Slate asked some writers what font they preferred. The winner seems to be Courier.

So that’s why I’m not a best-selling writer yet! Stupid Times New Roman…

~ Joy

Word Pirates,

Last night’s meeting was swell. We were inspired by the beginning of Kurt Vonnegut’s novel Breakfast of Champions where he breaks U.S. culture down into very simple terms. He explains America as though he were explaining it to a child, breaking down all facts to their smallest components. By doing this, he creates a sharp satire of American culture that is clear, un-cliched, and political. (You can read the beginning of the novel on Amazon to get an idea what I’m talking about — click on “Look Inside” and read part of Chapter 1.)

So for the prompt, we tried to break something down. First, we had a practice prompt where we all tried to break down ordering at a fast-food restaurant. We all had different takes on the subject, which was entertaining to hear. Then we wrote for another 20 minutes on the official prompt where we broke down anything that we want. It made us all very philosophical!

Next meeting, June 7, we are going to tackle our half-finished pieces. Please bring in a piece that you are stuck on or haven’t had a chance to finish. We are going to workshop it and then will use the prompt time to finish the piece. The goal is to get some of those problem pieces into a finished draft form by the end of the meeting. Or at least, get farther along on them.

See you June 7.

~ Joy

Quick. Think of a really famous American writer. OK, is this person an alcoholic? Probably! The profession is filled with souses!

Writers – and other artists – are known as booze hounds. No surprise there. But I still find it really fascinating. I am hard-pressed to make a list of great writers that isn’t at least half, if not more, full of dipsomaniacs. (I’m running out of kicky names for alcoholics here …)

Of the Americans (as in American-born) who won Nobel Prizes in literature, there are only two who aren’t alcoholics (as far as I know). And they’re the women. Way to go, Pearl S. Buck and Toni Morrison!

1930 – Sinclair Lewis
1936 – Eugene O’Neill
1949 – William Faulkner
1954 – Ernest Hemingway (This post’s title is supposedly something he said to another famous drunk writer, F. Scott Fitzgerald.)
1962 – John Steinbeck

I don’t know what conclusions to draw. I discourage you all from becoming alcoholics. However, to end on an up note, here are some pirate-themed cocktail recipes. Cheers!

-Marcia

Artillery
2 oz. Gin
1/2 oz. Sweet Vermouth
2 Dashes Bitters
In a mixing glass filled with ice, add the gin, sweet vermouth and bitters and stir well. Strain into a chilled martini glass.

Devil’s Poison
1 oz. Jack Daniels
1 oz. 151 Bacardi Rum
Fill a shaker with ice, pour the Jack Daniels and 151 Bacardi Rum into shaker and shake. Strain into a shot glass.

Grog
2 oz. Dark Rum
3 oz. Water
Pour the rum and water into an old fashion glass and stir well.

Last night we celebrated Word Pirates’ slightly belated birthday with a delicious fruit-ladened cheesecake provided by Marcia. Happy one year birthday Word Pirates!

At last night’s meeting we covered a lot. We covered so much that Marcia and I forgot to have people read their work at the beginning of the meeting. First, we talked about our writing goals. It was a productive discussion where each of us said what we want to ultimately do with writing, what we are working on, and our current roadblocks as writers. I plan to e-mail the WPs a list of everyone’s goals once I hear from a few people who weren’t able to make it to last night’s meeting so we’re all up-to-date on this subject.

Secondly, we discussed entering a contest as a group. Joy and Marcia would find an essay contest with a deadline of, say, two months down the road. We would use a prompt to write for the contest, then another meeting to critique each other’s work, and then (hopefully) all submit to the contest by the deadline. The idea is that we will all work together to get our writing out there, and if a WP wins, they get a treat or something!

Everyone liked this idea so there will be more information at the May 17th meeting. Morgan shared some of his experience with submitting to contests and Joy told everyone about the Glamour’s Annual Essay Contest, which has a $10,000 prize and is free to enter. The deadline is July 16 for any interested WPs. Guidelines:

Is there a personal story that defines you, that tells the world about how you became the person you are today? Was it a relationship that surprised you? A journey that inspired you? An obstacle you overcame? We’d love to read about it! Enter it in our nonfiction contest by sending us a typed, double-spaced manuscript of 2,500 to 4,000 words.

After we covered all this, we talked about getting at least one new member for Word Pirates. Since we have had one or two members leave, we are interested in finding a new candidate to join the group. The person must be talented and serious about writing, so if you know anyone who might like to join, let us know.

Finally, the prompt: Write an essay for the Modern Love column of The New York Times. This column takes essays (1,500-2,000 words) about love and family relationships that have an unusual twist or have a connection with what’s going on in culture right now. Some past essays were about a groom being a Groomzilla, a woman being addicted to love and going into treatment for it, and–the one Marcia read aloud–a woman who read her nanny’s blog and started making creepy assumptions about who the girl is based on that. I might be editorializing a bit there. I can’t stand the woman who wrote this essay, but it is honest and interesting. Give it a look and then try your own Modern Love column.

Next meeting is May 17. See you there.

~ Joy

OK, so the “adorable baby” part may have been a ploy to get your attention. But there is a campaign to save book reviews, led by the National Book Critics Circle.

Over the past five years, one by one, newspapers have begun to forsake books and their readers. … Not long ago, the San Francisco Chronicle Book Review, which has readership levels in excess of fifty percent, was folded into another part of the paper. The community protested, it was restored, but just recently the section was cut in half in order to make space for an advertisement.

Elsewhere at the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, Newsday, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the Memphis Commercial Appeal, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Dallas Morning News, the Sun Sentinel, the New Mexican, the Village Voice, Boston Phoenix, the Atlanta Journal Constitution and dozens upon dozens of other papers book coverage has been cut back or slashed all together, moved, winnowed, filled with more wire copy, or generally been treated as expendable.

And we’re getting tired of it. We’re tired of watching individual voices from local communities passed over for wire copy. … We’re tired of hearing newspapers fret and worry over the future of print while they dismantle the section of the paper which deals most closely with the two things which have kept them alive since the dawn of printing presses: the public’s hunger for knowledge and the written word.

The blog posts by concerned writers, opinion pieces and petitions the organization is publicizing are a great effort that I hope makes a difference. However, I am not too optimistic.

-Marcia