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AUGUST MONTHLY NEWS
At last the competition is on. It will be launched in the Gazette next Thursday 11th August. Rather than write out the details, I have attached the main information to the end of the newsletter. Again our sponsors are While Away book shop in Macrossan St, your support for this business would certainly help our cause. The breakdown of the prizes will be announced in the Gazette, with the launch advertisement.
WORD OF THE MONTH
SHEMOZZLE
Pronunciation: shê-MAH-zêl
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: 1. A noisy row, a loud argument, a yelling match. 2.
A mess, a confused, muddled situation, a shambles.
Notes: Don't be misled by the beginning of this word: men
are just as likely to be involved in a shemozzle as a woman.
You can, however, use the pronoun 'she' as a mnemonic
device for remembering how the word is spelled. Today's
word is related to 'schlemiel' "a jerk" and schlimazel "a loser
with no luck", which is the same word as today's in a different
guise. According to Leo Rosten ('Hooray for Yiddish!'), if a
waiter spills the soup he is carrying, he is a schlemiel; the
person who gets it down the neck is a schlimazel.
In Play: Basically, a shemozzle is a noisy argument: "When
Lenny came home at 2 AM last night we heard a big
shemozzle next door." However, it also works to express a
shambles, a word sharing quite a few sound similarities, too:
"We haven't had any big corporate shemozzles since the
Enron-WorldCom era."
Word History: Today's Good Word entered British slang at the end of the 19th century as
'schlemozzel' from Yiddish shlim mazel "rotten luck, a person with rotten luck". 'Shlim' came
to Yiddish from German schlimm "bad", and 'mozzle' is Hebrew mazzal "luck". This latter
word, spelled differently, also appears in the Yiddish toast, 'Mazel tov!' from Hebrew mazzal
tov "congratulations" from mazzal "luck" + Hebrew tov "good". So, whether you are a
schlemiel or a schlimazel, or involved in a shemozzle, we wish you, Mazel tov!
DATES FOR THE DIARY
Meeting Dates 2011
Always a Thursday
6:30pm-8:30pm
18 th Aug
15 th Sep
20 th Oct
17 th Nov
15 th Dec
THIS MONTH'S ASSISTANCE SECTION
Waiting for the Mood to Strike
Why this is a mistake: While writing is an emotional art form, it is also a business. Too many people, when they are first starting out, think it’s all about working when the mood is right. They might be waiting a very long time. Most writers I’ve talked to say that what they write when the mood is right is pretty much the same as what they write when the mood isn’t. While a large part of a writer’s work consists of thinking, a writer isn’t paid for those thoughts A writer is paid for the words that are written. The solution: Write. That sounds simple, but writers will go to amazing lengths to do anything other than the one thing the job title requires them to do.
One of the greatest curses for writers is the Internet. When I taught martial arts, my students’ moods were of no concern to me, and I think it’s the same way with writing. If you force yourself to write, regardless of what you feel, you will begin to see that what you create is of the same quality, no matter your mood.
Also, you’ll find that as you make it a habit to write more and more, those other habits that kept you from writing will go away and you will become more efficient. While writing is an emotional
business, it is still a business, and you Just as people in pretty much every other business have to get up and go to work regardless of what they feel like when the schedule calls for it, so does a writer. Sometimes you just have to grind it out. Also, there are other aspects
of the business of writing besides writing that you can do if the muse has truly deserted you. There is research to be done, marketing, making sure your business records are in order, teaching, conferences, notes to be put in order, presentations to be updated, outlines to be
prepared for future books, previous books to be edited, etc.
With thanks again to ‘70 Solutions to common writing mistakes’ by Bob Mayer
This month’s meeting is on Thursday 18TH AUGUST at The Book Lounge, Grant Street, Port Douglas. We would like all to bring something to read for a critique session. See you all.
The 250 words for this month:
‘The cicadas shrilled in the distance’.
Now there is a teaser let’s see what comes up.
2011 Port Douglas and Mossman Gazette with Reef Writers
The 4th Short Story and Poetry Competition
Open to all writers and residents in Australia
Rules of Competition
- The closing date for the competition is 5pm Friday 29th September 2011
- The theme (or subject) is “movement”
- Entries can be fiction or non-fiction.
There four categories:
1. Open: Story length must not exceed 1,500 words.
2. Junior story: (10-16 Years) Story length must not exceed 600 words.
3. Poetry: Open, poetry length must not exceed 60 Lines
4. Junior Poetry: poetry length must not exceed 30 lines
Maximum three entries per person.
Posted entries:
- Must be typed, double-spaced on one side of A4 paper.
- Each page should be numbered.
- Do not put your name on any pages.
- Use only plain type face such as, Courier New or Times New Roman font (12pt).
- Entries can be posted or emailed or delivered
Emailed entries:
- The words "Writing Competition" should be in the Subject field of the email.
- The Email Entry Form should be copied and pasted into the body of the Email.
- The Entry should be on a Word document, attached to the email. The email address is:
reefwriters@gmail.com
These must be received by 5pm on Friday 29th September 2011
- If posted, entries should not be bound, or in a folder.Subject; 2011 Writing Competition
- Attach the Postal Entry Form with a paper clip
- The postal address is: Gazette/Reef Writers 2011 Competition. PO Box 917,Port Douglas, QLD, 4877 (Please fill the above on your email and attach your entry)
- Or delivered to, reception @ the Gazette. Saltwater Building, Cnr. Grant and Macrossan St, Port Douglas.
- Winners will be notified by mail or e-mail, and posted in The Gazette on Thursday 26 th October 2011
- Entries cannot have been previously published or entered into another competition. All rights remain with the author. Entries will not be returned.
- Judges for this competition will be selected by The Gazette and Reef Writers. The judges' decisions will be final and no correspondence will be entered into.
- Entrants must sign this agreement. Entering this Competition constitutes acceptance of these conditions. The sending of an e-mail entry (no signature required) also
constitutes acceptance of these conditions.
___________________________________________________________________________
The Gazette/Reef Writers
Short Story and Poetry Competition 2011
Name:.... ………………………………………………….
Address:………………………………………………….
....................................................................................... Postcode:…….
Telephone: ......................................................................................
Email: ...............................................................................................
Short Story Open class
Short Story Junior class
Poetry Open
Poetry Junior
Title of Entry: ..................................................................................
Word/Line Count:…….
I acknowledge that I am the owner of the copyright for all submitted entries. By signing
this agreement I accept the rules of this competition.
Signed:………………………………….
Signed; Parent/ Guardian/Teacher for Junior entry……………………………………..Mail entries must be received by 5pm Friday 29th September 2011 addressed to:
The Gazette /Reef Writers 2011 Competition
PO Box 917 Port Douglas QLD
4877
Email Entry Form
2011 The Gazette/Reef Writers
Short Story and Poetry Competition
Closes Friday 29th September 2011
Name:
Address:
Telephone:
Email Address:
Entry Type: Short Story/Poetry
Classification: Open/Junior
Short Story, Word Count:
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