Thought for the day: The beautiful part of writing is
that you don't have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain
surgeon. You can always do it better, find the exact word, the apt phrase, the
leaping simile.
~ Robert Cormier
My daughter Maggie sent the following link. It certainly is food for
thought. Don’t be put off by the fact it starts out talking about music. It is
really for all kinds of artists – like writers! http://puttylike.com/starving-artist-meet-web-2-0/ Just thought you might find it interesting.
A couple weeks ago I announced Megan had won an autographed
copy of no-name baby by the incomparable
Nancy Bo Flood. Megan, I’ve tried to contact you three times and haven’t heard
back. Please contact me so I can send you the book. Readers, if I don’t hear
from Megan by the next blog post, I will draw a new name from those who
commented on that post. I also have winners to announce from my last blog post.
Jennifer Rumberger was the first to have her name drawn, so she will be receiving
The Bell Bandit, and Barbara Watson’s
name was also drawn, so she will get a copy of The Secret Tree. Congratulations!!!
When I retired a few years ago, my good friend Jan Paluch,
who had listened to me talk about how I wanted to get serious about my
writing, sent me a brochure for the Sacramento Writer’s Conference. I
plunked down some money and spent a couple of days rubbing elbows with the
likes of Erin Dealy and Patti Newman, and John Lescroart.(Yes, THAT John Lescroat!) I met some other
newbies and learned a great deal. Out of that experience came my first critique
group. I was on my way. I went to the conference again the next year, but it was pretty repetitious,
so I started looking around for other ways to further my writing. I took the
ICL course and went to workshops and conferences and joined SCBWI. I got better and better at my
craft. Every year I invest in myself. I find the best workshops and conferences I can and
spend the time and money to make myself a more accomplished writer.
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| Peggy Thomas |
Last week I was in Pennsylvania at a Highlights Founders Workshop. This was my fifth time going to Boyds Mills to learn from the best,
and it is paying off in many ways. I have sold some work in the last couple of
years. No books yet, but YET is the operative word for me. I know that I will
sell some of my books. And that is happening because I continue to invest in
myself.
Last week’s workshop was Whole Narrative Non-Fiction. I
spent a week with Peggy Thomas, Elizabeth Partridge, Susan Bartoletti, CarolynYoder, Nancy Bo Flood, Barbara Krasner and a wonderful group of attendees. Look
at the names on that faculty list! Imagine just being in their presence for a
week! I’ll bet between them they have close to a hundred books published.
Amazing. We had hours of workshop time every day as well as hours of quiet
writing time. In addition, we had all our meals together as well as cocktail
time. (You’ve got to love the cocktail hour at Boyds Mills.) In addition, we
had an individual talk from most faculty members sharing how the writing process works for each of them.
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| Nancy Bo Flood |
This is a new workshop for the Highlights people and it wasn’t
perfect, but they listen well and I’m confident the next time it occurs it will
be close to perfect. But I came away from that week with a non-fiction book
manuscript I believe will be ready for submission very, very soon. It’s
miles better than it was when I showed up. I had lots of help from almost all the
faculty. (I didn’t happen to get much time with one faculty member, but had
good amounts of time with everyone else.) Nancy Bo Flood also spent a lot of time
with me on a poetry project I’m working on. She has such great expertise
in that area and was happy to share her time and knowledge with me. I think that project is now almost ready to submit. (Thanks,
Nancy!!) I made the comment while at the workshop that if I didn’t have grandchildren in
California and if money were no object, I would go to all the workshops
Highlights offers. I’m not kidding. They are that good. Check out their
offerings HERE.
I received an email recently from Nancy Sondel, founding
director of the Pacific Coast Children’s Writers Workshop. She is contacting people for her Fall 2012
workshop and said she hoped I could join them. I wish I could afford to go, but I just came back from a pretty
expensive workshop and am already committed to another later this year. Maybe
next year I’ll return to the PCCWW. I went to one a few years ago, and it was a
great experience. There are different levels you can sign up for including one
which includes a full-novel critique from one of the faculty. This year’s
faculty includes editor Simon Boughton (senior VP and publisher; Roaring Brook
Press and Farrar, Straus & Giroux), agent
Emily Sylvan Kim (president, Prospect Agency), and agent Joe Monti (Barry Goldblatt Literary). WOW! For more
information, check out the site HERE.
I really think this is worth your time to explore. I learned so much when I attended and, again, had a great deal of
time with wonderful faculty members.
Not all writers’
workshops are as good as these are. One year I attended one of the Big Sur
Writers’ Workshop. They are pretty popular. After all, it is Big Sur. They do
them twice each year. These workshops are put on by a literary agency, are
expensive, and don’t return much on your investment, in my humble opinion.
Others may have a different view.
I make sure I attend at
least a couple of conferences each year and go to a couple of workshops or
retreats as well. I really like the one-day local SCBWI conferences and workshops. They are
inexpensive and they seem to draw excellent faculty. And the SCBWI regional people work really, really hard to put on great events. I’ve
never been disappointed. Ask around before you make any decisions. Talk to all
your writer friends and see what experiences others have had. Invest in
yourself, but invest wisely.
My next post will be back to some book reviews and probably
some giveaways, so please tune in. And please leave a comment. I’d love to hear
from you. Remember, if you have trouble leaving a comment, click on the title of
the post and it will give you just this post with a comments section on the
bottom. Also, if you haven’t signed up by email, please do. Just look in the upper
right-hand corner of this page, pop your email address in, and you will receive
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