February 25, 2010 *Thanks to Michele Cushatt for the use of her newsletter this week. My sentiments exactly! Read on and enjoy… Watching the Olympics wears me out. It’s not so much the late nights of figure skating or my white knuckles during the luge. It’s not even the emotional ups and downs—the thrill of anticipation followed too quickly by the devastation of defeat. What makes me tired is the thought of all those years of practice, practice, practice for an event that will be over within one or two minutes. I’ve heard several well-meaning jokes lately about these athletes: “So what in the world does he/she do the other four years of 365 days leading up to this one???” Everyone laughs. “I want his job!” Hardy-har-har. True, on the outside it looks easy: Spend four years working out at the gym and sponsoring Wheaties, then hop on an all-expense-paid trip to The Olympics twice a decade to see if you can bring home a shiny piece of metal. Who wouldn’t want a job like that? But then I consider the long days of training. The early mornings and late nights. The day—after—day of doing the same thing again and again. The childhoods spent training instead of playing. The strain on a marriage and family. The constant failing and trying again. The endless cycle of improving, and then struggling. The injuries and rehabilitation. The skiing with bruised shins and skating with wounded egos. The pressure of people watching and critiquing, arbitrarily deciding whether or not you’re “good enough” to represent the good ‘ole U-S-of-A. Even the jokes of well-meaning, albeit, envious and ignorant fans. I realized, as I’ve watched the Olympics this week, the athletes I now watch on the television are the rare few who persevered through four years of impossible private obstacles to enjoy a few minutes of public obstacles. They do what few humans have the stamina to do. All for one or two minutes to reach for a dream Admiring them from my couch in Colorado, I realized how week-willed I can be as a writer. I want my one or two moments of medal contention, but rarely have I put in as many hours as these athletes. Rarely have I been examined under a microscope as they have. Rarely have I studied my craft as intensely as they have. Rarely have I faced my own failures as often as they have. And rarely do I pick myself up, and keep going after a significant crash and burn. And I haven’t even been writing four years yet. There’s no easy way to say this (“easy” doesn’t make anyone Olympic material anyway): If you (and I) want to be a gold-medal-winning kind of writer, it’s time to start training like one. “You've all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win. All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You're after one that's gold eternally.” 1 Corinthians 9:24-25 Calendar of Events Pay attention and mark your calendars February 2010 February 25, 2010 Barnes and Noble Booksellers (The Woodlands Mall, 7-9 PM; no AM meeting) Announcing! Special Guest Speaker: Donn Taylor Topic: broader Horizons in Poetry Join Donn as he describes his crusade to bring poetry out of narrow graduate schools and back to ordinary educated readers as was in the case of the days of Robert Frost and Edward Arlington Robinson. Also, we’ll learn how poetry can do things prose cannot. These are workshops Donn teaches at writer’s conferences around the U.S. You don’t miss it! March 2010 March 4, 2010 – 9:30-11:30 AM—The Loft Church, located on the property of The Woodlands United Methodist Church. Words For The Journey Christian Writers Guild (SETR) meets in The Green Room (on the right just past the café). Come on in and ENJOY learning the craft of writing, along with fellowship, fun and finally, CHOCOLATE! I never leave home without it. If you like coffee, tea or hot cocoa to sip, prepare to leave home early and stop at Starbucks; or better yet, make it nice and HOT at home and bring it along. There’s a café at the church, but unfortunately, it’s not open during our meetings. Shucks! Oh well, improvise… You’re writers. You can write your own beverage script each Thursday morning. TOPIC: TBA CRITIQUE: **See format below and further details at: www.wordsforthejourney.org In the Crit Corner this week: **If you have anything to critique, please send it to me for review at least 2 days ahead of each meeting. I’ll put you in the line up. Remember to bring approximately 20 copies to share with the group. They will be returned to you (with helpful feedback) after your critique to take home for use in consideration of your rewrite. *Please visit our website at www.wordsforthejourney.org to review our guidelines before sending your work, to acquaint yourself with the how-to of critique, Words For The Journey style. *Remember – It is not necessary to have something to critique to be a part of Words For The Journey Christian Writers Guild. Come join our meetings regardless. You’ll learn the craft of writing, be inspired AND we value your input. March 11, 2010 – 9:30-11:30 AM – The Loft Church, located on the property of The Woodlands United Methodist Church. We’ll be meeting in The Green Room (in The Loft (on the right, just past the café). Ditto on the coffee, tea or hot cocoa from above. TOPIC: CRITIQUE: **See format above In the Crit Corner this week: March 18, 2010 – 9:30-11:30 AM – The Loft Church, located on the property of The Woodlands United Methodist Church. We’ll be meeting in The Green Room (in The Loft (on the right, just past the café). Ditto on the coffee, tea or hot cocoa from above. TOPIC: CRITIQUE: **See format above In the Crit Corner this week: 2010 WFTJ Dues: We’re now collecting annual WFTJ dues for 2010. The $30 dues can be paid by check or cash to Sharen Watson before/after our Thursday meetings. These funds will go toward an upgrade of the WFTJ logo, website, and other promotional materials, as well as provide supplies and gifts for our long line of quality speakers. Thank you for being a part of our writing community! Upcoming Events and Special Guest Speakers: Words For The Journey Christian Writers Guild Is gearing up for 2010. That means we are once again filling the calendar with special guest speakers to teach, encourage and inspire you on your writing journey. Speaker presentations take place the LAST Thursday night (7:00-9:00 PM) of each month at Barnes and Noble Booksellers, The Woodlands Mall. 2010 A Look Ahead… January 28, 2010 – Rachel Randolph (Red Couch PR; Book Marketing and Social Media – Helping Authors Expand Their Reach and Amplify Their Message) February 25, 2010 – Donn Taylor (Novelist; Poet) Topic: Broader Horizons in Poetry March 25, 2010 – Lael Arrington (Speaker; Nonfiction; Devotionals) April 29, 2010 – Janice Thompson (Speaker; Novelist; Nonfiction; Devotionals) Topic: Plotting Your Writing Career May 27, 2010 – Karen Porter (Speaker; CLASS Seminar Staff; Nonfiction etc…) June 24, 2010 – Martha Rogers (Novelist; Devotionals) July 29, 2010 – Guest Speaker TBA August 26, 2010 – WFTJ, Summer Break September 30, 2010 – Lynette Sowell (Novelist) October 28, 2010 – DiAnn Mills (Novelist, Nonfiction, Speaker, Writing Mentor) November-December 2010 – WFTJ Holiday Break ~~~ January 27, 2011 – TBA February 24, 2011 – TBA Stay tuned…lots of happenings in the works! I’ll continue announcing events and speakers, as I confirm the dates. *Openings available for special guest speakers for 2010 and 2011!!! Don’t delay! We need to hear from you. Local Learning Opportunities and Events Do you know of any local events, or are you speaking for any venues in our area? Let me know, and I’ll put your information here. Second Wednesday of each month – ACFW Local Chapter Meeting Place, Time, Speakers TBA Monthly. Please email Linda Kozar at Zarcom1@aol.com for more information or to be included on her mailing list. May 15, 1010 (Saturday); 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM – Writing Workshop with Lena Nelson Dooley ~ Dual Workshop, lunch included. For more information, email Linda Kozar at Zarcom1@aol.com Upcoming Writers Conferences And Other Writing Events: Please let me know which conferences you plan to attend! 2010 CONFERENCES Florida Christian Writers Conference: March 4-7, 2010 – See www.Flwriters.org Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference: March 26-30, 2010 – See http://mounthermon.org/adult/professionals/writers-conference Colorado Christian Writers Conference: May 12-15, 2010 – See http://www.writehisanswer.com/Colorado Antelope Valley Christian Writers’ Conference, May 14-15, 2010 – See www.avwriters.com From ChipMacGregor.com FICTION Master Seminars – various dates and locations Cool news! In 2010, I'm going to co-teach a writing seminar with bestselling novelist Susan May Warren! We're going to explain the elements of a bestselling novel, show how to create great characters, and help you get going with the plotting of a story that is both memorable and meaningful. We promise to make the whole process understandable, and you'll leave having taken a major step forward in the creation of your novel. We do all this in a Friday-Saturday seminar, and hope you can join us. Susan and I are going to offer this four times in 2010 -- In Phoenix January 22-23, Atlanta February 26-27, Portland April 23-24, and Denver June 18-19. We'll start at noon on Friday, so you'll have time to fly in that day. We plan to be done by dinnertime on Saturday. If you're at a place in your writing where you want to know the secrets to moving forward with a good, commercial novel, we hope you'll make plans to be with us. If you'd like more information, check out our website at: www.themasterseminars.com Under His Grace, Sharen Watson Author/Speaker/Editor Founder/Director Words For The Journey Christian Writers Guild Southeast Texas Region The Rocky Mountain Region www.wordsforthejourney.org www.wftj.blogspot.com Twitter: SharenWatson Facebook: Sharen Watson Blog: www.SharenWatson.blogspot.com *If you would like to be removed from this mailing list (I would miss you) please email me with REMOVE FROM NEWSLETTER in the subject line.*

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