PRESIDENT’S LETTER FOR JULY 2023

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Irene Smith

Judging for our 2023 Writing Contest has concluded and results will be announced at our July meeting. Winners and their families are invited to the August meeting, at which time prizes will be awarded and some of the winning pieces will be read.  Many thanks to all who participated, especially our volunteer judges, for their time and energy!

Brian Devitt, our Social Media Authority, has asked everyone to follow us on social media.  Our Twitter handle is @GCWA_SWFL, and please join our FaceBook group “Gulf Coast Writers Association” to “like” and “tweet” our recent posts there.  If members are on Facebook, I suggest that they post a mention of our Twitter and Facebook group, including our Twitter handle.

Brian is also assisting Dr. Kesha Dreher as the Lead Webmaster until a permanent replacement can be found.  If you know anyone who is an IT expert, you can contact Brian at bdevitt55@gmail.com.

Thanks to Jeff Bogart, our Communications officer, a notice of our July 22 Meeting now appears in the Fort Myers News-Press online calendars, Bonita Springs & Estero Magazine, Cape Coral Living magazine, Gulf & Main magazine, RSW magazine, and Times of the Islands magazine.  Jeff has reached another group of readers for us.  You can’t pick up a local newsprint without seeing a notice about Gulf Coast Writers Association.

Thank you, Brian and Jeff, for all the effort you have put forth to spread the word about our wonderful organization!

Mark your calendars and save the evening of September 9 for the launch of GCWA’s first-ever anthology, Storm Stories-Hurricane Ian.  More details will be forthcoming in the next few weeks, but this project has been almost a year in the making, and I promise you don’t want to miss it.

Last month’s meeting, featuring prolific author Allie Pleiter presenting on improving productivity and time management, was well attended.  

Here are a few photos from that meeting:

These are a few photos from that meeting.

This month Bob McCarthy, a ten-year member of “GCWA, will demonstrate how to create a video presentation using MSOffice and upload it to YouTube for the world to see. YouTube is the second most significant social media platform worldwide, with over 2.6 billion users. There are 4.65 billion active social media users worldwide. This means that 57.63% of active social media users worldwide access YouTube.

Bob will illustrate step-by-step how to create a working video script and add dialogue or narration resulting in a presentation with impact, whether for sales, marketing, training, or more.

Bob has been a professional writer and editor for more than 20 years. He has worked freelance, in-house, and with partners to help clients get noticed. The Oil Heat Managers Association gave a video he scripted for a Connecticut manufacturer its Best Training Video award. Bob has had articles published in regional, national, and international magazines.

Bob has been a member and officer of GCWA for ten years, and he is now a member of our Corporate Board.

This meeting is another outstanding opportunity to learn how to produce high-quality material from a pro.

Members and first-time guests attend for free, returning guests $5.00. I suggest you come early. Meet new or old friends with whom you share a great love for writing. The meeting will also be available on Zoom for those who can’t make it in person (Registration information will be on the website, gulfwriters.org). 

The July 22 meeting will be held at our usual meeting site starting at 10:00 and ending at noon. Here is that location, along with a map.

Meeting Location:

Word of Life Church

6111 South Pointe Blvd.,

Fort Myers, FL 33919

For directions, see Map

See you at the meeting!

Irene Smith, President

June Speaker – Allie Pleiter

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June 2023

Speaker: Allie Pleiter
Topic: FINISH THAT BOOK with The Chunky Method!
June 17, 2023, 10 a.m. to Noon
In person and Zoom – Register Here
Meeting Location: Map
Word of Life Church
6111 South Pointe Blvd.
Fort Myers, FL 33919

FINISH THAT BOOK with The Chunky Method

Do you feel like you can never find the time to write? Have you been chipping away at the same manuscript forever without much progress? Do you need a system that can get you to typing “The End” with success and satisfaction? Wrangling a fickle muse to meet a deadline—or just to get rid of that looming blank page—is a life-skill for everyone who wants to get serious about their writing.
Allie Pleiter, the bestselling author of over 40 books, shares the nuts and bolts of how to manage your muse. You’ll learn how to set goals and deadlines that reflect your personal writing style and speed–and smart ways to get faster when you need it. Join the thousands of other writers who have mastered the writing process using Pleiter’s popular Chunky Method. With a useful mix of the practical, the inspirational, and the nitty-gritty real life of it all, this workshop gives aspiring or working writers the tools they need to make the magic happen.

What others have said about The Chunky Method Workshop:

Implementing the Chunky Method has charged my writing with confidence, quadrupled my productivity, organized my days, and enhanced my enjoyment of life. Allie is my hero! — Linda H.

“I was overwhelmed, but now I feel fantastic” — Michelle S.

Before The Chunky Method, I spent years worrying about how I was ever going to finish my novel, let alone a series of stories, with a busy schedule and a demanding day job. I feel far more confident now, and the method works – it’s my custom method, after all. I’ve already written far more than before the Chunky Method. — M.V.

I feel empowered. I feel much more in control of the process now. I feel good that I have a plan and schedule that work with me. I feel like I am going to achieve success, and in a timely manner instead of a scattered one. Thank you again for some of the most valuable, and applicable information I’ve received in over fourteen years of conferences and online classes.” — Becki

Allie Pleiter bio:

Award-winning bestselling author Allie Pleiter writes both fiction and non-fiction working on as many as four books at a time.  She teaches writers how to be consistently, dependably productive and create the content today’s market requires. The author of over 60 published titles, Allie has spent a decade in the publishing profession with over 1.6 million books sold worldwide.  In addition to her own writing career, Allie maintains an active writing productivity coaching practice and speaks regularly on resilience, the creative process, authorship, and her very favorite topic—The Chunky Method of time management.

Links:

website: alliepleiter.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alliepleiterauthor/

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/alliepleiter

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allie-pleiter-6a021b139

Twitter: https://twitter.com/alliepleiter (@alliepleiter)

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/453346.Allie_Pleiter

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Allie-Pleiter/e/B001H6IEUO/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_ebooks_1

Click the link below to review a short video of Allie promoting the Chunky Method Webinar on Jun 17, 2023

https://youtu.be/8AorlkO1a70

 

May Workshop – The First 100 Words

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May 2023

Workshop: The First 100 Words
Topic: The Importance of the First 100 Words
May 20, 2023, 10 a.m. to Noon
In person – No Zoom Offered
Claudia GeaganMeeting Location: Map
Word of Life Church
6111 South Pointe Blvd.
Fort Myers, FL 33919

You only have one opportunity to make a memorable first impression.  “The First 100 Words” is based on a book by the same name, written by Stephen Parish and editors at Lascaux Books, a literary publishing house.  According to the blurb in the book, the first 100 words of a manuscript are as important as all the words that follow.  They comprise a first impression.  If poorly chosen, they may be the only words an editor reads.
“This is a workshop, not a lecture,” says Claudia Geagan.  May’s attendees should bring notebooks and fast-writing pens and be prepared to participate.What distinguishes being a scribbler from a genius?  Claudia’s workshop may provide you with some insight in that direction; she is a master at word minimalism.
After a financial career in major corporations in big cities, Geagan retired to South Carolina and later to Southwest Florida.  She began authoring personal essays and a smattering of flash non-fiction and poetry and has been published in at least eight Literary Journals.
While at Furman University’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, Geagan taught “Writing the Personal Essay” and has been nominated three times for a Pushcart Prize.  Pushcart is the most honored literary project in America!
Geagan is one of the judges for this year’s GCWA Writing Contest.  “If your work doesn’t get past the first readers, it doesn’t go anywhere.  In the case of Literary Reviews, these first readers are often bored grad students.  The opening must intrigue.”

April Workshop – Tell Your Hurricane Story

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April 2023

Workshop: Tell Your Hurricane Story
Topic: Develop Your Hurricane Ian Story
April 15, 2023, 10 a.m. to Noon
In person Only – No Zoom
Jeanne MeeksMeeting Location: Map
Word of Life Church
6111 South Pointe Blvd.
Fort Myers, FL 33919

Plan to attend our meeting on Saturday April 15, 2023.  This program is a workshop to help us develop our stories about the Hurricane Ian experience.  Prose or poetry – whatever your favored writing style – the only rule is that it must be true (or mostly true).
Jeanne Meeks and Mary Charles conduct memoir workshops in their home communities.  They’ll bring some of their experience and advice, along with some challenging exercises, to our April 15th meeting.  It will be a fast-paced hour in which we’ll each develop or refine a story about the September 28, 2022 storm.
The stories you write on Saturday will become part of the permanent record of Hurricane Ian.  We’re creating an anthology of storm stories to be printed before the anniversary of Ian’s visit.  In partnership with the Alliance for the Arts, we intend to have this book on display and for sale during their planned month-long exhibit in September 2023.Join us this Saturday, April 15, 2023 at 10:00 am.  Because it’s a hands-on workshop, we’ll be meeting in person only.  There will not be a Zoom component this time.

GCWA Writing Contest 2023 News Release

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GCWA

Gulf Coast Writers Association

CONTACT: Jeff Bogart, 917-608-3477

For Immediate Release

Best Writing Contests of 2022, recommended by Reedsy

                                                     GCWA Announces Writing Contest

                                                    –Open to GCWA members and the public

                                                  –Two sections: Adults 18 and over, youth 11 to 17

                                                            –Deadline for entries: May 31

 

FORT MYERS, FL., March 27, 2023–A writing contest open to the general public including adults and youth was announced today by the Gulf Coast Writers Association (GCWA), with winners to be named in July.

Submissions are being accepted in the Adult section from persons 18 years old and older in four categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Children’s Stories.  In the Youth section, submissions are being accepted from persons 11 to 17 years old in three categories:  Fiction, Nonfiction and Poetry. 

The deadline for entries, to be submitted online, for both sections is May 31 at 11:59 p.m.

“This annual contest advances our goal of encouraging writing and recognizing outstanding writers,” said Irene Smith, president of the Fort Myers, FL, based nonprofit in making the announcement.

GCWA’s contest last year received recognition from Reedsy, a marketplace of freelance publishing professionals, as among the Best Writing Contests. 

Winners will be announced at the GCWA monthly meeting on July 15.  The list of winners will be posted on the organization’s website (https://gulfwriters.org).  All monthly meetings, currently held at Word of Life Church, 6111 South Pointe Blvd. in Fort Myers at 10 a.m. on the third Saturday, are open to the public.

Judges for the contest are members of GWCA as well as experienced writers from the community. Judging is done on a blind basis and members who submit entries will not judge their own entries. 

Adult Section

Sponsors of the Adult section of the contest include Ft. Myers Magazine and writers’ guides Firstwriter.com and Duotrope®. 

All winning entries in each category will be published on the GCWA website. 

There is no limit to number of submissions but entrants may win only one prize.  GWCA members may participate in the contest in addition to the general public. 

The entry fee for the Adult section is as follows:  Non-Members: $20/1st submission, $10/each additional entry.  Members: $10/1st submission, $5/each additional entry

Youth Section

Winning entries will be published on the GCWA website.  Entries are free and limited overall to three per person.  Only one prize to an entrant will be awarded.

“A winning entry would look good on any student’s college application,” noted Ms. Smith.

Entry Forms

Entry forms, guidelines, judging criteria and additional information are posted on the GCWA website.  Additional information for entrants is also available by emailing specialprojects@gulfwriters.org .

Only entries submitted online will be considered.

About GCWA

Founded in 1995 and incorporated in 2004, the Gulf Coast Writers Association, Inc. (GCWA) provides a forum for fellowship, education, and information for writers.  GCWA’s well-regarded annual writing contest draws a wide-range of authors.  Based in Fort Myers, the organization attracts members from throughout Southwest Florida from Marco Island to Tampa.  At monthly meetings, speakers and workshops offer expert advice on such topics as writing techniques, publishing, and marketing.  Participants at these meetings also have the opportunity to read their works.  The organization’s members include published as well as unpublished writers and professional editors, agents and publicists.  The literary genres run the gamut from poetry, adult fiction and nonfiction to children’s and young adult, historical fiction, romance, mystery/thriller, memoir, essays and screenplay.  Members include full-time writers as well as corporate professionals, teachers, and business owners, all still working or retired. GCWA’s website is https://gulfwriters.org/ 

GCWA n POB 60771, Fort Myers, FL 33906  n Not for Profit 501(c)3.