is not the writing. I learned that this weekend as I went to a writer's conference in the Bend, OR area called "The Nature of Words." The readings were great and parts of the "workshops" were good but I discovered an all together unsatisfied feeling at this event. As I listened to the presenters (I went to two different presenters workshops), I became weary with the task of talking about the writing. Well, that's not true, I got sick of talking about publishing.
I signed up for these workshops because they had titles that appealed to me: Tropes, Dialogue and the Revelation of Character , Mapping the Novel: Location, Location, Location, and Voices. What I found in two out of four of these workshops is that the people in attendance are not concerned with the elements of craft being discussed but want to know what it is like working with an editor, how do covers get selected, what's the best publishing house for mysteries, children's lit, etc. It was really frustrating.
When we were on topic I got a couple of real good bits of information but I'm wading through a group of people who are raising their hand and asking, "Do I need to have my children's book illustrated before I send it to the publisher?" Which, of course, is a perfect question to ask someone who writes crime fiction.
So, I took what I could, attended the readings, which were great. I made a connection with an old professor from the University of Montana, got to see the lovely Pattiann Rogers read and chat with her, met a classmate for a drink, stayed with my in-laws and got a chance to catch up and, all-in-all, had a nice weekend but I've missed the computer, I've yearned for the keyboard and I'm excited to be sitting right back down in the driver's seat ready to begin again this creative act I love so much.
I call the publishing questions 'the Magic Bullet question'. It's as if everyone who has ever put words on paper thinks there is One Thing they could do that would get them published. Someone, somewhere knows the One Thing and will tell them.
ReplyDeleteUsually, I find that people who are serious about writing at all have figured out that this is a silly belief, and so they try to come up with smart, sensible-sounding questions...that will still, somehow, give them the One Thing.
Whereas, if you go to, for instance, the writing industry panels and presentations at a sci-fi con, someone in the audience is still green enough to ask the Magic Bullet question without stage dressing.