Fall Conference 2004
Fall Conference 2004 was held in Research Triangle Park, NC, at the
Sheraton Imperial Hotel and Convention Center. The conference is over, but we have
left this conference information on the site so that you can refer to it as a model
of what our Fall Conference is like.
Session IV Classes
Sunday, October 31, 9:00-10:30 am
FICTION - Staying Afloat: Specific Tips for Keeping Going with Your Novel Even When the Words Don't Take Wing, with Judy Goldman
Every novel has a point beyond which you simply cannot proceed. And
then... you proceed. But most people give up when they hit this barrier.
Judy will teach you specific tricks for passing through rough spots and
getting your fingers moving over the keyboard again
FICTION/NONFICTION - Surprising Yourself: The free-written draft, with Abigail DeWitt
Free-writing--writing quickly and without thinking--can help you go
straight to the heart of your subject. It allows you to say the
un-sayable and be surprised by your own revelations, images and turns of
phrase. Many writers use free-writing to launch their projects; we'll
talk about how to free-write an entire story, novel or memoir.
Free-writing not only gets the job done, it allows you to produce a
draft that is richer, more vivid and more startling than anything you
could have imagined. We'll do lots of fun exercises together to see how
this method works.
FICTION/NONFICTION/POETRY - Write From the Shadow, with Ann Loomis
In his autobiography, Carl Jung wrote these words about the shadow:
"I had to try to gain power over my fantasies, for I realized that if I
did not do so, I ran the risk of their gaining power over me." The
shadow is the denied part of ourselves that we tend to project onto
others. If left unacknowledged, the shadow can sabotage relationships
and careers, but if brought into the light, the shadow can bring us our
deepest treasures. As we celebrate Halloween, we will explore characters
within ourselves that can help reveal the gold hidden within the shadow.
Writing exercises and experiential activities provide the framework for
this workshop.
POETRY - Taking Snapshots: Using the Lost Art of Haiku to Deepen Your Poetry, with Sebastian Matthews
Many people today think of haiku as a quaint, antiquated form full
of cherry blossoms, winter snow, and Hallmark card sentiment. Nothing
could be further from the truth. Haiku is a direct, contemporary form
that involves itself with perception, the moment, the natural world, and
the difficult practice of uttering honest emotion in charged language.
In short, haiku is the essence of lyric poetry. W.C. Williams could have
been talking about haiku when he uttered his famous dictum: "No ideas
but in things." In this class, we will practice this lost art by going
out into to the day to take "snapshots." We will then use our attempts
as a springboard to discuss the role the image plays in the making of
poetry.
NONFICTION - How to Write an Irresistible Nonfiction Query, with Rita Rosenkranz
Learn the key components of a great proposal that help an author
leapfrog over the competition and earn an agent's--and finally a
publisher's--attention.
CHILDREN'S - Voice: If You Don't Have It, No One Will Hear It, with Stephanie Greene
Children are ruthless readers. If your character doesn't speak to
them as soon as they read your first page, paragraph, or even sentence,
you've lost them. In this workshop, Stephanie Greene will cover
different ways to get the voice in your head or heart on paper, and how
to focus on making it distinctive. Participants are invited, but not
required, to bring the first page of a manuscript for classroom
discussion.
PLAYWRITING/FICTION - Adaptation: From Page to Stage, with Paul Ferguson
This workshop will explore the principles of adapting prose fiction for the
stage without discarding the narrative point of view. Participants will
collaborate on the construction of a scenario, the adaptation of a scene,
and the testing of their work in performance.
SCREENWRITING - Introduction to Dramatic Screenwriting, Part I, with Ramin Bahrani
In this two-part class we will explore the basic principles of
dramatic screenwriting: how to focus your idea and move it forward to
the obligatory scene, the climax and a finished screenplay. We will also
discuss laws of conflict, dramatic action, unity in terms of climax, and
character. Students should bring either a 1-3 page scene they have written from a
screenplay or a 1-3 page treatment for a feature screenplay.
MARKETING - Book Promotion 101, with Bella Stander
Whether you're a first-time author or have a string of titles to
your credit, people have to be enticed to read--and buy!--your book.
Which means someone has to promote and publicize it. And no matter how
much your publisher does at first, for the major portion of your book's
life that someone is going to be you. Bella Stander gives you the scoop
on how to get started.
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