Monday, May 16th, 2011 This is the last of a 3-part interview series of authors from the book Many Genres, One Craft recently published by Headline Books. Many Genres, One Craft is an anthology of instructional articles for fiction writers looking for advice on how to improve their writing and better navigate the mass market for genre novels.
While the book encompasses many aspects of writing, this series of interviews is all about coordinating and attending writing conferences.
 Venessa Giunta is a senior editor for Loose Id, LLC, and edits fiction freelance. She wrote bad short stories and angsty poetry off and on through high school then took a very long hiatus. It was probably because of the poetry. When she turned thirty-five, she realized that what she really wanted to do was write.
After many short story rejections, it occurred to her that some sort of writing classes might be beneficial. She subsequently worked toward and was awarded her Master of Fine Arts in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University.
Venessa lives in the metro Atlanta area and is lucky enough to reside with her muse who masquerades as her husband. And she no longer writes poetry. It’s better for everyone that way.
Why should a person attend a conference/convention?
For the professional networking opportunities, primarily. Agents and editors (like most people) tend to connect better face-to-face than through an e-mailed query letter. However, the entire ability to convene with your fellow writers is not something to discount either. Even if no worthwhile connections are made with agents or editors, there’s really something to be said for being with people who “get” you to some extent.
How can you decide (before you put your money down) if a conference is right for you?
Do some research on the guests. Are they people you’d be interested in seeing/meeting/learning from? Does the con welcome the sorts of things you write? Weigh the possible benefit against the cost of attending. Sometimes the cost of travel, accommodations, registration and food do not make the conference beneficial even if there are agents or editors you’re interested in.
What can you get out of attending a writing conference?
Learning about the business of writing. Some conferences offer classes on how to pitch, or how to query an agent or editor. These things require a skill set that is entirely different from the skill set needed to write a book. And they’re things most writers need. Also, conferences afford an opportunity to network, not only with other writers, but with other publishing professionals too. And simply being in the company of your tribe — writers — should not be downplayed. Schmoozing with other writers is one of the best things to get your creativity pumping, to get your enthusiasm going. And those things get your butt in the chair.
 If you’re pitching at a conference, what do you need to do?
First, breathe. Pitching is intimidating. Remember that agents and editors really are looking for someone new to work with, otherwise, they wouldn’t be taking pitches. So they want you to do well. Prior to the conference, study everything you can about creating good pitches. Not just 30 second elevator pitches, but three minute pitches and five minute pitches. Practice and speak naturally. If you try to memorize something word for word it will sound like you tried to memorize something word for word, especially the longer pitches.
Research the agents and editors before you go to the conference, so you know what they represent, whether you would be a good fit, and whether they prefer a certain style of pitches. Some prefer more formal pitches, some prefer a conversation rather than an actual pitch. If you can’t find this information out though, don’t worry. Simply do your best. When it comes time to pitch, take a deep breath and remember that they really are just people and they’re looking for great stories.
What are some conference dos and don’ts?
Do:
- be professional
- have a good time
- step out of your comfort zone and socialize if you are not a social person
- attend several panels and classes
- listen — both to industry pros and to other writers
- be professional
Don’t:
- be unprofessional
- get hammered in the bar (a few drinks over the evening is fine — too much and you may not want to hear about your antics in the morning)
- pitch your book to an agent/editor at inappropriate times (bathrooms, while they are teaching, etc) How do you know when is appropriate? You can ask. “May I tell you about my novel?”
What if you get there, and find it’s not right? How can you make lemonade from the lemon?
It really depends on what’s “not right.” At the least, you can recognize what sort of due diligence that should have been done beforehand. But I think that even if there’s something that is not a right fit about the conference, that doesn’t mean nothing worthwhile can come out. If you are doing pitch sessions, it’s an opportunity to practice your pitch and get feedback for improvement. Networking is a big reason to go to a conference and I can’t imagine any conference being so bad that no networking is possible. Sometimes, that’s all you get out of a conference, but you never know when that one person you had coffee with is going to pass your work on to his or her agent. And then the next thing you know, you’ve got an agent and a book deal. Sometimes it works that way.
When should a person consider NOT going to a conference?
When the cost outweighs the benefits. Especially right now, with the struggling economy, it’s very important not to overspend for a conference. If the guests and programming of a conference don’t excite you, then it’s probably not worth the money. Look for conferences that are close to home. If you’re in a metro area, chances are there’s at least one conference in your back yard. Work out what is within your budget to spend and stay in that budget. Decide whether the offerings of the conference are worth exceeding that budget if it’s more costly (i..e – your dream agent is only attending one conference this year and this is IT!).
Coordinating Conferences
What’s it like being a conference/convention coordinator?
It can be hectic and stressful at times, but it is more fun than anything, to me. I love writers and the environment created when a big group of us get together and so I feel privileged to be able to help in providing an opportunity to do that every year.
What are top 3 knowledge/top 3 skills for coordinators?
I think negotiation, compromise and the ability to work with others are probably the things most necessary when putting on a conference. Once a con gets to be larger than just a few friends getting together, no one person can do everything, so being able to work with others is very important. Compromise is an aspect that comes in with working with other people and also in most aspects of organization. Sometimes the guests you want aren’t available, or won’t do something you’d really like to offer attendees. Sometimes the facilities can’t accommodate something, so a work-around is necessary. Like any organized event, compromise is necessary sometimes to get things done. And negotiation is important from dealing with hotels/venues to securing good guests to getting good deals on PR items.
What’s the best thing that’s ever come out of a conference for you?
Actually, I think the best thing that’s come out for me is that I’ve learned that agents and editors aren’t as intimidating as I had them all made out to be in my head. At least, the one’s I’ve met. That has really made me realize that a good portion of my stress as a writer had to do with being wary — perhaps afraid? — of the gatekeepers.
Are you paid as a coordinator?
I’m not paid, per se, though I get admittance to the workshop for free. I really do it for the love. And the opportunity to schmooze. 🙂
What’s exciting about running a conference?
I think when it’s all come together and everyone, from attendees to guests, give glowing praise about how great it was — this is the most exciting thing. Aside from that, seeing the year’s worth of planning all coming together is very rewarding as well. As far as the not-exciting bits, some of the organizational stuff can be tedious, but that goes for just about anything. The exciting far outweighs the non-exciting.
Many thanks to Venessa Giunta for answering a few questions about attending writing conferences and coordinating them. If you have others, please post in the comments. Venessa will be happy to answer them!
More information about Many Genres, including author information and other interviews is available on the Many Genres blog.
Order information for Many Genres, One Craft.
Other Parts of this Interview Series:
Part 1: author K.J. Howe
Part 2: author Lucy A. Snyder
Monday, May 9th, 2011 This is the second of a 3-part interview series of authors from the book Many Genres, One Craft recently published by Headline Books. Many Genres, One Craft is an anthology of instructional articles for fiction writers looking for advice on how to improve their writing and better navigate the mass market for genre novels.
While the book encompasses many aspects of writing, this series of interviews is all about coordinating and attending writing conferences.
 Lucy A. Snyder is the Bram Stoker Award-winning author of the novels Spellbent and Shotgun Sorceress and the collections Sparks and Shadows, Chimeric Machines, and Installing Linux on a Dead Badger. Her writing has also appeared in several magazines.
She has a B.S. in biology, an M.A. in journalism and graduated from the 1995 Clarion Writers’ Workshop. Since 2005, she’s directed the Context Writing Workshops. She currently is a Seton Hill MFA mentor. Lucy was born in South Carolina, grew up in Texas, and now lives in Ohio, with her husband and occasional co-author Gary A. Braunbeck. For more information, please visit www.lucysnyder.com.
What’s it like being a conference/convention coordinator?
It’s a busy but highly rewarding volunteer job. I coordinate the writing workshops track for Context, a convention in Columbus, Ohio that will be taking place the weekend of August 26-28 (www.contextsf.org). It’s steady work across the entire year that gets busier in the months leading up to the convention. Right now we’re getting very busy with convention planning and preparations. It’s always great to see your efforts pay off in a well-attended convention where you can see people having fun, making new connections, and learning new skills.
 What are the key skills for your role?
To be a writing workshop coordinator you need good organizational skills (scheduling and keeping track of course signups is a big part of what you’ll do), persistence (things won’t always go right the first time), and good problem-solving skills. And of course communication skills are critical. Knowledge-wise, you need to be able to reach out to good instructors, and you need to know how to be able to evaluate potential instructors.
What’s the best thing that’s ever come out of a conference for you? What about for someone else? Was it luck or planning that made it happen?
For me, the best things that have come out of conferences and conventions have been book deals, or preliminary discussions with editors that resulted in book deals. Luck always plays a distressingly large role in publishing, but in each situation I had done a lot of pre-conference planning (in terms of who I wanted to meet and what I was going to present to them) that I think vastly improved my chances of success.
Why should a person attend a conference/convention?
There are a whole lot of reasons to go to a convention. Many people go as much for fun as they do for business. It really depends on where you are in your writing career. If you’re unpublished, you might want to focus of conventions that offer a strong writing track and the chance to talk to small- and medium-press editors, who are often more receptive to new writers’ work. If you have been selling short stories and have just finished a novel, you might want to look for conventions that offer the opportunity to pitch to book editors and reputable literary agents. And if you’re a working writer, you’ll probably be looking for larger conventions that offer the best networking opportunities with editors and other writers as well as a chance to expose new readers to your work.
How can you decide (before you put your money down) if a conference is right for you?
Take a look at the guest/attendees lists — do you see the names of people you’d like to listen to or chat with? Take a look at the programming schedule, which might not be posted until a month or so before the conference. Do the panels and workshops and other events interest you? Now, look at the costs of attending the conference, not just the registration fees but also the hotel, air fare, etc. Can you afford this?
What if you get there, and find it’s not right? How can you make lemonade from the lemon?
Even a well-planned convention can end up with problems due to hotel errors, or high-profile guests may have to cancel at the last minute because of unexpected travel snags or illness. Because of this, it’s best to not pin all your hopes for a convention on a single guest attending or a single workshop, etc. Do your homework first and try to choose conventions that offer a wide range of events that will interest you.
 If you arrive at a convention and at first it’s not what you expected, give it a chance. If you’re looking for the pro author guests and don’t see them, check the hotel bar — this is the prime hangout location for writers. If you came to meet other attendees and find the panels under-attended, check to see if there are going to be room parties later that people may be resting up for. Try to set aside your expectations and be open to what the convention has to offer.
But if it simply isn’t working for you, take a look around and see what other opportunities present themselves. If you’re in the middle of an unfamiliar but interesting city, take the opportunity to do some sight-seeing. You might be able to forge new friendships with other attendees who are similarly disenchanted with the conference.
Also, once the weekend is over, you might want to send a polite, non-judgmental email to the convention chairs to let them know about the things that didn’t work for you or created problems for you. Again, politeness is key here; the organizers are likely unpaid volunteers who worked as hard as they could to put on a good event. They’ll want to know what went wrong for you so they can do better next time, but they won’t be receptive to your message if it’s disrespectful or ends in high-handed demands. Many conventions will offer membership refunds if there’s been a genuine at-con disaster.
If you’re pitching at a conference, what do you need to do?
Make sure you know the rules of the pitch session going in, and make sure you’re following those rules. If you know who you’ll be pitching to, try to learn a little about the agent or editor and his or her tastes, and adjust your pitch accordingly. Practice your pitch on friends, and prepare pitches of different lengths. For instance, it’s always good to be able to describe your project in 30 seconds or less, but you’ll also want an intermediate and longer pitch that you can use depending on the circumstances. And it doesn’t hurt to have a back-up pitch prepared in case the agent or editor says “I don’t think that project will work for us, but do you have anything else?”
When should a person consider NOT going to a conference?
Conferences are wonderful, but if you’re behind on your novel deadline, don’t go, unless there’s a truly compelling reason. You should also reconsider your attendance if going to the conference will send you into debt, or deeper into it. And if you have the flu, please stay home; the virus that gave you an annoying cough could land someone else in the hospital.
If you decide you must cancel and you’re scheduled to participate as a panelist or on other programming, be certain to let the organizers know as soon as possible so they can adjust their scheduling accordingly. It’s simply the polite thing to do.
Many thanks to Lucy A. Snyder for answering a few questions about attending writing conferences and coordinating them. If you have others, please post in the comments. Lucy will be happy to answer them!
More information about Many Genres, including author information and other interviews is available on the Many Genres blog.
Please visit next Monday for the third (and final) interview from Many Genres, One Craft. Part 1 with thriller-auther KJ Howe can be found here.
Order information for Many Genres, One Craft.
Thursday, March 24th, 2011 I’m in Allentown, PA for The Write Stuff Workshop hosted by the Greater Lehigh Valley Writers Group.
Agent extraordinaire Donald Maass is here teaching from his “Writing the Breakout Novel” books, and I spent all day in his workshop learning how to apply his techniques to my current WIP.
I’ve read Mr. Maass’s books, and I’ve cruised the internet for information, but there’s nothing like hearing it straight from the well. The presentation is polished – as I expected it would be – but not so routine that it felt mechanical. Which is good, because tomorrow is Day 2 of the pre-conference workshops, and had this presentation been bad, I might have had to bail.
As it is, I’m looking forward to the “Fire in Fiction” workshop tomorrow.
My favorite portion of the class was a discussion of “micro-tension” among the dialogue, exposition and action. It’s this tension that keeps a reader turning pages. He suggests we toss our manuscripts in the air, gather the pages back together in random order, and read each individually to make certain this micro-tension exists.
(If I do this, I’m going to have to print a complete, new copy of my WIP to play with because there is NO WAY I’m putting the pages back in order when I’m done.)
Nine hours later, I’ve got some excellent ideas for tackling my current novel (and perhaps applying to the novel I’m going to shop later this year) and I’m exhausted.
Time for a hot shower and a good book to unwind!
Thursday, March 3rd, 2011 Things are a bit crazy around here as I’ve bit the bullet and signed up for a writing class with mega-agent Don Maass on the 24th of this month.
Don is considered a top-tier agent, and he represents quite a few fantasy writers I love to read, so I’m pretty stoked about him teaching local enough (4-hour drive) to attend his seminar.
It’s a day-and-a-half workshop, to which I’m required to bring my completed manuscript. (No problem, as all my faithful readers will know that I’ve got one ready to send off to agents and have planned to do so this year.)
But I’m a bit angsty since three weeks doesn’t seem like enough time to get ready for the seminar, which is attached to the Write Stuff Conference hosted by the Greater Lehigh Valley Writers Group.
Luckily, I’m prepared. I have a routine I follow when I’m off to a conference. I’ve actually presented this material to writer’s groups, so if it sounds like I’m lecturing…it’s because I am. 🙂
Here’s what I recommend:
Before the Conference
- Think about your expectations. What do you want to get out of it? Knowing your expectations helps you plan what you’ll do while you’re there. Do you want to meet other local writers? Do you want to pitch your novel to an agent? Or do you want to learn about craft, careers and the industry? You don’t have to choose, you can do it all…but scheduling of panels may prohibit this. So, prioritize your goals and plan accordingly.
- Get an advanced copy of the conference schedule and look over your desired sessions.
Highlight and number where you want to be, the time and the room numbers, or copy this information to your planner. This will save you time at the conference, allowing you to network, join impromptu sessions and, maybe, get some writing in, too.
- Will you be able to pitch your book to agents and editors? Do you want to do so? If so, research the available candidates. Will there be someone present who represents the genre you write? Prepare a pitch according to that agent’s specifics.
- Hit the social networks to see if any of your online acquaintances will be going, too. Tweet, blog and post to boards and arrange a meet-up.
- If you’re going somewhere non-local: research the area: what restaurants are available? Are there any local landmarks or monuments you could visit? What about hiking, skiing, or other sportly adventures? (You could make this trip all about the conference, but hey, if you’re going somewhere new, you might as well learn a little about the area. Consider it research for your next book.)
- Check your writing “gear.” Make sure everything you need is in the bag you’ll take along: laptops and cables, a thumbdrive, your favorite notebooks and pencils, gum, mints, etc. (Check even if you’re meticulous about putting everything in it’s place–you never know.) If you’re attending any writing sessions, add a thesaurus and/or dictionary and your current work-in-progress. If you’re meeting up with fellow writers, you could also take a finished work you could use in an impromptu writing session.
- Formulate a list of questions you’d like answered. These could be related to the panels you want to attend, about presenters at the conference, about writing craft, about pitching your book, publishing in general (or specific), about, well…anything. Write them down and carry them with you so that you won’t forget to ask.
What Should You Bring?
- Your printed list of questions.
- Any research material you accumulated about the conference or the location.
- Business cards.
- Something to take notes with: your laptop, a notebook and pen, etc. (I always carry both: there will be times when a laptop will be inconvenient.)
- If you’re pitching, bring whatever the agent or editor prefers (and in the style they prefer it in): your query letter, a synopsis, the first five pages of your novel, etc. It’s doubtful you’ll need your entire novel printed out: no agent is going to want to lug an entire manuscript (times 100, or how many writers he meets) back to his office. If an agent is interested, he’ll give you his card and tell you to mail it.)
- Bring any giveaway table items that you can leave in designated areas: (book marks, flyers, brochures for writing-related services or your local writers group, etc).
- Any personal items you can’t live without for a few days or which will make your hotel room your home away from home: MP3 Player, cell phone, teddy bear, photo of your spouse, etc.)
Next time: What to do at the conference.
Friday, September 25th, 2009 I talked to the Baltimore Chapter of the Maryland Writer’s Association a few months ago about “Getting the Most out of a Writer’s Workshop.”
Much of what I talked about related to instructor-led workshops. But what about “self-directed” workshops or retreats? No agenda exists for them, not even a boilerplate one can subscribe to.
So, how do you prepare?
(Or do you toss preparation to perdition and ignore planning?) Maybe your idea of the perfect writing retreat is to grab your laptop and just sit down and write…?
You could do that.
I agree that taking that approach might result in extraordinary verbiage…but what will you have accomplished other than obtaining the writing equivalent of a high score?
I think if you take a more focused approach: get your writing affairs in order and make some goals, you’ll enjoy a more satisfying experience. That’s what I do.
I’m gearing up to go on retreat in October with my face-to-face critique group. I’ve no doubt I’ll spend some time with them while we’re away for the week (we haven’t discussed how much), but I believe we’ll be spending the bulk of our time away together…alone. And I plan to use that time to target projects to get off my desk and submit to various markets. I’ve no doubt in doing so that I’ll manage satisfactory, if not a veritable high score, of word count along the way.
Discounting everything about the retreat except my writing (What should I take? What should I wear? What should I bring? Etc.) these are the things I’m doing to prepare:
1 – Cleaning Up My Writing Files – Both Paper and Electronic
I create a new electronic file for each article, story or chapter I’m working on almost every time I open it. There’s a reason for this: I might change something so drastically that “track changes” can’t revert. Keeping the old file allows me to do that. Or, the file may be corrupted as I carry it around on my thumb drive – I’ll have the previous file for retrieval.
Mostly, I maintain a separate file so that I can see how the word count grows each time I work on it. But those files tend to multiply rapidly…often in the wrong directory as I go from desktop to jump drive to laptop. They need some cleaning up.
My paper files aren’t so bad, but I have many projects running all the time: so there are lots of pieces floating around. Likewise, there are usually scraps of “story ideas” laying about: prints from science journals which caught my eye, something torn from a newspaper, lots of scribbled notes, etc.
I’ll be spending several hours putting it all away. And then I’ll be dusting off the desk and pushing the chair “just so” under it.
Why do this?
When I was younger and still lived with my parents, my Mom encouraged the family to clean the house top to bottom before we left for vacation. Everything had to be in its place: toys away, clothes washed and hung, floors vacuumed and swept. I hated it. We often cleaned until the minute we packed up the car to leave. Mom insisted there was no better feeling than coming home to a clean house to relax in after an exhausting vacation.
Mom was so right. (Are you reading this, Mom? You were right!)
When I get home from retreat, everything will be spic and span, files and research will be where I can find them, and my desk will be free of clutter to distract me from the writing momentum I hope to achieve while away.
2 – Evaluating Everything on my Writing Plate
My “writing plate” consists of everything I’ve ever started writing that hasn’t been sold yet. Big plate.
It includes the novel I’m shopping and the two novels I’m currently writing. It also includes a bunch of short stories that are languishing for whatever reason: plot holes, lack of market to send it to, forgotten about, not enough time to finish, etc. I also have some files of “vignettes” I started writing: scenes with wildly interesting characters or stories that petered out after the initial torrent of words spewed onto the page. Some are a mere sentence long; others, a few thousand words. And then, there’s the idea file: hundreds just laying there waiting to be written.
Lets not talk about non-fiction items.
I’m reviewing each article/fiction item/idea and evaluating what needs to be done to it in order for it to be marketable, and making a list of those items to work on while on retreat. There are several things I’m contemplating as I evaluate:
* How close is the piece to completion?
* If it’s complete, why is this piece still on the plate and not out making its rounds?
* What will it take to finish?
* Does it only need polishing? How long will that take?
* Does the item require more research before writing can continue?
Sadly, I have several stories that are finished and critiqued by my critique group. They only need the groups’ comments incorporated before sending out. These will be the top items on my list to complete.
(This would probably be a good time for me to make a “Master List” of all my files, along with notes of what needs to be done and how soon I think they can be completed. I should probably keep this kind of list up to date as I write…but I’m usually too busy writing to bother with the details… If I find time, I’ll probably do this while I’m evaluating.)
3 – Ranking the List
After reviewing all the items in my files, I’ll rank them in importance against my criteria (Should you feel compelled to try this insanely detailed system yourself, your criteria will likely be different, according to your goals). Items with the highest number of points at this stage will be put at the top of my list.
Below is my arbitrary point system. A story can meet multiple examples below and thus leap to the head of the pack with a very high score.
| 25 points |
Anything currently under a deadline, including self-imposed deadlines. |
| 20 points |
All my completed, critiqued stories. |
| 15 points |
Anything that’s almost done. Items that only need dedicated time at the computer to polish up. |
| 15 points |
Any item in my “work in progress” directory that’s been there more than 12 months. |
| 15 points |
Any non-fiction item – complete at 1500 words or less – for which the research is already done. |
| 10 points |
Vignettes, story starters and scenes of 1000 words or more. (These may need additional evaluation later, to see if an actual story or plot emerges. For now, if I anticipate there may be time to work on any of these items while I’m gone, I’ll add them to the list.) |
| 5 points |
Story ideas that might be worth tackling if there’s time. |
Once everything is evaluated and ranked, I’ll return to my file cabinet and get any research or critiques which accompany the pieces and set them aside to take with me. Now will be a good time to make sure I pack any reference books I might need. (Of course I’ll take a good dictionary and thesaurus, but maybe my story set in ancient China will require me to pack the history book I was reading which inspired the tale…I’ll get that now and put it with the other items I plan to take.)
4 – Reviewing Market Lists (or: Modifying the Ranks)
There are many Web sites and newsletters which specialize in listing markets which are open to submissions. These are usually broken down by category, genre or closing date. I check several regularly: Ralan, Duotrope’s Digest, SpecFicWorld’s Market Database, to see if there are new or emerging markets than those I regularly submit to.
If any market looks interesting, I’ll review my list again and look for potential matches. I’ll add the points below to existing work and then re-rank the list, if necessary.
| 10 points |
Add to a story which might be a match for a market currently open to submissions. |
| 15 points |
As above, if the market has a tight deadline. |
The existence of an open market will allow me to focus even more on finishing an item.
5 – Making Sure All Completed Items are Out for Submission
While I’m doing all this record keeping, I’ll be updating my Submissions List: a spreadsheet of items I’ve got circulating to various markets. It’s an invaluable resource for me: I can see, among other things, what pieces are out and how long they’ve been at a particular market.
It’s also a nag.
A quick glance shows me which items have sat too long at particular markets, or (rats!) which pieces have been rejected – or whose rights have reverted back to me – and should have been submitted the day I got them back.
Ideally, those items shouldn’t have been left sitting, but sometimes I ignore the “business end” of being an author so that I can spend more time writing. So, before I leave, I’ll query, or resubmit, all those languishing items.
This isn’t a deal breaker. If I don’ manage to get this far, I’ll still go on retreat. But if I can manage it, all the better. How nice it would be to return not only to a clean desk, but a check in the mailbox!
So, that’s my plan. If I work hard enough before I go, I’ll have a roadmap for success (my weighted-list of projects to complete while I’m gone), a pristine work space to return to, and possibly an acceptance (or check!) in the mailbox as well.
As detailed as it sounds, I don’t intend to work the plan “no matter what.” Perhaps my muse will strike and I’ll work on (and one hopes, complete!) something new and exciting while I’m on retreat. If that happens, all the better. The prep work is still valuable…and puts me in the proper frame of mind for writing.
Sunday, September 20th, 2009  I’m going on a writing retreat in October.
I got the confirmation card in the mail yesterday, reserving my room at the Holy Cross Abbey. All I need to do to firm up the reservation is send a postcard back, letting them know when I’ll be arriving. Will it be for dinner, or not?
I can’t wait to go. Two other members of my face-to-face critique group will be going as well. We’ll each have a private room, but we’ll be able to meet at any time to hold critique sessions (if we want). This is a retreat of our making, not one set up by the abbey, and we’ll be the ones to set the rules.
The only thing we’ll not be able to do is chat over dinner. Dinner at the abbey is a silent affair. No talking aloud. (In fact, this edict may mean no communication at all throughout the meal. I intend to find out: I’m going to use that time for studying how a silent meal is undertaken by monks…the experience will prove invaluable…for perhaps my next work-in-progress.)
Another thing I want to do is attend Vigils, a mass at 3:30 a.m. In fact, I’d like to spend an entire day attending all masses: Vigils, Lauds (7:00 a.m.), Mid-Day Prayer (2:00 p.m.) Vespers (5:30 p.m.) and Compline (7:00 p.m.) — just to have done it, of course. (Imagine the experience gained for writing!) But I think my writing will suffer…or at the very least, accomplishing my goals for the week may suffer.
My 2009 goals including finishing everything I had started. I believe it was around March that I realized I wouldn’t reach that goal…not while continuing to start several new projects this year. And although I’m already mulling over a piece I want to write once I arrive at the Abbey, I’m going to see how much of a dent I can put into my 2009 goals.
More about goals later. I’ve got a post card to fill out and return…and decisions to make: what shall I take? When shall I leave? What do I hope to accomplish?
Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009  …they invited me to speak about my writers conference experiences and they didn’t act at all bored with my suggestions for getting the most out of a workshop (my biggest worry).
In fact, questions were asked, business cards were disbursed, and I think most attendees left knowing more about how to evaluate what conferences and workshops will work for them.
I got to chat informally with the fascinating folk who make up the group both before and after the event. Had there been time, I think the many of us (25 or so?) could have stayed another hour or two and discussed All Things Writing. It’s a comfortable group and I could feel quite at home in it.
And besides all that, they have this really kewl logo.
The venue was the Cyclops Independent Bookstore, a place so new and shiny that books don’t line the walls yet. I can tell tell it’s going to have just the right amount of glitz and trend married to Traditional Bookstore Goodness to make it a winner. Look for lots more events — music, as well as writing — at the Cyclops.
If you’re a local writer, check out the Baltimore Chapter of the Maryland Writers Association, or look to the main Maryland Writers Association if you’re a little father away.
Many thanks to Paul Lagasse, Gary Lester, Nancy O. Greene, Ally E. Peltier and the rest of MWAB for inviting me.
Sunday, June 21st, 2009 I’m speaking tomorrow evening –on Writing Workshops– at the Cyclops Bookstore, 30 W. North Ave. at Maryland Avenue in Baltimore (7:00 p.m.). It’s a wonderful opportunity which just fell into my lap. I’ve been to several writing workshops (or conferences or retreats or whatever you want to call them…) and I love to talk about my experiences, so this should be a lot of fun.
I’ve been to the Taddle Creek Writer’s Workshop at University of Toronto, Viable Paradise on Martha’s Vineyard and, most recently, Seton Hill University’s Writer’s Retreat in Greensburg, PA. There have been others, but these stand out in my mind.
At Taddle Creek I met Robert J. Sawyer for the first time. Many of his lecture’s points pop into my head at appropriate moments when I’m writing, even after all these years (it’s been at least five, maybe more, since I attended Taddle Creek.) Viable Paradise is equally memorable. It is hosted by Teresa & Patrick Nielsen-Hayden, James D. McDonald and Debra Doyle (and others). Elizabeth Bear and John Scalzi instruct there now, too. The Writer’s Retreat at Seton Hill University allowed me to scope out the campus and instructors to determine whether or not I wanted to enroll in their MFA. At SHU I met J.A. Konrath, author of the “Jack Daniels” mysteries and Ginjer Buchanan, Editor and Chief of Ace Books.
I could write quite a bit, but why don’t you let me know what you want to know? That way I can focus. Do you have any burning questions about writing workshops?
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Writers - Maryland Writer's Assn.
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