NOTE: The next Beanery Writing Group meeting is June 8, 2007 at 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. at the Coffee Bean Café on Rt. 30 in Latrobe, Pa.
At the May 25, 2007, Beanery Writers Group meeting there were three new members, so those present introduced themselves. Mustang Sally shared information of working a table of contents, and how to alphabetize a table of contents using Excel, both special programs on the computer, something she found incredibly nifty. She will be available to show others how to do the tasks. She wrote a book, Mustang Sally’s Guide to Bicycling. She’s attending a storytelling workshop soon. Regina is a student at California State University (in Pennsylvania). She needs to publish a book for her Master’s Degree. Linda, is from Export, Pa., now living in Latrobe. An orthodontics technician on leave, she has successfully published technical and travel items. She’s working on a children’s book for adults-adult book for children. She needs help with transitions and quotes. Ron has published some non-fiction and also writes fiction. For Joan, editing is more her thing than writing. “I love editing.” Joe’s had a few things published in Focus Magazine and is published in a few other magazines. Carolyn mentioned writing her historic romance novel. Next we discussed a list of words most frequently I-net searched for spelling. Most were person’s names. The list came off an I-net news article
In lieu of a prompt, we did the following exercise: Fill in the blanks with your answers. (From: How to Outgrow Write What You Know by Jenna Glatzer)
1. If time and money weren't factors, I'd love to take a course in __________.
2. I've always wanted to ask (person you know)________ about _________________________.
3. I've always wanted to know how ________ works.
4. My life would improve if I could only __________.
5. When I have a sleepless night, it's usually because I'm worried about ____________________.
6. The worst injustice I can think of is __________.
7. When I was a kid, I was really passionate about ________.
8. I have always been embarrassed to admit that ____________really interests me.
9. In my life, I have overcome ______________.
10. If I could volunteer for just one cause, it would be _______________.
11. I wish I were better at _______________.
12. I have always wondered why __________.
You may have lots of answers for each statement. That's great! Each answer is a possible article topic. Most of them won't be specific enough (or perhaps too specific) for an article, but they should give you lots of new starting points from which to brainstorm angles. After members bravely shared their answers, a discussion followed on “writing what you know.” Click back tomorrow (www.ProBlogs/beanerywriters category BW MEMBERS & VISITORS) for a brief review of the discussion). We ended the meeting with sharing and critiquing items. Regina read a children’s item on the Muskrat; Joe a story about a mutt, Ralph, and Sal shared on 1752 soldiers. | 
