10 Dos and Don’tsNext weekend, I’ll be attending the Central Coast Writing conference at Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo, CA http://www.communityprograms.net/wc/wcindex.htm. It’s a great little conference, where I always learn something new.To remind myself, and fellow conference goers--here are some tips to get the most out of a writers conferenceDON’T dress to impress. (At one conference I attended, a woman came dressed as a tree. Shedding real leaves. Don’t do this. Also, dressing as one of your characters WILL get you noticed, but not in...
Sunday, 27 September 2009
Monday, 21 September 2009
Just saw this: We all get to vote for the National Book Award!The public gets to choose the best American work of fiction of the past 60 years from six finalists—four of which are short story collections:The finalists, announced by the National Book Foundation today are:"The Stories of John Cheever,"Ralph Ellison's "Invisible Man,"William Faulkner's "Collected Stories,""The Complete Stories" of Flannery O'Connor,Thomas Pynchon's "Gravity Rainbow" "The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty."Starting Monday, through Oct. 21, votes can be cast through...
Friday, 18 September 2009
…and other reasons to write more short fiction.The news is out. Oprah’s new book pick is—gulp—A short story collection. According to most agents, story collections are a tough sell (along with chick lit and memoirs) but maybe that’s about to change.In any case, it’s time for us all to start re-thinking short fiction. I’m beginning to realize I’ve wasted way too much of the past 20 years writing book length-fiction. If I’d been writing more short stories and creative essays, I might have higher profile now, and maybe even a solid career, instead...
Friday, 11 September 2009
I'm honored to have been nominated (twice!) for the Lemonade Stand Award. Both nominators have fantastic blogs. Check out Writing Roller Coasters http://writingrollercoasters.blogspot.com/ and The Chronicles of Emily Cross, link on the blogroll to the left.I'll nominate some of my favorite blogs later. I think I've finally uploaded the Lemonade stand! A triumph for a cybermoron like ...
Saturday, 5 September 2009
They say we all have a book inside us—our own life story. The urge to put that story on paper is the most common reason people start writing. Adult education programs and senior centers everywhere offer courses in “writing your own life.” Memoir is the most popular genre at any writers conference.Unfortunately, it’s the hardest to write well—and the least likely to be published.Agent Kristin Nelson says she’s seen so many bad memoirs that she cringes when she meets a memoirist a writer’s conference. Author J. A. Konrath offers the simple advice:...
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