BEGIN:VCALENDAR
METHOD:PUBLISH
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
PRODID:-//EVDB//www.eventful.com//EN
VERSION:2.0
X-WR-CALNAME:December Meetup in San Diego at Postal code 92008\, Unite
	d States - Eventful
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART:20081202T193000
DTSTAMP:20081202T111637Z
SUMMARY:December Meetup
DESCRIPTION:  NOTE: THE MEETUP TIME HAS CHANGED FROM 7:00 to 7:30! FOR
	 ALL OF YOU AWESOME PEOPLE WHO ARE EXCITED ENOUGH ABOUT THE GROUP TO S
	HOW UP EARLY\, PLEASE ARRIVE NO SOONER THAN 5 MINUTES\, 10 TOPS. AT TH
	E MOMENT\, THE MEETUP LOCATION IS A PRIVATE RESIDENCE. THANK YOU FOR Y
	OUR COOPERATION\, AND OF COURSE\, YOUR ENTHUSIASM! ***Your desire to h
	ave monthly "exercises" has paid off! The organizers have folded under
	 your buoyant enthusiasm! Instead of setting aside a separate meetup o
	r workshop for this\, we've decided to post an optional "Monthly Exerc
	ise" for the regular meetups. If you choose to do the Monthly Exercise
	 for any given meetup\, we ask that that be your share time\, as it wi
	ll be considered a substitute for what you normally would have brought
	 to be critiqued. This month's exercise is: WRITE A SHORT STORY IN YOU
	R FAVORITE GENRE\, WITH A THEME YOU'VE NEVER TRIED BEFORE OR SWORE YOU
	'D NEVER WRITE. For example\, if you've only written humorous fantasy\
	, but have never tried dark or serious fantasy\, do that. Or\, if you'
	ve only written terestrial sci-fi\, try writing a space opera. Or\, if
	 your horrors are the gory-creature type\, try writing something entie
	rly psychological. Or. vice versa. Or\, you could choose to do one of 
	the exercises from the last several months: 1- write a scene where you
	r protagonist is blind\, and must rely on his or her other 4 senses to
	 navigate a sticky situation. (Remember\, the key here is 'show' don't
	 'tell'). 2-"While not the intended effect\, the result was surprising
	ly satisfying." Now write a scene\, using this as your first line. (Co
	mpliments of the First Line Literary Journal). 3- do a rewrite on the 
	oldest story you've every written (if it's long\, chose a scene). 4- s
	um up your most current novel in one\, no more than two sentences. Thi
	s is called a "PITCH" (or sometimes a "hook"). 5- write a SHORT SYNOPS
	IS (similar to the blurb found on the back cover of a book) of your mo
	st current novel--no more than two paragraphs max\, but no shorter tha
	n three sentences. 6- write a 3-5 page\, double-spaced SYNOPSIS (book 
	report style) of your most current novel. 7- fill out the character sp
	readsheet--downloadable from the File category in the left-hand column
	--for the protagonist of your most current story. 8- in a one-liner\, 
	poke fun at one or all of your novels\, shorts\, and/or flash fictions
	\, especially the ones that are dark\, serious\, and/or complex. An ex
	ample would be my own novel\, Shadow Gate\, because\, "You know\, ther
	e's something about government conspiracy that they're just . . . not 
	. . . telling us." !!! 9- write a short story composed of nothing but 
	cliches. 10- "Hello\, I am French and I am evil\, but my name is not D
	elacroix." Now write a scene. 11- write an ABC story--every sentence m
	ust begin with a subsequent letter of the alphabet\, from A to Z. 12- 
	write a short story involving a leprechaun\, a sick dragon\, and a spa
	ceship without breaks (or any combination of the above). 13- write a p
	ara-is-this-normal? love scene. 14- write a scene that starts out with
	 your protagonist(s) either dead or about to die\, and write him/her/t
	hem out of it. 15- write 10 hook lines. An example would be Linda's al
	l time favorite from The Chronicles of Narnia (C. S. Lewis): "There on
	ce was a boy named Eustace Clarence Scrubb\, and he almost deserved it
	." ---------------------------------------------------- Directions to 
	Meghan's Enchanted Hollow of Introspection (from I-5): --Take the 78 E
	ast for approximately 7 miles --Exit onto Sycamore Ave and turn RIGHT 
	--Take your first RIGHT onto Thibodo Rd. --Go approximately 1 mile and
	 turn RIGHT into the Monarch at Shadowridge Apartment complex (the gat
	e code is #1776\, or you can follow a car through) --Veer RIGHT all th
	e way around the mailboxes (equivalent to 2 right turns) --Take your l
	ast LEFT --Arrive at Building 1924\n
LOCATION:Postal code 92008\, United States @ Carlsbad, California 9200
	8 United States
SEQUENCE:1228216597
UID:E0-001-017601903-6
URL:http://eventful.com/E0-001-017601903-6
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR