Sunday, April 26, 2009

I Need Your Help

"Public speaking is the art of diluting a two-minute idea with a two-hour vocabulary." ~John F. Kennedy

OK, fellow writers, I need some input:

Next Saturday, I'll be presenting a workshop at the Fiction Fest 2009 conference on "Tightening and Trimming Your Prose."

My question is, if you were planning on attending, what kinds of things would you like to see covered/included in that workshop? I have an hour, and I do already have a brief outline/idea of what I'm going to discuss. But I'd love some suggestions as well. What would you expect from a breakout session with that title? If you've gone to conferences in the past, which workshops did you most enjoy, and why? Handouts, or not? Self-promo, or not?

I'm looking forward to the experience, despite the nerves...I figure it'll be good for me :)

4 comments:

Margay Leah Justice said...

I would be most interested in knowing how to tighten and trim without losing the essence of your work. I think when we revise, we do it with the guidelines and the expectations of the industry leaning over our shoulders and I'm always afraid it will end up sounding like something someone else wrote and not my own. And handouts are always a good thing.

Margay

Maria Zannini said...

My favorite workshops (recently) have been on internet marketing and discussions on digital technology.

Handouts: I like them. Consider giving a bulleted list in your handouts so people can follow along.

Self promo: Definitely! If an author impresses me at a workshop I will buy their books.

As for what to expect from this title, I'd like to hear:
- how to know when a draft needs tightening.
- tips on editing
- examples of a sentence (or two) before and after tightening

Hope that helps

Liz said...

Hand-outs a must and make sure to have enough. Self-Promo is expected. But besides to tighten and trim, I would also discuss what to make sure IS there. Does it move the story forward? Has the scene accomplished what you wanted? Have you used one of the five senses if applicable? Stuff like that. Good luck!

Mary Ricksen said...

I think new writers need to know what backtelling is. How to incorporate past incidents pertinent to the story into the story correctly. How to handle POV, all aspects of it. Words to avoid using. Passive voice and how to avoid it. When a writer knows this stuff their work will automatically be tighter. Imagery, dialogue, how to use then to show, not tell a story. Good luck with the workshop. I love handouts and I love to learn something I never knew.