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WMW 2025 Writing Challenge Day 5

March 7, 2025 1 Comment

Writing Challenge Day 5

According to Jim Rohn, “Words do two major things: They provide food for the mind and create light for understanding and awareness.” What two major things do words do for you?

 

Prepare for the Writing Challenge

During Words Matter Week, we host a writing challenge. Each day we will post a question on our blog and various social media outlets.

Respond to the question on your blog or social media page (be sure to include #WMW2025 in your response), and then link back to it in the comments of the corresponding article on the NAIWE blog. For each challenge you respond to, you will receive one entry (and a bonus entry for each response written on your NAIWE blog).

At the end of the week, we will have a drawing, and one person will win a fabulous prize, along with a mention and link in the next newsletter.

Categories: Events, National Days, News, Words Matter Week, Writing

WMW 2025 Writing Challenge Day 4

March 6, 2025 1 Comment

Writing Challenge Day 4

Words boost our understanding and bring about a level of awareness. What word has increased your understanding and brought you to a higher level of awareness? And how did it do this?

 

Prepare for the Writing Challenge

During Words Matter Week, we host a writing challenge. Each day we will post a question on our blog and various social media outlets.

Respond to the question on your blog or social media page (be sure to include #WMW2025 in your response), and then link back to it in the comments of the corresponding article on the NAIWE blog. For each challenge you respond to, you will receive one entry (and a bonus entry for each response written on your NAIWE blog).

At the end of the week, we will have a drawing, and one person will win a fabulous prize, along with a mention and link in the next newsletter.

Categories: Events, National Days, News, Words Matter Week, Writing

WMW 2025 Writing Challenge Day 2

March 4, 2025 1 Comment

Writing Challenge Day 2

Better health is an extension of healthy eating. Eating foods from the different food groups may constitute healthy eating. Words are a food source that may stimulate our minds. What words act as a catalyst in your mind? Why?

 

Prepare for the Writing Challenge

During Words Matter Week, we host a writing challenge. Each day we will post a question on our blog and various social media outlets.

Respond to the question on your blog or social media page (be sure to include #WMW2025 in your response), and then link back to it in the comments of the corresponding article on the NAIWE blog. For each challenge you respond to, you will receive one entry (and a bonus entry for each response written on your NAIWE blog).

At the end of the week, we will have a drawing, and one person will win a fabulous prize, along with a mention and link in the next newsletter.

Categories: Events, National Days, News, Words Matter Week, Writing

WMW 2025 Writing Challenge Day 1

March 3, 2025 Post a comment

Writing Challenge Day 1

Words serve an essential purpose of providing food for the mind. Words are a substance that can generate energy to boost our creative juices. What other ways do words provide food for our minds?

 

Prepare for the Writing Challenge

During Words Matter Week, we host a writing challenge. Each day we will post a question on our blog and various social media outlets.

Respond to the question on your blog or social media page (be sure to include #WMW2025 in your response), and then link back to it in the comments of the corresponding article on the NAIWE blog. For each challenge you respond to, you will receive one entry (and a bonus entry for each response written on your NAIWE blog).

At the end of the week, we will have a drawing, and one person will win a fabulous prize, along with a mention and link in the next newsletter.

Categories: Events, National Days, News, Words Matter Week, Writing

Words Matter Week Begins Today!

March 2, 2025 Post a comment

Words Matter Week, which is in its 17th year, is a holiday that is celebrated annually the first full week in March, and the National Association of Independent Writers and Editors delights in honoring its essence.

Words are the basis for communication, no matter the language spoken. Babies make sounds, which eventually are formed into words.

Here at NAIWE, we know the importance of words. We want to celebrate it with you all week long, and we believe in the importance of words all year long!

 

Spread the Word

Join us in promoting Words Matter Week! You have NAIWE’s permission to reproduce the poster on your website, with a link back to this page, and you may also print and display it. Please invite your friends to participate in this year’s event and show your support for Words Matter Week by placing the poster in your newsletter, on your blog, or in your social media. Words really do matter, so let’s spread the reminders!

 

Prepare for the Writing Challenge

During Words Matter Week, we host a writing challenge. Each day we will post a question on our blog and various social media outlets.

Respond to the question on your blog or social media page (be sure to include #WMW2025, #WMW, or #NAIWE in your response), and then link back to it in the comments of the corresponding article on the NAIWE blog. For each challenge you respond to, you will receive one entry (and a bonus entry for each response written on your NAIWE blog).

At the end of the week, we will have a drawing, and one person will win a fabulous prize, along with a mention and link in the next newsletter.

Categories: Events, National Days, News, Words Matter Week, Writing

Book Chat: Christine Benner Dixon

December 31, 2024 Post a comment

Today’s podcast episode is a Book Chat episode, where we get to know one of the books that has been published by a fellow NAIWE member.

Our guest today is Christine Benner Dixon.

Christine Benner Dixon and her co-author Sharon McDermott have recently published Millions of Suns: On Writing and Life, a collection of craft-of-writing essays. Christine Benner Dixon came to editing from an academic background, with a Ph.D. in English and years in the classroom. Since launching her editing and consulting business in 2019, she has also found more time to write than the teaching life afforded.

 

Here is a sneak peak of what we discussed.

Q: When did you first have the idea for this book? And what inspired you to actually write this book?

My co-author Sharon and I taught at the same school for several years. As creative writers and creative writing teachers, we had lots in common — even if our approach to our writing practice and instruction were vastly different. In the early pandemic days, Sharon convened a group of writers for an online workshop. It was a beautiful experience, giving us a means of connecting through writing in a fraught time. After one of these workshops, Sharon pulled me aside and asked if I would be interested in writing a book with her. I said yes immediately. We knew very little about what this book would be except for two things: it would be about writing, and it would not be a how-to manual.

 

Q: Please describe one of your favorite characters from your book.

Although these are nonfiction essays and so do not have traditional characters, it was a happy coincidence that both Sharon and I decided to write about our grandmothers. Mine was a very meek Mennonite woman who found one moment of boldness that became a family story. Sharon’s was a woman so audacious that even the great hereafter couldn’t stop her from coming back to visit her granddaughter and set her straight.

 

Q: What did you learn while working on this book? And what were some challenges you faced during the writing or publication of this book?

I learned so much during the writing and publication of this book, both about the act of writing itself and the publication process. Because this was my first book, I encountered every step with our publisher totally fresh: working with an editor at a university press, learning to read a contract, navigating permissions, etc. But of course the greatest learning really was about myself as a writer. It has been enlightening to put a finger on the role that writing plays in my relationships and my sense of self. It forced me to articulate something that has always been implicit in my life.

To learn more about Christine Benner Dixon and her new book Millions of Suns: On Writing and Life, listen to the podcast episode.

Categories: Book Award Winners, Book Chat, The Freelance Life Podcast, Writing

Book Chat: Karin Beery

April 1, 2024 Post a comment

Today’s podcast episode is a Book Chat episode, where we get to know one of the books that has been published by a fellow NAIWE member.

Our guest today is Karin Beery.

Karin Beery is a published author and editor with experience in traditional and self-publishing, freelance editing, and editing for publishers. She is an active member of Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, Christian Authors Network, and the Christian Proofreaders and Editors Network, as well as a PEN Institute instructor. Her specialty is substantive fiction editing with an emphasis in romance and women’s fiction.

 

Here is a sneak peak of what we discussed.

Q: When did you first have the idea for this book? And what inspired you to actually write this book?

I started this book several years ago after watching many seasons of Dancing with the Stars with my special needs aunt, who lived with us at the time. I’d finished writing a novel and was ready to start a new one. After seeing how much my aunt loved that show and living with her for several years, I wanted to include a dance competition in my book as well as a tribute to my aunt.

 

Q: Please describe one of your favorite characters from your book.

I love the women of Pathways, a fictional home for special needs women. Many special needs adults (like my aunt) are capable of so much more than people expect. I let my aunt and the women she used to live with inspire the women in this book.

 

Q: What did you learn while working on this book? And what were some challenges you faced during the writing or publication of this book?

I learned quite a bit about ballroom dancing and football, but many aspects of this book (from working with special needs people to having two sisters) mirror my own life, so I tapped into a lot of personal experiences. My biggest challenge is always me: making time to write (and letting it be a priority).

 

To learn more about Karin Beery and her new book Finally Forever, listen to the podcast episode.

Categories: Board of Experts, Book Chat, Member Benefits, The Freelance Life Podcast, Writing

WMW 2024 Writing Challenge Day 5

March 8, 2024 Post a comment

Writing Challenge Day 5

Write a definition encompassing the meanings of the words “achievement” and “success,” and name this new definition.

 

Prepare for the Writing Challenge

During Words Matter Week, we host a writing challenge. Each day we will post a question on our blog and various social media outlets.

Respond to the question on your blog or social media page (be sure to include #WMW2024 in your response), and then link back to it in the comments of the corresponding article on the NAIWE blog. For each challenge you respond to, you will receive one entry (and a bonus entry for each response written on your NAIWE blog).

At the end of the week, we will have a drawing, and one person will win a fabulous prize, along with a mention and link in the next newsletter.

Categories: Events, National Days, News, Words Matter Week, Writing

WMW 2024 Writing Challenge Day 4

March 7, 2024 Post a comment

Writing Challenge Day 4

Other than personal, physical, and professional achievements, what accomplishment are you proud of and how would you want other people to benefit from it?

 

Prepare for the Writing Challenge

During Words Matter Week, we host a writing challenge. Each day we will post a question on our blog and various social media outlets.

Respond to the question on your blog or social media page (be sure to include #WMW2024 in your response), and then link back to it in the comments of the corresponding article on the NAIWE blog. For each challenge you respond to, you will receive one entry (and a bonus entry for each response written on your NAIWE blog).

At the end of the week, we will have a drawing, and one person will win a fabulous prize, along with a mention and link in the next newsletter.

Categories: Events, National Days, News, Words Matter Week, Writing

WMW 2024 Writing Challenge Day 3

March 6, 2024 Post a comment

Writing Challenge Day 3

ImPROVEment: The word “prove” shows what has changed for the better.

Write about a word that demonstrates what has changed for the better in your life.

 

Prepare for the Writing Challenge

During Words Matter Week, we host a writing challenge. Each day we will post a question on our blog and various social media outlets.

Respond to the question on your blog or social media page (be sure to include #WMW2024 in your response), and then link back to it in the comments of the corresponding article on the NAIWE blog. For each challenge you respond to, you will receive one entry (and a bonus entry for each response written on your NAIWE blog).

At the end of the week, we will have a drawing, and one person will win a fabulous prize, along with a mention and link in the next newsletter.

Categories: Events, National Days, News, Words Matter Week, Writing

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Book Review: Words Left Unspoken

May 12, 2025

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