OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER of the

BERKELEY BRANCH of the

Write Angles
Write Angles CALIFORNIA WRITERS CLUB

December, 2009

Table of Contents
The View From the Helm...........2
Upcoming Meetings...................3
Marketing Corner.......................3
Past Workshop:
What Lights Up?........................4
Upcoming Workshop:
Feeling to Form..........................4
California Writers Club and the
Active Role Women Took From Its
Early Years III.............................5
Successful Critique Groups.......7
Story as Laboratory..................8
100 Years, 100 Members...........8
Member News & Tidbits.............9
How Can I Help?.....................10
On the cover:
Distinguished Writers of .
California
Dashiell Hammett,
1894-1961
One of our finest mystery writers,
Hammett created enduring
characters such as Sam Spade,
Nick and Nora Charles, and Secret
Agent X-9. Called “the dean of the
‘hard-boiled’ school of detective
fiction.”
“I’ve been as bad an influence on American literature
as anyone.” —Dashiell Hammett
december 2009
View From
the Helm
It is hard to believe how far
the Berkeley Branch has come in
the last twelve months. The things
we do well got even better. Our new
programs are maturing rapidly.
A year ago the anchor 3rd Saturday support/critique group
sessions served 10 to15 members and drop-ins. Sometimes, up
to twenty people attend the Rockridge Library meetings.
A nonfiction, nonstory crit group was initiated in the fall, and
a half-dozen regulars meet on 2nd Thursdays at Borders Books in
Alameda
A ten-page fiction group was formed recently to deal with
chapter and story-length pieces. A core of a half-dozen writers
e-mail submissions to one another in advance. As a result, all
meeting time is spent discussing stories and craft. They have
decided to meet twice monthly on alternate Thursdays. Those
interested in joining this group may contact Bruce Shiguera,
bshiguerea@comcast.net.
A writing-for-children group is accepting new members.
Contact Debbie Frisch,dndnl2@mac.com.
A dozen people have expressed interest in a memoir-writing
group. We expect to initiate something after the first of the year.
In October we launched a program of workshops. Fifteen
people attended each of the first two. Risa Nye, workshop chair,
has already scheduled monthly workshops through the spring of
2010.
The November issue of Write Angles was the first produced
by Kristen Caven. We received many e-mails congratulating the
club for taking our newsletter up a notch.
Our speaker programs under Laura Shumaker have
contributed to the 50 percent increase in meeting attendance.
We credit Linda Brown for much of the growth of the Branch.
When I ask the first-timers at our meetings or drop-in crit groups
how they heard about us, I get a variety of answers: the Branch
Web site, the Oakland Tribune, SF Chronicle, East Bay Express, a
flyer posted in a library, notice in The Rockridge News, listing in
the Oakland Library Calendar.
The Berkeley Branch partnered with member Tatjana
Greiner to publicize her WestSide Story Contest. This year we
attracted over 80 entries from eight states and three countries.
Most gratifying was the support from our sister CWC Branches.
A quarter of the total of all submissions arrived from half of the
continued next page...
Write Angles • 2
 Upcoming
other seventeen Branches. Berkeley branch member Clifford
Hui won the grand prize as well as the third place. Out-of-state
Berkeley branch member, Dirk Wales, won fifth place. CWC Speakers
writers won six of the first seven places.
A marketing support group is forming within the branch December 12, 2009 Annual
to assist our members with the post–publication aspects of Luncheon, Winners of WestSide
authorship. Story Contest Read
Our Web site at www.CWC-Berkeley.com got a facelift.
January 16, 2010 Michael
Membership is up nearly 50 percent from a year ago. On
Larsen and Elizabeth Pomada,
November 30, 2009 we are 98 strong. (And hoping to reach 100
on how to get an agent.
by the end of the year!) Our members contribute great things,
and we encourage everyone to get involved. February 20, 2010 Seth
Besides building on the good works of 2009, we also have Harwood, on creating free
one more priority job to get done. After years of enjoying the serialized audio books.
generosity of Barnes & Noble’s store in Jack London Square, we
must find ourselves a new home. We’ve been spoiled to have a March 20, 2010 Becky Levine,
large, accessible space available at no cost to the club for use on critique groups and revision
during daytime hours on a weekend in a central location with techniques.
convenient parking. While it seems impossible that we will be April 17, 2010 Robert Pimm,
able to duplicate every one of these benefits, we are working on intellectual property attorney,
it. on copyright protection and “fair
You can help by looking to your network for leads and use” of the work of others.
possibilities. We need to hold out for an Oakland/Berkeley/
Alameda location with good parking. We may have to
compromise on some feature such as meeting day, meeting hour. The Marketing
We may have to pay for a facility and charge a fee for attendance.
We are working on it. If you can make a contact and initiate a Corner
conversation, it would be great. Someone out there would love to
A goal of the CWC Berkeley
have the prestige associated with claiming they are the home of
marketing group is to provide
the founding branch of the 100-year-old California Writers Club.
information about the varied
See you at our last event of 2009—the December 12
aspects of marketing: Internet
luncheon at an award-winning restaurant in Alameda, where
marketing, author events at
we’ll hear the winning stories from the WestSide Story Contest
bookstores, book festivals,
read by their authors, and will re-present the Jack London
Internet book-review sites,
Award to Anne Fox. If you have not reserved a seat, please do
writing contests, and exposure
so right away. Send your check for $22 to CWC-BB, Box 6447,
through traditional media.
Alameda, Ca. 94501
Another goal is to create a
cooperative environment where
—AL Levenson
CWC members support each
other. Ultimately, the work of an
author must sell itself. The most
January Meeting: important judge of the writing
is the reader; self-promotion is
LOCATION AND DATE TO BE ANNOUNCED. the road to the most important
judge—the reader.
There are two potential venues at this time. Please check your
e-mail during the week before the meeting for location and exact Please visit our Web site/Blog at
time. http://cwcberkeleymarketing.
Either wordpress.com/ The site is
open to everyone. The comment
Saturday, January 16, 2010 section is for CWC members
or only.
Sunday, January 17, 2010 —Lloyd Lofthouse

december 2009 Write Angles • 3


What Lights
Up?
Marilyn Abildskov’s workshop on
brevity began with a examination
of a piece by Sandra Cisneros.
“Bread,” a sparse story of 200
words, was the basis of a
collective parsing session led
by Marilyn, in which we were
reminded of many elements of
craft.
• Authentic language validates
voice and is richer than
formal language
• Short sentences are
impressionistic and give
immediacy to writing.
Memory works in fragments.
• In your first re-read, ask
yourself if you answered
these two questions in the
first paragraph: Where is the
scene? When is it?
• Sensory perceptions put the
reader in the scene
• Setting scene well and early
relieves the writer of the
burden of adding it later and
gives the reader context early
so he doesn’t have to guess.
• And more
Then we were given a writing
exercise. A prompt with a menu
of imperatives: write about a
single moment involving two
characters in a tight space—
physical and emotional—using
sensory details, occurring within
an hour. And, Marilyn said,
include food in some fashion.
Take twenty minutes, including
time for a stretch and visit to the
rest room.
Several people produced a
credible story with a complete
narrative arc. And everyone
continued on next page
december 2009
January workshop:
Marilyn Abildskov
Feeling to Form
The inexperienced writer, says
Jeanette Winterson, believes sincerity
of feeling will be enough, while the
experienced writer knows that feeling
must give way to form. “It is through
form, not in spite of it, or accidental
to it,” she writes, “that the most
powerful emotions are let loose over
the greatest number of people.”
This workshop is designed to
introduce students to basic elements
of form. We will start by reading
short pieces, then try our hand at a few writing exercises, and
conclude by sharing newly generated work out loud. Our goal
will not be originality per se—is there anything new under the
sun?— but a freshness found in locating the right form. “For,
while the tale of how we suffer, and how we are delighted, and
how we may triumph is never new,” wrote James Baldwin, “it
always must be heard. There isn’t any other tale to tell, it’s the
only light we’ve got in all this darkness.”
Marilyn Abildskov is the author of The Men in My Country
and teaches in the MFA program at St. Mary’s College.
Sunday, January 10, 2009, 10 a.m.-1 p.m., followed by
brown-bag lunch and further discussion. Space is limited—Pre-
Registration is required!
Mail your check to CWC-BB, Box 6447, Alameda, CA
94501.
$9 for CWC members. $29 for nonmembers.
Questions?  Email to cwcworkshops@gmail.com.
Upcoming Workshops
January 10, 2010 FEELING TO FORM:
A Memoir Workshop introducing elements of
form with Writer/Professor Marilyn Abildskov
March 14, 2010 TBA
April 11, 2010 Marianne Rogoff on Travel
Writing
May 9, 2010 Wesley Gibson, Writing Effective
Dialogue
To recommend or request a speaker, contact Risa Nye .
at cwcworkshops@gmail.com.
Write Angles • 4
LIGHTS UP from page 4...
Marilyn Abildskov at her
November workshop
wrote something that captured
several key story elements.
“Editing is not called for when
reading spontaneous writing,
and the writer has not yet edited
himself.” Marilyn said.
“What lights up” was the
jump-off question she asked
of everyone, prompting us to
locate pleasing and/or attention-
getting details and to open craft
elements for discussion. For
nearly two hours more, we
meandered among the following:
• “If” is a provocative word.
• The reaction of a character in
a scene is not the reaction of
the writer when writing.
• Foreshadowing can
be accomplished by a
character’s imaginings.
Brevity is not easily won, but
Marilyn made the challenge
worth doing.
I’ll be at her January workshop,
“Feeling into Form.”
—Al Levenson
See You There!
december 2009
CALIFORNIA WRITERS
CLUB and the Active Role
Women Took from Its Early
Years
This article was adapted in three parts from Theresa Pipe’s original
article for the Berkeley Historical Society appearing in The Independent
Gazette’s “Berkeley History” column, dated September 5, and September
19, 1982. With special thanks for Part 3 to Maud Volandri and B. Jo
Kinnick (both deceased) for their research.
PART 3: JULIA ALTROCCHI BRINGS
A NEW STYLE TO THE CALIFORNIA
WRITERS CLUB
Several other women were destined
to succeed Mary Roberts Coolidge, who
served as president of the California
Writers Club of Berkeley in the mid-1930s.
Among them, one outstanding writer
who brought a new style to the Club
during her years of leadership with the
Berkeley Branch was Julia Altrocchi. She
was directly involved with a new venture of
the Club in the early 1940s.
It was soon after the Golden Gate
by Julia Cooley Altrocchi
International Exposition in 1939-40 at
Treasure Island, where Dr. William Morgan
of the Pacific Unitarian School for the Ministry spoke of his own
early leadership years with the California Writers Club. In August
1941 the Club sponsored the first Writers Conference of the West
at the old Oakland Hotel in Oakland, California.
The conference welcomed writers and readers alike. They
put on a barbecue, the musical comedy play, June Moon, a
pageant, and dedication of trees to California writers and poets
at Woodminster Amphitheater. There was a literary-landmarks
breakfast at the Lake Merritt Boat House and a banquet at the
Hotel Claremont. Panelists covered everything from pulp paper
(mass markets) to the novel to pseudoscience (science fiction).
Club President Julia Altrocchi’s words appeared on the neatly
bound program: “It is right that such a gathering should be held
under the giant redwoods, in a place of towering traditions, on the
last frontier of America….” She mentioned those who paved the
way for fresh literature—Bret Harte, Mark Twain, Ambrose Bierce,
and later the “giants” of literature—George Sterling, Jack London,
Gertrude Atherton.
Dr. Suren Babington (an East Bay physician), Julia Altrocchi,
Gertrude Atherton, Charles and Kathleen Norris, Ethel Cotton,
and John Hamlin were among those involved then with the
continued on next page
Write Angles • 5
California Writers Club and the Writers Conference.
Longtime Club members Cleone Montgomery of Berkeley and
Maud Volandri of San Francisco remembered Julia Altrocchi well
as “a gracious hostess who often entertained with luncheons for
I’m the romping,
guest speakers in the Berkeley area.” The wife of Dr. Rudolph
Altrocchi, head of UC Berkeley’s Romance Languages Department
scampering one.
for many years, the poet began writing at age six. She published
Poems of a Child in 1904 while growing up in Chicago.
As Mrs. Volandri recalled in the 1980s, there was a story I’m the one who runs
attached to the poet’s childhood claim to fame often mused over by
Mrs. Altrocchi throughout her lifetime. During the young poet’s and sings among the
innocent childhood, Julia’s aunt was the mistress of the poet
Richard Le Gallienne, father of actress Eva Le Gallienne. Her aunt
often talked about Julia’s artistic accomplishments in poetry to
flowering fields
Le Gallienne, who had a number of friends in the publishing field.
One day he arranged to have Julia’s poems published in book form
as a “gift” to his mistress—and wrote the introduction himself.
I’m like the leaves,
Later, Mrs. Altrocchi wrote a historical novel on early Chicago,
Wolves Against the Moon, and published a number of articles on the grass, the wind,
California’s historical and literary subjects.
Julia Altrocchi also penned Spectacular San Franciscans, a the happy little but-
nonfiction work containing historical anecdotes on San Francisco
people. Her extensive poem about the Donner Party, Snow
Covered Wagons: A Pioneer Epic, won a Commonwealth Club of
terfly and the little
California award in 1937 and is reportedly her best-known work.
Movie rights were sold later for Snow Covered Wagons, but it never
scampering clouds.
actually appeared in film. .
Then in 1968, after Julia Altrocchi served a second term as —Julia Cooley Altrocchi,.
president of the California Writers Club, her book-length poem, 1899, age six,.
Chicago—Narrative of a City, won the coveted $1,000 Stephen from Poems of a Child
Vincent Benet Narrative Award sponsored by Poet Lore magazine.
“She went to Boston, where Benet’s sister, Laura, presented the
award to her,” stated B. Jo Kinnick, a Piedmont poet belonging to the California Writers Club, who
was also an artist member of the Browning Society in San Francisco.
After Julia Altrocchi’s death, the manuscript became
published in 1973 by the Piedmont-Oakland Branch of the
National League of American Penwomen, where her membership
was highly valued. Mrs. Kinnick, who edited the work,
encouraged its publication by Altrocchi’s branch of Penwomen
(called the Diablo-Alameda Branch).
Several dramatic readings of her poem, Chicago—Narrative of
a City, followed. In July 1981 the poem was chosen to represent
America at the World Congress of Poets in the St. Francis Hotel,
San Francisco. There, Dr. Clarence L. Miller, then president of
the Ina Coolbrith Circle, directed the readings. Together with
the Ina Coolbrith Circle, the Browning Society of San Francisco
helped to sponsor the Congress, attracting poets worldwide. In
1982, the same dramatic reading was repeated for the Browning
Society, the Ina Coolbrith Circle and the Speech Arts Association.
— Therese M. Pipe

december 2009 Write Angles • 6

How to Hold a Successful CWC Critque
Critique Group Groups!
“Isn’t there some sort of protocol for critique groups? I’m If your objective is to receive and
overwhelmed,” an acquaintance asked me recently. give useful feedback, you are
“What do you mean?” I asked. welcome. You do not need to be
“Well, first, they come with work that hasn’t been proofread. a CWC member to try a group
Then they spend hours arguing over tiny points of grammar, on for size! More information is
spelling and punctuation. A couple of the group gets an idea on our Web page at www.cwc-
about something, and they never stop going on about it. But they berkeley.com. Please inquire
may be easier to take than the man who says everything is ‘nice.’ about invitation-only groups.
What does ‘nice’ mean? And then there’s a woman who defends Write calwritersclub@gmail.com
every criticism anyone gives her and is still making the same unless otherwise specified.
errors now as in the beginning. Also, everybody starts by saying
how bad their work is. Why do I want to read someone’s bad Five-page group
work? It’s a waste of my time—but it shouldn’t be, should it?” For all prose: fiction, nonfiction,
No, your critique group shouldn’t be a waste of your time! essays, query letters, proposals.
When I mentioned this problem to my class, a student When: 3rd Saturdays, 1-5 p.m.
pointed out Judith Barrington’s suggestions in her Writing the Where: Rockridge Library,
Memoir, from Truth to Art. 2nd-floor meeting room
Readers do: For info: writefox@aol.com
• come prepared with corrected copies for all participants
Ten-page group
• ask for specific feedback they would like
By invitation-only, limited to six
• ask for clarification if they don’t understand
members. Additional groups can
• make notes while people talk
be created with interest.
• respond to specific questions asked during the critique.
When: Weekday eves, monthly
But readers don’t:
• denigrate their own manuscripts Nonfiction group
• explain the intention of the piece or why it was written This group reviews informative
• respond until all have given their critique. articles, query letters, and book
Critique givers do: proposals. (No memoir.) Drop-
• start with what they like, what moves them ins welcome. First-timers are
• pinpoint why something works or does not work welcome to bring a submission.
• point out where they feel confused, lost or do not believe When: 2nd Tuesdays, 7-9 p.m
• write notes on their copy of the manuscript and always Where: Border’s Books Coffee
sign as a reader Shop, Alameda Towne Center
• suggest possibilities for language or plotting to example
their critique Mystery writers group
By invitation only, currently
• make copyediting and proofreading corrections on their
seeking new members.
copy.
When: 3rd Wednesdays. Time
But critique givers don’t:
is a mystery.
• criticize in a way to belittle the writer
Where: private homes
• make generalizations without pinpointing specifics: “This
is good because I was moved by the last paragraph where Children’s writers group
you said...” By invitation-only, currently
• tell stories from their own experience seeking new members.
• waste time pointing out small grammar problems and When: monthly

<
other proofing errors
• impose personal viewpoint or flog a point that has already
been made.
Writers, always remember, it’s your work and what you think
is most important, that is, until your publisher says differently!
—Ana Manwaring, reprinted with permission from The Redwood Writer.
Where: private homes
Ana, program coordinator of the Redwood
Branch, CWC, teaches at the Napa
Valley College in St Helena. www.
anamanwaring.com, saintsandskeletons.
blogspot.com, anamanwaring.wordpress.

december 2009 Write Angles • 7

STORY AS LABORATORY 100 Years,
Last month I prompted a number of club members with questions about 100 Members
the differences between short stories and novels. I asked, “How has
what you’ve learned about one inform the other? How are they similar? 1. AL Levenson
What can be done in one that can’t be done in the other?” I received a
number of provocative answers. —AL 2. Alex Campbell 
3. Alice Wilson-Fried
Short stories can function as wonderful laboratories that 4. Alon Shalev
allow you to try things that a novel might not support because 5. Anjuelle Floyd
it’s very weird or very specific. You can be more uninhibited with 6. Anne Prowell
a short story, because you can use the structure to rid yourself 7. Anne Fox
of demons. 8. Aphra Pia
An event that took place in Vietnam one night in 1966 9. Arline Lawrence
haunted me until the early ‘80s, when it came together as a 10. Arue Szura
story, “A Night at the Well of Purity.” I worked on that story—and 11. Barbara Ruffner
dealt with the demons—off and on for the next twenty-five years. 12. Barbara Burton
In 2007, the story was named a finalist in the 2007 Chicago 13. Barbara Gilvar
Literary Awards. As for the demon that sparked that story, it 14. Bill Roller
hasn’t been around for a long time. 15. Bruce Shigeura
Writing can be great therapy—better and cheaper than 16. Carlene Cole
going to a shrink. 17. Carol Newman-Weaver
18. Caroline Ahlswede
—Lloyd Lofthouse
19. Caroline Abasta
20. Caryl Hansen
You can be more uninhibited with a short story because
21. Charlie Russell
there is no need to provide a background for the characters.
22. Charlotte Cook
Your best friend may suddenly reveal himself to be a vampire,
23. Clifford A. Hui
and the reader will accept that fact, filling in the how and why
24. David Sawle
for herself. Your grandfather could be a crusty relic of the Civil
War (or War between the States) and continue to shoot Yankees
25. David Gray
decades after the war has ended. No explanation needed. Aunt
26. David George
Sadie cries over her vanished lover and mistreats any young
27. David Baker
woman who happens to be blond. 28. Debby Frisch
What IS needed is deft handling of storytelling. A few well- 29. Dirk Wales
placed words in narrative or sentences must set the scenery or, 30. Dorothy V. Benson
on the other hand, leave some matters unexplained. Do not 31. Edward S. Dean
tell too much; leave the reader thinking. That is why writing a 32. Ele Quinn
successful short story is both easier and harder than writing a 33. Ellen C. Graebe
full-length book. 34. Emery Garriott
35. Evelyn Washington
—Lucille Bellucci 36. Faith Darling
37. Frances B. Spencer
“You can be more uninhibited with a short story because 38. Francine Howard
you don’t spend a year writing it, so if it’s a failure, it’s no big 39. Gail Travers
deal. An experimental novel is much more chancy. 40. Gary McIntyre
For instance, I once wrote an experimental novel, taking 41. Gloria Reid
a good six months to write it. I was experimenting with living 42. Gurnam S. Brard
letters. You know, to keep the letters on the page happy, they 43. Jane Glendinning
had to be paid a good wage, and I had to negotiate constantly 44. Janell Moon
with all of them. Like, as you can figure, the Z’s and Q’s were 45. Janice Armigo Brown
always complaining they didn’t get as much work as the I’s 46. Jeff Kingman
and E’s. How were they supposed to make ends meet since the 47. JoAnn Smith Ainsworth
pay scale totally reflected the frequency of their presence on 48. Joanna Graham
continued on page 10. continued on next page...

december 2009 Write Angles • 8

49. Joanne Sandstrom
50. Jody Weiner Member News
51. Joy Maliwawa CWC BERKELEY BRANCH MEMBERS: Please
52. Judith Field send Write Angles all the news about your life in
53. Julia Epstein the world of art, letters, and literature, however it
54. Karren Elsbernd expresses itself. Your efforts and accomplishments inspire courage
55. Kasian Klute in others. writefox@aol.com
56. Kathleen L Orosco
57. Ken Frazer Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers has asked Charlotte Cook
58. Kristen Caven to be their guest workshop leader for their annual all-day event
59. Laura Shumaker for members in May 2010. Charlotte will do a combination of
60. Linda Brown her “An Acquisition Editor...” and “Edit Your Manuscript to Be
61. Liz Waegle Published.” 
62. Lloyd Lofthouse Alon Shalev’s novel, Oilspill dotcom, has been released on
63. Lois Kadosh Smashwords.com and Scribd, making it available on Kindle,
64. Lucille Bellucci SonyReader, iPhones and other applications. Alon thanks
65. Madelen Lontiong Kemble Scott for his advice at our CWC October meeting
66. Marc P. Kaplan Linda Brown, Publicity Chair, is interim secretary of
67. Margaret Wesson the Friends of Joaquin Miller Park, of which the CWC is a
68. Marianne Lonsdale member. Joyce Krieg of the Central Coast Branch of the CWC
69. Marianne Rogoff created the poster honoring the literary history of the California
70. Marilyn Abildskov Writers Club. Linda presented the poster to the City’s Parks
71. Michael Larsen and Recreation Advisory Commission, who have accepted it for
72. Mickey Weiss display in the Joaquin Miller Park Ranger Station.
73. Micky Duxbury Barbara Gilvar, who recently joined the Berkeley Branch,
74. Monica Conrady discussed her book, The Art of Hiring Leaders, a Guide for
Nonprofit Organizations, with 25 members of the Oakland
75. Natasha Borovsky
Metropolitan Chamber’s Nonprofit Roundtable on November 23. 
76. Nicole Bazan
At the same event, Linda Brown briefed the Roundtable on the
77. Nonnie Thompson
Chamber’s history of co-sponsoring CWC writing conferences.
78. Phyllis S. Smith
79. Ray Faraday Nelson —Anne Fox
80. Richard Mutter  
81. Risa Nye Fill your paper with the breathings of
82. Sarah Clark
83. Sasha Futran
84. Tanya Grove
your heart. ~William Wordsworth
TIDBITS
85. Tatjana Greiner
86. Therese M. Pipe
87. Thomas Burchfield
88. Tina M. Stinnett Sandy Moffett, of our sister branch, The Writers of Kern, in
89. Van Moore the Bakersfield area, has asked for help with a research project.
90. Vernon Dolphin
91. W.E. Reinka “If you have (know or were) a child who asked questions about the
92. Wendi Lelke-Wallway death of a loved one, I’d like to visit with you. Please drop a note to
93. Willie Rose sm@sandymoffett.com with your contact info.”
94. Christopher Richards
95. Irv Hamilton
96. Shelly Wagner 100 members /100 years
97. David Simmons
We’re almost there! Do you know anyone who would like to be
98. Naomi Rosenthal our 100th member? Give a gift membership for only $44.50 ($20
99.
100.
Welcome New initiation fee plus half-price dues at $22.50) Send an e-mail today to
Members! calwritersclub@gmail.com. Youth members are always $10.
continued on next page...

december 2009 Write Angles • 9

the page? Well, of course the I’s and E’s were bellyaching about
carrying the whole load and were mad at the others for not doing
their part. “When do we get a vacation?” they’d say. Well, I’d
Do you ever wonder...
open the file on the computer and find a whole different novel in
front of me because some #*&% letter or another would get in a
“How can I help
huff and walk off the job. Words would be rearranged, sentences the club?”
turned topsy-turvy, and whole paragraphs would be deleted since Help is needed in the
they no longer made any sense. I started with a mystery that one following departments:
day became a romance, and a week later it metamorphosed into a
play! I couldn’t even fire the troublemakers because of the union. -Membership chair
It was a mess.
-Database
After that, I decided—no more experimental novels. I’ll stick
to the conventional ways to write novels so I wouldn’t waste -Contributions to WA
months and come up with nothing. I vowed to save the crazy stuff
for short stories. -Web site (Word press)

—Emery Garriott -Facebook page/group

-Buddy System editor
You have to boil down your ideas to their purest form. You
have to determine the quintessential essence of expressing your -Write Angles co-designer
idea, as Harper Lee did in To Kill A Mockingbird. ...You must (will train in InDesign)
quickly develop the identity of your characters, the setting and Contact calwritersclub@
their mission or dilemma. gmail.com if you can help!
—Gary McIntyre

I am wary of the idea of “experimental” in writing for fear the

idea of experiment will overpower the idea of the storytelling. I
want to tell a story the way it comes to mind, without considering
the form. I’m not a very
Yet I have a story that would be considered experimental.
I had one idea that might seem to be two different stories that
were separate yet connected. I thought the best way to tell this
good writer, but
story was to have two story columns, side by side. In my way of
thinking, I wanted the reader to read across the two columns. It I’m an excellent
didn’t work for anyone but me. I learned that people talk about
new ideas, new ways to express things, but they don’t really mean
it. That, however, does not deter me from playing with other ideas
rewriter.~
that are different, experimental.
I came upon an abandoned house in an affluent —James
neighborhood of Westchester County in New York and set about
doing a photo study of it. The setting inspired a story. Rather
than burden the opening of my story with a lengthy description,
Michener
I inserted the photos with scene-setting text. The technique
appealed to the visual nature of my mind and opened up a new
way of thinking for me. I was pleased with the result. . . which is
the point of writing. Now, I move on from there…
—Dirk Wales

You can be more uninhibited with a short story because you

can deal with the essence of a thought and not be encumbered
with details.  The greatest experiment in shortness I have ever
seen was a performance of thirty-two one-page plays.   Why not
continued on next page...

december 2009 Write Angles • 10

short stories; they were definitely short. They allowed only one
page of content, including dialog and stage directions. Each play Berkeley CWC
was performed by one to five actors. Imagine being cast as a lead Board of Directors
in such a play and having to memorize a five-word script.
President: AL Levenson
—Irv Hamilton
Vice President: Dave Sawle
Because when you cast it in the short form and look at it, Secretary: Jane Glendinning
you may think of a lot of implications that can flesh out your Treasurer: Carlene Cole
original inspiration into a long form.  This is particularly true of
science fiction, and many science fiction novels by masters like Membership: AL Levenson
Bradbury and Asimov are made up of a series of short stories Publicity Chair: Linda Brown
hooked together like boxcars on a train.
Program Chair: Laura Shumaker
—Ray Faraday Nelson
Workshop Chair: Risa Nye
One thing I can do with a short story that I can’t do with a Newsletter Editor: AL Levenson
novel is finish it. Truth be told, the second thing is start it. Copyeditor: Anne Fox
Three years ago the notion of writing a novel was as
intimidating as asking Penny Pollock to the junior prom in Newsletter Production: Kristen
Caven
high school. All the planning of the twists and turns of a story,
keeping the characters busy for a couple of hundred pages, Webmaster: AL Levenson
remembering to put the getaway vehicle on page 30 for the escape Delegate to Central Board: Linda
on page 100. Short stories were the way to get started, to learn Brown
the craft, and avoid getting a hundred pages down the road only
to find the novel that started as a ball of yarn is a tangle of wool Delegate to CWC-Norcal: Lloyd
Lofthouse
with a kitten in there somewhere.
When I wrote my first short story fewer than three years 5th Grade Story Contest: Lucille
ago—I don’t count that dreadful stuff I wrote in college—I was Bellucci
happy to achieve the three basic elements of story: a beginning, WestSide Story Contest: Tatjana
a middle, and an end. That’s before I learned about Character, Greiner
Plot, and Dialogue. Or is it Hook, Conflict, and Crisis?
My stories are much better than they were three years ago,
thanks to the patience of peer critics. They have beginnings
and middles and ends. They have Characters, Narrative Arcs,
and lots of talking. Sometimes they have Hooks, Humor, Happy
Endings.
Today, when I have an idea for a story, I have enough of
The CALIFORNIA WRITERS CLUB
the elements to see me to the end. I can get the first draft down is dedicated to educating members
in one or two sittings. Then I revise it. And revise it. Then I and the public-at-large in the craft
edit it and tweak it. And somewhere around the fourth or fifth of writing and in the marketing of
draft, it feels right, and I take it to my crit group, who are always their work. For more information,
visit our Web site at cwc-berkeley.
willing to inflate the story and deflate my ego. Then back to the com.
laboratory. The struggle is long and no easier. But now it is fun
Copyright © 2009 by the California
in the same way the junior prom was fun. Writers Club, Berkeley Branch.
I am still intimidated by novels, and I plan to call Penny All rights reserved. Write Angles
Pollock and ask her out on a second date. is published 10 times a year
(September-June) by the California
—AL Levenson Writers Club, Berkeley Branch
on behalf of its members. CWC

I try to leave out the parts that

assumes no legal liability or
responsibility for the accuracy,
completeness, or usefulness of
any information, process, product,

people skip. ~Elmore Leonard method or policy described in this

newsletter.

december 2009 Write Angles • 11