Jan Carrington called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. There were no guests or new members to introduce.

Financial Report:

Current balance is $5,056.50.

Announcements

• Becky Haigler's poetry critique group is meeting at a new time-the second Saturday of the month at 8:30 a.m. at the Bean Counter on South 14th Street in Abilene.
• Everyone needs to sign up to help with refreshments for our monthly meetings. For more information, contact Sue Davis. This is a great time for writer-to-writer conversation time.
• Mark your calendars for the next AWG Day Meeting on Saturday, January 28 from 10:00 a.m. to noon. The speaker and program will be announced as the date draws closer.
• The West Texas Book and Author Festival will take place this weekend. Free workshops will be available at the downtown public library as well as authors from across the state gathering on Saturday. AWG will have a table available at the Festival for any members who wish to sell or display their books. More than 32 Abilene authors are being honored. Included among those are Barbara Darnall, Nancy Masters, Jim Johnson, and Stewart Caffey from our own AWG membership.
• Our annual workshop is coming up on October 22. Registration will begin at 8:30 a.m. and the program will start at 9:00 a.m. Don't miss Michelle Medlock Adams and the results of the contest. Give Gail your money to reserve your place. $20 for the workshop only, $15 for the luncheon only, or $30 for both workshop and luncheon.

Brags and Sags

• Becky Haigler read several poems at a family reunion based on remembrances from her grandmother's house and also distributed copies of the poems to family members.
• Diane Lyell reported that RV Journal wants her article entitled "Mountain of Stone Tepees." She also queried them over the phone about three other ideas and all three were accepted.
• Jan Carrington submitted a fiction story to Blood and Thunder and it was accepted for publication. Barbara Rollins also had a poem accepted in the same publication.
• Karen Witemeyer returned from her first national Christian Fiction conference and learned a great deal. Some knowledge came at the expense of her ego in a harsh critique, but an editor from Multnomah invited her to submit her proposal.
• On a sadder note, Sue Turner fell and broke her hip.

Program

Joan Upton Hall taught English for 28 years. She also served as editor and cartoonist for RRAFT Report, a teacher's newsletter. Now she is a full-time author with titles like Rx for your Writing Ills, Grand Old Texas Theaters that Won't Quit, and Arturo el Rey the first in the Excalibur Regained trilogy to her credit. She also conducts writing workshops all over Texas.

Joan spoke on the subject of taking "What if?" to extreme levels in science fiction and fantasy writing. Any kind of fiction writer has to ask the question, "What if?"

Even if you do not normally read the sci-fi or fantasy genres, you cannot escape their influence in television and movies. The screenplays these writers compose have a wide appeal.

As writers, we create characters we love and then put them through the most horrible conflicts we can imagine by playing the "what if" game. However, sci-fi needs more than just conflict; it needs the chill factor and/or and element of weird. It is often based on futuristic yet believable science, but sometimes science goes too far. The paranormal branch bases their stories on elements that are not scientific such as ghosts and vampires. High fantasy creates entire new worlds and creatures such as elves, unicorns, and fairies. Each of these types of story can range from the lighthearted to the very dark, but all of them have a good vs. evil theme where good usually wins in the end. Some authors will cross genres for a more blended work

Joan discussed the mythic structure of plotting and recommended Chris Vogler's book entitled The Writer's Journey which describes classic archetypes for sound story structure.

Listen to your characters, but don't allow minor characters to take over the story. Don't be afraid to cut any part of the manuscript that does not advance the main story. To develop a unique character, give them a particular phrase as they speak or a quirky habit that will set them apart and make them easily recognizable to the reader.

Always remember to show not tell.

Minutes respectfully submitted by:



Karen Witemeyer
AWG Secretary