Author: Lorelle VanFossen

Lorelle VanFossen is a pioneering XR Innovator and WordPress leader, tech educator, keynote speaker, and producer bridging virtual reality and digital innovation. Co-founder of Educators in VR, founding WordPress community member, and passionate advocate for emerging technologies and human rights. Expert in immersive education, VR/XR event production, UX, and digital transformation.

Prompt: Humor in the Yarns

“The mystery of knitting … remains a mystery” was published in April 2017 on The Christian Science Monitor by Murr Brewster. Her essay went viral and became our prompt this week.

That’s just freaky. Because knitting makes no sense at all. A knitter, by definition, creates holes by surrounding them with string, using sticks, a clickety-clickety noise, locally sourced air, and goodness.

Those of us who suspect we are not innately good can barely aspire to the art. And yet, I so aspired. I wanted a hat.

I bought a ball of string and some sticks and I found a tutorial online. After stopping the video four or five hundred times, I cast on 50 stitches. Then, staring hard, and trying to make my sticks and string match up to the video, I succeeded in making an entire knit stitch.

Then I made another one. And somehow, with great care and deliberation, I soldiered my way to the end of the row, 50 knits in a line. It was a triumph of historic proportions.

Slow, yes; challenging, sure; and yet majestic and powerful. I felt like Hannibal marching his elephants across the Alps into Italy.

I consulted the tutorial. They don’t warn you about this when you’re learning how to knit, so I’ll tell you now: You can’t just learn to knit. You have to learn to purl, also.

“Hit the boats!” I heard Hannibal shout. “We’re headed to Sardinia!”

Nuts! I studied the video again, and I manufactured a single purl stitch, and then another, and eventually rowed my way back to the beginning. According to the calm and cheerful woman in the video, that’s all there is to it. If you can make a knit stitch, and you can make a purl stitch, you’re on the road to glory. You can make cable-knit trousers for an octopus. I was beginning to be suspicious of her, but I carried on.

Our prompt, based upon this article, was first to study it and discover what made it work, and not work. We explored:

  • Storytelling structure: Does it have the right storytelling structure? What is the structure?
  • Audience: Who is the writer talking to? What does it tell us about the audience?
  • Purpose: What is the purpose of the article? What does it tell us about the author?
  • What tools were used: How were metaphor, simile, humor, drama, and other writing and storytelling tools used?

The next part of the prompt was to write something based upon this example and use humor.

Writing Tips for Organizing and Planning Your Writing

There are two aspects to the concept of organization for writers. There is the organization of your writing environment, be it your working space or virtual space you write in such as the type of computer, software, even the way your writing is backed up. Then there is the organization of the actual writing, keeping track of characters, plots, story lines, names, places, etc., and structuring the end result into something readable as well as publishable.

Discussing this with a few Writers in the Grove members, we realized that while the two concepts were separate, they were actually inseparable. As one pointed out, the spark of an idea can happen anywhere and you must have a system in place to jot it down and ensure it isn’t lost between the grocery store moment of inspiration and the moment you can finally lean into your computer and start writing. Throughout the writing process of a project, the project is with you, wherever you are, whenever your imagination catches fire. A well-structured habit system combined with well-maintained tools and access points for preserving those thoughts help you through the entire process, right through to the point of publishing.

So we decided to offer this short collection of writing tips by others for organizing and planning your writing to embrace both aspects, helping you be organized within your writing environment, physical and virtual, and in the writing process.

Writing Organization Tools and Environments

One tool that our group embraced that changed more than a few writing lives is Scrivener by Literature and Latte. Available for both Windows and Mac, Scrivener is what you use to write your story before you move it to publishing programs and tools, though Scrivener will publish directly to various ebook and print formats. Scrivener is your idea holder, notebook, character development tool, and story line planner. It helps you write your book or whatever is on your writing list. We highly recommend it and have an ongoing series to help you learn Scrivener better.

Some helpful articles on using Scrivener to organize your writing include:

How To Organize Your Non-fiction Book – The Future of Ink: This article offers six core tools and methods for organizing your book: piles, folders, cards, Evernote, and binders. The author also mentions Scrivener as it is highly capable of embracing piles, folders, cards, etc. The article offers tips for organizing your writing in general, time and space for writing, and more tips to help you keep on track of the writing. These apply to fiction as well as non-fiction. (more…)

Tips for Writing Crime and Mystery Fiction

My father fell in love with the Cat Who books by Lillian Jackson Braun with little incentive. A long time cat lover, mystery novels involving a cat that seemed to solve the crimes, as well as about cat lovers (for the most part), was right up his reading alley. Like many, he gobbled them up as soon as each one was released.

Writing mysteries and crimes is a long-held tradition in storytelling and publishing. We have some members of Writers in the Grove who are steadfast fans of the genre.

Here are some tips on writing crime and mystery fiction to tickle your fancy and keep you up at night – reading.

5 Killer Tips For Writing Deadly Crime Fiction – Molly Greene: Writer: Molly Greene is the author of the popular Gen Delacourt Mysteries series. In this great summary of tips, she offers legendary advice:

Open with a bang or a body.

Think James Bond. Or Agatha Christie. James Patterson. Or Garry Rodgers. AK-47s. Or dismembered hookers. Biological bombs. Or a corpse hanging from a meat-hook. A sharp hook… which is the oldest storytelling device and still the best.

You’ve got about ten seconds to hook your reader and keep their face in the page. So start off fast and slowly add backstory. Build it up, then end with a bang. Maybe another body, too.

Among the many tips offered by the following articles is advice that applies to all forms of writing: don’t be boring, edit well, don’t write likeable characters, have plenty of conflict, have a very compelling and damaged detective/investigator, and know exactly what your story is about while you are teasing the reader along the journey.

Determination

The following is by Writers in the Grove member Patti Bond.

Determination is pressing on when you feel like you can’t go on.
Determination is persevering through life.
Determination is not giving up on your dreams and goal.
Determination is a sense of success when you achieve something you want to do.
Determination is a sense of power.
Determination is reaching for the prize that is from above.
Determination is joy that overflows your heart to others around you.

Storytelling Week Starts April 1, 2017

The Art of the Story: 13th Annual Storytelling Festival presented by the Washington County Cooperative Library Services begins April 1, 2017, and runs through April 8.

If you haven’t done this before, it is a must-see, must-listen event. The storytelling is spectacular, and you are guaranteed tears and cheers by these outstanding storytellers.

The festival this year features four professional storytellers from the Pacific Northwest, and four Story Slam contestants. They include:

Admission to all events are free. The festival performances are designed for adults, though there are several shows that welcome children.

The schedule is:

  • Saturday, April 1 – Beaverton Library: 7 – 9 p.m. – 12375 SW Fifth St, Beaverton, OR 97005 – Story Slam Contest (Adult program) – David Alexander, Brian Belefant, Maura Doherty and Janis Collins
  • Sunday, April 2 – Hillsboro Brookwood Library: 2 p.m. – 2850 NE Brookwood Pkwy, Hillsboro, OR 97124-5327 – Norm Brecke: The Lighter Side of Lincoln (Adult program)
  • Monday, April 3 – Tigard Library: 7 p.m. – 13500 SW Hall Blvd, Tigard, OR 97223-8111 – Norm Brecke: The Rough Edge of the Ocean (Adult program)
  • Monday, April 3 – Walters Cultural Arts Center: 7 p.m. – Co-hosted by Hillsboro Library – 527 East Main St, Hillsboro 97123 – Brianna Barrett: True Love and Other Noncommunicable Diseases (Adult program)
  • Tuesday, April 4 – Cedar Mill Library: 6:30 p.m. – 12505 NW Cornell Rd, Suite 13, Portland, OR 97229-5688 – Norm Brecke: Spaghetti Squids & Zombie Arms (Adult program & ages 6+)
  • Tuesday, April 4 – Forest Grove Library: 6:30 p.m. – 2114 Pacific Ave, Forest Grove, OR 97116-2497 – Brianna Barrett: Can My Imaginary Friends Come Too? (Adult program)
  • Wednesday, April 5 – Elsie Stuhr Center: 2 p.m. – Co-hosted by Beaverton Library – 5550 SW Hall Blvd, Beaverton, OR 97005 – Norm Brecke: Sweethearts, Swings and Misses (Adult program)
  • Wednesday, April 5 – Sherwood Library: 7 p.m. – at Sherwood Center for the Arts – 22689 SW Pine St, Sherwood, OR 97140 – Kevin Locke: Story of Standing Rock (Adult program)
  • Thursday, April 6 – Banks Library: 7 p.m. – at Banks City Hall – 13690 NW Main St, Banks, OR 97106 – Ingrid Nixon: Starry, Starry Night (Adult program & ages 12+)
  • Thursday, April 6 – Garden Home Library: 7 p.m. – Co-hosted by West Slope Library at THPRD Garden Home Rec Center – 7475 SW Oleson Rd, Portland, OR 97223 – Kevin Locke: Mni Wiconi (Water is Life) (Adult program)
  • Friday, April 7 – North Plains Library: 6:30 p.m. – at North Plains Elementary – 32030 NW North Ave, North Plains, OR 97133 – Kevin Locke: Love Stories (Adult program & ages 6+)
  • Friday, April 7 – Aloha Library: 7 p.m. – 17455 SW Farmington Rd, Ste. 26A, Aloha, OR 97078 – Ingrid Nixon: Adventure Calls! (Adult program & ages 6+)
  • Saturday, April 8 – Garden Home Library: 1 – 2:30 p.m. – at THPRD Garden Home Rec Center – 7475 SW Oleson Rd, Portland, OR 97223 – Indigenous Flute Workshop with Kevin Locke* – *Advance Registration Required – spaced is limited – contact the Garden Home Library. – (Adult program & ages 10+)
  • Saturday, April 8 – Festival Finale – Showcase Concert – Arts & Communication Magnet Academy auditorium – 11375 SW Center St, Beaverton, OR 97005 – Reception: 6:15 – 6:45 p.m. – Complimentary beverages and hors d’oeuvres. – Showcase Concert: 7 – 9 p.m. – (Adult program & ages 12+) – Story Slam Contest: Winner – Brianna Barrett: Fixated – Norm Brecke: I am a Singing Cowboy…Really? – Ingrid Nixon: Never a Dull Moment – Kevin Locke: Hoop of Life

Many Writers in the Grove members carpool to these various events, so check with each other to determine who will drive.

Writing Workshop with Paulann Petersen, Oregon Poet Laureate Emerita April 6 in Beaverton

Poetry is not the domain of just a few.
It’s as natural and accessible as heartbeat and breath. Writing poetry requires nothing more than a love of words and a willingness to let your pen move across a page, following language wherever it takes you.

Paulann Petersen, Oregon Poet Laureate Emerita, will be presenting a writing workshop on Thursday, April 6th, 2017, from 6 to 8:30 pm, at the Beaverton Library.

The workshop, “Anyone’s Domain: A Writing Workshop,” is devoted to generating new poems using innovative springboards that include notable poems and “an exhilarating plunge into language.”

The event is limited to 30 people, and open to all levels of experience from beginners to experts.

To register for this free event, sign up at the Beaverton Library.

Prompt-a-Month: Just Desserts

Writers in the Grove Prompt-a-Month badge.The April prompt-a-month for our Writers in the Grove members is:

Just Desserts

The deadline for submissions is 5/1/2017. Submissions will be published during the next 30 days.

Writers in the Grove members may hand in their submissions during the workshops or use our members only submission form. Check out the guidelines and instructions for submissions in the announcement.

Prompt-a-Month: Happiness

Writers in the Grove Prompt-a-Month badge.The March prompt-a-month for our Writers in the Grove members is:

Happiness

The deadline for submissions is 4/1/2017. Submissions will be published during the next 30 days.

Writers in the Grove members may hand in their submissions during the workshops or use our members only submission form. Check out the guidelines and instructions for submissions in the announcement.

Prompt-a-Month: Cornucopia

Writers in the Grove Prompt-a-Month badge.The February prompt-a-month for our Writers in the Grove members is:

Cornucopia

The deadline for submissions is 3/1/2017. Submissions will be published during the next 30 days.

Writers in the Grove members may hand in their submissions during the workshops or use our members only submission form. Check out the guidelines and instructions for submissions in the announcement.