In Full Swing Mode

It’s that time of year when conferences, festivals and other parties are bountiful. Last weekend, I attended the FWA Conference and took some interesting workshops. The workshops which were the most helpful (to me):

• Let’s Write Prose! I found out how writing to a prompt can help. Mary K Swanson also gave some good feedback.
• How to Structure Your Fiction – learnt a lot about character development from Janice Decker. I had to tweet afterwards an expression she used “Control is an illusion.” (If I wrote that preceding sentence awkwardly, I do apologize…maybe next workshop, I’ll get some tips on sentence construction).
• The Fiction Con – Michael Wiley gave me a lot of ideas on book structure. I’m going for a hybrid approach: I’m laying out my chapters and thinking what the chapter should be about. I’m not exactly writing an outline but wants to follow that chart 1^st plot, introduce 2^nd plot etc.
• Mincing, Chopping and Otherwise Processing Words – well I did buy some new software to help organize my writing. More importantly, Michael Carlson gave some great formatting tips which I can even use in my day job.

Therefore, my plan is to implement as much as possible to complete my novel for #ThreeBooksInThreeMonths.  My goal is only one novel and 5,000 words per week. I haven’t been meeting my word count yet but as mentioned above I’ve bought new software called Manuscript to assist me with organizing my flow.  Why such a low a goal, you may ask? I wanted an attainable goal (so I can have a sense of accomplishment) plus the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival is here. I frequently volunteer and also attend some shows. I’ve attended one so far, a delightful French comedy called Josephine Single & Fabulous. Some of my other picks are:

• Italian Movies
• The Last Hit
• Broche Del Oro
• Krissy Belle
• BreakThrough

 I picked these based on the synopsis and may add in some more. It's just that time of year and I want a piece of it all so I'm diving right in or as my titled aptly stated going in full swing mode.

my poem for the week

A poem that reads like a movie:

POETRY AROUND TOWN

Poetry Club. South Regional/BC Library Multi-Purpose Room. Monthly, every 3^rd Tuesday at 6:30 pm.

Poetry & Spoken Word. Goddess Store n Studio. 2017 Harrison St, Hollywood, FL. Monthly, every 3rd Sunday. 6 pm.

Open mike (music, comedy, poetry). Gigi’s Music Café. 4385 NW 88 Ave. Sunrise, FL. Weekly on Wednesdays at 7 pm.

Some resources for poetry events include poetry.openmikes.org and meetup.com.

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UPCOMING CONFERENCES

30th Miami Book Fare International
When: November 17-24, 2013
http://www.miamibookfair.com/

10th Annual Palm Beach Poetry Festival
When: January 20-25, 2014
http://www.palmbeachpoetryfestival.org/