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Our Newsletter Recapping January 2012 |
The Sensual Moments newsletter ** Image ID #1806645 Unavailable ** TABLE OF CONTENTS OPENING LETTER OUR PAST WINNERS A SLIP OF THE TONGUE MEET-OUR-MEMBERS SPOTLIGHT LINKS AND ACTIVITIES SEND US YOUR COMMENTS OPENING LETTER Hello everyone and thank you for being a part of our wonderful little group. There have been a few changes in the group and contest. First with the start of the new year myself SinfulAngel39 and my co-leader MD Maurice have choosen to begin a new volume of our contest Sensual Moments.Second, You may be wondering what is going on with the publishing of our stories. Well why it is one of our many goals it is also one that will take time and work to make it happen. There are many options that we can use to make this goal a reality and we are exploring all of them completly. Of course your ideas and suggestions are welcome and encouraged. Also make sure and check out our talented authors in the:
Sensual Moments, Vol. II Collection All winning entries from Volume II of the Sensual Moments Erotica Contest. by SinfulAngel39   and
Sensual Moments Vol. III Collection 2012 Vol III collection of erotica stories from Sensual Moments Contest. by SinfulAngel39 We are also still looking to fill the staff position vacated by Jéssica so if anyone is interested please email either myself or my co-leader about the details of the position. There are also slots open on the judges roster, even if you have never judged a contest before dive in and we will guide you in lol. New members are also welcome, so if you know someone that might enjoy our newsletter and want to be part of a great group of people with dirty minds send them our way. Don't forget to check out our new forum
The Sensual Writers Forum Come on in and chat with us! and say hi. Until next month. Write on! SinfulAngel39 ** Image ID #1812950 Unavailable ** OUR WINNERS - JANUARY Please check out all our talented winners from our JANUARY Rounds! Round 1 - Forest Elf Prompt
Round 2 - Favorite Book Round
Round 3 - New & Different Round
Round 4 - Switch It Up Round
Special End of Month Round -Overall Winners
Please take a moment to check out our winner's contributions (and maybe give them a review as well) if you haven't already... A SLIP OF THE TONGUE - SM EDITING CORNER  ** Image ID #1826608 Unavailable ** Hello There! I wanted to continue with the series on dialogue by covering a few of the basics in regards to punctuation. I know I struggle with this issue a lot myself. So here are a few of the major points, hope this is a helpful review. Note: I've borrowed this material from the folks at http://www.novel-writing-help.com/punctuating-dialogue.html. They do a great job of streamlining and keeping things clear and simple. Punctuating Dialogue There is nothing worse than writing great dialogue then ruining it with poor punctuation. This article contains the five rules of how to punctuate dialogue when writing a novel. 1. Keep Punctuation Inside the Quotation Marks Like this... "Hello," said John. "How are you?" Not like this... "Hello", said John. "How are you"? This next one, though, is something many novel writers get wrong... 2. Start a New Paragraph for a New Speaker Starting a new paragraph whenever the speaker changes looks like this: "Hello," said John. "How are you?" "Can't complain," said Eleanor. "Well, I could, but nobody listens to a word I say." "I'm just on my way to the coffee shop. Want to join me?" "I'd love to, John, but I'm already running late." The same thing applies even if one of the characters doesn't speak: "Hello," said John. "How are you?" "Can't complain," said Eleanor. "Well, I could, but nobody listens to a word I say." "I'm just on my way to the coffee shop. Want to join me?" "I'd love to, John, but I'm already running late." John smiled. He couldn't stand Eleanor, and he was certain she hated him. But with John's brother being engaged to Eleanor's best friend, they at least had to pretend. "How about next time?" "Looking forward to it already," said John. 3. Omit Quotation Marks in a Long Speech The art of writing dialogue is to keep most of it short and sharp and punchy. Occasionally, though, a character will say something that simply can't be said in a single paragraph, much less in a sentence or two. When this happens in your novel, punctuate the dialogue like this: "The usual way of punctuating dialogue," he said, "is to start the speech with quotation marks and to close the marks when the character stops speaking a sentence or two later. However, if it is a long speech then you will want to break it up into paragraphs. "Like this. Notice that there are no quotation marks at the end of the previous paragraph, but that they do appear at the start of this new one. It is only when you reach the end of the final paragraph of the speech that you close the quotation marks." 4. Use Quotation Marks According to Taste Strangely, there is no definitive answer to the question of whether it is correct to use single or double quotation marks in dialogue.Pick some novels off your shelves at random and what you should find is that some will use single quotation marks and some doubles.(Incidentally, it also looks better to use quotation marks which 'curl in' towards the speech, rather than the stand-up-straight variety.) The folks from the single-quotation-mark school of punctuating dialogue say that it is logical to keep double quotation marks in reserve for when there is a speech within a speech. Like this... 'I saw Eleanor yesterday,' said John. 'I asked her how she was. "Can't complain," she told me.' Of course, it is just as possible to stick to double quotation marks and use singles for any speeches within speeches! Bottom line? Single or double quotation marks are equally correct, so use whichever variety you prefer. When you publish your novel, the publishers will have their own house style on dialogue punctuation (and on everything else, for that matter), so they will use whatever they usually use, irrespective of what you have used in your manuscript. 5. Use Dashes and Ellipses Correctly Use ellipses to indicate a character's words trailing off. Like this... "The reason I wanted to talk to you, Frank, is to ask you..." You would do that if the speaking character was distracted or forgot what they wanted to say. But if they were cut off, use a dash... "The reason I wanted to talk to you, Frank, is to ask you-" "Yeah, well I don't want to talk to you." Hope this was a helpful review! If anyone has any suggestions for a topic to be covered in our grammar section, let me know!    MEET-OUR-MEMBERS SPOTLIGHT For this month's "Member Spotlight", I'm pleased to shine our spotlight on our very own MD Maurice  . She is the brains behind this wonderful newsletter that we all enjoy each month. I thought you all would like the chance to get to know this amazing erotic lady so I asked her to answer a few questions for our readers---Enjoy! SinfulAngel39 ....What brought you to WDC and Why join? I found WDC after years of being a closet writer, keeping all my stories in tattered old wire-bound notebooks and stacked up in old boxes and it really opened a whole new world for me. It was through WDC that I found my confidence to pursue publication and to share my work. I think the sense of community here is something every writer can benefit tremendously from. I have received wonderful encouragement, advice and guidance here. 2. > Is there a special meaning behind your screename? Actually, I was fearthebelljar until only very recently. I switched over to MD Maurice because it is the pen name I publish under and I thought it was important to have some continuity there. Fearthebelljar was very significant to me for many of reasons but mostly because in high school we had to read The Belljar by Sylvia Plath and that novel about one woman's slow descent into madness, scared the crap out of me!! I really respected the book and that writer for having such a profound effect on me. > 3. Why erotica? What about the genre inspires you to write it? I think I enjoy erotica because it is the most freeing for me. As a genre it challenges me to always push outside of my comfort zone a little each time. For me erotica is about some of the most interesting raw human emotions; rage, fear, love, lust and I like that very much. It is a nice, deep pool to play in  > 4. Do you have any publishing experience? Advice for our members on publishing? ? I have enjoyed some publishing success in ezines and websites and a few print anthologies and I'm so grateful for those opportunities to build my credentials as a writer. It has been a wonderful way to find my confidence. The best advice I have is the same advice you'll hear from anyone, keep at it...every rejection is a rung on the ladder to be better and even more successful. I would go further to say, don't pay for books on how to publish, there are great free resources out there like duotrope.com for example, that will help you market your pieces and track your submissions. There are many writers willing to give you feedback and advice and guidance so don't be afraid to ask for their suggestions. And lastly, go for fledgling markets at first...you'll find those are most open to new writers and that is a great way to get your feet wet and gain some experience > 5. Is there anything about yourself that you want to share? Such an open question is dangerous! Where do I begin?! I guess on a personal level, I'm a little too close to turning 40 for my liking. I'm married. I have a wonderful little girl who just turned 2 who is my reward for still having faith in the whole journey after all the dark times I've gone through. My favorite writer is Gabriel Garcia Marquez because I have yet to read anyone who had has made love and loss more incredibly beautiful - even translated from his native language and that is really a gift. LINKS AND ACTIVITIES Have you checked out our new Message Forum?
SEND US YOUR COMMENTS We welcome your comments, positive or negative. Feedback helps us improve the contest, raffle, group and this newsletter. Please contact MD Maurice with any and all input! |
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