Schedule of Events for the
Seventh Annual North Coast Redwoods Writers' Conference

Descriptions of the workshops are given below

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14th, 2007

4:00-4:20pm   Critique Sessions (see details of this opportunity)
5:30-6:15   Registration and book signings by presenters
6:15-6:30   Welcome
6:30-7:30   Panel discussion with presenters on the topic of: "Fiction vs. Autobiography: The Places Where Imagination Intersects with our Lives." Each presenter will speak 5 minutes followed by Q&A. Panel discussion moderated by Prof. Ken Letko
7:30-7:40   Break
7:40-8:50   Concurrent Workshops:
   
(1) Susan Bono (2) Inez Castor (3) Joseph Millar (4) Derrick Jensen
Getting to Yes:
A Game Plan for Being Published		 Newspaper Columns 101 The Poetry of the Everyday World Show, Don't Tell
8:50-9:00   Break
9:00-9:30   Reading by Jay Lake

 

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15th, 2007

8:00am   Registration and continental breakfast
8:30   Welcome
8:45   Keynote speaker — Dorianne Laux: "How to Write Every Day: The Muse is Hiding All Around Us" This craft talk will benefit all writers. Looking at examples from well-known writers of varying genres, participants will come away with tips on how to capture the art of the everyday and “on the fly.”
9:45-11:15   Concurrent Workshops:
   
(5) Susan Bono (6) Barbara Deal (7) Joseph Millar (8) Jay Lake (9) Dorianne Laux
Getting to Yes:
A Game Plan for Being Published		 Ask the Agent The Poetry of the Everyday World How Do You Know When You've Succeeded? Playing with Short Fiction, Flash Fiction, the Prose Poem
11:30am-1:00pm   Concurrent Workshops:
   
(10) Barbara Deal (11) Dorianne Laux (12) Jay Lake (13) Derrick Jensen (14) Inez Castor
How to Find a Publisher Playing with Short Fiction, Flash Fiction, the Prose Poem How Do You Know When You've Succeeded? Show, Don't Tell Newspaper Columns 101
 
1:00-1:45   Catered Lunch
 
2:00-2:30   Open mic (3-5 minutes) by sign-up sheet; first-come, first-served (any work; i.e., original or not):
 
2:30-3:00  

Reading by Joseph Millar
     
3:10   Publishing Panel (3 presenters; each will speak 10 minutes; moderated by Prof. Ken Letko): Susan Bono, Jay Lake, and Derrick Jensen

 

Descriptions of the Workshops

Derrick Jensen
Show, Don't Tell — How do writers get you to feel scared when a main character hangs from a cliff? By getting you to identify with that character. By having you participate in that character's experiences. By describing those experiences. By putting you in that situation. This workshop will explore how to get readers to more fully feel what you describe, and will provide many opportunities for attendees to practice taking readers there with them.

Jay Lake
How Do You Know When You've Succeeded? — We all love the external validation fairy. She arrives with the book contract, the check for the award, the lovely review in the New York Times. Unfortunately, most writers, even very successful ones, don't see her that often. How do you know when you've succeeded? By setting goals and metrics for your success that you can control. This session discusses how to set those goals, as well as common goals which are pitfalls for the unwary writer. Make your career plans make sense, while measuring success in ways you can draw strength and satisfaction from.

Inez Castor
Newspaper Columns 101 — What do you want to say? Who do you want to say it to? How will you carry your agenda? This class will also cover the nuts and bolts of grammar, punctuation, and length. Then it is on to editors: The Good, The Bad, and The Weird.

Barbara Deal
Ask the Agent — A workshop presenting what an agent does; clients from heaven, clients from hell; how to make your agent love having you for a client; how to find an agent; followed by a free-for-all question/answer session.

How To Find a Publisher — Covers the basics of manuscript preparation, book proposal basics, how to research publishing houses, and how to find the right editor to whom to submit your project; followed by a free-for-all question/answer session.

Susan Bono
Getting to Yes: A Game Plan for Being Published — Most writers have a love-hate relationship with editors and publishers. We love being published! We hate being rejected! When sending poems, short stories, and essays into the world, some simple, effective strategies can help keep the feelings (and the results) positive. Learn to identify publishing goals, prioritize markets, track submissions, survive rejections, and survive cranky editors. Feeling like a pro is easier when you know how to act like one.

Dorianne Laux
Playing with Short Fiction, Flash Fiction, the Prose Poem — Many examples of short works by well known writers such as Grace Paley, r.d. skillings, Jack Gilbert, Gary Young, Michael Chitwood, Carolyn Forche, Kris Saknussemm, and Jonis Agee will be read and used as models to write your own short works and help develop your skills with character, plot, dialogue and setting. The narrative arc will also be discussed.

Joseph Millar
The Poetry of the Everyday World — This workshop will focus on the hidden poems we often pass by in our daily lives: making our lunch, heading out to work, watering a plant, dusting the furniture, following from one chore to the next. We will write together as a group, using as models for exercises poems by Marie Howe and Philip Levine.

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