limit their use. For example, if you use the word very just once in your document, your readers will believe that very really really does mean very

Topics from Recent  Readings


“Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” 

― Anton Chekhov 




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