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OFFICIALN

EWSLETTERofthe

BERKELEY

BRANCHofthe

CALIFORNIAWRITERSCLUB

WriteAngles

WriteAngles

D, 2009

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3/11December 2009 Write Angles 3

The markeTing

cornerA goal of the CWC Berkeley

marketing group is to provide

information about the varied

aspects of marketing: Internet

marketing, author events at

bookstores, book festivals,

Internet book-review sites,

writing contests, and exposure

through traditional media.

Another goal is to create a

cooperative environment where

CWC members support each

other. Ultimately, the work of an

author must sell itself. The most

important judge of the writing

is the reader; self-promotion is

the road to the most importantjudgethe reader.

Please visit our Web site/Blog at

http://cwcberkeleymarketing.

wordpress.com/ The site is

open to everyone. The comment

section is for CWC members

only.

Lloyd.Lofthouse

January Meeting:

LOCATION AND DATE TO BE ANNOUNCED.

There.are.two.potential.venues.at.this.time.Please.check.your.e-mail.during.the.week.before.the.meeting.for.location.and.exact.

time

Either

Saturday, January 16, 2010

or

Sunday, January 17, 2010

upcoMingSpeakerS

D 12, 2009 Annual

Luncheon, Winners of WestSide

Story Contest Read

J 16, 2010 Michael

Larsen and Elizabeth Pomada,on how to get an agent.

f 20, 2010 Seth

Harwood, on creating free

serialized audio books.

m 20, 2010 Becky Levine,

on critique groups and revision

techniques.

a 17, 2010 Robert Pimm,

intellectual property attorney,

on copyright protection and fairuse of the work of others.

other seventeen Branches. Berkeley branch member CliffordHui won the grand prize as well as the third place. Out-of-stateBerkeley branch member, Dirk Wales, won fth place. CWC

writers won six of the rst seven places.A marketing support group is forming within the branch

to assist our members with the postpublication aspects ofauthorship.

Our Web site at www.CWC-Berkeley.com got a facelift.Membership is up nearly 50 percent from a year ago. On

November 30, 2009 we are 98 strong. (And hoping to reach 100by the end of the year!) Our members contribute great things,and we encourage everyone to get involved.

Besides building on the good works of 2009, we also haveone more priority job to get done. After years of enjoying thegenerosity of Barnes & Nobles store in Jack London Square, wemust nd ourselves a new home. Weve been spoiled to have alarge, accessible space available at no cost to the club for useduring daytime hours on a weekend in a central location withconvenient parking. While it seems impossible that we will beable to duplicate every one of these benets, we are working on

it. You can help by looking to your network for leads andpossibilities. We need to hold out for an Oakland/Berkeley/Alameda location with good parking. We may have tocompromise on some feature such as meeting day, meeting hour.We may have to pay for a facility and charge a fee for attendance.We are working on it. If you can make a contact and initiate aconversation, it would be great. Someone out there would love tohave the prestige associated with claiming they are the home ofthe founding branch of the 100-year-old California Writers Club.

See you at our last event of 2009the December 12luncheon at an award-winning restaurant in Alameda, where

well hear the winning stories from the WestSide Story Contestread by their authors, and will re-present the Jack LondonAward to Anne Fox. If you have not reserved a seat, please doso right away. Send your check for $22 to CWC-BB, Box 6447,Alameda, Ca. 94501

AL.Levenson

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January workshop:

marilyn abilDskov

Fl FmThe inexperienced writer, says

Jeanette Winterson, believes sincerity

of feeling will be enough, while theexperienced writer knows that feelingmust give way to form. It is throughform, not in spite of it, or accidentalto it, she writes, that the mostpowerful emotions are let loose overthe greatest number of people.

This workshop is designed tointroduce students to basic elementsof form. We will start by readingshort pieces, then try our hand at a few writing exercises, andconclude by sharing newly generated work out loud. Our goal

will not be originality per.seis there anything new under thesun? but a freshness found in locating the right form. For,

while the tale of how we suffer, and how we are delighted, andhow we may triumph is never new, wrote James Baldwin, italways must be heard. There isnt any other tale to tell, its theonly light weve got in all this darkness.

Marilyn Abildskov is the author ofThe.Men.in.My.Countryand teaches in the MFA program at St. Marys College.

Sunday, January 10, 2009, 10 a.m.-1 p.m., followed bybrown-bag lunch and further discussion. Space.is.limitedPre-Registration.is.required!

Mail your check to CWC-BB, Box 6447, Alameda, CA94501.$9 for CWC members. $29 for nonmembers.

Questions?..Email.to.cwcworkshops@gmailcom

whaT lighTs

up?Marilyn Abildskovs workshop on

brevity began with a examination

of a piece by Sandra Cisneros.

Bread, a sparse story of 200

words, was the basis of acollective parsing session led

by Marilyn, in which we were

reminded of many elements of

craft.

Authentic language validates

voice and is richer than

formal language

Short sentences are

impressionistic and give

immediacy to writing.

Memory works in fragments.

In your rst re-read, ask

yourself if you answered

these two questions in the

rst paragraph: Where is the

scene? When is it?

Sensory perceptions put the

reader in the scene

Setting scene well and early

relieves the writer of the

burden of adding it later andgives the reader context early

so he doesnt have to guess.

And more

Then we were given a writing

exercise. A prompt with a menu

of imperatives: write about a

single moment involving two

characters in a tight space

physical and emotionalusing

sensory details, occurring within

an hour. And, Marilyn said,include food in some fashion.

Take twenty minutes, including

time for a stretch and visit to the

rest room.

Several people produced a

credible story with a complete

narrative arc. And everyone

upcoMing WorkSHopS

J 10, 2010 FEELING TO FORM:A Memoir Workshop introducing elements of

form with Writer/Professor Marilyn Abildskov

Mh 14, 2010 TBAal 11, 2010 Marianne Rogoff on TravelWriting

M 9, 2010 Wesley Gibson, Writing EffectiveDialogue

To.recommend.or.request.a.speaker,.contact.Risa.Nye..at.cwcworkshops@gmailcom

continued.on.next.page

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wrote something that captured

several key story elements.

Editing is not called for when

reading spontaneous writing,and the writer has not yet edited

himself. Marilyn said.

What lights up was the

jump-off question she asked

of everyone, prompting us to

locate pleasing and/or attention-

getting details and to open craft

elements for discussion. For

nearly two hours more, we

meandered among the following:

If is a provocative word.

The reaction of a character in

a scene is not the reaction of

the writer when writing.

Foreshadowing can

be accomplished by a

characters imaginings.

Brevity is not easily won, but

Marilyn made the challenge

worth doing.

Ill be at her January workshop,

Feeling into Form.

Al.Levenson

caLiFornia WriterScLuB d h av rlWm t fm is elysThis.article.was.adapted.in.three.parts.from.Theresa.Pipes.original.article.for.the.Berkeley.Historical.Society.appearing.in. The IndependentGazettes.Berkeley.History.column,.dated.September.5,.and.September.19,.1982.With.special.thanks.for.Part.3.to.Maud.Volandri.and.B.Jo.Kinnick.(both.deceased).for.their.research

parT 3:JULIA ALTROCCHI BRINGSA NEW STYLE TO THE CALIFORNIAWRITERS CLUB

Several other women were destinedto succeed Mary Roberts Coolidge, whoserved as president of the CaliforniaWriters Club of Berkeley in the mid-1930s.

Among them, one outstanding writerwho brought a new style to the Clubduring her years of leadership with theBerkeley Branch was Julia Altrocchi. She

was directly involved with a new venture ofthe Club in the early 1940s.

It was soon after the Golden GateInternational Exposition in 1939-40 at

Treasure Island, where Dr. William Morganof the Pacic Unitarian School for the Ministry spoke of his ownearly leadership years with the California Writers Club. In Augus1941 the Club sponsored the rst Writers Conference of the Westat the old Oakland Hotel in Oakland, California.

The conference welcomed writers and readers alike. Theyput on a barbecue, the musical comedy play, June.Moon, apageant, and dedication of trees to California writers and poetsat Woodminster Amphitheater. There was a literary-landmarksbreakfast at the Lake Merritt Boat House and a banquet at theHotel Claremont. Panelists covered everything from pulp paper(mass markets) to the novel to pseudoscience (science ction).

Club President Julia Altrocchis words appeared on the neatlybound program: It is right that such a gathering should be heldunder the giant redwoods, in a place of towering traditions, on thelast frontier of America. She mentioned those who paved the

way for fresh literatureBret Harte, Mark Twain, Ambrose Bierceand later the giants of literatureGeorge Sterling, Jack London,Gertrude Atherton.

Dr. Suren Babington (an East Bay physician), Julia AltrocchiGertrude Atherton, Charles and Kathleen Norris, Ethel Cotton,and John Hamlin were among those involved then with the

by.Julia.Cooley.Altrocchi


Marilyn.Abildskov.at.her.November.workshop

See You There!

LIGHTS.UP.from.page.4

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California Writers Club and the Writers Conference.Longtime Club members Cleone Montgomery of Berkeley and

Maud Volandri of San Francisco remembered Julia Altrocchi wellas a gracious hostess who often entertained with luncheons forguest speakers in the Berkeley area. The wife of Dr. RudolphAltrocchi, head of UC Berkeleys Romance Languages Departmentfor many years, the poet began writing at age six. She publishedPoems.of.a.Child in 1904 while growing up in Chicago.

As Mrs. Volandri recalled in the 1980s, there was a storyattached to the poets childhood claim to fame often mused over byMrs. Altrocchi throughout her lifetime. During the young poetsinnocent childhood, Julias aunt was the mistress of the poetRichard Le Gallienne, father of actress Eva Le Gallienne. Her auntoften talked about Julias artistic accomplishments in poetry toLe Gallienne, who had a number of friends in the publishing eld.One day he arranged to have Julias poems published in book formas a gift to his mistressand wrote the introduction himself.

Later, Mrs. Altrocchi wrote a historical novel on early Chicago,Wolves.Against.the.Moon, and published a number of articles onCalifornias historical and literary subjects.

Julia Altrocchi also penned Spectacular.San.Franciscans, anonction work containing historical anecdotes on San Franciscopeople. Her extensive poem about the Donner Party, Snow.Covered.Wagons:.A.Pioneer.Epic, won a Commonwealth Club ofCalifornia award in 1937 and is reportedly her best-known work.Movie rights were sold later for Snow.Covered.Wagons, but it neveractually appeared in lm.

Then in 1968, after Julia Altrocchi served a second term aspresident of the California Writers Club, her book-length poem,ChicagoNarrative.of.a.City, won the coveted $1,000 StephenVincent Benet Narrative Award sponsored by Poet Lore magazine.She went to Boston, where Benets sister, Laura, presented the

award to her, stated B. Jo Kinnick, a Piedmont poet belonging to the California Writers Club, whowas also an artist member of the Browning Society in San Francisco.

After Julia Altrocchis death, the manuscript becamepublished in 1973 by the Piedmont-Oakland Branch of theNational League of American Penwomen, where her membership

was highly valued. Mrs. Kinnick, who edited the work,encouraged its publication by Altrocchis branch of Penwomen(called the Diablo-Alameda Branch).

Several dramatic readings of her poem, ChicagoNarrative.oa.City, followed. In July 1981 the poem was chosen to representAmerica at the World Congress of Poets in the St. Francis Hotel,San Francisco. There, Dr. Clarence L. Miller, then president of

the Ina Coolbrith Circle, directed the readings. Together withthe Ina Coolbrith Circle, the Browning Society of San Franciscohelped to sponsor the Congress, attracting poets worldwide. In1982, the same dramatic reading was repeated for the BrowningSociety, the Ina Coolbrith Circle and the Speech Arts Association

.Therese.M.Pip

Im the romping,scampering one.

Im the one who runsand sings among theowering elds

Im like the leaves,the grass, the wind,

the happy little but-tery and the littlescampering clouds.

Julia.Cooley.Altrocch1899,.age.six

from.Poems of a Chil

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Hw Hld Sssflcq g

Isnt there some sort of protocol for critique groups? Imoverwhelmed, an acquaintance asked me recently.

What do you mean? I asked.Well, rst, they come with work that hasnt been proofread.

Then they spend hours arguing over tiny points of grammar,spelling and punctuation. A couple of the group gets an ideaabout something, and they never stop going on about it. But theymay be easier to take than the man who says everything is nice.What does nice mean? And then theres a woman who defendsevery criticism anyone gives her and is still making the sameerrors now as in the beginning. Also, everybody starts by sayinghow bad their work is. Why do I want to read someones bad

work? Its a waste of my timebut it shouldnt be, should it?No, your critique group shouldnt be a waste of your time!When I mentioned this problem to my class, a student

pointed out Judith Barringtons suggestions in herWriting.the.

Memoir,.from.Truth.to.Art.Readers do: come prepared with corrected copies for all participants ask for specic feedback they would like ask for clarication if they dont understand make notes while people talk respond to specic questions asked during the critique.But readers dont: denigrate their own manuscripts explain the intention of the piece or why it was written respond until all have given their critique.Critique givers do:

start with what they like, what moves them pinpoint why something works or does not work point out where they feel confused, lost or do not believe write notes on their copy of the manuscript and always

sign as a reader suggest possibilities for language or plotting to example

their critique make copyediting and proofreading corrections on their

copy.But critique givers dont: criticize in a way to belittle the writer make generalizations without pinpointing specics: This

is good because I was moved by the last paragraph whereyou said...

tell stories from their own experience waste time pointing out small grammar problems and

other proong errors impose personal viewpoint or og a point that has already

been made.Writers, always remember, its your work and what you think

is most important, that is, until your publisher says differently!

Ana.Manwaring,.reprinted.with.permission.from.The Redwood Writer.

cwc criTque

groups!If your objective is to receive and

give useful feedback, you are

welcome. You do not need to be

a CWC member to try a group

on for size! More information ison our Web page at www.cwc-

berkeley.com. Please inquire

about invitation-only groups.

Write [email protected]

unless otherwise specied.

f- For.all.prose:.ction,.nonction,.

essays,.query.letters,.proposals..

when: 3rd Saturdays, 1-5 p.m.

where: Rockridge Library,

2nd-oor meeting room

for info: [email protected]

T- By.invitation-only,.limited.to.six.

members.Additional.groups.can.

be.created.with.interest.

when: Weekday eves, monthly

nt This.group.reviews.informative.

articles,.query.letters,.and.book.

proposals.(No.memoir).Drop-

ins.welcome..First-timers.are.welcome.to.bring.a.submission.

when: 2nd Tuesdays, 7-9 p.m

where: Borders Books Coffee

Shop, Alameda Towne Center

mt t By.invitation.only,.currently.

seeking.new.members.

when: 3rd Wednesdays. Time

is a mystery.

where: private homes

cd t By.invitation-only,.currently.

seeking.new.members.

when: monthly

where: private homes

Ana,.program.coordinator.of.the.Redwood.Branch,.CWC,.teaches..at.the.Napa.Valley.College.in.St.Helena.wwwanamanwaringcom,.saintsandskeletonsblogspotcom,.anamanwaringwordpress

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1. AL Levenson2. Alex Campbell3. Alice Wilson-Fried4. Alon Shalev

5. Anjuelle Floyd6. Anne Prowell7. Anne Fox8. Aphra Pia9. Arline Lawrence10. Arue Szura11. Barbara Ruffner12. Barbara Burton13. Barbara Gilvar14. Bill Roller15. Bruce Shigeura16. Carlene Cole17. Carol Newman-Weaver18. Caroline Ahlswede19. Caroline Abasta20. Caryl Hansen21. Charlie Russell22. Charlotte Cook23. Clifford A. Hui24. David Sawle25. David Gray26. David George27. David Baker

28. Debby Frisch29. Dirk Wales30. Dorothy V. Benson31. Edward S. Dean32. Ele Quinn33. Ellen C. Graebe34. Emery Garriott35. Evelyn Washington36. Faith Darling37. Frances B. Spencer38. Francine Howard39. Gail Travers40. Gary McIntyre41. Gloria Reid42. Gurnam S. Brard43. Jane Glendinning44. Janell Moon45. Janice Armigo Brown46. Jeff Kingman47. JoAnn Smith Ainsworth48. Joanna Graham


100 years,

100 members

Story aS LaBoratoryLast.month.I.prompted.a.number.of.club.members.with.questions.about.the.differences.between.short.stories.and.novels..I.asked,.How.has.what.youve.learned.about.one.inform.the.other?..How.are.they.similar?.What.can.be.done.in.one.that.cant.be.done.in.the.other?..I.received.a.number.of.provocative.answers.AL

Short stories can function as wonderful laboratories thatallow you to try things that a novel might not support becauseits very weird or very specic. You can be more uninhibited witha short story, because you can use the structure to rid yourselfof demons.

An event that took place in Vietnam one night in 1966haunted me until the early 80s, when it came together as astory, A Night at the Well of Purity. I worked on that storyanddealt with the demonsoff and on for the next twenty-ve years.In 2007, the story was named a nalist in the 2007 ChicagoLiterary Awards. As for the demon that sparked that story, ithasnt been around for a long time.

Writing can be great therapybetter and cheaper thangoing to a shrink.

Lloyd.Lofthouse

You can be more uninhibited with a short story becausethere is no need to provide a background for the characters.Your best friend may suddenly reveal himself to be a vampire,and the reader will accept that fact, lling in the how and whyfor herself. Your grandfather could be a crusty relic of the CivilWar (or War between the States) and continue to shoot Yankeesdecades after the war has ended. No explanation needed. AuntSadie cries over her vanished lover and mistreats any young

woman who happens to be blond.What IS needed is deft handling of storytelling. A few well-

placed words in narrative or sentences must set the scenery or,on the other hand, leave some matters unexplained. Do nottell too much; leave the reader thinking. That is why writing asuccessful short story is both easier and harder than writing afull-length book.

Lucille.Bellucci

You can be more uninhibited with a short story becauseyou dont spend a year writing it, so if its a failure, its no big

deal. An experimental novel is much more chancy.For instance, I once wrote an experimental novel, taking

a good six months to write it. I was experimenting with livingletters. You know, to keep the letters on the page happy, theyhad to be paid a good wage, and I had to negotiate constantly

with all of them. Like, as you can gure, the Zs and Qs werealways complaining they didnt get as much work as the Isand Es. How were they supposed to make ends meet since thepay scale totally reected the frequency of their presence on

continued.on.page.10

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Mmb nwsCWC BERKELEY BRANCH MEMBERS:.Please.send.Write Angles.all.the.news.about.your.life.in.the.world.of.art,.letters,.and.literature,.however.it.expresses.itselfYour.efforts.and.accomplishments.inspire.couragein.others.writefox@aol.com

Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers has asked ctt cto be their guest workshop leader for their annual all-day eventfor members in May 2010. ctt will do a combination ofher An Acquisition Editor... and Edit Your Manuscript to BePublished.

a ss novel,.Oilspill.dotcom, has been released onSmashwords.com and Scribd, making it available on Kindle,SonyReader, iPhones and other applications. a thanksKemble Scott for his advice at our CWC October meeting

ld b, Publicity Chair, is interim secretary ofthe Friends of Joaquin Miller Park, of which the CWC is amember. Joyce Krieg of the Central Coast Branch of the CWC

created the poster honoring the literary history of the CaliforniaWriters Club. ld presented the poster to the Citys Parksand Recreation Advisory Commission, who have accepted it fordisplay in the Joaquin Miller Park Ranger Station.

b g, who recently joined the Berkeley Branch,discussed her book, The.Art.of.Hiring.Leaders,.a.Guide.for.Nonprot.Organizations,with 25 members of the OaklandMetropolitan Chambers Nonprot Roundtable on November 23.At the same event, ld b briefed the Roundtable on theChambers history of co-sponsoring CWC writing conferences.

Anne.Fox.


49. Joanne Sandstrom50. Jody Weiner51. Joy Maliwawa52. Judith Field53. Julia Epstein54. Karren Elsbernd55. Kasian Klute56. Kathleen L Orosco

57. Ken Frazer58. Kristen Caven59. Laura Shumaker60. Linda Brown61. Liz Waegle62. Lloyd Lofthouse63. Lois Kadosh64. Lucille Bellucci65. Madelen Lontiong66. Marc P. Kaplan67. Margaret Wesson68. Marianne Lonsdale

69. Marianne Rogoff70. Marilyn Abildskov71. Michael Larsen72. Mickey Weiss73. Micky Duxbury74. Monica Conrady75. Natasha Borovsky76. Nicole Bazan77. Nonnie Thompson78. Phyllis S. Smith79. Ray Faraday Nelson80. Richard Mutter81. Risa Nye82. Sarah Clark83. Sasha Futran84. Tanya Grove85. Tatjana Greiner86. Therese M. Pipe87. Thomas Burcheld88. Tina M. Stinnett89. Van Moore90. Vernon Dolphin91. W.E. Reinka

92. Wendi Lelke-Wallway93. Willie Rose94. ct rd

95. i ht

96. s w

97. Dd s

98. n rt

99.100.

Welcome NewMembers!

100 members /100 yearsWere almost there! Do you know anyone who would like to be

our 100th member? Give a gift membership for only $44.50 ($20

initiation fee plus half-price dues at $22.50) Send an e-mail today to

[email protected]. Youth members are always $10.

tiDBitSSandy Moffett, of our sister branch, The Writers of Kern, in

the Bakerseld area, has asked for help with a research project.

If.you.have.(know.or.were).a.child.who.asked.questions.about.the.

death.of.a.loved.one,.Id.like.to.visit.with.you.Please.drop.a.note.to.sm@sandymoffettcom.with.your.contact.info

Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart. ~William Wordsworth

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Do you ever wonder...h i t ?

Help is needed in thefollowing departments:

-Membership chair

-Database

-Contributions to WA

-Web site (Word press)

-Facebook page/group

-Buddy System editor

-Write.Anglesco-designer(will train in InDesign)

Contact [email protected] if you can help!

the page? Well, of course the Is and Es were bellyaching aboutcarrying the whole load and were mad at the others for not doingtheir part. When do we get a vacation? theyd say. Well, Idopen the le on the computer and nd a whole different novel infront of me because some #*&% letter or another would get in ahuff and walk off the job. Words would be rearranged, sentencesturned topsy-turvy, and whole paragraphs would be deleted sincethey no longer made any sense. I started with a mystery that oneday became a romance, and a week later it metamorphosed into aplay! I couldnt even re the troublemakers because of the union.It was a mess.

After that, I decidedno more experimental novels. Ill stickto the conventional ways to write novels so I wouldnt wastemonths and come up with nothing. I vowed to save the crazy stufffor short stories.

Emery.Garriott

You have to boil down your ideas to their purest form. Youhave to determine the quintessential essence of expressing youridea, as Harper Lee did in To.Kill.A.Mockingbird. ...You must

quickly develop the identity of your characters, the setting andtheir mission or dilemma.

Gary.McIntyre

I am wary of the idea of experimental in writing for fear theidea of experiment will overpower the idea of the storytelling. I

want to tell a story the way it comes to mind, without consideringthe form.

Yet I have a story that would be considered experimental.I had one idea that might seem to be two different stories that

were separate yet connected. I thought the best way to tell this

story was to have two story columns, side by side. In my way ofthinking, I wanted the reader to read across the two columns. Itdidnt work for anyone but me. I learned that people talk aboutnew ideas, new ways to express things, but they dont really meanit. That, however, does not deter me from playing with other ideasthat are different, experimental.

I came upon an abandoned house in an afuentneighborhood of Westchester County in New York and set aboutdoing a photo study of it. The setting inspired a story. Ratherthan burden the opening of my story with a lengthy description,I inserted the photos with scene-setting text. The techniqueappealed to the visual nature of my mind and opened up a new

way of thinking for me. I was pleased with the result. . . which isthe point of writing. Now, I move on from there

Dirk.Wales

You can be more uninhibited with a short story because youcan deal with the essence of a thought and not be encumbered

with details. The greatest experiment in shortness I have everseen was a performance of thirty-two one-page plays. Why not


Im not a verygood writer, but

Im an excellentrewriter.~James

Michener

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short stories; they were denitely short. They allowed only onepage of content, including dialog and stage directions. Each play

was performed by one to ve actors. Imagine being cast as a leadin such a play and having to memorize a ve-word script.

Irv.Hamilton

Because when you cast it in the short form and look at it,you may think of a lot of implications that can esh out your

original inspiration into a long form. This is particularly true ofscience ction, and many science ction novels by masters likeBradbury and Asimov are made up of a series of short storieshooked together like boxcars on a train.

Ray.Faraday.Nelson

One thing I can do with a short story that I cant do with anovel is nish it. Truth be told, the second thing is start it.

Three years ago the notion of writing a novel was asintimidating as asking Penny Pollock to the junior prom inhigh school. All the planning of the twists and turns of a story,

keeping the characters busy for a couple of hundred pages,remembering to put the getaway vehicle on page 30 for the escapeon page 100. Short stories were the way to get started, to learnthe craft, and avoid getting a hundred pages down the road onlyto nd the novel that started as a ball of yarn is a tangle of wool

with a kitten in there somewhere.When I wrote my rst short story fewer than three years

agoI dont count that dreadful stuff I wrote in collegeI washappy to achieve the three basic elements of story: a beginning,a middle, and an end. Thats before I learned about Character,Plot, and Dialogue. Or is it Hook, Conict, and Crisis?

My stories are much better than they were three years ago,

thanks to the patience of peer critics. They have beginningsand middles and ends. They have Characters, Narrative Arcs,and lots of talking. Sometimes they have Hooks, Humor, HappyEndings.

Today, when I have an idea for a story, I have enough ofthe elements to see me to the end. I can get the rst draft downin one or two sittings. Then I revise it. And revise it. Then Iedit it and tweak it. And somewhere around the fourth or fthdraft, it feels right, and I take it to my crit group, who are always

willing to inate the story and deate my ego. Then back to thelaboratory. The struggle is long and no easier. But now it is funin the same way the junior prom was fun.

I am still intimidated by novels, and I plan to call PennyPollock and ask her out on a second date.

AL.Levenson

berkeley cwcboarD of DirecTors

President:.AL.Levenson

Vice.President:.Dave.Sawle

Secretary:.Jane.Glendinning

Treasurer:.Carlene.Cole

Membership:.AL.Levenson

Publicity.Chair:.Linda.Brown

Program.Chair:.Laura.Shumaker

Workshop.Chair:..Risa.Nye

Newsletter.Editor:..AL.Levenson

Copyeditor:.Anne.Fox

Newsletter.Production:.Kristen.Caven

Webmaster:.AL.Levenson

Delegate.to.Central.Board:.Linda.Brown

Delegate.to.CWC-Norcal:.Lloyd.Lofthouse

5th.Grade.Story.Contest:.Lucille.Bellucci

WestSide.Story.Contest:..Tatjana.Greiner

The CALIFORNIA WRITERS CLUBis dedicated to educating membersand the public-at-large in the craftof writing and in the marketing oftheir work. For more information,visit our Web site at cwc-berkeley.com.

Copyright 2009 by the CaliforniaWriters Club, Berkeley Branch.

All rights reserved. Write.Anglesis published 10 times a year(September-June) by the CaliforniaWriters Club, Berkeley Branchon behalf of its members. CWCassumes no legal liability orresponsibility for the accuracy,completeness, or usefulness ofany information, process, product,method or policy described in thisnewsletter.

I try to leave out the parts thatpeople skip. ~Elmore Leonard

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Write Angles 12-09

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