Thursday intensive with Keynote Speaker, Natalie Richards:
MAKE EVERY WORD COUNT:
(1:00 PM to 4:00 PM, Thursday, May 15)
If you think writing the book is the hard part, you might be surprised to learn that The End is
just the beginning. Selling your book requires summarizing your book in a variety of lengths and
styles. From the elevator pitch and query letter for prospective agents, to the synopsis and
cover copy your future publisher will request, the business of writing goes far beyond the
completion of your first draft. In this hands-on workshop, Richards will take you on a deep drive
through the fundamentals of editing and how this process will help you identify the key
elements of your book. Richards will then explore how these elements can be refined and
distilled so that you’re ready to polish, sell, and promote your book. Whether your book is
complete, or your still working out the initial outline, we’ll workshop tips and tricks for creating
an airtight summary, and then we’ll explore how to adjust that summary for different audiences
and purposes. Bring your current project and be ready to get to work! Because writing a book
isn’t just about getting the words on the page; it’s about making every word count.
Thursday intensives with Timons Esaias:
Getting POV and Conflict on the Page (Writing at the Paragraph Level)
(9:00 AM to 12 PM, May 15th)
Getting POV and Conflict on the Page (Writing at the Paragraph Level)
This is going to be an exercise-heavy workshop, not a lecture, so please don't sign up for
it unless you're prepared to do repeated basic exercises.
The paragraph is the basic unit of fiction writing, and we rarely study it or teach it. This
will be a discussion of how paragraphs work, and how to make sure they actually do
something other than keep the header and footer apart. We'll include The Unwritten Rule,
Avoiding the Stomp, and malt balls.
Specific attention will be paid to Getting Conflict In Every Paragraph, because conflict is
what drives the story. Getting POV Into Every Paragraph will go hand-in-hand with the
Conflict element, because characterization-via-POV needs to be relentless in successful,
absorbing fiction.
Preparation: Bring in 6-8 non-consecutive, non-dialogue paragraphs of your own, 4
sentences or more each, to work on. [Or somebody else's book, if you're too timid to whack
at your own golden phrases.] Also bring in 6-8 consecutive dialogue paragraphs of your own,
to work on. It would be easiest if they were on your computer.
Write Flash Fiction, Right Now
(1:00PM to 4:00PM)
Flash fiction is a writer's playground, and a useful training ground. You can experiment
with a style, while committing to only a page or two. But those virtues are meaningless if you
don't actually write any of them. So in this Intensive we'll write two. Maybe two plus a micro.
Come with ideas at the ready or be ready to write from scratch. We'll do one 7-point story
and one in a Format To Be Named Later. But do come prepared to write, rather than just listen to
Timons going on and on about stuff.
Subject matter and genre are up to you, with two exceptions. No stories involving
wombats. No stories about the Shishunaga Empire. One must draw the line somewhere.