Splitting my time between Maine and Florida, I maintain a membership in both the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance (MWPA) and the Florida Writers Association (FWA).
MWPA was founded in 1975. It is, according to its website, “a 501(c)(3) nonprofit membership organization that works to enrich the literary life and culture of Maine. We are the only statewide organization solely devoted to supporting and promoting Maine’s writers, publishers, booksellers, and literary professionals.”
A visit to FWA’s website reveals a different type of organization. Its initial and continuing purpose is “as a trade organization for writers of all genres–to share learning tools and writing advice as well as to provide members with an incredible networking system … [It] is focused on the beginning and the advanced writers within a professional atmosphere.” However, FWA has also formed Florida Writers Foundation, “a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation committed to promoting literacy throughout Florida.”
I love that FWF’s web page ends with this reminder: “To quote the immortal and practical words of W. Fusselman, ‘Today a reader, tomorrow a leader’.” Ain’t that the truth!
I also want to share with you something in the most recent newsletter from MWPA’s Executive Director Joshua Bodwell. He wrote: “Many authors who write on their computers have a small ritual of beginning each fresh writing session by first selecting their favorite typeface. It’s almost as though we believe the typeface will somehow help set the tone for our work.” There’s some truth to this, for sure. When I’m not limited to Times New Roman, for instance, which publishers still prefer to see in submitted manuscripts, I’m partial to Palatino, Schoolbook, and Calibria depending on either my mood or my audience. In truth, I’m partial to a lot of other typefaces as well, but those three are probably the most readable among my other loves.
Bodwell made his statement about writers and favorite typefaces as lead-in to the cool video below, created by Ben Barrett-Forrest. Enjoy.
(If the vid doesn’t embed, here’s the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOgIkxAfJsk)
Typewriter image credit: Surachai at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
