August meeting notes

SWC Vice President Shirley Brown, left, presided ably at the August 30 meeting. Shirley announced a new section of the monthly meeting to begin in September. “Making a Mark” will be time for members to report their writing successes and frustrations. We want to hear when you have something accepted for publication, but also when you’ve earned a rejection letter. To get acceptances OR rejections, you have to submit! Every time you report having submitted something for publication since the last meeting, you will be awarded a fun, burgundy-and-silver ballpoint pen imprinted with “Making a Mark, Shreveport Writers Club.”

Another new feature of monthly meetings, Writers’ Tips, was inaugurated by June Dowis, right, who spoke for five minutes on "How To Create an Instant Bestselling Novel." Russell McConnell will present Writers’ Tips at the September meeting. Be thinking of something you can share at a future meeting!

SWC Members will shortly receive a questionnaire in the mail. You are asked to respond thoughtfully but quickly and send the questionnaire back to the board in the postage-paid envelope that will accompany it. Board members hope to implement some changes in the club to make it more useful to current members and more attractive to potential members. The questionnaire is your chance to tell the board how you feel about what we’re doing now and what we might do in the future. Responses may be anonymous if you prefer.

SWC bylaws have not been updated since 1996. The board has been working on a version to suit our current group and will present the new bylaws to the membership at the September meeting. Copies of the old bylaws are also available for perusal. A vote to accept the revised version, or not, will be taken at the October meeting.