In case anyone noticed I hadn’t been here as regularly as normal this week, if you call my posts here regular at all. (grin). I got sort of busy.
From Monday to Thursday morning I worked with ten writers to fine-tune novel submission packages to get out to editors. Great books and great writers and a ton of fun for me. We had some wonderful discussions about all sorts of things concerning publishing and I learned a bunch from them as well as (I hope) helping them sell their novels quickly.
Then on Thursday night a group of 39 professional writers came together here in Lincoln City to work on stories and talk writing and network and just have a blast. I was honored to be in the group. I’ve seen pictures of the old Milford where younger professional writers got together and Damon Knight and Kate Wilhelm’s house and wrote and talked about stories and fiction and the business. Well, we had thirty-nine professional writers here, with Denise Little, John Helfers, Kris and I leading the formal structured times.
For those of you who have not been lucky enough to know or work with Denise Little, she started off working for B&N, becoming the national genre fiction buyer. Then she went to work as an editor for Kensington in New York for fifteen years where she had her own line of books called “Denise Little Presents.” Then for the last fifteen years she has been writing and editing for Tekno Books. I worked on a number of projects over the years with Denise, both novels and short fiction. This last fall she moved to freelance writing, editing, and agenting. She has the most astute eye for fiction of anyone I have ever met.
John Helfers has also been with Tekno books both as a writer and an editor for fifteen years. He’s written upwards of twenty novels, most under other names and I have also had the pleasure of writing stories for his and his wonderful wife’s anthologies that normally come out of Daw Books. He can see things in fiction that many others just can’t see. Stunningly sharp.
Then Kristine Kathryn Rusch was up front helping with the leading the structure, the only person to win both a Hugo for professional editing and for her own writing.
I honestly felt outclassed.
As far as the writers sitting in that meeting room overlooking the ocean, one person figured that there had to be upward of 400 published novels and a thousand published short stories by everyone in that room combined. I didn’t even want to try to add it up because sitting up front all I could see was a sea of extremely well-published professional writers. I do know at one small round table of seven writers there was at least forty published novels.
Every one of us, including me, wrote two stories to order for the workshop. One story was written a couple weeks ahead to a short deadline. You all saw my story here called “On Top of the Dead.” My second to-order story I will put up soon. It was for an anthology of “curses” and it had to be written basically in twenty-four hours and turned in while the workshop was going on.
We gave out the assignment on Thursday night very late and it had to be printed and turned in Saturday morning. No one missed. Again, as I said, all professional commercial fiction writers.
The real, real value of this workshop was bringing 39 professional writers together from around the country and Canada to network and talk and help each other. The writing was great fun, sure, and I learned a bunch of stuff not only in reading the 80 plus professional-level stories (some did more than one story in twenty-four hours). But wow did I learn in the ongoing discussions, often in small groups, sometimes with the entire group talking about some business thing or craft issue.
And I got to see old friends and meet some new, great writers and make new friendships that I hope will last.
And I have to thank publicly Denise Little, John Helfers, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Christina York (Christy Evans) for making this a fantastic and smooth gathering. And Kip Ward at the Historic Anchor Inn for welcoming an entire hotel full of fiction writers. Also the great staff and crew at both the Hilltop Restaurant and the Inn at Spanish Head for helping in great meals and a wonderful meeting location just feet above the beach. All that great help allowed me to just be a part of the group and learn and enjoy along with everyone else. Thanks!
I can’t believe I was so lucky as to be a part of a wonderful weekend with wonderful writers all working to become better professionals. It was a special four days I will remember for a very long time.
I hope everyone makes it home safe across the States and Canada.
Thanks.
Sounds like a great writing workshop. I like the fact that you mention that writers can help each other become even better.
Thank you guys for continuing to host these workshops. The Denise Little workshop was amazing on so many levels and I think it’s going to take a few weeks for my brain to recover from all the new things I shoved into it over the week (it’ll take longer to get those into my writing consistently, but that’s okay, I’ll keep at it.)
I’m already missing the Oregon coast and looking forward to my next trip.
Tom
Wow. That is simply amazing, Dean. I am very happy and excited for you. It is a dream of mine to be a part of something like that; to have peers in the same business of writing and share and learn from each other on a professional level. Thank you for sharing such a positive and obviously uplifting experience with us all!
I’m off to my very first writing workshop in June — David Farland’s Professional Writing Workshop — and I can’t wait.
I’m really hoping you and Kris do some workshops in 2012, because if you do I’m going to do whatever I need to do to make from way from Texas up to Oregon.
Jeff, we weren’t planning to do any after June, but that has changed some. We will be doing a number next year, including this workshop we just finished for the seventh year in a row. Schedule out later as we get the few workshops we are going to do finalized.
Great having you guys here, Annie, David, Tom. I also am taking off most of today except for getting the Poker Boy story up here. Brain is just fried, for obvious reasons. (grin)
I second Tom in thanking you for continuing to have these workshops! My only regret is that I can’t attend every single one you schedule. Truly incredible!
It was freakin amazing. I’m still reeling a little (and taking the day off to recover, heh. so much socializing…).
Thank you, Dean. And say thank you to Kris for me, too. I can’t wait for April
Next time I’m on the same continent, I’ll have to show up to one of these shindigs. Those business ones are especially appealing.
Yes, that was way too much fun. Thanks for hosting, Dean. I was going to get my stories up tonight, too, but I ended up stuffing them in envelopes for tomorrow’s mail. Guess I need to write something else to post this week. Think I’ll wander down to the garage and rummage through my junk box for a title.
See you for lunch in a couple of weeks.
Wow, that sounds so fantastic! The one workshop I did attend last year was beyond belief (can’t recommend them highly enough) and I’m looking forward to another later this year.
*huge grin* But of that whole post, including the comments, the thing that really leapt out at me and made me jump for joy was this little tidbit that snuck in, in the comments:
“…weren’t planning to do any after June, but that has changed…”
*cheers!*
Some day, I shall regale the youth of the genre about how Hugo-winner and genre Dame Kristine Kathryn Rusch flailed me with a hotel dinner napkin, then assigned me a penance of 25 short stories — no re-writes, all to be sent to the markets, over 25 weeks — for failing to follow advice given the year prior.
And the fun part will be seeing how many of those sell, and/or what kind of theme packages I can create for Kindle and Nook. If this is the Wild, Wild West of publishing, then it’s time to saddle up!
Seriously, Dean, Sheldon was right when he said you guys are the heart and soul of the event. Without you guys, it doesn’t happen. No mojo for the rest of us. I think we’re all thankful you keep doing these. Denise + Dean + Kris + John = whale of a good time. And educational as hell, too.
Wasn’t it great, Brad, what Shelly (Sheldon MacCarther) kept doing for the weekend? One of the greatest booksellers in the country just happened to retire to Lincoln City and loves to help out writers.
And adding in John and Kris just took the entire week to a new level of fun. I can’t begin to tell you how scary it was to argue with Denise and Kris and John about your story in front of thirty-five other professional writers. Thanks for that. (grin)
Spent a good part of the long trip home reading stories I’d previously “skimmed” due to lack of time during the workshop. Wow! What an amazing collection! I’m proud to be part of it
Thanks so much, Dean, to you, Kris, Denise, and John for the generous gift of your time and the glimpse inside the “editor’s office” that you each shared with us during the workshop. Already looking forward to next year!
You guys are all fantastic – Dean, Kris, Denise, John, Shelly, Chris York, Kip, Misty, the Hilltop staff and the Inn at Spanish Head staff, and all the writers. Hands down, fantastic workshop. And hey – I learned I could still write a 4,000 word story in 24 hours even when I’m sick. *g* This workshop is my absolutely-must-go-to workshop every year.
Hey Brad — 25 stories in 25 weeks? You can do it! And I want to read all of them.
That’s great news, Dean, and I’ll certainly be eager to see your schedule.
And you’re talking about the Denise Little Workshop, right — the one you’ve done for the last seven years?
Yup, that will be one of the workshops, Jeff. We just all had too much fun and all four of the editors are actually looking forward to next year already. So that will be one. Possibly a pitches/blurbs/tags workshop to help writers learn how to write those both for traditional submissions and indie publishing. A “How to be a Publisher” workshop, and one or two more. We will not do a character voice workshop after April again, even though it’s the most important workshop we do. Just not enough interest. Everyone seems to think they don’t need to learn anything about character voice. (Which means they also can’t do setting, since all setting is character opinion.) Ah, well.
There will be a few weekend workshops and the like.
Also, Kris and I and Chris and Steve York and Michael Bellomo and Dayle Dermatris are doing a cruise workshop in October. Three days on a ship with us, talking writing, and so much more. Details later this month. But that one is going to be a blast as well.
New workshop schedule in May sometime.
Annie R- I second what you said. I realized by the end of the week that I kept referring to the Anchor as “home”
Kip and Misty are amazing to put up with all of us. It was a fantastic week.
Heh, I *get* to read all 25 stories (and any extras that Brad does because if he fails it, I’m adding a story on each time he doesn’t deliver). And I’ll be shocked if those 25 stories don’t sell eventually
Wish I could have made it, but I’m looking forward to the June
workshop! The master class and the private lessons with Kris were
fantastic, it has made such a difference. Glad to hear about 2012, I
hope to get back down there again! Thanks so much Dean (and Kris and
everyone else).
First off, I have to say I learned so much during the Denise Little workshop by listening to four editors analyze our stories. The insights were an education on their own. On the plane home I wrote up my lessons learned from the workshop. I consider hearing what worked and didn’t work for not only my stories, but the others as well, to be an invaluable. I left with a better understanding of the importance of story telling.
But what I can’t understand is how people could pass up a chance to do the Character Voice workshop. In my opinion, that one workshop was one of the most important ones I’ve taken. A lightbulb went off for me in that workshop and a number of people have said how much my writing has improved since I took it.
Really, people, you HAVE to take the Character Voice Workshop if you ever get a chance. It is a terrific craft workshop. Anyone who hasn’t taken this workshop should be begging Dean and Kris to teach it again.
Wow really surprised and sad to hear the Character Voice workshop didn’t get a lot of takers. That was one I really hoped you’d repeat so I could attend next time. Guess I’ll just have to ‘suffer’ and pick my second choice.
I keep *trying* to take Character Voice
It’s happening in April, so far anyway. Hopefully enough of us show up!
But yeah, I don’t think I’ve been to a “wasted” workshop in LC yet. Thanks again, Dean (and Kris! and everyone!)
I have to echo what everyone else has said (despite that fact that I’m a writer and should come up with my own comments! LOL!): it was an amazing weekend! I got to meet new friends and catch up with old ones, read incredible stories, and even write two decent stories of my own.
Thank you to everyone!
Hmmmm, perhaps if enough of us are willing to commit ahead of time, we can persuade Dean and Kris to do the Character Voice class one more time in 2012???
Nope, not a chance. Sorry. (grin) We offered it three times, got two workshops off the ground, the other one only had three people signed up. So that’s done.
Kris has convinced me we need to go one more year after June, but that year will only have a few workshops in it. No way are we doing another schedule like we have this spring. I can tell you right now that the workshops that are for sure after June are:
–The Denise Little workshop.
–The writing of pitches, blurbs, and tags.
– How to be a publisher (maybe twice)
Anyone have any suggestions for a workshop, fire away. But Character Voice will not be one of them. Sorry. April is it.
Major bummer! But alas totally understandable considering the response you quoted above.
Pitches and blurbs, though… Another one high on my list, as I desperately need to improve on those… Hmmmmmm
There are real skills that can be learned in writing pitches, blurbs, and tags. Don’t forget tag lines, those one line statements that sell books and hook readers. Critical. And something that can be both taught and learned in four days.
Dean, thank you and Kris, Denise, and John for an amazing workshop unlike any I’ve ever attended. Your generosity with your knowledge and expertise was invaluable; and I, too, felt lucky to be there with my fellow students.
I had to laugh when I read Brad’s comment above: Kris also took the time to tell me, nicely but forcefully, that I had to stop rewriting and start mailing stories out, pronto. She refrained from giving me a specific number of stories to write (and from hitting me with a dinner napkin), but now I know what I have to look forward to if I don’t follow her advice.
Seriously, it was a fantastic experience, and if things line up right, I’ll be back next year, if not sooner.
I agree with her, Benjamin. The story you had time to “work” on had no voice, none of you left in it, but the one you powered out and didn’t rewrite had voice and power. You have to get the courage to dare to be bad, fly into the face of the training of the English professors who are so good at commercially selling their work (snort…sorry), and not rewrite. Just fix mistakes a first reader finds and then mail. You have a stunningly powerful voice that you can’t see. None of us can see our voices.
It was great having you here on our fine coast. Come back anytime.
Hey, Brad, that story in the mail to Stan yet? (grin)
If you’re searching for other potential workshops, how about a reprise of the marketing workshop? Been dying to go to that one
Daniel, doing that workshop (Marketing) at the end of this month, talking about how to write proposals, cover letters, blurbs, and electronic marketing. That’s the last one of these as well. Again, no more interest. I have ten people coming on March 26 and room for four or five more, but no takers. Ahh, well.
Damn — I was already committed to run a con that weekend when I found it on your schedule. Ah well. Looking forward to seeing what you have on offer for the next run!
Both workshop stories have left the building, Dean! We’ll see if the digests nibble again? I think these two stories have a better-than-decent shot with Stan. Not so sure about Sheila, but there is always a first time for everything I guess?
Hmmmm, no more character voice workshops. Drat. In fact, double-drat. But I understand if you haven’t picked up enough bodies to make it worth your time. I’d have done the whole week this year, except I literally don’t have the time off from work to make it happen. I’ll have to crib from Amanda’s and Annie’s notes.
Thanks again to you, Kris, Denise, John and the wonderful folks at the Inn, including Chris York. The weekend was absolutely fantastic and it was an honor to participate!
An amazing experience — thank you so much for all that you do.
My most significant experience in decades. What an honor to sit in the same room with Denise, John, Kathryn and you, Dean. Then how humbling to realize the talent sitting around me in the room. I still have not come down and hope I never do, the clouds do just fine; Thank You