Writing Retreat Fun

The writers' retreat went very well.
The Friday afternoon was more earth shattering than expected with the Seddon 6.6 earthquake being felt here while I was preparing the base for our writers' soup. It reminded me of Feb 22 when I was preparing a cooking class that evening when the quake struck Christchurch. This time was the pantry began to rattle, I shouted, "Not again!"
But in Nelson most of the aftershocks were not felt and we went ahead with the retreat.
The atmosphere was so friendly and supportive. Becky Siame was a great speaker who shared with such honesty and humour. Her achievements by self publishing are impressive. She had many helpful ideas and was very encouraging to finish those manuscripts and get them to our readers.
I had not anticipated the sharing of helpful tips and resources between everyone - participants and speaker and workshop leaders. I made a resource list during the weekend to capture all the tips being shared before we forgot them all.
I unexpectedly also managed to get some writing done.
So we are looking at 2014 and planning on running another retreat. Talking with the participants more time was thought to be better.
Queen's Birthday weekend is the new date.
Again with a local writer speaker who has made it to publication success will share the insights from their journey to inspire the finishing of those writing projects.
We will  be providing more practical workshops next year. The creating characters workshop was fun and was a great way to learn from each other so we will include more of those.
Time to get on with the planning!

Sticking Your Neck Out vs Hiding Under the Couch

There are a number of things I pick up from fellow writers and tuck away with delight because what I think is a personal failing turns out to be a characteristic common to many writers.
One of these is to have a number of different writing projects in progress at one time. This year I am striving to finish two of the larger ones.
This past summer helping out in the family motels sometimes when I was in a unit alone, the quietness of the double glazing and the position back from the road, made me look at the table longingly to sit and write.
The idea revealed itself as a one liner on the bottom of a piece of paper. A writers' retreat. It is not to be a large, scary group of brash know-it- alls, outlining their recent publication successes. It is for people with great stories they started but because of life and confidence the projects have dropped further down the priority list than intended.
My friend Louise spotted my note and encouraged me to run with it. Together we hashed out ideas and put together a programme.
I contacted a local writer that had caught my attention, Becky Siame. We met over coffee and cake and her ideas, practical suggestions and enthusiasm for encouraging people to write their stories was energising. I was excited about this event.
I put the word out and now it is only a little over a month away on August 16-18th. I am terrified. I want it to be a success. I hope those that come get a lot of writing done as well as being inspired by hearing Becky and just what can be achieved these days by new authors.
I have been at this point in organising a new event before with our cooking classes. It is scary to put something out into the world and have to wait to see if people are keen to come. Many times I just want to hide under the couch and wish I had never thought of the idea. But there is no going back now, no matter what happens, it is going ahead.
Time for some deep breaths and holding of nerves...oh and if you do know of anyone who would be keen, do let them know. I would really appreciate it and I hope when they come, they will too.
http://www.arrowmotel.co.nz/retreat

Coming Back to Old Work

I have a longer piece I want to lick into shape to submit for a competition. I have wondered if I should pay a professional editor to check it before I submit it to make it as best as it can be, but time might be an issue for this option.

I have had part of this work critiqued. This led to it languishing in a folder on my computer ignored out of embarrassment. Many of the flaws were as clear and sharp as a frosty afternoon once they had been pointed out in slashes of someone else's pen. 

The flaws flamed my cheeks with embarrassment because they were flaws I never let happen in my professional work. 

The experience was tough enough to completely shift my thinking back to where it should have been - what I already knew in my other professional written work also applied to my own personal work. I was very relieved recently to hear a writer, who was placed in a writing competition, say her feedback was usually pointing out things she realised she already knew - phew I wasn't alone!

I find working on longer pieces, I can get lost in so many words and details. I am going to try Sol Stein's triage method for revision. It is chapter thirty-two of my all time favourite book on writing - Sol Stein on Writing.

His triage approach is to take the main character first and think about how well you understand them, if they are distinct from you and if you would want them on holiday with you.

The next step is to revise the villain/antagonist.

Then to revise the conflict and check if it is credible.

After that take the scenes and work out if they are memorable by seeing which ones you can remember and then find the least memorable one, (probably from browsing the manuscript, since it has been forgotten). Rewrite it better by looking at the most memorable scenes and seeing what is great about them. If it can't be rewritten - dump it. Then work through the next least memorable scene. He has many more excellent suggestions to follow on from this, which is why I find his book so helpful. Time for me to get revising - Triage Stat!
But first there is a rant I need to get out of my head.