News

"Plot is the series of events that moves your characters and story forward." – Holly Lisle, Holly Lisle's Create a Plot Clinic

Without a plot, you don't have a story. But there's a lot of confusion around what exactly a plot is, and how it differs from your story's structure and conflicts. In our October 1st meeting, we'll discuss and illustrate the differences between plot, structure, and conflict. We'll look at some tools for organizing your project, and tools for breaking plotting logjams, and we'll hopefully help you think of plot as a process rather than a product. 

Janice Carello teaches Composition at Buffalo State College, and has taught composition, creative writing or literature courses at area colleges including MCC and SUNY-Brockport. She has previously lead a workshop for R-Spec on breaking writer's block. Eric's story "Interesting Times" appeared in R-Spec's anthology 2034: Writing Rochester's Futures, which they both helped to edit. 

Presenter: Janice Carello & Eric Scoles
Location: Barnes & Noble, Pittsford
Meeting Time: October 1, 2013 from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.

So, just what is “speculative fiction” poetry and should it be a separate poetry genre? In our September 3rd meeting, Alan Vincent Michaels, poet, author, and R-SPEC’s Program Officer, will lead a discussion and open reading on what speculative fiction poetry is, what it isn’t, and why you should care. He’ll share selected published and new poems, and, if you are a poet who would like to read your own poem, we’ll choose some of your scifaiku, horrorku, short prose poems, and rhyming poems to share with those gathered.

Presenter: Alan Vincent Michaels
Location: Barnes & Noble, Pittsford
Meeting Time: September 3, 2013 from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.

Copyright. Intellectual property. Licensing your writing and artwork. Just what is all this “legal stuff” and what does it mean for the speculative fiction writer, poet, and artist? In our August 6th meeting, David Henn, intellectual property attorney and R-SPEC’s publisher, will present information on the importance of copyright and ensuring your literary creations are protected when you send them out into the universe (or at least around the Earth). David is currently special counsel at Hoffman Warnick LLC, with more than two decades of experience as an intellectual property lawyer.

Presenter: David Henn
Location: Barnes & Noble, Pittsford
Meeting Time: August 6, 2013 from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.

In our July 2 meeting, attendees are invited to read from their current or in-progress works -- older or sold stories and poems are also welcome. Short pieces or a portion of a longer work (up to 2,000 words) are preferred, so everyone has sufficient reading time and attendees, if they desire, may provide their feedback. After the readings conclude and time permits, attendees may share with the group what they are currently reading.

Moderator: Alan Michaels
Location: Barnes & Noble, Pittsford
Meeting Time: July 2, 2013 from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.

“Where do you get your ideas?” is probably the question writers get asked more often than any other, and the answers they give are probably as varied as the authors themselves.

So, where do writers get their story ideas? Is it just inspiration and day dreaming? Is it writing about what they know (or what they don’t know)? Is it reading the news or magazines? Maybe, it’s surfing the Internet or talking with friends and fellow writers. Most likely, it’s all of the above and a whole lot of sources we don’t even consider to be “idea generators.”

In our June 4th meeting, R-SPEC’s Alan Vincent Michaels will lead a discussion on generating story ideas to help you get your stories started and finished!

Facilitator: Alan Michaels

Location: Barnes & Noble, Pittsford
Meeting Time: May 4, 2013 from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.
See our poster!

In our May meeting, Astronomicon organizer and Rochester Fantasy Fans president Wayne Brown will lead a discussion on how to integrate magical weapons and weapon systems into your work.

Presenter: Wayne Brown, Astronomicon / Rochester Fantasy Fans
Location: Barnes & Noble, Pittsford
Meeting Time: May 7, 2013 from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.

In our April 2 meeting, attendees are invited to read from their current or in-progress works -- older or sold stories and poems are also welcome. Short pieces or a portion of a longer work (up to 2,000 words) are preferred, so everyone has sufficient reading time and attendees, if they desire, may provide their feedback. After the readings conclude and time permits, attendees may share with the group what they are currently reading.

Moderator: Alan Michaels
Location: Barnes & Noble, Pittsford
Meeting Time: April 2, 2013 from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.

The finalists for the 2012 Nebula Awards have been announced. SFSignal has been kind enough to post the nominees along with download links, where they're aware of them. (We'll put up a poll for our visitors to pick their choices.)

Literary forms are influenced by cultural styles, historical conventions, technological innovations, and personal preferences, just to name a few. Traditional books and magazines are now making way for ebooks and online, Web-based, immersive experiences that Johannes Gutenberg and religious scribes of ages long past could never have imagined. In our March 5th meeting, guest presenters Dana Paxson and Pat Rapp will discuss how literary forms have been evolving over the last several decades, present some of their own approaches to delivering story content, and show how these new literary forms might help you better tell your own stories.

Presenters: Dana Paxson and Pat Rapp
Location: Barnes & Noble, Pittsford
Meeting Time: March 5, 2013 from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.

Here's our tentative 2013 program schedule.