Friday, January 23, 2009

Space Coast Writer's Conference


UPDATE:2/10 - Somewhat belatedly, you can find a text version of our "Sketch a Novel in an Hour" exercise here.

We're speaking today and tomorrow at the Space Coast Writer's annual conference in beautiful Cocoa Beach, Florida. This post is mainly for those attending the conference. Feel free to leave your questions and remarks in the comment section of this message. Later, I'll update the post to provide links to on-line versions of the hand-outs from our two talks, "Seven Plot Points in Search of a Genre" and "How to Outline a Novel in an Hour."

Thanks for attending, and please browse here and our personal blogs (see the sidebar for links) for other writing-related essays that you may find interesting and instructive.

Sunday update from Steve: It's our last night in Cocoa Beach. The conference ended last night, and it was rather odd, as all the locals left, and we, probably the folks farthest from, were left behind.

We had a really great time. I was impressed with the group, the hospitality of the staff here at the Holiday Beach Cocoa Beach Resort, and the enthusiasm of the people attending. When we did our "Novel in an Hour" presentation (which we've given dozens of times around the country), I've never seen a group throw themselves so completely into the free-writing exercise. Normally I have to be a terrible nag to keep people writing, but these folks just powered through almost without prompting.

Chris and I both had a great visit, and hope they invite us back some day.

As for handouts, I've been writing a revised and expanded text version of the "Sketch a Novel in an Hour" excercise, though I may not be able to get it posted here until we're back in Oregon in a couple days. Be patient. It will be worth the wait.

Thanks again to everyone we talked to here in Florida, who made our visit such a pleasure.

- Steve
Posted by at 12:12 PM
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3 comments:

  1. Hi Steve,
    I attended your Novel in an Hour workshop and I've just now completed an outline for a Novella using your method. I started out with the intention of using it for Writers of the Future, but the story went toward romance yet again. Anyway, the outline looks good. Thanks for the lesson. I enjoyed your class.

    Stephanie Peaden
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  2. Thanks, Stephanie. Glad the workshop was useful to you.

    I'm still working on the print version to post here. Questions and lead-in are all done, but we're working on a new and more detailed description on how to use the results that will cover a lot of things we didn't have time to do in the Cocoa Beach version. Hope to have it up soon.

    -Steve Y.
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  3. Scribblers’ Retreat Writers’ Conference 2009
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    February 12-15, 2009 – History Fiction/Non-Fiction/Romance
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    Scribblers’ Retreat is not the typical classroom setting. It was designed to bring world-class authors, literature professors, editors, journalists, and publishers one-on-one with those who are hungry for the power of the written word. It is the opportunity of a lifetime for someone who has had a manuscript in a desk drawer for 40 years or who has an outstanding poem that simply must be read.
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    ReplyDelete

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