I've been making my own sourdough bread since long before the pandemic, starting when I read Michael Pollan's 2013 book Cooked.

At first, I faithfully followed every step of his recipe for every loaf. I meticulously measured grams of salt, flour, and water, and kept track of proofing and baking times to the minute.

In the eight years since, the process has become automatic. I no longer read the recipe. I still measure the flour and water but not the starter. I experiment with different kinds of flour. Sometimes my breads are full of air pockets and sometimes they are dense, depending on how much starter I use.

It struck me recently, as I was shaping dough, that becoming a bread maker resembles the process of growing proficient as a writer—or growing proficient at anything, really. You start with an aspiration to become a bread maker/author. Then you find a mentor with a recipe/advice. You copy the recipe/follow the advice. Maybe the result is satisfactory, maybe not. It’s a result, anyway. Still, it's not exactly your own.

As you become more experienced and more confident, you begin to embody the process. You attain a level of automaticity. You no longer need to think. You let go of the recipe. Your bread/writing becomes delicious in its own way rather than the way of the mentor. You feel free to experiment, knowing that today's loaf may flop but there's always the next one.

Bringing some of what I’ve learned from bread-making to the writing process has helped me become a more proficient and dedicated writer. As you embark on your next (or first) writing project, I hope you’ll do so with the curiosity and sense of experimentation that serves the apprentice bread maker so well.

Happy writing,

Audrey

P.S. All our month's events are listed below but I'd like to draw attention to April's Writers Helping Writers, where I'll be leading "Using Writing Prompts to Spark Your Creativity." Hope to see some of you there!

P.P.S. Nominations for our open board positions are now being accepted. See below for details.

Registration for this meeting is required.

We are appealing to people's inclination to do what's right. Instead of requiring payment before registration, we respectfully request upon confirmation of your registration that you pay $5 (CWC members, any branch), $10 (non-members), or an amount of your choosing.

Note that our main meeting and Think Tank are shifted slightly later to accommodate speaker availability.

Author Jesse Byrd presents

 Creating, publishing, and selling children's picture books

We are suspending our Think Tank program until we are "live" again.

 Creating, publishing, and selling children's picture books

We will explore how to create, publish, market, and sell your children's picture book from inspiration to completion.

Jesse Byrd is an award-winning children's book author and the youngest African American NPR Foundation Board Member. He started his professional journey as a Silicon Valley techie before pivoting to pursue his true passion of creating stories for audiences young and old.

Jesse's been fortunate to perform readings of his children’s books to over 35,000 kids and is currently in partnership with Airbnb Experiences to provide families and corporations with virtual storytime experiences during COVID. Aside from traditional and independent publishing, Jesse is working with one NBA athlete and three non-profits to develop original stories for young readers. Jesse's also been hard at work adapting two of his children's books for consideration to become animated TV series (fingers crossed!).

The election for our executive board will take place during our June meeting. Open positions are PRESIDENT and VICE PRESIDENT. If you are interested in running or nominating a candidate, please contact our nominating committee before April 25.

09:30 – 11:15 Shut Up & Write

09:30 – 11:15 Shut Up & Write

19:00 – 20:00 Writers Helping Writers: San Mateo Main Library

10:00 – 12:00 CWC SF Peninsula Monthly Meeting

09:30 – 11:15 Shut Up & Write

09:30 – 11:15 Shut Up & Write

19:00 – 20:30 Open Mic

The CWC SF Peninsula Branch is a member of the CWC NorCal Group of branches.

The Literary Review is extending the submission deadline from March 15 to APRIL 15, 2021. CWC members, send in your best work for consideration for the 2021 Literary Review. Click here.

Please know that CWC members do not have to write something new. As long as it fits the word requirement of 2,500 or less, you can submit work previously published. (For example, you could send in something that has been in a branch anthology.)

Poetry, as well, may be previously published.

For more information, visit the CWC Publications webpage (and scroll down).

As a member in good standing of the SF Peninsula branch, you can attend other branches' events at their members' rates - no additional charges!

The NorCal CWC Group consists of the following branches:

We also invite you to visit the NorCal Group's calendar which aggregates all branches' events.

March 2021 Spirited Voices: A Writing Journey into the Deep Imagination magazine includes CWC writers Sue Barizon and Tim Flood. Edited and published by Darlene Frank, the magazine is a result of a Writing and Creativity Breakthrough program.

“Urban Cowboy,” James Hanna’s piece of creative fiction about his days as a San Francisco probation officer, appears in Fleas on the Dog.

Ida J. Lewenstein's poem ”Consider the Litter” has been accepted for publication on Earth Day 2021 by the Student Conservation Association’s publication, The Greenway.

Russ Towne just released the audiobook version of The One That Got Away. This western adventure has plenty of shootouts and fistfights for action lovers, and is a tale of lingering love for the ones that got away.

Russ Towne also just released At the Jagged Edge of Shadows: 12 stories evoking the twists, irony, horror, and startling insight of O'Henry, Alfred Hitchcock, and Rod Serling's "Twilight Zone" television series.

Joan Gelfand's Op Ed, "Haunted and inspired by dreams of Ferlinghetti", about Lawrence Ferlinghetti, was published in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Do you have writing news you want to share? Reached a goal? Got your author website up? Have success you want to shout about? Tell us about it!

Send an email to newsletter@sfpeninsulawriters.com with "Member News" as the Subject line, and the following information in the body of the email:

Description - No more than 15 words. Be as creative as your like - prose, verse, rhyme, stream of consciousness, you name it!

Who - your name (or pen name, if you're using one)

What - the exact nature of your success (i.e., short story, novel, website, agent, event, etc)

Where - links are great, or a physical location if it's relevant - or both!

Author and book jacket photos really make your news POP!