Henderson Writers' Group Weekly News: Jan 28th Meeting Report

We enjoyed a nice meeting this last Monday. Thirty five met to hear and critique seven readers.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Would you like to volunteer for our conference? We are looking for a few more volunteers, if you are interested please contact Jay.

Next week author Maxwell Alexander Drake will be speaking at our meeting at Albertsons. He writes science-fiction and fantasy and has also taught classes in creative writing.

BRAGS:

Congratulations to Pat Kranish on having a review of a movie published on the gypsy chronicles.

UPCOMING MEETINGS:

Our next weekly meeting is at 6:30 p.m. on February 4th at the Albertsons at the corner of Horizon and College in Henderson. For more information see the calendar at the group's website.

QUOTE OF THE NIGHT:

"A child of an alcoholic has a full time job just staying alive long enough to get a life"

-from "Alabama Blue" by Toni Pacini

WRITING TIP by Jo Wilkins:

Each character in your story should speak differently. We all speak with unique inflections, using specific words or phrases to express ourselves, your characters should too. If you write about an isolated society, remember it would develop a language all of its own.?

As an example, watch the Star Trek: Next Generation episode entitled Nemesis. The writers did a wonderful job using ordinary, recognizable words and phrases to create an entirely different slant on the English language.

ARTICLE:? Our article this week contains a poem, and is a testament to the healing power of writing. It comes from group member Andres Fragoso Jr.

Listen to me when I cry?

I'm not asking for your opinion or advice?

I'm asking for your shoulder where I can cry?

I'm only asking for a little of your time.?

Listen to me when I am depressed?

To yell at me: "Get over it!" does not help me?

I do not get sick at will. I did not choose to be ill?

I'm asking for your understanding.?

Listen to me when I have fears and tears?

To tell me: "It's all in your head," does not encourage me?

Yes it is in my head, that's why it's a mental illness?

I have no control of these fears or shedding tears.?

Listen to me when I'm in agony?

Telling me: "You want attention," does not comfort me?

I'm not five years old and don't need you to scold me?

I need you to comprehend my agonizing pain.?

Listen to me when I am depressed?

I'm not asking for attention and it's not always in my head?

My illness is real. Real to me, I feel it every day after day?

Why do you undermine my pain??

Listen to me when I cry?

It hurts me when you don't listen and ignore my pain?

I am your son, your brother, your nephew?

I am your cousin, your blood and your friend.

Writing is my Pandora Box. When I open it up and write I do not know now what hopes come out. Writing is cathartic to me. It helps me let out my frustrations and alleviates my pain. My illness, bi-polar, is a chemical in-balance in the brain.

When I first was diagnosed with bi-polar, the first four or five years flew by without a peaceful moment. I do not remember much about those years, only that I was asleep most of the time, lethargic, forgetful, asleep most of the time (did I say that already? I forgot), suicidal, manic, depressed and I forgot what else. It was a dark time.

In the interim, I went to therapy and fortunately, I got something good out of it, Journaling, and poetry. I wrote my feelings, my fears, my desires, and above all, how I wanted to kill myself contrasting it with how I wanted to live.

After a while, I started to feel and currently feel that I had just woken up. I tasted everything for the first time. I saw things in a new way. Life is good. It was a re-birthing for me. I could not keep Hope bottled up, I let it out.

I found a web site that members would critique your poems. They wanted to publish a few of my poems. I submitted my first poem, ?My Vanessa, My Butterfly.? A poem dedicated to my sister who never gave up on me.

Someone had mentioned to combine my stories and publish them. I did. I combined the best ones, created new ones, dedicated a few, and published them. My first book of poetry is full of errors, bad grammar, and frightening poems. I kept it that way and hope that people would see the underlying illness in those poems. They are raw, passionate, and truthful.

??They are my feelings, my thoughts, and my sufferings and I need to declare them so that I can be free. Free from being hidden from the world just because half of you can?t deal with the reality of having someone in your life who is gay, bi-polar, artistic, eccentric and, for that matter, NORMAL. . .?

I look forward to being read by you.

Thank you.?

Source: http://hendersonwritersgroup.blogspot.com/2013/01/jan-28th-meeting-report.html

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