June 2024 Newsletter
Hello Writers!
Welcome back to the newsletter!
This month, we are highlighting our board treasurer, Heidi Griminger Blanke. Heidi has been with this group since 2005, when it was known as Women Writers. She authored a romance e-novel and has been published in a number of anthologies. Over the years, she’s written feature articles for many area magazines (most now defunct), a few articles on the national level, and she taught business writing at Viterbo University for over ten years. She leads the Express-oh group and participates in Thursday Scribblers. She’s not much of a fiction writer, but she keeps plugging away at a women’s fiction novel regardless. She won a city-wide writing contest in sixth grade, but also failed to make it onto her high school’s newspaper team every year. Keep on truckin’.
This month’s newsletter is packed with great stuff from the guild, so read on to find out what our members have been up to!
Motivation
(My mother-in-law's pie recipe taped inside her kitchen cabinet for easy access)
From our very own David Nash and his blog David Nash Collective
Let's talk about pie
My mother-in-law makes great pie. All sorts. Strawberry pie in the summer. Coconut cream and pecan pie at Thanksgiving. Oh, and delicious grasshopper pie (which is usually in a cake pan but that’s not the point).
What makes her pies worth writing about? Well, for one thing, she makes the crust from scratch.
She starts with flour, salt, and butter-flavored crisco. She blends it with a pastry utensil until the dough is pea-sized or smaller. Then she adds egg, vinegar, and ice water, mixing it all up with a fork and her hands. If there's time, it gets wrapped up in saran wrap where it sits in the fridge. It needs to rest.
When she’s ready to roll it out, she sets the dough on the counter and gets to work with her rolling pin. She leans into it, spreading this way and that, working out from the center to get that nice circular shape and even thickness. For good results, you need to work outward from the center in many directions. If you roll only one way, you’re going to get a rectangular-ish shape, and that’s not what we want.
When she has the wide circle ready, she can lay the dough across the tin and trace the edges with a knife. The scraps can be woven across the top or simply sprinkled with a little cinnamon and sugar and baked for snacking.
It’s a simple, reliable process that produces delicious results
Lately, I’ve been returning to a story idea that came to me a couple years ago. It’s a big story. REALLY BIG. So big in fact, I’ve had a hard time grasping the overall direction of the story. At times, it's kept me from writing at all. But I know I’m onto something, because I keep coming back to it in between projects. I mean, I can sense the rough shape of it all, but it isn’t a complete story quiet yet. Lots of the details are missing. So much of the plot and world building is still a mystery to me. If I had to write the tale from point A to point B, I just couldn’t. And that is pretty darn frustrating, because that’s how I usually write.
Fortunately, with encouragement from my Mississippi Valley Writer’s Guild friends, I’ve gotten the confidence to get over myself and just start writing in order to figure out where the story wants to go. And recently, I realized that the story might be a little bit like Marie's pie crust.
It had to rest until it was ready, and even though I’ve got it out on the counter, I’m still not able to work in one direction stretching it out from beginning to end. Instead, I’m following the different ideas as they come, moving out from the center.
Maybe sometimes we just need to find a new way to think through our ideas and be OK with the writing process even if it isn’t what we're used to. The story may not make sense right away. But as long as we keep working at it, writing through the darkness, it’ll start to take shape.
So, I keep writing, even if the plot points aren’t lining up yet. I’m optimistic in the end, I’ll have things smoothed out into a large enough area with even thickness. I’ll trim the edges, and those scraps might get used or they might not, but hopefully, what will remain is a well-rounded, completed story.
In the end, I’ll see the whole for what it always has been and enjoy sharing it with others just like a nice slice of strawberry pie in the summertime.
Send your motivational memes, tips, tricks, and resources to mvwguild@gmail.com
Victory! News from the Guild
La Crosse Community Theatre recently announced their 2024-2025 season and we are so excited to share that Jonathan Lamb’s original play “Adventures Await” will be fully produced in April!
“Audiences will witness the heart-wrenching journey of a 40-year-old son who moves back home to care for his mother battling Alzheimer’s disease. As they navigate the challenges of this devastating illness together, their bond strengthens, revealing the depth of their resilience and the power of love in the face of adversity. Imagination, true-to-life experiences, and heartfelt emotion converge in this world premiere production, penned by none other than the Coulee Region’s very own Jonathan Lamb, promising an unforgettable theatrical experience that touches the soul and inspires the spirit.” LCT Website
Jonathan’s staged reading of this show sold out last September, so be sure to get your tickets early! Season passes available now or join LCT’s mailing list to get updates.
Have a victory you want to share? Let us know!
Writing Prompt
This month’s prompt is from the Writer Igniter at diymfa.com. Check it out and get your own randomly generated prompt!
Guild Events
Choose Your Own Adventure: A June Writing Retreat
When: Saturday, June 22, from 9 a.m. to noon
Where: Cabin Coffee, 401 Jay Street, La Crosse
What: Writing Time, Encouragement, and Optional Mini Sessions
Cost: Free for Members! $15 for Non-Members
Mini Sessions: Kristen Nyholm on Google Docs for Writers
Jonathan Lamb on Playwriting
Scott Blanke on World Building
Register NOW!
Save the Date: July 29th
MVWG Summer Social. More details to come!
Help us plan more events by completing the member survey!