The writing class, left to right: Pat Kanitz, Jan Christensen, Sally Carstens, Linda Shannon-Hills, Jan Larkey, Linda Nicholson and Nancy Ferris.
Linda Shannon-Hills
Last January a new group started called the SaddleBrooke Ranch Writing Group with Jan Larkey as our facilitator and writing muse. Experience of the members ranged from novice to being English teachers to published writers of business and non-fiction books. Members were interested in writing family stories, memoirs, short stories, children’s stories, narrative non-fiction and fiction books. We wrote our own stories and learned a lot from Jan’s research on improving our writing.
During our Monday sessions, the first Monday was focused on a research topic and application in our writing. The third Monday consisted of reading and discussing our own work. Members would write stories on topics presented by Jan. Many would read their stories and receive constructive comments from other members. We brought books to see how authors create visual images in a reader’s head. Each attendee found descriptions of both a setting and a character in the novels they brought; we found insights for our writing. We worked on writing dialogue in our stories, a challenge at times. Each week we could see improvements in our writing and that of our members in the group. New ideas were generated for writing topics, giving us motivation to write more.
Some of the material that provided insights for our writing were Elmore Leonard’s 10 Simple Rules for Writing (expanded version) and Active Versus Passive Voice – Purdue.edu; both found on the internet.
The group members are Sally Carstens, Jan Christensen, Margie DeStefano Joan Elder, Nancy Ferris, Pat Kanitz, Jan Larkey, Gerald Martin, Linda Nicholson and Linda Shannon-Hills.
After taking a break this summer, the group will begin on Monday, September 15, at 9:00 a.m.
If you are interested in joining, please contact Jan Larkey at [email protected].