Being part of the team of volunteers fills me up. I love helping you in your writing journey.

Visit redwoodwriters.org and take time to get familiar with all the resources we have to offer our members.I hope you will come out for our meetings in person. In November and December, we will be meeting in the Cypress Room at the Finley Center.Share your ideas and volunteer! Giving back will enrich your life.You can reach me at 707.210.6696 (text or phone) for the best way to connect.

Judy M. Baker

President, Redwood Writers

Would you like to be more involved with Redwood Writers? A few volunteer positions have recently opened up and we'd love to have you as part of our team! If you're curious about any of these, email Judy Baker at president@redwoodwriters.org.

• Speaker Coordinator
• Contest Chair
• Public Relations
• Newsletter Editor

Is there something you'd like to do for the club that isn't listed here? Let us know and we'll find a place for you!

TONEY MERRITT WILL PRESENT 

"At the Heart of the Screenplay-Character/Conflict"

Note: The November meeting will be will be streamed live from Toney's location. Feel free to watch the presentation via Zoom from your own home or at the Finley Center.

A comprehensive overview of the development practices of turning ideas into screenplays/scripts for film and/or video productions. The screenplay is a comprehensive set of instructions written in a specific format that addresses all of the crafts related to producing a movie; casting, cinematography, costume and set and sound design, direction and editing to list a few. Along with story development, a screenplay has two goals: Economy and Clarity. Economy in writing as few words as possible avoiding overly descriptive language. Clarity, so that everyone working on the film knows exactly what is required from their craft.

About Toney Merritt

Toney Merritt, (MFA 1979) has been an Interdisciplinary Artist and Independent filmmaker for over 50 years, having completed over 30 personal films and videos; experimental, narrative and documentary. His films have screened a various venues such as the Paris Cinematheque, The London Coop, Pacific Film Archives, the San Francisco Cinematheque, Ann Arbor and Mill Valley Film Festivals, Anthology Film Archives, New York and the Oakland and DeYoung Museums, and recently, with a one-person retrospective at Lightbox Cinema in Philadelphia in 2021. Toney was the Program Director for the Mendocino Film Festival for 2 years, 2014 and 2015. He taught Film Production and Digital Editing at City College San Francisco, and Screenwriting for the San Francisco State University’s Digital Video Intensive Program. He was invited to present as a writer/director at the 2007, what was known as, Squaw Valley Community of Writer’s Conference, and invited back in 2008 to serve as a screenwriting mentor to 4 aspiring screenwriters. He has also served as a panelist for various festivals such as the SF International Film Festival and as a panelist for Independent Television Service, (ITVS) and the Rockefeller and Jerome Foundations, and most recently, the National Endowment of the Arts. www.toneymerritt.com

November's General Meeting Agenda

• Finley Center opens at noon for networking with other authors
• Zoom meeting room opens at 12:45 p.m. for open conversation
• Meeting starts at 1 p.m.
• Toney Merritt, "Screenplay-Character/Conflict"
• Board and Chair announcements
• Member announcements
• Adjourn at 2:30 p.m.

Note: Redwood Writers general meeting are held on the third Saturday of the month.

Not Even

—Steve Trenam

For once, leave 

the blank page to itself.

Feel the pull of the oar, 

the light on the water.

Forget putting words 

around that bottomless sky,

or the rainbow that just

swam by your boat.

Be mindless of your middle name

and the need to record

alders and poplars as they pass.

Note only a mosquito

in the instant of its landing.

Simply drift

as the current takes you

by the honeysuckle shore

towards home.

Ignore the circling words.

Not even the great blue 

of the heron flying 

into a setting sun 

will make you

write this 

down.

__

Steve Trenam teaches poetry writing for Santa Rosa Junior College. As a poet, he is neither sure-footed nor clear. Metaphorically speaking, Steve is out on a leafless limb with just spider webs and moss, listening to the silken slip of water over stone. Blue Light Press published his An Affront to Gravity last year, and his work has appeared in Pandemic Puzzle Poems and a collection of ekphrastic poems titled, Canyon, River, Stone and Light, both published in November.

HOW TO "WIN" NANOWRIMO

November is National Novel Writing Month (aka NaNoWriMo). Last month in groups.io I asked for tips on how to successfully write a novel in 30 days. Where

P.S. if you’ve never heard of NaNoWriMo, learn more about it and how to participate at www.NaNoWriMo.org. 

Rebecca Rosenberg:

I did NaNoWriMo last year and loved it! I was able to finish a first draft of my upcoming novel, Madame Pommery. To make "putting down words" as a top priority gets you out of your editor brain and into a very creative and free space-- if you let it! This year I plan to deconstruct a partial novel I have written, add a POV and scramble up the timelines to make it a mystery along the "Sliding Doors" model where there are different outcomes. It would be fun to post our word counts each day and cheer each other on!

Mara Lynn Johnstone:

I do NaNoWriMo every chance I get! It's great. I have two points of advice that have served me well: 

• Pick a story to write that you will be able to write quickly. Whether that's something that you've already planned out in detail, or a new idea that you're not emotionally attached to, go with whatever works best for you. 

• Keep a notes document for things to fix/change/think about later. Add to it as you go, and that will keep you from getting caught up in editing instead of telling the story. If you can wait until you reach the end before changing anything, then you'll have a much better idea of what needs changing. 

(And if you absolutely have to change something big halfway through, like you decide that the story should have a completely different character narrating it, then make a note and keep on writing as if you started like that in the first place. Change the beginning later. Reach the end now.) 

A mantra for you: "It doesn't have to be good. It just has to BE." 

Good luck to anyone going for it! 

Marie Judson:

I've hit the 50K word mark. For me it worked to join groups (ultimately groups form on Discord which is a better place to chat than the nano site). And I sprint. There's a sprintbot at Discord that helps a group do a writing sprint. You just announce the number of words you wrote during a 15 or 20 minute sprint but I kept it on a spreadsheet. You can find a group from all over the world. Sprinting doesn't suit everyone. For me, it brings up material from my soul space, I think. I get ignited. Others have told me they write worthless stuff in the process. I write fantasy fiction. Igniting the imagination works well for my genre. 

Crissi Langwell: 

I’ve participated in NaNoWriMo most years between 2010 and now, and 6 of my published novels started out as NaNoWriMo projects. 

Here are 5 tips that have helped me the most: 

1. Schedule your writing time at the same time every day, and then protect that time as if your life depended on it. With consistency, the writing will flow easier because your body will remember what it’s supposed to do. 
2. Come in with a plan. I know some people swear by “pantsing” (letting in-the-moment inspiration lead the way), but I think that’s putting too much pressure on yourself in a month when you’re writing faster than ever. Before NaNoWriMo, I plot my story, and also do character bios so that I know the characters before I start writing about them.
3. End your writing session with a plan for the next day. As I wrap up each writing session, I’ll jot a few notes about what happens next so that the next day I know where I’m going. It helps to end your writing session in the middle of a scene so that you can get warmed up writing the rest of it, and then continue on with the story. 
4. Don’t delete. If you are nixing something you just wrote, use the cross out function. What I do is cut and paste trashed words at the end of my manuscript so they still count toward my word count, but also make it easier to delete after November. 
5. DON’T LOOK BACK. Your inner critic will want to fix plot holes or amend past days’ writings to match changes you’ve made further in the story. Don’t do it. This is one of the biggest reasons people get stuck and can’t finish writing, because they’re stuck fixing instead of writing. So make a note and keep going. 

Best of luck! If you’re doing NaNoWriMo, you can buddy me at nanowrimo.org/participants/crissi

Writing a Historical Novel: Checking your Facts

According to our October speaker Rebecca Rosenberg (Champagne Widows: First Woman of Champagne, Veuve Clicquot) writing historical fiction requires considerable research. 

The challenge in this writer’s exercise is to determine which facts about the following six of famous authors are correct and which are in error.

Send a corrected list to the newsletter editor by November 10. Winners will be recognized at the November meeting. editor@redwoodwriters.org 

J.R.R. Tolkien was a prankster who loved Charlie Chaplin movies. He like to dress as a Viking warrior and frighten his neighbors. He loved costumes—once he and C.S. Lewis went to a costume party dressed as polar bears, in sheepskin and whiteface. Occasionally while lecturing he would pull a four-inch green shoe from his pocket as “proof that leprechauns exist.”

Edgar Allan Poe, he died on Sunday, October 7, 1849, at 5:00 in the morning. Poe was found semiconscious in Baltimore October 5. Poe was not coherent enough to explain his dire condition and why he was wearing someone else’ clothes. Poe's death certificate named the cause of death as syphilis and meningeal inflammation.

William R Burroughs, the author of Naked Lunch, chopped the top part of his ring finger to give to his ex-boyfriend. Instead, he presented it to his psychiatrist before being admitted to a private clinic. Burrough’s 15 novels featured unreliable narrators. Much of Burroughs' work is based on his experiences as a recovering alcoholic. Burroughs was preoccupied with magic and the occult. He was insistent throughout his life that we live in a "magical universe"

Maya Angelou won a scholarship to study literature but dropped out to become a bus driver.  She told Oprah she was the first black woman to hold the position. She speaks five languages.

Charles Dickens famous for writing A Christmas Carol was fascinated with dead bodies. When he wasn’t writing he spent time at the London Morgue.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the Sherlock Holmes books, novels about Professor Challenger as in The Lost World, and The White Company.  Conan Doyle was very spiritual. He wrote an article about the Cottingley fairies after three schoolgirls claimed to have taken photographs of themselves with fairies. Conan Doyle thought the photos to be undeniable evidence of fairies. Harry Houdini proved the photo to be a fake.

Authored by Roger Lubeck

OCTOBER RW COSTUME PARTY

We had a blast at the Redwood Writers October meeting and costume contest! To start, Rebecca Rosenberg shared so many great tips on how to be make a memorable impression as an author. After her presentation, we celebrated with a bookish costume party! There were so many great costumes, plus a fun raffle, costume contest, and even a bookish cake! Three cheers to Mara Johnstone and Robin Gabbert who put together such a fun afternoon.

REDWOOD WRITERS CIRCLE

Members who would like to attend should send an RSVP email to Linda Reid at rwcircle@redwoodwriters.org, or use the form on this page to send her a message. Upon confirmation, you will receive more information.

Mission:

The Circle's mission is to offer members a constructive and enjoyable environment in which to read their works, among the warmth and support of fellow writers, and to include brief evaluations and short talks on craft and other writing-related subjects.

Agenda:

Agenda for meetings will follow the following format:

• Meeting runs 10 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
• Those to be "readers" will be limited to the first 20 RW members who register
• Other attendees may participate as "listeners"
• Each reader will have a total 5 minutes (including, introductory remarks)

Submit your writing news to CWC's The Bulletin!

The deadline to submit to the next issue of The Bulletin is December 1. All submissions should be sent to editor@calwriters.org.

For new book releases, short stories, poems or articles, or news of literary honors. 50 words or less. Put “Member Spotlight” in the Subject line. Send a copy of your book cover in JPEG format as an email attachment.

Articles on writing craft, marketing and publication: Send a proposal by email. Contributors will receive a short blurb to promote their books and/or services.

Photographs: JPEG format, sent separately (not embedded in a Word doc or PDF). Please provide complete details in the caption, including names of people pictured.

To see the current issue of The Bulletin or more information on submissions, visit calwriters.org/bulletin.

Note: This is separate from the Redwood Writer newsletter. To submit your news or articles to this newsletter, please email editor@redwoodwriters.org.

MEMBER NEWS & EVENTS

The Moth Radio Hour

Online as “The Moth” or “The Moth Radio Hour” in Santa Rosa, NPR airs stories on 575 stations across the nation, attracts over a million listeners a week. On the air since 2009, their stories demonstrate the “art and craft of storytelling.”

Each Moth presentation has a theme, and four or five raconteurs tell a story connected to that theme. October fifteenth them was “Girls.” One story dealt with a young girl’s first kiss, another about drinking out of segregated drinking fountains in 1947. Other stories deal with adult topics.

To appear on The Moth, click on SHARE YOUR STORY – THE MOTH.

– John J. Lesjack

DECEMBER 17 GENERAL MEETING

MEMBER APPRECIATION!

THANK YOU TO OUR DONORS

Cynthia Axell

Richard Boyd

Malena Eljumaily

Heather Furnas

Sharon Hamilton

Karen Hayes

Pamela Heck

Crissi Langwell

Adele Layton

Roger Lubeck

Halle Pryor

Linda Reid

Kathleen Scavenge

Linda Stamps

Dear friends,

There are so many great things I want to share with you, it’s hard to know where to start. 

First things first, I have decided it’s time to pass the role of newsletter editor to someone else. I’ve been the newsletter editor a total of 5 years since being a member of Redwood Writers, and it has been such a wonderful honor and a great outlet for creativity. I would love to offer one of you the chance to extend your own creativity through this role. Over the next few months, the board and I will approach members we think could be the next editor. If you believe that’s you, let’s have a conversation!

One of the reasons I made this decision is because we are in need of a new web editor, and I’ve decided to step into that role. Joelle Burnette has served for many years as our web editor, and has done such a wonderful job doing so. With her guidance, I hope to serve the club as well as she has. To do that, I will need to move my focus from newsletter to the website. 

Something else I’m looking forward to is NaNoWriMo! I’ve spent the past month plotting my next book, and now my fingers are aching to start writing! My plan is to get writing out of the way first thing in the morning, every day. If you’re doing NaNoWriMo, take a moment to look at the tips our members wrote for this newsletter on how to write 50K words in 30 days. And good luck!

Finally, I have a personal reason to be excited about November. I just accepted a new position as Communications Specialist at Oakmont Village in Santa Rosa, and will start toward the end of November. This job’s main role will be editing news articles for the bi-weekly newspaper, managing the e-newsletter, and posting news to the website. I am thrilled to be moving back to my editing and news roots for such a wonderful community. 

Have a wonderful month, and happy writing!

Crissi Langwell

Newsletter Editor

REDWOOD WRITERS LEADERS & VOLUNTEERS

Redwood Writers would not be a possibility without our many wonderful leaders and chairpeople who generously volunteer their time and efforts. We appreciate you!

Our next board meeting is on Tuesday Nov. 8, 6-7:30 p.m. via Zoom. Board meetings are held 6-7:30 p.m. on the second Tuesday of each month unless otherwise noted, and are open to any member in good standing. If you would like to attend a board meeting, contact: 

president@redwoodwriters.org to receive an invitation.