‘Ketchup’: Updates on SL Writing Events, Resources, Contests

“Serving ketchup” is what members of my oldest email chat group call it when we write a post that tries to “catch up” with the conversations we’ve been neglecting.  So here’s the first WRITERS IN THE (virtual) SKY “ketchup” post!

Update on the SL Events for Writers Calendar

Slowly, but surely, all the busy writers who organize events for other writers in Second Life are starting to feed additional events into the public Google calendar I set up in the hope of having a central source of information about the many wonderful activities for writers in SL.  I’ve also set up a feed to the calendar in-world, at Story Mountain Center for Writers:

The calendar is displayed on the wall to the left as you enter the ground-floor door of Story Mountain Center for Writers (a writers’ retreat co-owned by Clarissa Tolsen and Alas Zerbino).  It lists the first five upcoming events on the panel, but you can click arrows at the bottom to view more panels of events.  To get details about a particular event, just click on the event you want to see, and that event’s complete information will display, like this:

The calendar already includes a wide variety of events such as:

• Open mics for poets, for storytellers, for comics, and for writers of any creative work
• Poetry workshops
• Short story writing classes
• Playwriting classes
• Improvisational group writing events
• Music/poetry readings
• Live talks by published authors

The “SL Events for Writers” Google calendar is public, so you can:

• Add any event on it to your own public or private Google calendar.
• Add the entire calendar to your Google calendar account.
• Link to the calendar using this URL, or embed it using the code on the “Settings” page for the calendar.
• Email the calendar to yourself or others.

I’m excited at the reception this calendar has gotten so far and look forward to Story Mountain Center’s plans for expanding its information base about other resources and activities for writers in Second Life!

Virtual Worlds Press Club Publishes News Media Directory

More on writing markets in Second Life:  For the most complete list of markets to date, check out the first Directory of News Media published this fall by the Virtual Worlds Press Club in Second Life.  The VWPC is SL’s main media alliance, and its primary purposes are:

• “To provide a focal point through which those toiling in the fields of virtual publications can make contact with each other, exchange views, and enjoy social occasions.”
• “To promote the media in which we work.”

The directory lists Second Life-related periodicals published in SL or on the Web, as well as news services, public relations agencies, radio, and television.  Although its directory is not yet as comprehensive as, say the Writers’ Market annual publications, the Press Club has done a tremendous job of gathering the information for this 26-page book of names, contact information, Web sites, SLURLs, and other ways of contacting the organizations listed. 

As the book’s editors say in its “Forward”:  ”Is it complete? Not by a long shot. But it does contain the major news publications, most of the not-so-major ones, and a whole batch of the minor.“  The group intends to issue quarterly updates as need information is brought to their attention.

To find out how to get a copy of this directory, or for more information about the VWPC, check out the group’s Web site  or its blog.

INKsters Daily Writing Contest Going Strong in 2009

After a scheduled break for National Novel Writing Month in November, and a general slowdown for various and sundry holidays in December, INKsters Competitive Writing Group is going strong with its daily writing competition,  which awards cash prizes.   In fact, as of the first of the year, the prize amount has gone up from L$25 to L$100 per daily winner.  As ItsNaughtKnotty Canned of INKsters writes:

I hope you’re finding your voice in 2009 . . . and if you need a little kick in the fanny, try our prompts! They’re fun and you might win a hundred Linden [dollars]. A new poem, a short story, a quick essay—they all arm you with words, and as Conrad says, ‘Words are the great foes of reality’. Make your own reality today.

I, too, hope you’re sounding your writer’s voice strong this year!  If you need some inspiration, motivation, or just plain peer support, come see all the resources here in the virtual world of Second Life!

Tagged as: SL open mic, writers calendar, writers resources