How Joining the IECWC Has Advanced My Writing Success
By Richard Alvarado, Inland Empire Branch
A few short years ago, my sister Cynthia Alvarado and I sought advice from my niece, a 15-year veteran librarian in San Francisco, regarding our first attempt at writing a fictional piece for young adults, Chile Town. Chile Town is intended to be a three-part series about the challenges young Latinos face in the inner city. It just so happened that my niece also specializes in Young Adult (YA) books.
Her first impressions didn’t take long, “Uncle Richard, find a book club. They have seasoned writers, authors and even a few independent publishers as members. When you network with them, you’ll get more answers to questions you didn’t even know to ask.”
She was absolutely right! Two years ago, I joined the Inland Empire Chapter of the California Writers Club (IECWC). That initial association spurred me to reach out to other book clubs and resources too. In early September 2019, at a club event, I met David Wogahn, President of Author Imprints (Authorimprints.com). David had just completed a presentation for the IECWC on book reviews and I found him to be knowledgeable about publishing services. My impressions were confirmed.
Listening to publishing, writing, and marketing challenges of other writers in the IECWC lets me know that I’m not alone in this journey. But it goes without saying – I’ll say it anyway – every IECWC meeting has given me food for thought. From reading books in the same genre of my own manuscript stories to simple tips: like outlining the story, writing the ending chapter first (I have yet to try it) or character formation, etc.
There is always something to take away from a IECWC meeting for your own writing process, if you keep an open mind and heart…to hear the writing spirit speak to you, too!
This piece originally appeared in
Fresh Ink October 2020,
the newsletter of the Inland Empire Branch.