This evening Ron Moore described ten disciplines that have helped him write weekly sermons for the past several decades. If you focus on any one of these items, your writing career is sure to benefit.
- Determine your goal. We need to know what we want to accomplish as a writer and what we want to accomplish through our readers.
- Know your audience. Whether the audience is familiar or unfamiliar, it's vital to understand their expectations.
- Set aside a day, time and place. Ron sets aside Thursday to write his sermons. He has a designated room with a computer and his books. He turns down Thursday invitations and delegates responsibility to his staff for everything that comes up on Thursdays.
- Reduce distractions. Ron's writing room includes a computer and books, but no TV, radio or telephone! This is his writing room. He also has a prayer chair in his home. The only time he sits in the prayer chair is when he prays.
- Develop a thesis statement. Every piece of writing, whether it's an article, a chapter or a book, must have one specific goal or theme that runs throughout. If you can't boil it down to one sentence yet, then you still have some work to do.
- Write, write, write. Ron encourages writers to read books about writing. He recommends On Writing by Stephen King, Before We Get Started: A Practical Memoir of the Writer's Life by Bret Lott, and Writing for the Soul: Instruction and Advice from an Extraordinary Writing Life.
- Revise, revise. Ron reminds everyone to appreciate how easy it is for us to revise now that we have word processors. Hemingway retyped one of his manuscripts 23 times!
- Collaborate. Get involved with a writers critique group where you can work on improving your writing on a regular basis.
- Read. It's important to read books similar to what you want to publish. Read good books in your field. Don't just read for pleasure, but read with the "eye of a writer."
- Rest. God told us to work for six days and then to rest with him on the seventh.
Buddy Putman joined the FCCW leadership team this evening, volunteering for the Sergeant at Arms position. In this role, Buddy will do the following:
- maintain & post club signs so that visitors can find us easily
- maintain stopwatches and other equipment so that everything is presentable and in good working order
- arrange & confirm the room is ready 15 minutes before meeting is scheduled to begin
- works with MC to ensure that meeting starts on time
- at end of meeting assures that room is left in same condition or better than when group arrived
Today I, Lorraine Haataia, President FCCW, opened a checking account for FCCW. Initial deposit was $160 from funds collected for membership dues, donations and door prize tickets. I need to file for a nonprofit tax ID and then follow up with the bank. The Treasurer will handle the account. Officers make financial decisions by consensus.
If you're interested in serving on the FCCW leadership team, we still have a few openings:
- President: Lorraine Haataia
- Vice President of Education: Mary McCormack
- Vice President of Membership: Debi Wilson
- Vice President of Public Relations: OPEN
- Secretary: OPEN
- Treasurer: Inez Holger
- Sergeant at Arms: Buddy Putman
- Web Master: OPEN
Officers meet the last Thursday of the month following our regular meeting, from 8:50-9:20 PM.
Total Attendees at today's meeting: 6
Total current members: 10
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