I’m posting from the end of a long day at the convention, so please forgive any typos and incoherence. I’ve been on the go since 6:30.
The first day was the writers workshop. We had excellent commentary from the teachers on everything from the necessity of redrafting to applying the screenwriting formul to novels (an excellent presentation by Lou Anders with great relevance to writing novels) to discussing the place of epublishing for writers. In the final case, basically, don’t do it as a beginning writer. It’s established writers with backlists and experience who can get the most out of self-publishing their work for Kindle or Nook.
We broke up into groups after lunch and went over the stories. The writers got feedback from their teachers and fellow students and I saw plenty of conversation afterwards as students got together and enthusiastically discussed the day’s critiques. Workshops are an excellent way to get together with fellow writers and talk craft.
After the workshop, I got together with Kimberly Frost and a slew of other writers and we went to dinner and had a great time, and then it was back to the con for opening ceremonies. With Mark Finn as toastmaster (wearing a fez, throwing toast into the audience and lauding primatology) it was entertaining and fun.
The evening panels included worldbuilding, moderated by Elizabeth Bear and future worlds and economies, which include Bruce Sterling and a host of others, and was a thought-provoking panel with plenty of back and forth with the audience, and a reading by JM McDermott, who read a retelling of a Eurydice short story that was both lovely and slightly depressing and at the same time hopeful. Chatted a bit, but at that point it was 10:30 and I was done.
So now I’m here, ready for bed, and exhausted. Hence the fact that there are no links in this post.
Tomorrow I read, interview Paolo, and do other panels and parties. Will post later.
Thanks to Stina Leicht and the workshoppers and students for a most excellent day.
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