News and Announcements
Behind the Book: Author Series
Write With Style
Find a subject you care about - My writing reads like unmitigated slop when I don’t care about the topic. Doesn’t matter what tricks or techniques I use… boring. Simple fix. Write about what you care about.
Do not ramble, though
Keep it simple - If a 12-year-old can’t understand what’s happening, your writing likely needs a round of edits. Use the online Hemingway app if you’re not sure where to start.
Have the guts to cut - It reminds me of Stephen King’s idea: “Kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler's heart, kill your darlings.” My heuristic – If I’m unsure about cutting something, I cut it.
Sound like yourself - Sounding like yourself – your age, where you’re from, how you think – makes you more authentic. More unique.
Say what you mean to say
Pity the readers - “Our audience requires us to be sympathetic and patient teachers… whereas we would rather soar high above the crowd.” When you respect your reader’s time, making your writing crisp and enjoyable becomes priority number one.
For really detailed advice… Go read The Elements of Style. You know it’s a banger of a book because it’s 105 years old and still the first book many authors mention to improve your writing.
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.’
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 topic of the work
A short description of the plot
A short bio of the author
The target audience
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.
A personalized salutation
Why you picked me
Your manuscript’s genre
Your manuscript’s word count
Zero indication that what you’re sending me is a first draft
Good writing, spelling and grammar
A note about any simultaneous submissions
A note about this manuscript’s previous submissions, if any
A note if you’ve self-published this project
Any relevant background info
Hi Friends and TAWW Members,
Maybe you've finished writing your novel, published it and now your just too busy cashing your royalty checks to attend a TAWW meeting.
Maybe you completed your literary masterpiece and sent it off to promising agents and now you have to stay close the phone in case they call.
Maybe that work-in-progress manuscript you've been putting off is collecting dust in the attic. So is my future best seller, "How to Conquer Procrastination"
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 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
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:
900 Airport Fwy, Hurst, TX 76054
(817) 393-3535
When:
Saturday June 4th, 2022
10:00 am .. 12:00 noon
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.
"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
Join us at 9:10 a.m. on March 13th for a workshop on writing Memoirs
Presenter: Dennis Coburn
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:
I love you so so much.
She tried very very hard.
Tomorrow's meeting is so terribly important.
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:
It is very tasty.
It is delicious.
(With a strong adjective like delicious, there is no need for an intensifier. In fact, using an intensifier would sound unnatural.)
He took an extremely big risk.
He took a huge risk.
(With a strong adjective like huge, there is no need for an intensifier.)
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
a 1956 Dodge with push-button transmission
mysterious female traveler kills and cooks a big saber tooth cat
teen-aged recovering alcoholic defends her virginity
African poachers shoot down an aerial tour plane
childhood friends' innocence is interrupted by puberty while skinny dipping
an inquisitive art student takes special interests in a revealing subject
an eighteenth century midwife is entangled in tragedy
survivors of an apocalyptic solar storm escape to the countryside
“Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.”
― Anton Chekhov
