Author: Springfield Writers' Guild

The Springfield Writers' Guild was formed in 1943 to encourage writers to grow and get published. The group meets every fourth Saturday of the month (except December) at The Library Center, 4653 S Campbell Ave, Springfield, Missouri (10:00 a.m.). Visitors welcome.
Resource Tips

Why You Need a Logline

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What is a logline? It’s a summarization of your story in three sentences.  Can you do it?  A few months ago, one of SWG’s speakers spoke about creating your logline…the backbone of facts from which you can then create the body of your work. A logline is the essence of your story.

The logline (a term that is typically used when talking about movies and scripts) must answer:

  • Who is the main character (protagonist)?
  • What is the inciting incident?
  • What is the protagonist’s quest?

The logline created at the beginning of your work gives you a place from which to start.

This guest post by Wendy Thomas gives some great tips on developing your logline and why you should know it at the beginning of your work. Read more:

at Your story’s logline and roadmap — Live to Write – Write to Live

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Publish Your Own Anthology

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Writing short stories will give you fresh insights and help hone your writing skills. It will also help to tighten those words and thoughts into a publishable collection. You can create an anthology of your own, or others’short stories! Pick a genre, create a theme, and get started. What’s stopping you?

This article has some great tips for how to get started….

A collection of short stories can quickly build into a book. One excellent example of this development method combined the author’s love for canine companions with her knowledge of training police and military working dogs. Violetta Kovacs collected multiple short stories about various K9s who exemplify excellence in the daring and often deadly “jobs” they carry out. Then, she published her book: K9 COMMANDO, Police and Army Dogs from New York to Berlin.  Read more...

via Conversations: 6/17/2016 — Self Publishing Advisor

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When Your Characters Take Charge…

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Let’s say you’re working on a scene in your story. It’s supposed to be a turning point. You know what’s at stake. You know which characters will be involved. You know what you want to have happen. You know how you want it to end. But somehow when you write it, nothing goes as planned.
Continue reading “When Your Characters Take Charge…” →

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14 Words That Are Their Own Opposites

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Here’s an ambiguous sentence for you: “Because of the agency’s oversight, the corporation’s behavior was sanctioned.” Does that mean, ‘Because the agency oversaw the company’s behavior, they …

Source: 14 Words That Are Their Own Opposites

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15 Tips to Self-Edit Your Book

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Picture courtesy of Open Letters Monthly
Picture courtesy of Open Letters Monthly

Once you have a solid draft of your book, the tough work of editing starts. Taking a chunk out of your ‘baby’ is hard to do but in order to make it better, it has to be done. Grit your teeth, and go for it.

Here are a few pointers to help you along the way. Continue reading “15 Tips to Self-Edit Your Book” →