Turn anecdotes into publishable material

On Feb. 11, local author Samantha Waltz distills her years of publishing experience in a presentation for the Salem chapter of Willamette Writers. Entitled “Telling and Selling: How To Write and Market Personal Stories,” the program focuses on turning personal anecdotes into publishable stories.

Waltz has been selling stories steadily since the age of 11. She has currently published more than three dozen pieces. Her work is heavily featured in popular anthologies such as Chicken Soup for the Soul and A Cup of Comfort series. Her recent work, Turning Sixty Thinking Thirty, won this year’s first place in the Oregon Writers Colony ‘True Stories’ writing contest.

The presentation is highly interactive for participants.

“This is a hands-on workshop rather than a lecture," Waltz said. "Each participant comes up with a story idea, develops it in terms of a plot arc and character arc, begins a draft, and look at his or her own work in terms of various elements of the writing craft."

The information included could be valuable information to the would-be memoirist. The difference between a journal of memories and publishable memoirs is what Waltz addresses.

“In what I've seen, many people do not start with a specific idea," she said. "Say they want to write about their dog. They don't come up with a specific angle like how their dog did in obedience school or how he saved a two-year-old from drowning. Editors want a very defined and original angle. Once a writer has a story to tell, they need to tell it in a compelling way.”

Meetings are held upstairs at the West Salem Roth's, 1130 Wallace Road, beginning at 6:30 p.m. The cost is $5 for guests of members and $10 for non-members.

Poetry in motion

Come explore geography, sociology and poetry with the lecture, “Currents of Reclamation: Poetry, Water, and Work in the Columbia River Basin."

The talk is an examination of how regional poets use their art to understand and explain the people and ecology of the of the Columbia River. Poets whose works are included in the study includes William Stafford, Elizabeth Woody, Sherman Alexie and Ed Edmo

Chad Wigglesworth leads the presentation on Feb. 17 at Willamette University's Hatfield Room of the Hatfiled Library, 900 State Street.

The free event begins at 7 p.m. For more information contact the Willamette University English department at gmoon@willamette.edu.