Writers’ Mill saw 8 attendees in-person and 7 online in March, for a total of 15 people. The topic was dramedy, and the meeting was structured like a writers’ room creating a comedy drama from a newspaper article. Conversation was lively and exciting, and full of invaluable lessons for all writers—fiction, memoir, even poetry as well as drama. I will try to convey what we learned in these minutes for the benefit of those who missed out. But more important than the details of discussion was the chance to see and hear feedback directly from our fellow writers, readers, and audience members. An invaluable session—thank you Ria.
Housekeeping
Sheila opened with the usual reminders to online members:
- Headphones and transcript make it easier to see/hear what’s being said
- Chat lets you communicate silently, and someone will try to monitor the chat
- Silence your mic if things get noisy
And to in person members
- Remember to face the front/microphone when you speak so everyone can hear you
Hopefully having our speaker sit near the front helped with this. I’d appreciate any feedback from those of you that were online—could you hear the speakers in the room?
Ezine News
This month’s ezine, Embrace the Unknown, was hosted by Karin and resulted in some really great reading. Find it at https://www.portlandwritersmill.org/contests/march-2025-ezine-contest-page/march-2025-entries-voting-page/ and enjoy, if you haven’t already done so. But please, try your best to read comment and vote every month. Your feedback is invaluable to your fellow writers.
MOST VOTES:
Steve for his poem “For Future Reference”
SECOND MOST VOTES (TIED):
Lyndsay for “Quest for the Unknown Quantity”
Gary for “The New Atonal Polacks Forever Existential Blues Band”
THIRD MOST VOTES:
Sheila for her poem “The Path Not Yet Taken”
OTHER ENTRIES:
- China’s Choice BY Peter
- Embracing the Unknown (poem) BY Susan
- Kitkit Embraces the Unknown BY Sheila
- Possibility in the Unknown BY Judy
- Surprises in my Life BY Jessie
- Moving Again ESSAY BY Karin (host)
UPCOMING CONTESTS:
- APRIL – deadline is April 6, THEME: Art in Life and Art Coming to Life
Basically, base your story, essay, poem on an image (photo, painting, drawing—we will do our best to include any images you send us on the ezine pages). You might choose to relate what you see, feel, hear in your mind when viewing it as something affecting the life of your main character (fiction), yourself (essay), or your understanding of truth about life (poetry), thus bringing art into life. Or… see https://www.portlandwritersmill.org/contests/april-2025-ezine-contest-page/ for more ideas. - MAY—Deadline is May 4th, THEME: Peering Through a Window: More details at https://www.portlandwritersmill.org/contests/upcoming-contests/
- JUNE—Deadline is June 1st, THEME: Sun, Sea, and Sky
Speaker
Ria Russell attended a dramedy class given by two Hollywood writers at a writing conference, and brought the experience to us all through a news article (ironically an NBC (peacock) article about a “therapy peacock” and it’s owner being refused permission to fly). We all had access to the article before the meeting and everyone had read it, so we were able to go straight into the “writers’ room” to plan our script. Find notes from the session at: https://www.portlandwritersmill.org/18/dramedy-with-ria-russell-march-2025/
Ria will take the notes from our workshop and turn them into a script in time for us to include it in this year’s anthology. The anthology submission deadline is the end of the first Sunday in August.
Anthology
Before the meeting ended, Sheila asked members if we want to release another anthology this year. Responses were mixed, but we did have a number of members who volunteered to help. So… if enough people send in enough submissions, we will produce an anthology, releasing it in time for Christmas sales. The ball is now in your court folks.
The deadline for submissions is the end of the 1st Sunday in August, so you might want to start polishing those ezine submissions and anything else you were planning on writing, ready to submit. The usual rules will apply:
- Up to five submissions per member
- No more than 5,000 words total per member
- Any topic, any genre, just don’t deliberately offend anyone
- You agree to help us perform light edits on your work, and you agree that you will not change your mind and withdraw the submission after the first Sunday in August
- If you include illustrations, please be sure they are NOT AI generated and NOT under copyright (or, if they might be copyrighted, please produce evidence of permission to use them).
- Send submissions to anthology @ portlandwritersmill . org (remove spaces)
Next Meeting
Don’t forget, our next meeting is NOT on the 3rd Sunday of the month, but is on April 27th (4th Sunday) instead, to accommodate those of us, including myself, celebrating Easter. I’ll include reminders with the minutes and the various other emails. But it’s your job to read the reminders and remember. See you then.