Poet Joan M. Howard, a winner in the Great River Shakespeare Festival/Maria W. Faust Sonnet Contest 2016

Local poet Joan M. Howard is a winner in the 2016 Great River Shakespeare Festival/Maria W. Faust Sonnet Contest in the category "Laureates' Choice."  The poem is called "The Chosen Range." You can view it here:
 http://sonnetcontest.org/2016-winners/2016-laureates-choice-group-three/

Joan M. Howard lives near the beautiful waters of Lake Chatuge in Georgia. The serenity of her surroundings inspires much of her poetry. Her interests include kayaking, birding and boating. 

Joan M. Howard's poetry has appeared in the Aurorean, Lucid Rhythms, The Road Not Taken:The Journal of Formal Poetry, The Deronda Review, Victorian Violet Press, Wild Goose Poetry Review, The Reach of Song 2012 poetry anthology (Georgia Poetry Society), POEM, Miller's Pond, Eclectic Muse,The Lyric and other journals.

"Writers on the Writing Process," an Interview with Karen Paul Holmes

A chance meeting on Facebook results in a San Fransisco writer interviewing a Netwest member. 

Writer, Laura E. Davis, who lives in San Fransisco, and Netwest Rep for Georgia, Karen Paul Holmes, met through an international women's writers' group on Facebook. Learning of Karen's new book, Untying the Knot, Laura offered to interview her for the series called "Writers on the Writing Process."  Read the interview here

The Lake Chatuge view that inspires Karen Paul Holmes to write

Untying the Knot is available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle, and also at City Light Bookstore in Sylva, NC.

On August 9, Karen Paul Holmes and Co-Netwest Rep, Rosemary Royston, will be the featured readers at Writers' Night Out in Blairsville. Rosemary also has a new book, Splitting the Soil (available on Amazon and from Finishing Line Press). The two poets plan to try a new approach to their reading: They will pair their poems in some logical/artistic way and read them alternately, rather than each poet reading alone. The event takes place at the lovely Union County Community Center at Butternut Creek Golf Course (map here). Food and beverages (including alcohol) are available for purchase at 6 pm during the social hour. An open mic follows after the reading. Sign up at the door to read 3 minutes of prose or poetry. Writers' Night Out takes place on the second Saturday of every month.

DO YOU HAVE ANY BAD WRITING HABITS THAT HOLD YOU BACK FROM PUBLISHING?

What are your bad writing habits?

Why is your manuscript still in your computer and not in the hands of an editor or publisher? What keeps you from submitting your work? What stops you from completing that book or story you want to see published?

Some of the bad habits many of us can’t seem to break include the following:

Self Editing – Do you read over each sentence before you write the next one? Do you have to correct any punctuation of spelling errors before you can go on? Break this habit now. Let your thoughts, your creative mind flow like a moving stream. Let it dictate the words you spill out on the page. After your story is on paper there will be plenty of time to go back and edit.

Don’t stop until the story is on the page. -- It has been said there are no great writers only great re-writers. We must revise and that takes time. But don’t revise your work until your authentic voice has disappeared. 1.Write. 2. Put away for a while. 3. Read. 4. Revise or rewrite. 5. Put it away again.
But you have to let your manuscript go, no matter how afraid you are that it is not perfect.

Second-guessing yourself about your story. – I’ve been there and I know. After the story is done, you become afraid that the story is all wrong and is not ready to go just yet. You think you have to change the main character in some way to make him better, or change the direction of the story. Suddenly the whole thing is just too much to fix and the manuscript ends up never seeing the light of day.


Fear of the consequences if you mail your manuscript. – You ask yourself these questions: What if my work is not good enough, if it is really terrible and is rejected and no one will ever want it? Can I stand the embarrassment, the personal rejection I will feel, and will I ever write again? What if I am a complete failure?
Remember, the rejection is only one person’s opinion. Don’t take it personally. The next time you submit your work it could hit on the desk of just the right editor, the one who loves it. But this will never happen if the manuscript stays hidden in a drawer or lost in a file on your computer. Don’t let fear of failure stifle your writing.

Do you have any bad habits that hinder your submitting your writing? Let us hear your thoughts on this subject.

Glenda C. Beall is Director and Instructor of writing classes at Writers Circle in Hayesville, NC. Visit her online here.