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50 WRITING EVENTS TO ATTEND THIS FALL

AUGUST 2021

P LU S !
THE WEIRD &
WONDERFUL
WAYS WRITERS
GET PITCH
IDEAS
2021
SUMMER
FLASH
CONTEST
Submit your very best work in
any genre – fiction or nonfiction –
in 1,000 words or less.

GRAND PRIZE:
$1,000 and publication
in our magazine PLUS
DEADLINE: GET YOUR
August 12, 2021 SUBMISSION
CRITIQUED!
LEARN MORE AT:
writermag.com/contests
Contents
FEATURES
10 So you want to give
a workshop...
How to initiate, organize, and
execute a successful writing
workshop.
BY TIM WAGGONER
18 Inspiration everywhere
A look at the weird ways writers
get successful pitches.
BY ELISA SHOENBERGER
22 The best medicine
A spoonful of humor makes
every story better.
BY JOSH SIPPIE
Cover: Ardea-studio/Shutterstock
August 2021
Volume 134 Number 8
DEPARTMENTS
8 From the Front Lines
Back to basics
What do you do when
you get writer’s block?
BY YI SHUN LAI
38 Literary Spotlight
The Offing
BY MELISSA HART
40 Conference Insider
The Power of Words
Conference
BY MELISSA HART
IN EVERY ISSUE
2 From the Editor
4 Take Note
42 Markets
47 Classified advertising
48 Gigi Will Know
26
26 In search of a third
dimension
On characterization in memoir.
BY MEAGAN SHELLEY
30 Learning to love
your memories
How narrative memoir journaling
can improve your nonfiction.
BY CHELSEA LEAH
34 Finding the emotional
center of your essay
True revision can’t begin until
you locate the heart of what
your nonfiction is really about.
Here’s how.
BY BONNIE HEARN HILL
writermag.com • The Writer | 1
FROM THE EDITOR
NICKI PORTER
Self-edits
My favorite place to write at home is a quiet read-
ing nook with large, sunny windows overlooking
the yard. The section it faces is fenced, so even
though the rest of summertime Alaska is bursting
with new life, this tiny corner of the state remains
peaceful, a small respite from the lynx, moose,
foxes, and coyotes that roam the neighborhood.
Which is why it was so startling to see a bear
amble across my patio one day.
And even more startling to see a large cub fol-
low her.
I dropped my laptop and swore. Not only did I
now have a bear problem, but I also had a mama
bear problem.
I don’t know why I was surprised. Our house
has a history. The previous owner had returned
home from vacation to find her house burglar-
ized by a bear, which, having gotten a taste of the
good life, then proceeded to go on a break-in
crime spree around the neighborhood.
This time, however, my house remained
unbreached. Finding no food in the yard, the
mama effortlessly scaled a tree, while the baby,
awkward and hesitant, clambered up the fence,
pausing at the top before tumbling off and scram-
bling after mama unscathed, if a little embarrassed.
Then they were gone, and I was left with a still-
racing heart and the videos I’d taken. The camera
had stilled my shaking hand, bless it, and the bears
did look much bigger than the ones I’d seen back
east. But they still didn’t look nearly as big as when
I stood pressed to the glass watching them, so
acutely aware of the smallness of my body. The
weakness of my body. How useless and frail my
hands seemed to their enormous, sweeping paws.
It’s been just a week since the bears came, and
already I feel my brain struggling to rewrite the
2 | The Writer • August 2021
memory, massage it a little to make it more com-
fortable, more palatable, easier to carry.
I fought it here, too. Every step of the way,
resisting. I deleted paragraph after paragraph of
jokes that came easily because the truth was
tougher to look in the eye. It’s never easy to
acknowledge fear, on the page or anywhere else.
Fear is perceived as weakness, and weakness
makes us uncomfortable. Vulnerable. It’s why I
sent those videos off to family and friends with
glib captions about meeting my new neighbors
and said nothing of my dry mouth and shaking
hands. My carefree social posts from that day tell
a different story than the one I lived. An easier
story to swallow for both reader and writer.
But an incomplete one.
And the more I press on that fear, the more
complex it becomes. I realize now the thing that
rattled me most wasn’t the bears but rather a lack
of control. I had fooled myself into thinking a
fence equaled safety. Outside the house, we could
round a corner and hit a moose or stumble upon
a bear mid-hike, but surely the yard was sacred.
I must learn to accept that I will never have
control anywhere, not in a city, not in a forest, not
in a bunker 30 feet underground. God grant me
the serenity to accept the moose I cannot change.
It’s a small moment, a tiny revelation in a long
life. But it wouldn’t exist if I hadn’t kept dogging
that memory, circling that fear instead of averting
my gaze. And I think that’s what makes memoir
such a difficult genre because it requires constant
vigilance against the urge to self-edit. It’s not fun,
it’s never easy, and it’s often painful. But there are
no shortcuts in truth-telling. If we want the whole
truth, we need to tell the whole story – including
the parts we want so badly to forget.
Keep writing,
Nicki Porter
Senior Editor
@nickimporter
 This month on
Senior Editor
Nicki Porter
DIGITAL OPERATIONS writermag.com
Audience Development Analyst
Contributing Editor
Ryan Gillis
Melissa Hart
Senior Digital Designer
Copy Editor
Mike Decker
Toni Fitzgerald
WordPress Developer
David Glassman
EDITORIAL BOARD
James Applewhite, Andre Becker, SALES & MARKETING
Eve Bunting, Roy Peter Clark,
Lewis Burke Frumkes, Gail Godwin, Director of Media Solutions
Eileen Goudge, Rachel Hadas, Ed Feldman
John Jakes, John Koethe, Lois Lowry, Media Solutions Associate
Peter Meinke, Katherine Paterson Toni Eunice
PHONE: 617-706-9089
EMAIL: teunice@madavor.com
ART & PRODUCTION
Client Services
Graphic Designer clientservices@madavor.com
Jaron Cote Marketing Director
Tim Doolan
OPERATIONS Senior Marketing Associate
Let’s write short. Really short.
VP, Circulation Strategy Tommy Goodale Our 2021 Summer Flash Contest is almost here!
Jason Pomerantz Marketing Associate
Carly Noyce
On July 1, we’ll start welcoming your submis-
Operations Director
Cheyenne Corliss SEO & Content Marketing Supervisor sions in fiction OR nonfiction. The catch? We’ll
Anthony Buzzeo
Senior Client Services & Operations Lead only accept works told in 1,000 words or less.
Andrea Palli Content Marketing Associate
Senior Client Services & Media Analyst Samantha Thomas Read more or enter your best flash work at
Tou Zong Her writermag.com/contests.
Client Services Associate EXECUTIVE
Darren Cormier Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
Accounting Director Jeffrey C. Wolk
Amanda Joyce Chief Operating Officer
Accounts Payable Associate Courtney Whitaker
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Accounts Receivable Associate Matt Martinelli
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writermag.com • The Writer | 3

A bookseller’s
education,
concluded
Ten years after the iconic bookstore chain
Borders closed its doors for good, one bookseller
looks back at how his time spent there ultimately
helped his career – and his self-worth.

BY PETE CROATTO

M
y first book, From Hang Time
to Prime Time: Business,
Entertainment, and the Birth
of the Modern-day NBA, took 16
months to report and write. In reality,
the book was born almost 15 years ago.
On November 15, 2006, I left my edit-
ing job and officially became a book-
seller at the Borders in East Brunswick,
New Jersey.
Before my trade magazine editing
career began in March 2003, I had
worked at Borders for six months.
Then, it served as a helpful stop-gap.
The second time it changed my life.
When I wasn’t ringing up The Secret
and swerving around kids parked in
the Manga section, I wrote what I
wanted. That stretch of time, which
ended when the store closed in Janu-
ary 2008, was transformative. I wrote
an essay about the experience in
SofiaV/Shutterstock

August 2007 called “A Bookseller’s

Education,” my first piece for a major
national publication.
4 | The Writer • August 2021

“Selling books is certainly not a
glamour profession,” I wrote in the
essay, which appeared in Publishers
Weekly. “I’ve been snapped at, lectured
to, and dismissed, all of which could
happen in an hour. But I’m comfort-
able in my own skin. I still sleep well
every night. I’m not ashamed; I’m not
on edge. That’s probably the biggest life
lesson working at bookstores has
taught me: not one moment or
exchange defines you.”
From Hang Time to Prime Time
doesn’t get written without my time
there. I doubt anything of substance
does. Confidence and calm are manda-
tory when talking to a customer who
disdains you as part of their life philos-
ophy. Those traits helped me when I
had to convince a literary agent of my
value, guide an editor through my
vision for the book, and summon the
composure to talk to Doctor J.
•••
People typically don’t say you’re a loser.
It’s not like having spinach in your
teeth, a temporary flaw that can be
gently remedied. The evidence slowly
mounts until every move you make
feels preordained to fail, and most tell-
ing, nobody is surprised by the out-
come, especially you.
I was 29 years old and racing
toward a life of irredeemable medioc-
rity. I hated that it felt comfortable.
Any youthful potential I had pos-
sessed after college graduation had
long curdled. I was closing in on four
years of editing three trade magazines,
where volume mattered more than
quality. In symbolism a freshman cre-
ative writing student would have called
heavy-handed, the office sat next to a
graveyard. The lone highlight of the
week was the Friday free lunch – usu-
ally General Tso’s chicken from the
“I’m a book sniffer. I never met a book that I didn’t open
up and stick my face into.” —Robert Olen Butler
same restaurant, insufficient balm for a
quarter-life crisis.
Urged by my new boss, who was
appalled by the office’s subterranean
morale, I voiced my frustration to the
owner. He listened as if I were recom-
mending toner vendors and tabled
my pain. Even as I raged and chucked
my notebook down the hallway, I
knew my two weeks’ notice was inevi-
table. The game plan came after self-
pity subsided.
The Borders across the street from
my condo was hiring holiday help. It
immediately served as a spiritual
detox. Whether I was browsing or
working there, bookstores, no matter
their size or stature, promised possibil-
ities. In the late 2000s, the internet was
feasting on the printed word. I’d shelve
wobbly stacks of magazines and carts
full of books – they both came in like
stormwater in a patchy basement – and
feel a hope that dulled the soreness
from eight hours of standing. There
was room for me.
Not that there was time for dream-
ing. Working at Borders in one of the
strings of strip malls that dots central
New Jersey’s glamour-free, car-clogged
commerce boulevards kept me busy. It
also enhanced my journalism skills. I
talked to more people from more dis-
parate backgrounds in my 14 months
slinging books in the sterile suburban
setting of East Brunswick than in my
early years as a reporter and editor. I
had to make a total stranger feel at ease
immediately – even the one who
threatened to kick my ass over an
imaginary slight.
That is an invaluable skill for a
reporter to possess. I earned it selling
Borders Rewards cards – “It’s free, and
we don’t sell your information. You
get coupons!” – and chatting up cus-
tomers at the register and counseling
the wide-eyed husbands daunted at
what to get their wives. A friendly
cadence and a slight deference work
whether you wear a name tag or hold
a tape recorder.
My retail life was no scarlet lanyard.
If you derive pride from your job, it
doesn’t matter how many zeroes con-
clude the check. At Borders, I was the
best version of myself: charitable,
patient, diligent, and charming. I have
the same feelings now as a freelance
writer and as a husband and father. At
Borders, people were happy to see me.
I was rewarded for the work I did with
smiles and relieved sighs — and the
only employee of the month designa-
tion I have ever received.
After six years of monotonous, long-
ing-for-the-weekend jobs, I thought
validation was a finite resource, some-
thing that eroded as you lost hair and
appreciated inertia. Borders did more
than any byline or book deal could. It
offered proof that I was valued as a rep-
resentative of the written word – and,
most importantly, as a person.
—Pete Croatto (Twitter: @PeteCroatto) is the
author of From Hang Time to Prime Time:
Business, Entertainment, and the Birth of the
Modern-day NBA, which was released December
1 by Atria Books, a division of Simon & Schuster.
He is the former “Freelance Success” columnist
for The Writer.
writermag.com • The Writer | 5

OUT NOW
Becoming a Writer, Staying
a Writer: The Artistry, Joy,
and Career of Storytelling
by J. Michael Straczynski
J. Michael Straczynski has
written in just about every
genre imaginable: Fiction,
autobiography, radio, movies,
TV shows, comics, and
more. In his latest book,
Straczynski shares what he’s
learned over his long and
multifaceted career, dedicat-
ing the first half of the book
(“Becoming a Writer”) to
beginners and the second
half (“Staying a Writer”) to
“writers who have achieved
some level of success and
are eager to get to the next
level, refresh their writing
skills, or reinvent themselves
in order to keep their careers
vital and relevant,” writes
Straczynski in the intro.
Craft in the Real World:
Rethinking Fiction Writing
and Workshopping
by Matthew Salesses
This national bestseller asks
readers to rethink how we
6 | The Writer • August 2021
BOOKISH
teach craft and reimagine
the workshop to better
include and invite diverse
storytelling and storytellers
in the classroom. Craft in
the Real World was named
one of the Best Nonfiction
Books of 2021 (So Far) by
Esquire and received rave
reviews from a number of
publications, including the
New York Times Book
Review, which wrote: “Craft
in the Real World is a signifi-
cant contribution to discus-
sions of the art of fiction and
a necessary challenge to
received views about whose
stories are told, how they
are told and for whom they
are intended.”
Wordcraft: The Complete
Guide to Clear, Powerful
Writing
by Jack Hart
Writing coach Jack Hart
updates and retitles his 2006
book, A Writer’s Coach, to
form the second set in a
writing series, following his
previous book Storycraft.
Each of its 12 chapters
focuses on a particular
aspect of successful writing,
from method and process to
voice and mechanics. “Hart’s
approach to the writing pro-
cess will engage you while
you’re learning, console you
when you’re stuck, and, best
of all, inspire you to be a bet-
ter writer,” praises bestsell-
ing author Susan Orlean.
COMING SOON
Listening to People:
A Practical Guide to
Interviewing, Participant
Observation, Data Analysis,
and Writing It All Up
by Annette Lareau
In a book due out this Sep-
tember, sociologist Annette
Lareau aims to ease
researchers’ anxiety with
this in-depth guide to inter-
viewing others – and, more
importantly, really listening
to what they have to say.
“Annette Lareau has trans-
lated her expert research
practice into an accessible
and awesomely instructive
book that covers interview-
ing and field work from con-
ception to publication,” says
Mary Pattillo, author of Black
Picket Fences: Privilege and
Peril Among the Black Mid-
dle Class.
On Revision: The Only
Writing That Counts
by William Germano
William Germano, professor
and author of Getting It
Published: A Guide for
Scholars and Anyone Else
Serious about Serious
Books and From Disserta-
tion to Book, turns his
instructional eye to the art
of revision in this book, due
out in early October. “All
writers are, or should be,
re-writers, Germano insists,
and rewriting begins with
rereading, with ‘listening’ to
what your text wants to say.
The advice compiled in this
revelatory, generous book –
tips on discovering or redis-
covering your argument, on
organizing its archive, on
helping your readers iden-
tify its takeaways – will be
useful for everyone from
seasoned authors to disser-
tating graduate students,”
asserts Loving Literature
author Deirdre Lynch.
 “There’s no one way to be creative.
Any old way will work.” —Ray Bradbury

REMEMBERING

RAY
Ray Bradbury was born 101 years ago this August.
Best known for his beloved novel Fahrenheit 451
as well as his widely anthologized short stories,
5 NOTABLE
BRADBURY QUOTES

“Jump, and you will find out how

to unfold your wings as you fall.”

“I don’t try to describe the future.

I try to prevent it.”
Bradbury had a profound influence on American
“Without libraries what have we?
speculative fiction. “Without Ray Bradbury, there We have no past and no future.”
would be no Stephen King,” King once wrote.
These writerly products make perfect gifts for “You fail only if you stop writing.”
fellow Bradbury fans – or for yourself.
“Write only what you love, and
love what you write. The key word
is love. You have to get up in the
morning and write something you
love, something to live for.”

DINOSAUR TEE ILLUSTRATING THE

“I never listened to anyone
who criticized my taste in
space travel, slideshows
or gorillas,” reads the
Bradbury quote on this
T-shirt, available in seven
colors. “When this occurs,
I pack up my dinosaurs and
leave the room.”
$23.50, etsy.com/shop/eichendesign
HOT SOCKS
The design on these socks
from Out of Print is inspired
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features one of the book’s
most well-known quotes:
“It was a pleasure to burn.”
(T-shirts in both men’s and
women’s styles are also
available.)
$12, outofprint.com
ILLUSTRATED MAN
The Folio Society
edition of Bradbury’s
second collection of
short stories features
dramatic illustrations by
Marc Burckhardt and an
introduction by Margaret
Atwood. A Folio edition
of another collection,
Something Wicked This
Way Comes, is also
available at the same price.
$64.95, foliosociety.com
PORTRAIT PRINT
“You don’t have to
burn books to destroy a
culture,” reads this print,
created by artist Ryan
Sheffield. “Just get people
to stop reading them.”
$15, etsy.com/shop/RyanSheffield

writermag.com • The Writer | 7

FROM THE FRONT LINES
BY YI SHUN LAI
Back to basics
What do you do when you get writer’s block?
A
few weeks ago, I got the
news that a friend died in
a bike accident. I was just
coming off a meeting that
had run over, had opened up my
emails, and was checking them and my
voicemails at the same time, and then
my husband walked into my office and
said, “S couldn’t find you, so she called
the house line. B.W. died.”
I don’t know how to explain what
happened next. I had just opened an
email from an editor asking for some
edits, and I chose to answer it. Friends,
I do not have to tell you that this was
probably the worst thing I could do. I
think I was, as I told the editor later in
a phone call, “trying to multi-task my
way out of bad situation.”
8 | The Writer • August 2021
I tell you this story because it also
brings to mind something I always tell
writers who ask me what I do when I
get writer’s block. “I don’t get it,” I say,
and then I follow up quickly, before
they can throw tomatoes at me, “I get
busy.” They almost always stop and
gawk for a split second, and then they
go, “Ohhhhhhh,” with some dawning
recognition, because they recognize
this behavior.
What I’m talking about is when
you have too much on your plate, and
instead of tackling the stuff that actu-
ally means something to you, the
stuff that will make you feel fulfilled
and whole and satisfied with your
creative self (that essay that’s been
burning a hole in your dreams; the
next scene in your novel), you choose
to seek out and do the “easy stuff ”
instead – doubling down on your
work hours, say. Booking social
events, for another.
If you’re me, you pitch new proj-
ects. You flail around in volunteer
work. You sign up for certificate
courses. And, of course, you fire off a
note to the editor who clearly wants
to work with you on an essay that’s
been important to you, saying that
you think the two of you want differ-
ent things for the essay. (Spoiler alert:
Sylverarts Vectors/Shutterstock
I’m still working on this essay with
this particular editor. I did need to
speak with her, but I think we can all
agree that answering her email the
same split second I’d heard of a
friend’s untimely death was stupid.)
Over the past few days, I’ve begun
to realize that what was happening
was a kind of overload. And that get-
ting the call about my friend was
maybe the straw that broke the cam-
el’s back. And if I track some of the
other things I’ve been saying to my
friends, like “All I want to do is make
macaroni-and-glitter portraits,”
maybe what I’m really talking about is
trying to find a way out of the busy-
work I’ve built for myself.
So this month, we’re getting back to
basics. That is, we’re answering the
basic question about writer’s block –
excuse me, busywork – and we’re doing
it by retreating to some things that we
know will inspire us; some things that
we’ve tried time and again.
Well. These are things that work
for me, anyway. Maybe you will find
some things here that will work for
you, too.
1. Macaroni and glitter portraits.
You thought I was kidding, didn’t you?
What I mean is this: Make a mess. Do
it with the instruments of your child-
hood. Cut things out of construction
paper; glue them down in random
order; do not worry about how they
look. Use the Elmer’s glue to drizzle
random designs over a piece of paper
and then sprinkle dry noodles over it.
Let dry; tap off the excess noodles; get
out big markers and trace random
designs around the noodles.
Here’s what it will do for you: It will
get you back in touch with making
things with your hands. It will be
something other than writing. It is not
earnest, and it does not have to be
good. And maybe at the end, you will
want to hang it on your fridge. That’s
OK, too.
2. Do something repetitive. The
mister and I bought a pickleball set
recently. We set up a plywood board
against our garage door, and each
afternoon lately, I have been taking
some time to bat the pickleball
around with myself. (My work sched- Well, OK. I don’t actually know if
ule allows for this randomness; the that’s true. But you get my drift.
mister’s does not.) I think we all fall prey to believing
What will it do for you? This is not that busywork is actually forward
the hackneyed thing about getting progress. And I’d be lying if I didn’t say
your blood flowing or getting some that I am one of those who sometimes
different scenery or whatever. This is puts things on a to-do list just because
just so you can feel competent again. I know I’ll get to cross it off: “Call
Some say that doing the same thing Mom.” “Feed dog.” Reaching big goals
over and over again is the very defini- does, after all, mean achieving many,
tion of insanity; I say that if you know many small goals.
you can succeed at a thing, why not do But the next time you’re feeling
it for a couple of minutes each day, just overwhelmed and stuck, ask yourself if
to make you feel good? you’ve just made yourself too busy.
3. Book time off – and mean it. For And then, send me your macaroni
the last couple of weeks, I’ve taken portraits. I want to see them.
Mondays off of answering email. I
answer those on Tuesdays. I chose Yi Shun Lai is the author of Pin Ups, a memoir.
Mondays because I was answering She teaches in the MFA programs at Bay Path
emails for my students through the and Southern New Hampshire universities and
weekend, and I chose to work is a founding editor of Undomesticated Maga-
through the weekends because people zine. Visit at undomesticatedmag.com.
are less likely to email you on the
weekends, anyway. I got more work
done, more efficiently.
What it will do for you: The bene-
fits of this are multiple. First, it shows
you that the world will not end if you
don’t answer that email now. Second,
it gives you some scheduled breathing
time. Third, no email means no new
things to do. It means no new things to
distract you. And finally (this is terrif-
ically pathetic, but I’m going to tell
you anyway), it will make you feel
really, really good to see a ton of
emails in your inbox on Tuesday
morning. You know how they say that
every time you get a notification that
someone has liked one of your social
media posts or every time you get an
email, your brain processes a rush of
dopamine? It’s the little hit that says,
“Someone likes me! Someone likes
what I have put out there! Someone Creative Writing
has felt the need to write to me!”
Opening your inbox to 75 new Classes
emails, excluding the promotional Online, Remote,
messages from the things you forgot
you signed up for, is like drinking a
& NYC
gallon of dopamine. GOTHAMWRITERS. COM
writermag.com • The Writer | 9
 SO YOU
WAN T
GIVE
TO
A
WO RK S HOP...
E , A N D E XE C UTE
NI TI AT E , O RG ANIZ
HOW TO I S H O P.
Illustrations by StonePictures/Shutterstock

RITI N G W O RK
C C E S S F U L W
A SU
B Y T I M WA G G O
NER

10 | The Writer • August 2021

writermag.com • The Writer | 11

T
he concept of “pay it forward”
is widely known these days, but I
first heard it 30 years ago, from
writers posting on the earliest
online message boards. “There’s
no way you can truly pay back the
people who helped you out along the way in
your career,” they’d say, “so instead you pay it
forward and help out the next generation of
writers.” Horror, fantasy, science fiction – the
genre didn’t matter. The ideal was the same.
And it wasn’t just lip service. It was a bedrock
principle of the SF/F/H communities, one of
their most honored values – and it still is.
There are many ways to pay it forward, of
course, but presenting writing workshops,
whether in person or online, is a great way to
do it. As both a writer and writing teacher, I’ve
learned a few things about designing and
conducting workshops over the years, and
I’m here to share them with you.
12 | The Writer • August 2021
How does a workshop differ from a
class?
A class is part of an ongoing course of
study, and it has a large scope. You can
teach a semester-long class in novel
writing, but you can’t cover the same
material in the same depth within the
span of a two-hour workshop. A class
has regular meetings, a specific long-
term agenda, and (often) criteria for
evaluation. A workshop is time-limited
and usually focused on a specific ele-
ment of the writing craft or business,
and the workshop leader does no eval-
uation of participants’ finished work.
(Which means no papers to grade!)
Why should you present a workshop?
I’ve already mentioned paying it for-
ward, but there are other good reasons
for giving workshops – reasons that
benefit you directly. You can gain a
greater understanding of a subject by
presenting a workshop about it. I’ve
learned just as much about writing
from teaching it as I have from doing it.
Each time you teach, you improve as a
writer. Workshops can also be an effec-
tive means of self-promotion. Attend-
ees can get a sense of who you are, what
your personality is like, and they’ll be
interested in checking out your books.
If the workshop venue allows you to sell
books, some attendees will buy and ask
you to sign them because they’ll want a
memento of the workshop. If you pres-
ent a workshop at a conference, it can
provide networking opportunities and
give you greater visibility in the writing
and publishing community. You’ll get
your name out there, and as a presenter,
you’ll be viewed as someone who
knows what they’re talking about. Plus,
you might earn a little money, too. That
brings me to...
Should you charge?
This is completely up to you. Self-pro-
motion and experience presenting may
be enough compensation when you’re
first starting out. Plus, if the workshop
is hosted at a modest venue, such as a
small local library, it may not have
money to pay you (and if it can pay, the
amount might not be much). If you
organize your own workshops,
whether face to face or online, and you
want to get paid, you’ll need to decide
how much to charge individuals. How
much are your time and expertise
worth? The sources I consulted on the
web suggested $1,000 per event on the
high end, $100 per event on the low
end, and $600 per event as an average.
The length of the event is important, of
course. You’d charge less for shorter
events, more for longer ones.
What sort of workshop should you
present?
You should present on whatever aspect
of writing you feel is one of your
strengths. You don’t have to be the
world’s greatest expert, though. You
just need to have some information –
tips, tricks, techniques, strategies – to
share. You can choose between two
basic topic categories: Generic topics
good for any type of writer, things like
dialogue, plotting, etc., and topics spe-
cific to your genre, such as how to
build an atmosphere of dread in horror
or how to avoid clichés in science fic-
tion. You can use generic topics for
workshops at libraries and rec centers.
They’re good for drawing in a variety
of writers interested in different genres.
Specific topics work better at confer-
ences geared toward a certain genre.
But generic or specific, your topics will
most likely fall into one of these areas:
Idea-Generating, The Craft of Writing,
Publishing/Business/Career Concerns,
and The Mental and Emotional
Aspects of Being a Writer. Pick an area
that interests and excites you. Your
enthusiasm for the topic will go a long
way toward making the workshop a
successful one for attendees.
When it comes to topic selection,
Gabino Iglesias, author of the critically
acclaimed Coyote Songs, says, “First,
identify something you know well
enough to explain it to others in a way
that they can understand you. Then,
take a look around and do some
research. Chances are, someone has
talked about the same thing before, so
see if they’ve said something that’s use-
ful to you and your workshop partici-
pants. Also, remember to make things
fun. People love knowledge but hate
school for a reason. Take advantage of
the fact that people who take a work-
shop are there because they want to be,
so have fun.” If you do borrow material
from other writers, make sure to credit
them in your presentation.
Where can you present workshops?
I’ve mentioned conferences and con-
ventions before. Sometimes they have
an open slate of workshops they need
to fill, and they’ll put out a call for sub-
missions. Other times you might need
to take the initiative and suggest doing
a workshop for them. Same with librar-
ies, schools, bookstores, and recreation
or community centers. It wouldn’t hurt
to have a simple flyer/brochure about
you and your workshop offerings to
send to people. If you don’t want to put
specific fees down, you can just put “fee
negotiable” or not mention fees at all
and deal with the issue later. If you
want to present workshops online, you
can do so on your own website, your
own YouTube channel, Teachable, and
Patreon. There are lots of places and
methods for presenting workshops, and
the more versatile you are in your
delivery methods, the more workshops
you can present, the more people you
can help, and – potentially – the more
money you can bring in.
Determine your topic focus
As I said at the beginning of this arti-
cle, “novel writing” is too broad a topic
for a workshop. You want a narrower,
more specific topic. Imagine a book
about writing fiction. Your workshop
topic would be one of the chapters in
that book, and maybe even one of the
chapter sections. So instead of doing a
workshop on dialogue in general, you
might do one on how to use dialogue
to increase suspense.
What do you think people want to
learn? What do you think people need
to learn? What’s the experience level of
attendees? Do they need to learn the
basics, or are they looking to acquire
more advanced knowledge and skills?
How much time will you need to do a
good job covering a particular topic? If
you’ve been given a specific session
length, what topics can you cover
effectively in that time? Answering all
of these questions will guide you in
writermag.com • The Writer | 13
deciding what your workshop topic
should be.
Michael A. Arnzen, who teaches in
Seton Hill University’s MFA in Writing
Popular Fiction program, has some
advice about narrowing workshop top-
ics. “Published writers often can teach
whatever they want, as students come
to learn from them as individuals. But
if you’re like the rest of us, you have to
pitch a good idea first. And much like
you need to have a unique hook on a
familiar trope to sell a genre story,
often the trick to landing these gigs is
to have a unique insight, approach, or
technique to share about a topic that
many writers need to learn. For
instance, ‘Writing Setting’ is something
you COULD pitch, but ‘Making Setting
Your Characters’ Deathtrap’ is better.”
Presentation vs. interaction
You can provide two types of experi-
ences for workshop attendees: presen-
tation and interaction. Or, as educators
often refer to them, “the sage on the
stage” and “guide by the side.” In pre-
sentation, you do all the talking. You
may show media like PowerPoint slides
or video clips or give attendees hand-
outs to refer to, but they’re expected to
absorb the information more or less
passively. Maybe you’ll answer their
questions as the session goes along, or
maybe you’ll save them until the end.
In interaction, participants do most of
the work. You design the sessions and
guide people through them. It’s more
like being a host at a gathering than
what people consider a typical teaching
role. Participants (because now they’re
not just attending, they’re participating)
get to ask questions – a lot. They create,
share, and critique writing throughout
the session. They’re actively learning
instead of passively learning.
Award-winning author Lee Murray
says, “With lectures and presentations,
the focus is on delivery of new infor-
mation and concepts, and while work-
shops also deliver information, they
14 | The Writer • August 2021
are turbo-boosted by an interactive-
participatory component. The clue is
in the name, really; in a workshop,
attendees come to work. They are pre-
pared to roll up their sleeves and con-
tribute to the content of the session. In
that case, the facilitator becomes more
of a guide, helping participants to
question, analyze, discuss, create, and
share. And the added personal connec-
tion means a good facilitator can tailor
the workshop to the specific goals and
needs of the participants.”
YOU CAN PROVIDE TWO
TYPES OF EXPERIENCES FOR
WORKSHOP ATTENDEES:
PRESENTATION
(“THE SAGE ON THE STAGE”)
AND INTERACTION
(“THE GUIDE BY THE SIDE”).
Which way should you go – presen-
tation or interaction? I suggest you
choose based on your personality, your
comfort level with either approach, the
type of event, the participants’ expecta-
tions, and time constraints. Most
teachers will tell you that interaction is
the superior technique, and I agree – if
you’re talking about a class that meets
over weeks and perhaps months. But
for a workshop that lasts maybe as lit-
tle as an hour? You might only have
time for the participants to do a single
exercise, and some of them may feel
that they didn’t get as much as they
hoped for their time (and perhaps)
money. Some people want to get as
much information as they can during a
workshop session. They figure they
can do any exercises on their own
time. Other people love exercises, and
they’d prefer to spend most, if not all,
of the session writing and sharing their
writing. Not all participants like both
types. At the beginning of workshops, I
used to ask attendees which they’d pre-
fer – an interactive or presentation
approach. They’d raise their hands, and
I’d deliver the workshop in whatever
manner the participants chose. Invari-
ably, when the workshop was over, I’d
receive feedback – sometimes formal,
sometimes informal – from some par-
ticipants who wished we’d done the
other technique, even if they originally
voted for the opposite approach. You
can’t please everyone, so you should
try to please the most people you can.
If you’re nervous about presenting
or just new to it, presentation style
works great because you have an out-
line to follow. I’d suggest leaving some
time for an exercise toward the end if
you can, and also time for questions
and answers. This way, you can cover
all the bases and hopefully satisfy the
majority of the participants.
Preparation
Any equipment needs you might have,
such as a laptop and a projector so you
can display images from your com-
puter on a screen, need to be arranged
ahead of time. You can’t count on the
staff at a library or convention antici-
pating your needs. Even if you arrange
for a laptop to be there when you
arrive, bring your own for backup any-
way. If you have a PowerPoint presen-
tation to give, save it on your
computer, on a flash drive, and on the
cloud (or just email it to yourself so
you can access it online). Print your
presentation in outline form and bring
enough copies for everyone. You want
to make sure you have access to your
material one way or another, in case
something goes wrong.
Make sure you have an outline or
presentation notes for yourself. Don’t
rely on your memory or ability to
improvise. Some of the worst work-
shops I’ve ever attended were given
by people who decided to wing it.
Maybe you won’t need to refer to
your notes, but you’ll have them in
case you do. I usually rely on a print-
out of my PowerPoint presentation
for my outline. Prepare your hand-
outs ahead of time. Sometimes the
staff at a library or convention will
offer to make handouts for you, but I
prefer to make my own, just so I
know I have them for certain when I
walk in the door. Bring any promo-
tional materials – your card, book fli-
ers, books to sell, etc. – with you. I
use a simple canvas bag to carry my
workshop materials. If I bring books,
I lug them in a plastic tote.
How should you dress? Whichever
way you feel is most comfortable for
you physically and emotionally, and
that you think fits the situation. (If
you’re unsure if the place where you’re
presenting has a dress code, just ask.) If
you feel more professional dressing up
a bit, go for it. If you feel more yourself
presenting in a T-shirt and jeans, and
the venue allows for that, do it. The col-
lege where I teach has a business-casual
dress code, and I usually wear a polo
shirt, jeans, and sneakers there, so that’s
what I wear when I present. If you have
a writer persona that you adopt for pro-
fessional events, and that includes a
particular outfit, then wear that – as
long as it’s appropriate. (If your writer
persona is Intellectual Nudist, you
might have some problems.) I wear a
hat that I call my Stupid Author Brand-
ing Hat – which I ended up adopting
more or less by accident – and it seems
to work for me. That, or people are too
kind to tell me I look ridiculous in it.
Delivery of content
If you’ve ever taken a speech class, then
do all the things you learned there. But
here are some basics. Make sure you
speak loudly enough (especially if
you’re not given a microphone). Don’t
go too fast. Everyone speaks too fast
when they’re nervous. Make sure to
pause from time to time and ask if any-
one has questions. Don’t ramble, talk
about yourself too much, or get off-
topic. Stay focused. Give people enough
time to do and share the exercises, and
leave time at the end for questions.
Author and editor Michael Knost
has some advice on presentation style.
“Go into each presentation as though
you were a stand-up comedian. I don’t
mean you have to add humor to your
talk, I mean you should adjust your
delivery to the crowd in front of you.
That doesn’t mean you have to alter the
material (although it very well could
mean just that); it merely means read-
ing the audience in front of you will
only help you deliver your material in
the best way they will accept it. Gauge
your audience during the presentation
very much in the same manner you
gauge personal conversations with
individuals – because you’re not pre-
senting information to an audience…
you’re engaging in communication
with a group of individuals.”
writermag.com • The Writer | 15
Be flexible
Things will not go exactly according to
plan – and that’s OK. Even if you’ve
decided how much time you’ll need
for each step of your presentation,
things may go faster or slower than
you expect. You may have to skip some
items or stop before you cover every-
thing you’d planned. That’s fine. There
might be equipment issues or prob-
lems with the presentation space.
That’s OK, too. Do your best to work
around it. Move to a different room.
Go outside if you have to, whatever. It’s
alright to answer participants’ ques-
tions during the course of the presen-
tation but try not to get caught up in a
conversation that eats up too much
session time. Don’t let any one partici-
pant hog too much time or become a
“co-presenter.” If necessary, tell partici-
pants that you can talk to them indi-
vidually after the workshop to answer
questions in more detail.
On being flexible, multiple Bram
Stoker Award-winning author Lucy A.
Snyder says, “It’s always important to
try to find out who your participants
are (and what their writing/workshop-
ping experience levels are) as you’re
planning your class. And sometimes
that’s just not feasible, so you have to
create a ‘one size fits most’-type work-
shop and plan to deal with various
contingencies. Don’t go in expecting
disaster, but in the back of your mind,
it’s important to have a plan for how to
handle things if you get a person in
your class who’s being disruptive or
insulting if the class involves peer cri-
tiques or other collaborative learning.”
Dealing with presentation anxiety
Even people who are veterans at deliv-
ering presentations can get nervous, so
if you find yourself on the verge of a
mini panic attack before your work-
shop, it’s normal. Preparation is the
best defense against stress. Prepare
your presentation well. Practice it.
Deliver it to friends and family and ask
16 | The Writer • August 2021
PREPARATION IS
THE BEST DEFENSE
AGAINST STRESS.
for their feedback. If possible, visit the
venue ahead of time to get a feel for the
space. If it’s a convention and a num-
ber of workshops are taking place,
attend one, especially if it’s in the same
room as yours will be. Whether I’m
doing a workshop or a reading at a
conference, I always visit the room
ahead of time to see what space I’ll be
working with.
To deal with the unpleasant physical
effects of being nervous, research tech-
niques to reduce anxiety, practice them
at home, and do them before you pres-
ent. Avoid caffeine, alcohol, sugary
drinks, and big meals before (or dur-
ing) presenting if anxiety is an issue for
you. Even if it’s not, presentations
rarely go better if you’re tipsy or expe-
rience a sudden attack of indigestion.
Presenters are often given a bottle of
water to sip on during a workshop. But
nervous presenters may take a drink
every few moments, which interrupts
the flow of the workshop and starts
making attendees nervous. Plus, you
might spill the water, and that could
cause a problem (especially if you spill
it on electronic equipment). And if
you’re really nervous, you might feel
like you have to pee almost immedi-
ately. That said, taking an occasional
drink of water can keep you from get-
ting nervous dry mouth. Have what-
ever meds you need – an inhaler,
allergy medicine, anti-anxiety medi-
cine – on hand, just in case.
Afterward
I tell students and workshop attend-
ees that the most important things we
can do during a session are the things
that we can only do when we’re
together. A big part of that, maybe the
most important part, is answering
people’s questions, so I always try to
leave at least 10 or 15 minutes for
Q&A at the end of every workshop. I
tell people they can ask about the
workshop material, but they can also
ask me anything about writing and
publishing if they like. Be mindful of
the time, though. If you’re at a confer-
ence, someone else may need the pre-
sentation space after you, and they’ll
need time to set up. Or if it’s the end
of the evening, the library staff may
want to go home. Don’t overstay your
welcome. If people still have ques-
tions – and you feel comfortable
doing so – you can talk to them out-
side the presentation space, or you
can give them an email address to
contact you later.
Have attendees fill out an anony-
mous evaluation at the end of a work-
shop. Ask them what topics they’d like
to see covered in other workshops you
might present. Ask them how you can
improve. The better you get at present-
ing, the more gigs you can land, the
more self-promotion you can do, the
more money you’ll (hopefully) make,
and, most importantly at all, the more
people you’ll help.
 FURTHER
RESOURCES
“How Much Should I Charge?”
by Lynne Wasnak
slideshare.net/modwilli/writers-
market-how-much-should-i-charge
“How to Charge the Right Price
for Your Workshop”
by Sarada Chaudhuri
bit.ly/3wgS5BY
“Preparing for Workshops”
booksmakeadifference.com/
preparing-for-workshops/
“Tips for Leading a Writers
Workshop” by Zoe M. McCarthy
PART ONE:
zoemmccarthy.com/writing/tips-for-
leading-a-writers-workshop-part-
1-presenting
PART TWO:
zoemmccarthy.com/writing/tips-for-
a-leading-a-writers-workshop-
part-2-preparation
There are some uncomfortable situ-
ations you may encounter at the end of
a workshop. You may be asked if you’ll
read a participant’s manuscript. Have a
response ready. If you don’t mind pro-
viding feedback out of the kindness of
your heart, say yes. If you charge for
manuscript feedback, tell them your
fee. Once they hear it, most of the time
they’ll walk away. I usually tell people I
charge $150 to read and critique up to
10 pages of fiction. That usually takes
care of the issue right there. Never be
afraid to protect your boundaries. I
already read a ton of manuscripts and
essays for my day job, and I do pro
bono feedback as a mentor for the
Horror Writers Association. If I read
any more manuscripts, I wouldn’t have
time to write. Often, someone will
approach you after the workshop and
want to tell you the entire plot of their
novel. For god’s sake, don’t let them.
Don’t let someone keep you talking if
you’re ready to leave. Have an excuse
prepared so you can get out of there if
you need to.
Self-promotion
You can let attendees know at the begin-
ning of the workshop that you have pro-
motional material for them to take
when it’s over, or you could pass it out at
the beginning. Don’t go on and on
about your books, though. People have
come to learn about writing from you,
not to be a captive audience for your
self-commercial. Promoting your work
a certain amount is fine, but don’t be
pushy or needy. Promotional materials
can include your card, postcards with
book covers on them (and ordering
information), or free writing sample
booklets (containing a short story or a
novel chapter), either professionally
published or made on your printer at
home. Make sure whatever materials
you give people have your website and
social media addresses on them. If you
want to gather participants’ contact info
for your newsletter, you can tell them
they can sign up if they wish, but don’t
push them to. Some writers pass around
a legal pad for gathering email addresses
at the beginning of the workshop, while
some have it available at the end.
If you don’t wish to give out any
contact information, that’s fine. Do
what you’re most comfortable with.
Repurpose your workshop
Your workshop can become an article
you submit to a writing magazine or
website. You can post it on your blog, in
your newsletter, or on your website. You
can turn it into a YouTube video presen-
tation. You can offer it as a freebie to
people who sign up for your newsletter,
you can use it as an extra handout at the
next workshop you give, and you can
place it on the convention table where
everyone leaves their promotional
materials. The more bang for your buck
you can get out of what you create, the
better. I created this article as a Power-
Point presentation first to outline it, and
now I have a workshop on delivering
workshops that I can present someday.
(Talk about being meta!)
To sum up
• Presenting workshops can be fun.
• Workshops help you develop as a
writer and a professional.
• Workshops can get you money.
• Workshops can get you readers.
• Workshops can get you followers
on social media and addresses for
your newsletter.
• And, most importantly, your
workshops will help other writers.
Now get out there and start paying
it forward!
Bram Stoker Award-winning author Tim Wag-
goner has published more than 50 novels and
seven collections of short stories. He writes origi-
nal horror and dark fantasy, as well as media tie-
ins, and he’s recently released a book on writing
horror fiction called Writing in the Dark. A version
of this article previously appeared in the Horror
Writers Association Newsletter.
writermag.com • The Writer | 17
 A LOOK AT THE
WEIRD WAYS WRITERS GET
SUCCESSFUL PITCHES.
BY ELISA SHOENBERGER

treety/Shutterstock

18 | The Writer • August 2021

 inding ideas for pitches can often be one
of the hardest parts of the writing pro-
cess. How do you find cool, unexpected
stories in the world? How do you find a
new angle on a story that seems tired?
Do you have to read lots of new scientific studies
or spend hours listening to police scanners? While
there are lots of ways to find pitches, for me, the
best pitches tend to be the unexpected, and often
the weirdest, ones.
I thought of one of the weirdest in the same publication. One was in
pitches was when an editor tried to pay March 2021 on the same topic, since
me. I had just finished writing a the regulations were still in effect and
reported piece on Iran-Contra trading causing issues for journalists trying to
cards (a story I’ll talk about later on), get paid for their work, as well as an
and my editor had sent me a payment article on Venmo’s attempts to be an
through PayPal. But the fast cash ser- all-in-one banking service, despite
vice held it up, asking for more infor- some security concerns. While the last
mation. My editor and I theorized it one wasn’t on the same topic, the origi-
was because they had put the phrase nal article pricked my ears for issues
“Iran-Contra” into the comments sec- related to Venmo and its parent com-
tion of the transaction. pany, PayPal.
As a result of this unexpected delay, But I’m not the only person who has
I ended up writing an entire article gotten a story idea from an unexpected
about PayPal and Venmo’s anti-terror- place. I talked to several journalists
ism regulations for the Daily Dot in covering different beats and geogra-
2019, which detailed how the services phies about how they discovered their
flagged transactions including words strangest pitches. From these unex-
like “Iran” or “Cuba.” The story resulted pected origins, we can learn a lot about
in two additional commissions later on strategies to find that perfect pitch.
writermag.com • The Writer | 19
 1
The offhand conversation
As social creatures, many of us like to talk
with the people we encounter, whether it’s
our friends and family or the people we meet out
and about (more so pre-pandemic and post-vac-
cine). Sometimes those conversations are small
talk, addressing the weather or a local event, but
sometimes we end up in deep discussions, even
with strangers, about our lives.
For instance, when you get your hair done or
your beard trimmed, you usually talk with the
hairdresser or barber about your lives. It passes the
time pleasantly as you have a window into some-
one else’s life. For Jack El-Hai, a writer and author
who covers history, medicine, and science, a con-
versation his wife had with her hairdresser resulted
in a story for him. The hairdresser “told her the
striking story of her reconciliation with two sisters
after a long estrangement, due to them becoming
neighbors in a nudist camp.” That chance conver-
sation resulted in an article for The Atlantic.
But the conversation doesn’t have to be a fresh
one. It can be something you return to many
years later. For instance, a chance discussion I
had with a professor back in graduate school
sparked that article about the Iran-Contra trad-
ing cards. As I was working toward a master’s
degree in Latin American studies at the Univer-
sity of Wisconsin-Madison, I took a class on the
global Cold War. We were reading Professor
Salim Yaqub’s Containing Arab Nationalism: The
Eisenhower Doctrine and the Middle East, and
my professor, who knew of my professional
interest in comics, mentioned that decades ago,
Yaqub had made these Iran-Contra trading
cards, which parodied the politicians and bad
actors of the time. On a whim, I bought a deck
off eBay and held on to them for years. Over 10
years later, I remembered that conversation, still
having the deck, and realized that I had never
fully explored the trading cards. I pitched it to
my editor, who remarked that I had the best and
strangest ideas, and gave the green light. The
rest, of course, is history.
2
A chance encounter
Similar to offhand conversations, chance
encounters can be the great inspiration of
articles, whether it’s discovering a whole new sec-
tor of society or a profession or helping you bet-
ter understand something in your life.
20 | The Writer • August 2021
Kenneth Miller, a writer and editor, had a
chance encounter on a walk in Prospect Park in
1995 when he “saw a group of 20 people mock-
fighting with swords, maces, spears, and shields
in a very convincing way. When I asked one of
them what they were up to, he explained that
they belonged to the local chapter of the Society
for Creative Anachronism; they were rehearsing
for the society’s annual war in rural Pennsylvania,
which would draw combatants from across the
nation.” He pitched the annual war, called
Pennsic, to Life magazine, where he then worked.
Life sent him and a photographer to the event.
Miller explained, “Because medieval outfits were
mandatory, I spent three days outdoors in a
tunic, which led to an interesting pattern of sun-
burn. [I] got married later that week, and my
face in the wedding pictures is the color of
borscht (with sour cream).” Even with the
impressive sunburn, he got an impressive story
from his Prospect Park walk.
Sometimes that encounter doesn’t have to be
human. Travel journalist and writer Jen Billock
told me, “I was staying in a jungle lodge in
Belize, and there was a big spider.” Through her
encounter with the spider and a gecko in the
middle of the night, she “turned it into an essay
about spiders and geckos and the beauty of
Belize itself ” for Paste Magazine. It was a great
vehicle to explore the larger significance of her
visit to Belize.
Chance encounters can also happen while
working on a story that results in another story.
It’s when you are talking to a source or research-
ing an aspect of a story, and you find yourself
hearing something off-topic or extraneous to the
topic you are working on. For example, I was
working on a story about a local mushing group
in Chicago where folks bring their dogs to dog-
sled or engage in other small dog sports like bike-
joring or canicross. In an interview with one of
the co-founders, they mentioned that a member
would bring her chihuahua who liked running in
a harness. After reporting on huskies and mala-
mutes for dogsledding competitions in Alaska
and Canada, I found this a bit of a surprise.
Months later, I recalled reading about the Poodle
Man, a musher who raced Standard Poodles in
the Iditarod 30 years earlier.
Combining the two, I decided to pitch Atlas
Obscura about atypical breeds involved in

mushing. Along the way, I learned about mush-
ers, both professional and amateur, working with
Labradors, border collies, and even a Great Dane.
3
Getting annoyed
Everyone has their pet peeves in life, no
matter if it’s people chewing with their
mouths open or people using their cellphones at
the dinner table. They can be a great source of
stories, noted Lisa Crayton, an author and writ-
ing mentor.
Crayton explained that years ago, online credit
card advertisements kept popping up for her. She
got so irritated that she queried an idea and
ended up writing an article about credit card
management. But it didn’t stop there. She
explained, “I then wrote articles about money
management for other publications and sold
reprints to regional parenting publications. An
editor at a Christian publisher found one of my
articles online and invited me to write a money
management book for parents of teens. That
book debuted in 2006.”
4
Paying attention to your kids
Sometimes inspiration can come from our
children. They see the world differently
from us, whether it’s the newest viral dance
moves on TikTok or content specifically cater-
ing to them. Or you can combine the advice on
pitching pet peeves with this one – who knows
how many articles came out of Baby Shark or
Let it Go?
Marcia Layton Turner, an author, ghostwriter,
and content creator, told me, “I ended up pitching
an editor at Personal Pitch years ago about this
annoying game my kids were bugging me about.
They wanted me to hunt around NYC (during
the [American Society of Journalists and
Authors] conference) to find stuffed Webkinz for
them. I turned that into a book.” She concluded,
“My son co-authored it with me, at age 7. And he
was truly the subject-matter expert!”
In her presentation on Pitching to Top-Tier
Outlets During a Pandemic for the American
Society of Journalists and Authors, author and
writing coach Estelle Erasmus recommended
keeping your pulse on social media platforms like
Twitter and TikTok for possible stories. If your
kids are active on those platforms, they may be
able to point you to some real gems of stories.
5
Going down the rabbit hole
As writers, our job is to ask questions.
Who/what/where/when/why are the clas-
sics. While we usually ask questions to the peo-
ple we interview, we also should ask questions
about the world around us. Sometimes those
questions may be initiated by other people.
Either way, we end up digging further and fur-
ther and finding some surprising, sometimes
unsettling, information.
Years ago, Kim Kavin, a freelance writer and
editor, adopted a puppy named Blue and brought
him to the vet for an initial checkup. There was a
notation that he had been treated for ringworm
and scabs on his neck. When the vet asked her for
more information about the treatment, in part to
know if the dog had been cured, she ended up
going from person to person to find the answers
she needed. She started with the phone number
on her dog’s paperwork, which turned out to be a
person at a feed-supply store, who directed her to
a mobile veterinary clinic, who told her to reach
out to the head of the local rescue group.
When she eventually reached the head of the
local rescue group, “she said she had ‘treated’ the
puppy with bleach. I gasped, and she said that if I
didn’t like it, she’d take him back to her local ani-
mal control, and he’d end up in a gas chamber.”
The experience resulted in a book called Little
Boy Blue, published in 2012, Kalvin said. When
her book caught the attention of a producer on
CNN, Kavin and Blue were featured on CNN.
“The gas chamber was soon after dismantled, for-
ever,” she noted as a result of the segment.
My story on PayPal and Venmo definitely was
a rabbit hole for me. Once I found out about the
flagged transaction, I kept digging and digging
and found a great deal to write about.
Finding inspiration everywhere
While these are just a few stories I’ve encountered
or personally experienced, it’s clear that writers
can find stories everywhere, especially in the
strangest places. These unusual stories are a great
way to get an editor’s attention for a magazine
feature, newspaper article, or an entire book.
Elisa Shoenberger has written for the Boston Globe, Huff-
ington Post, and Business Insider. She is the author of In Good
Company: A Guide to Corporate Fundraising and co-editor of
The Antelope: A Journal of Oral History and Mayhem.
writermag.com • The Writer | 21
 Mascha Tace/Shutterstock

22 | The Writer • August 2021

F
or many, being a serious writer may mean
writing deep, dark explorations of the human
consciousness. No laughter need apply.
The venerable Martin Amis, in his book
Inside Story, blames this on “the intellectual
glamour of gloom…the idea that sullen pessimism is
a mark of high seriousness.”
Yet you may find humor is a crucial step in helping
you become that writer. Even the gloomiest writers of
all time, like Samuel Beckett, couldn’t have established
such dreariness without some degree of humor, like
having characters live in trash cans or waiting on
someone they know will never turn up.
Let’s start with a bit of science. First off, consider
that Albert Einstein attributed his genius to having a
childlike sense of humor. Then, also consider that
numerous studies have been conducted that prove
that a sense of humor is often attributed to people
with higher IQs. So while you’re trying to sound smart
with fancy words, you could actually be smart with a
joke or two.
Humor is serious business. And that’s the end of my
science spiel.
writermag.com • The Writer | 23
The best did it best
Charles Dickens: The father of the
modern novel, one of the greatest writ-
ers of all time. Dickens’ work made
him immortal, and guess what? He
wanted it to be funny. That was his
goal, and he was revered for it. And
when that humor didn’t work, he was
criticized. He intended to make Great
Expectations a comedy, but readers
complained that his writing wasn’t as
funny as it used to be. (All this accord-
ing to his close friend John Forster.)
Many classic works of literature
contain hearty doses of humor, from
the satire of Swift to the witty barbs of
Jane Austen. Humor also helps authors
broach more staid subjects. Kurt Von-
negut tackled massive topics and
themes, which may have been over-
whelming to the reader without his
trademark sarcasm.
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller is a satire
about war, and Heller often makes
points using absurdist humor:
“They’re trying to kill me,” Yos-
sarian told him calmly.
“No one’s trying to kill you,”
Clevinger cried.
“Then why are they shooting
at me?” Yossarian asked.
“They’re shooting at every-
one,” Clevinger answered.
“They’re trying to kill everyone.”
Memento Mori, where the poor elderly characters
are besieged by anonymous phone calls remind-
ing them that they’re going to die. But she makes
it funny, which makes it approachable, which
ultimately allows the reader to feel more.
Bareknuckle humor
Think of it like this: When a reader approaches a
work of writing, they come at it like a boxer with
their gloves up. In theory, readers know what the
point of a story is. It’s to make them feel things.
But they need to be prepared to feel things. You
can throw all the jabs and crosses and hooks you
want at the reader with all of your emotional,
tear-jerking scenes or terrifying twists and turns,
but if they’re still guarding themselves, those
punches won’t land.
You have to get readers to lower their guard.
The easiest and most effective way to do that? Get
them to laugh.
What better time to deliver on an emotional
gut punch that will resonate like never before?
Clearly after getting your reader to laugh, to let
their guard down, to feel safe.
One example I love to use is The 100-Year-
Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and
Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson, a story that toes

There is nothing funny about the sit-

uation, and yet it’s funny because of the
delivery and the levity Heller attaches to
it. None of the poignancy of the situa-
tion is lost, either – it’s just not entirely,
as Amis put it, “the glamour of gloom.”
That’s not to say that every author
needs to be a great humorist, of course.
But even the most serious novel needs
a dose of humor to really deliver on the
authenticity of the human condition.
Muriel Spark wrote such novels as
24 | The Writer • August 2021
the line between a very serious matter and a
very funny matter. Here you have an old man,
Alan, in a nursing home who wakes up and
“wonders whether it wouldn’t soon be time to go
to bed.” The whole narrative around nursing
homes is tragic. So Alan climbs out of the win-
dow and, as you may have guessed, disappears.
He goes on a journey of whimsy and wonder
and so, so much laughter.
You know what the most tragic part of the
whole story is? Spoiler: His cat dies. But all this
time we’ve been laughing it up with Alan, enjoy-
ing his sharp wit and observations. We build up
this fortification that we’re having so much fun
that nothing could possibly go wrong. And that’s
why, when it does, it hits so much harder.
Bernardine Evaristo, author of the Booker
Prize-winning Girl, Woman, Other, echoed the
disarming nature of humor when speaking about
her book with the Irish Times: “When you’re writ-
ing a serious book with humor, if you open the
reader up to humor, you’re also opening them up
to everything else that’s in the book,” she said.
Don’t overcook it
So now that we’re all resolved to include some
humor even when we’re being serious (we are all
agreed, right?), let’s talk about how to do that.
Because, unfortunately, humor is not a natural
impulse to a lot of people (especially since writing
is often lonely and rife with rejection).
The first thing to remember is not to overdo it.
Overcooked humor is just as bad as overcooked
turkey. No one needs more of either in their lives.
Let’s look at an example courtesy of Mateo
Askaripour’s highly acclaimed novel, Black Buck.
You don’t need to look beyond the first line for a
great example of what effective humor looks like.
“The day that changed my life was like every
other day before it, except that it changed my life.”
That’s funny! But what’s so funny about it is
that there is no ba-dum-tisss, no neon light that
says “laughter.” There’s just a cut-and-dry state-
ment like we’ve heard before, but with a tiny deft
twist to make the reader grin.
It’s a perfect way to begin a story because, like
Evaristo said, when you establish humor, you
open up your reader to the rest of the story, too.
And not for nothing, it’s also
endearing. Who doesn’t love to spend
time with someone with a good sense
of humor? And that’s what a novel is:
Spending a considerable amount of
time with a character. A dose of
sharp wit is that much more benefi-
cial to you, the reader – as well as
something you, the writer, should
want for your readers.
Humor doesn’t have to be difficult
or labor-intensive. Even small doses,
like Askaripour gives us in the first line
of Black Buck, open up the reader for
what’s to come. It expands the full
breadth of emotion in the story and
makes room for more emotional reac-
tions in the pages to come.
What’s yours is yours
Similar to a writing voice, humor man-
ifests differently in each person. It’s not
all cut from the same cloth, so it comes
down to what feels best and most natu-
ral to you. Not sure which type works
best for you? Read more. Read slap-
stick, deadpan, satirical, and over-the-
top humor writing. There’s a sense of
humor out there for everyone – and I
do mean everyone – so you just need
to find what clicks most with you and
work it into your writing.
Chances are, the more you try it, the
more it develops. Not everyone is
going to have writing as saturated with
humor as, say, Vonnegut, and that’s
perfectly fine! But you owe it to your
reader to help them see the full spec-
trum of the emotions available to them
in your story, and you can’t do that
without a little humor.
Josh Sippie is the Director of Conferences and
Contests at Gotham Writers Workshop in New
York City, where he also teaches. His work has
appeared in The Guardian, McSweeney’s Inter-
net Tendency, Hobart, and more. Twitter:
@sippenator101; more at joshsippie.com.
writermag.com • The Writer | 25
 fran_kie/Shutterstock

26 | The Writer • August 2021

 IN

SEARCH
OF A

THIRD
DIMENSION
ON CHARACTERIZ ATION
IN MEMOIR.

By
M EAGA N S HE LLEY

writermag.com • The Writer | 27


M
emoir is one of the
most important
forms of storytelling.
As we read, we are
exposed to a powerful cocktail of
emotions that subconsciously
lures us into becoming another
person, even for just a moment.
In the pursuit of absolute truth,
we rifle through our own flawed
memories, sweat over ever
cadence, and grapple with ghosts
long believed to be dead.
Representing characters as real people is argu-
ably the most integral – and the most difficult –
aspect of memoir. Simply put, memoir is not all
about you. Instead, it is a reflection of the truth,
the emotion, or the experience you have garnered
along the way. None of this is possible without
other people, even if in a limited capacity. So
while memoir is your story, other people guide
the direction and conflict inside.
Memoir is art, but art is not an exact science,
particularly when it comes to representation.
After all, how could our words possibly mimic
the complexity that is the human soul? The form
is intrinsically imprecise: Two-dimensional words
cannot ever fully represent three-dimensional
human beings, in spite of our best efforts. But
they do offer us a choice; a temptation to demon-
ize or idolize those we remember instead of treat-
ing them as complex, fleshed-out people.
28 | The Writer • August 2021
Writing human beings as “charac-
ters” is chief among all sins of the
writer. Unfortunately, it’s painfully easy
to turn people into flat characters,
especially in a format so focused
around recoloring the past. But mem-
oir cannot deal in monochrome: It
requires the writer to paint the human
experience with successive shades,
emotions, and textures. It is a form to
be treated with respect – and caution.
When people are turned into charac-
ters by memoirists, they risk more than
just their story; they also risk a lawsuit.
Augusten Burroughs, bestselling author
of the book Running with Scissors,
needed to reclassify his memoir as fic-
tion after a lawsuit was submitted by
some people portrayed in the book.
James Frey dealt so heavily in the realm
of fiction that his characters (much like
his story) offered no real substance.
I’ve been tempted to demonize peo-
ple in my own writing, particularly an
acquaintance from my past. Naive (and
frankly stupid), I allowed myself to be
involved in a predatory friendship that
evolved into two years of stalking.
Though I knew memoir might help me
process the situation, it was still pain-
fully difficult to write about. I could
feel it clearly whenever I tried to type
the first few words. Like an animal, I
was afraid to look him in the eye. After
so many years of creeping through
uncomfortable memories, I finally gave
myself permission to write him as he
really was. It gave me a peace beyond
what I believed memoir could give and
let me put the pencil down for the last
time. Ultimately, I was able to create a
real person I could finally lay to rest.
Characterization in memoir should
not be hamfisted. Neither should it be
furtive, secretive, or even shameful.
Rather, it should be a celebration. We
should celebrate the reclaiming of our
pasts, seeing people in a new, more
complex light. We should celebrate an
art form that allows us to grant grace,
and, sometimes, forgiveness. View
your characterization as a way to view
the world as the ultimate writer, some-
one thoroughly detached from the
words that are only used to build char-
acters, not people.
There are a few tactics that can be
employed to successfully incorporate
people in our memoir, specifically with-
out resorting to flat characterization.
While they may not always be useful in
every piece, they can help to guide your
work toward holistic character arcs.
Rather than simply telling a story, you
are breathing color into a memory that
you share with many others.
Representing
characters as real
people is arguably
the most integral –
and the most difficult –
aspect of memoir.
1
Get others’ perspectives.
First is one of the most important
aspects of characterization: avoiding
writing fiction. Simply put, we must not
be careless with our memory hunting.
In our desire to tell the best (or most
salable) story, a temptation to blend fic-
tion with our lived experiences can be
overwhelming. This temptation to fic-
tionalize affects even published mem-
oirists, as Frey and so many others have
proven. This is where additional readers
can be extremely helpful. Sharing your
work with the people in your memoir in
addition to self-auditing allows you to
be more critical of the work you produce, corrobo-
rating your memories and adding additional detail
to ensure you tell the truest story possible.
2
Show, don’t guess.
Another important memoir technique is
found in the five senses. Rather than
explaining what someone thought or what they
felt – because it’s very difficult to know with full
confidence what someone else is thinking or
feeling – explore the observations you made
about them in each interaction. Did their voice
break over the phone? What did their body lan-
guage remind you of? Did their words say one
thing, but their body indicated another? These
nuances can be a crucial tool in the hands of the
right memoirist.
3
Give it time.
Although it is maybe a more difficult art to
embrace, distance is a critical element to
good memoir. It’s difficult to see our memories
(and the people in them) from all sides if the
memory is too fresh. In the past, getting distance
has been used by many successful memoirists to
disconnect themselves from painful memories.
Tara Westover, author of the award-winning and
mega-bestselling memoir Educated, uses the power
of time and space to paint a strained relationship
with her parents. She positions herself this way by
using past tense and standing emotionally apart
from her writing. She writes, “I am not the child
my father raised, but he is the father who raised
her.” This alone is the most powerful representa-
tion of distance I have read in modern memoir.
•••
Always balance what you know with what you
think you know, and allow your words to stretch
for something larger than yourself. Write in truth,
characterize in honesty, and above all, strive for
something greater. Your story deserves the truth
it commands.
Meagan Shelley is a professional writer living on the East
Coast. When she’s not helping people write words, she’s cre-
ating her own. She firmly believes that man is the storytell-
ing animal.
writermag.com • The Writer | 29
30 | The Writer • August 2021
Illustrations by alamella/Shutterstock

T
here’s a recurring memory that pops
into my thoughts two or three times
per year. Centering on a childhood
incident, the memory is of a specific
day when I opened my lunchbox to find my
father had filled a thermos with brown mush-
room soup.
Besides reliving it in my head, I often journal
about the story as well. My third grade diary
entry for that day reads simply:
Dad packed mushroom soup for lunch
today. I didn’t like it because it reminded
me of slugs.
Basic information only, yet the memory has
so much more to offer when fully fleshed out.
The “slugs” description came about because I
was lucky enough to take my lunch outside
that day – only to see a moist slug sneak past
me while I ate the soup, solidifying the unfor-
tunate connection between the two in my sus-
ceptible brain.
Dad doesn’t remember that day. “I
didn’t expect it would have such an
impact on you,” he comments. “It was
probably the only food we had in the
house that day.”
But the collision proved to be hard-
hitting and long-lasting, with the vivid
memory overtaking my stomach
whenever I saw mushrooms in a meal.
It would be decades before I learned to
enjoy eating fungi again.
Happily, I now take delight in trying
new mushrooms and love eating them.
Pushing past those two basic lines of the
Mushroom Lunch memory has not only
transformed my memoir journaling
practice, but my taste palate as well.
When most of us hear the term
“journaling,” we think of it in the tradi-
tional sense: jotting down our thoughts
and emotions on the events of the day.
It’s a deeply personal habit – for our
eyes only – the words filling the pages
of notebooks on our desk, in our bag,
by our bedside.
As someone who’s been journaling
since I first learned to hold a pen in my
hand, I’ve filled boxes upon boxes of
notebooks, decades of daily writing on
the happenings of life. But in these
notebooks, I wrote statements, which
always felt too brief and too boring. I
wasn’t aiming for pedantic, but I felt
discontented with my hurried story-
telling. Something was definitely miss-
ing. Since then, I’ve learned lessons on
memoir writing, and now my journal-
ing practice has become significantly
more satisfying. My stories feel fully
fleshed out instead of bare sketches.
Using the aforementioned Mush-
room Lunch memory as an example,
here are some helpful ideas to elevate
your own memoir journaling practice.
writermag.com • The Writer | 31
The power of “I remember”
How many times have you found your-
self listening to others, and something
they say triggers an “I remember that!”
moment? We never know when a MEMO
memory will strike us. There may be
days when we’re flooded with remem-
brances and others still where we find
none. On those leaner days, start your
journaling with “I remember…” The
power of beginning with those two
simple words can bring up memories
long forgotten. Use the refrain as many
times as you need in order to pull
details. This can be in list form if you
find that easier. For example, the list
for Mushroom Lunch looked like:

I remember wet grass and dry

sidewalk. I remember a ther-
mos with a cup lid. A brown
soup with a new flavor. I
remember slime trails and a
slick brown slug.

Seeing the details in this way can

help to better shape and form the full
story of the event. Follow where your
mind leads you. Writing Down the
Bones author Natalie Goldberg writes,
“Don’t be concerned if the memory
happened five seconds ago or five
years ago. Everything that isn’t this
moment is memory coming alive
again as you write.”
With “I remember,” you’ll always
have a place to start.
Be ready to receive your memories
when they arrive
Sure, it’s straightforward to sit down
with the intention to write out your
memories, but recollections can strike
at any moment. At a stoplight one day,
I watched a shiny pink sports car speed
past. Suddenly, I remembered the ther-
mos of mushroom soup was that exact
pink – a detail I’d forgotten until that
very moment. Not wanting to lose this
new insight, I wrote it down when I
reached my destination, making note
on the memo pad I keep in my car’s
center console.
We never know when memories
32 | The Writer • August 2021
will hit us, so we should be prepared as
best we can, whether that’s with a
tried-and-true memo pad like mine or
an app on your phone. Rather than
convince yourself that you’ll remember
it later (how often does that really
work?), it’s better to record new
insights as soon as possible. Ray Brad-
bury (author of Zen in the Art of Writ-
ing) says, “We are cups, constantly and
quietly being filled. The trick is, know-
ing how to tip ourselves over and let
the beautiful stuff out.” Keep small
notepads in every room, in your bag,
and in your car, or find helpful mobile
apps that will allow you to jot notes,
sketch out ideas, or record voice
memos on the go.
Whatever method works for you,
you’ll have an easy recorded reference
for these details whenever you need
them.
Pay attention to the small stuff
It sounds cliché to be told to remember
every little detail, but when it comes to
memoir writing, the smaller details
often morph into larger stories.
In revisiting Mushroom Lunch, I
focused on the seemingly inconse-
quential details to make the moment
feel richer and fuller to the reader.
Take, for example, the scene where I
first see the slug:
The grass was still wet from the
morning drizzle, but the concrete
path was perfectly dry. That’s
where I chose to sit and eat. The
soup was still steaming hot as I
poured it carefully into the pink
cup lid. Just as I was savoring the
first delicious bite in my mouth,
my eyes caught a shimmer of
light near my foot. I paused my
chewing and leaned forward to
get a better look. A slime trail.
My eyes followed the zany route
all the way to the slug at the front
of it.
The minor notes of the wet grass
and dry concrete may have seemed
insignificant when I remembered this
day but ultimately add to the memory
as a whole.
 No remembered detail is wasted.
Anthony Bourdain masterfully dem-
onstrated this idea in his book
Kitchen Confidential. His essay “From
Our Kitchen to Your Table” begins
when he observes a sign hanging out-
side a restaurant:
I saw a sign the other day outside
one of those Chinese/Japanese
hybrids that are beginning to pop
up around town, advertising
“Discount Sushi”. I can’t imagine
a better example of Things To Be
Wary Of in the food department
than bargain sushi. Yet the place
had customers.
From there, Bourdain expands to
talk about his experiences buying,
cooking, and eating various fish and
the best practices to apply when doing
so. It is that initial moment of noticing
the sign for discount sushi, a concrete
and tangible introductory visual for
the reader, that serves as the spring-
board to launch him to the other larger
parts of the essay.
Tell the narrative story
When you journal, it’s easy to tell the
basic events as they occurred and leave
it at that. But as all writers know, it’s
always preferable to show instead of
tell. Adding dialogue is one of the best
strategies to upgrade your memoir
journaling. We’re not talking full-
blown conversations – it can be diffi-
cult to recall what was said long ago, of
course – but sometimes there will be at
least one line from the occasion that
stands out.
Shannon Leone Fowler peppers her
memoir, Traveling With Ghosts, with
dialogue. For instance, during her trav-
els through Morocco by camel, she
recalls her lover’s reaction to the experi-
ence: “Camel humps are definitely not
designed with the male anatomy in
mind.” Even this one remembered line
adds so much more to the memory.
With Mushroom Lunch, I remember
my father’s unsettled response to my
sudden disdain for mushroom soup.
“You love mushrooms,” he pro-
claimed. “You’ve always eaten
them before. What was different
this time?”
I couldn’t answer him, my
gag reflex threatening to sum-
mon the events of earlier.
“OK, OK,” he added quickly,
“I’ll never buy that soup again.”
With memories, your journaling
can take on a storytelling feel, similar
to the scenes you’d find in a novel. Go
ahead and write out the memory as
though it was a scene in a novel. Per-
haps then the dialogue will come back
to you and enrich the memory.
Go there again
Another common practice in journal-
ing is to quit once you have written
down your thoughts – to consider the
memory recorded. But every time I
revisit the Mushroom Lunch story, I
recall new details. I rewrote the opening
of the story with some of those details:
It was grey and raining outside,
and we were running late for
school. I threw on my parka and
boots, grabbed my lunchbox, and
took off out the door after my
brother. There was just enough
time to kick at a bunch of pale
brown fungi that had sprouted
near the tires of the car before
Dad was ushering me to my seat.
It explains the wet grass later on,
and now there is a tie-in with mush-
rooms. The memory was two lines in
my original entry but entire paragraphs
in my mind. Rewriting the scene
allowed me to let the details out and
achieve a fully satisfying story.
Granted, we might not want to revisit
some bad memories. Others, however,
may seem unfinished when we read
them again, and going back to rewrite
them a second and third time can be
tremendously beneficial. New details
may arise. You might discover better
words to use in your descriptions. In
some instances, you may even find a
completely different take on the mem-
ory – what may have felt serious the first
time around could feel much lighter
when you reexamine it the second time.
Chuck Palahniuk (author of Fight
Club) puts it best when he says, ”So this
is why I write. Because most times, your
life isn’t funny the first time through.
Most times, you can hardly stand it.”
It’s commonly said that you need
distance and time before you can truly
process the events of the day. Memoir
journaling gives you the opportunity to
take as much time as you need to
revisit the memories as many times as
you’d like. Find ways to enjoy the pro-
cess along the way and learn to love
your own memories too.
Chelsea Leah is a tech and culture writer living
in northern California. When not writing, she
can usually be found with her nose in a book or
her toes in the sand.
writermag.com • The Writer | 33
 Ardea-studio/Shutterstock

34 | The Writer • August 2021

 FINDING THE

OF YOUR ESSAY

True revision can’t begin until you locate the heart of

what your nonfiction is really about. Here’s how.

BY BONNIE HE ARN HILL

Y
ou’re wandering through a
foggy day in a familiar city,
drifting the way we do when
we’re not worrying about time,
place, or consequences. That’s
how I feel when I write the first draft of an essay,
and if that’s where you are now, good. You’re right
where you need to be.
A personal essay can range all the way from
formal to creative nonfiction, and it usually
involves a character arc (yours). What doesn’t
change is the importance of an emotional center.
In a formal essay, it’s clear because you have a
thesis statement. When you move into less-
structured forms, you’re really almost dreaming
the first draft, moving back and forth through
time, maybe adding dialogue. Then, sooner or
later, you have to step out of that dream. Revis-
ing means more than just fixing the commas and
rearranging a few sentences. It means finding the
emotional core of your essay.
John Brantingham, a multi-published author
and professor of English at California’s Mt. San
Antonio College, recently talked to me about how
he teaches writers to find the emotional center of
their fiction. “Before you can start revising, you
have to understand what the center of your story
is, and then revise out from that,” he told me. “If
it’s about a relationship, then everything in the
story needs to reflect that relationship. If it’s
about a child growing up, then that’s where your
decisions should be. If you are not writing from
the center of your story, then you’re just making
choices about what sounds interesting to you.”
writermag.com • The Writer | 35
 The same is true – and perhaps even
more challenging – with personal nar-
ratives. Recognizing the true center is
difficult because you’re not just looking
at words on the page. You’re looking at
your own experiences, beliefs, and feel-
ings and often dealing with emotional
myopia because you’re too close to the
experience to see the story. That’s why
you need to edit after and not before
you locate your center.
The true emotional center may not
be the one you started with. It may be
something that crept in while you were
writing. It is not your theme. Instead, it
is the feeling your essay evokes, its heart.
Aristotle proposed the concept of
14 human expressions: fear, confi-
dence, anger, friendship, calm, enmity,
shame, shamelessness, pity, kindness,
envy, indignation, emulation, and con-
tempt. Since then, the number has
grown or shrunk depending on the
researcher. In a personal narrative, you
push beyond the basic emotion, doing
something with it such as encouraging,
accepting, rejecting, regretting, cele-
brating, embracing.
Suppose you’re writing about love.
That’s the emotional center of every 100-
word essay published in the New York
Times’ popular column, “Tiny Love Sto-
ries,” yet the topics still range widely
from old love, young love, multicultural
love, and parental love to pet love, self-
love, and dozens of varieties on each of
those. Bon Appétit’s “Healthyish” arm
mostly focuses on healthful food and
cooking, yet recent essays included one
by Dana Heyward about how learning
to ride a bike eased the author’s chronic
anxiety. Don’t be limited by what you
think a publication is “about.” There’s
room for nuance in an essay.
Begin by asking yourself who your
reader is. What do you want this per-
son to feel? Joy, discovery, connection,
remorse, amusement, something else?
Titles and leads
Now that you can define your emo-
tional center, you can go back and take
a second look at the title. Is it still
appropriate? Sometimes you’ll need one
title to launch your writing and another
once you’re revising the finished piece. I
originally called an essay of mine “Get-
ting Rid of Mrs. Delp,” after a middle
grade teacher of mine who caused me
to doubt myself. Once I understood the
center, which was really about self-sab-
otage, I got rid of the teacher (who was
only the spark I needed to get started),
and I gave the essay the title Publishers
Weekly used when publishing it: “Deal-
ing with The Demon.”
Next, look at your lead. Is it one of
Faulkner’s proverbial “darlings” you
should kill? Sure, that lead existed
before anything else, but it’s not
immune to the editing process.
Here are some of my favorites.
The anecdote lead. You tell a story
related to the theme of your piece.
The shocking statement lead. You
start with a true statement that grabs
the reader’s attention and then delivers
on that statement.

DON’T BE AFRAID TO BE BAD

If we were talking one-on-one after a workshop or
over coffee, this is the advice I would give you, the
one thing you can do right now that will change
your writing and your life: Don’t be afraid to be bad.
I’ve seen it happen to some of the best writers
I know. I’ve watched that fear freeze their prog-
ress. They overthink. They listen to negative mes-
sages from the past. And they fail over and over
only because they never truly start.
Being bad isn’t failure. The only way you fail is
by stopping. No one can judge a blank page, but
no one will be entertained, inspired, or changed
by it, either.
Craft makes you stronger, so by all means, learn
all you can, but don’t be fenced in by it. Study and
practice the different types of leads. Experiment
with form. Understand everything from how to
use anecdotes to how to write dialogue. But when
you start writing, just go with the emotion.
Remind yourself that you don’t have to share
what you’ve written with anyone unless you want
to. The threat of shame is powerful, and if you let it
in your head, you’ll be blocked from taking chances
with your work.
Personal essays are personal. There is no wrong
way and no blueprint. You may need to rethink or
reshape, but all that comes later. For now, just turn
off that judgmental brain and get down those words.
Writing is a process, not a performance. Make
that process part of your life.
When you smell a flower, you don’t think about
every detail of volatile molecules entering the
nasal cavity and activating receptors in the olfac-
tory epithelium, do you? (And if you do, well, that
could be a great story.) Your sense of smell is
something you don’t have to think about because
you use it all the time. The more you write, the
more natural that process will become. So, don’t
just think about writing. Do it. And if you’re not
afraid to be bad, you’ll know you’re doing it right.

36 | The Writer • August 2021

 “YOUR EMOTIONAL CENTER IS
THE FEELING YOUR ESSAY EVOKES.”
The action lead. You start with you
or someone else doing something, any-
thing from driving a car to arguing
with a parent to chasing a thief.
And on rare occasions, the dia-
logue lead. These are tough to pull off,
so the dialogue you’re presenting must
be powerful.
I’m less excited about the question
lead (because the answer is usually,
“No, and I don’t care”). And I don’t
think I’ve ever used the famous quota-
tion lead (because anyone can do an
internet search for things Abraham
Lincoln might have said and apply
that to getting a tattoo or buying a
new car).
Remember, however, every rule has
exceptions, and all your lead must do
is hook the reader while staying true to
your essay’s emotional focal point.
Searching for the center
In writing “What I Wish I’d Known,”
an essay for this magazine in 2019, I
made a list of everything I wished I
had known about writing for publica-
tion. It was honest and not always
pretty, but I just let the list tumble out
of me. As I did, I remembered conver-
sations I’d had with my best friend,
also a writer, and I included pieces of
those. So, where was the emotional
center of my essay? Was it all these
“rules” of writing? Was it the side con-
versations with my friend? No, I real-
ized. The emotional center was trust. I
wanted the reader to trust me and to
feel comfortable with what I was say-
ing, even if some of that dealt with
harsh realities.
I didn’t want to throw a bunch of
rules at anyone. I wanted to pull the
reader into my world, a world where I
spent 22 years writing, failing, and
learning before I sold my first novel.
My friend is a big part of that world, so
she belonged there. The chunk of
words where I started lecturing the
reader did not belong. Those words
weren’t relevant to the overall impact of
the essay. In a section on self-sabotage,
I became too prescriptive, “telling” the
reader how to avoid self-sabotage
instead of “showing” that we are all in
this together. Had I not caught the
change in tone in the revision process, I
fear my essay would have come across
as bossy instead of inclusive.
Be careful too that your emotional
center isn’t Poor Me or Wonderful Me
From A to Z. Poor Me doesn’t stretch
far enough. Bad things happen, but we
have to move beyond our own pain to
find meaning. Wonderful Me From A
to Z happens when the author is writ-
ing to impress rather than to express.
Such essays often follow a structure like
this: I was having a terrible day, and
then I remembered how wonderful I am.
If the emotional center of the piece is
how much you’re hurting or how amaz-
ing you are, you need to keep writing.
You probably already know that
revenge writing doesn’t hurt anyone
but the author. Instead of focusing on
someone who wronged you, remember
that writing well is the best revenge.
When we’re in pain or trying to avoid
responsibility for our statements, we
have a tendency to slip into the passive
voice. (“The dinner was eaten, and the
dishes were done.” “The wounds were
tended.”) That’s another sign that you
need to take a serious look at your emo-
tional center and ask yourself if you’re
ready to write this particular piece.
Life after deletion
Once you find your emotional center,
you’re going to have to do some cutting.
That doesn’t mean you need to perma-
nently delete the material you don’t use.
My critique group members and I often
refer to something we call the Word Spa,
just outside my patio door. That’s where
we send perfectly good ideas and sen-
tences – sometimes entire paragraphs –
that don’t work in a current piece but
might be useful in the future. It’s not
actually in my yard, of course, but a file
labeled “Word Spa” on our computers.
Somehow that sounds better than
“deleted stuff that doesn’t fit anywhere.”
In the essay of mine I mentioned earlier,
I deleted the bossy section, but I sent it
to the Word Spa, where it kicked back
for a month or two. Then, I revitalized
and reshaped it into a different essay
with a different emotional core that did
fit. Only then did I sell it.
Wandering through the fog of essay
writing can be pleasant, even exciting,
as those images and memories float
in. Now, I hope you’re ready for the
next step – finding that center. And if
you are, good. You’re right where you
need to be.
Bonnie Hearn Hill’s most recent novel is The
River Below. Her essay, “What I Wish I’d
Known,” was The Writer’s 2019 Essay Contest
winner.
writermag.com • The Writer | 37
LITERARY SPOTLIGHT
BY MELISSA HART
INSIDE LITERARY MAGAZINES

The Offing
Editors of this acclaimed publication seek writing from marginalized
voices that ‘challenges, experiments, provokes – work that
pushes literary and artistic forms and conventions.’

I
n 2019, the digital literary maga-
zine The Offing received a presti-
gious Whiting Literary Magazine
Prize in recognition of the sup-
port it offers writers, as well as the
connections it provides readers and the
literary community.
“It means a lot,” says editor-in-chief
Mimi Wong. “We’re out there trying
things out, trying to do something a
little bit different, and it’s really nice to
get that sort of affirmation that what
we’re doing is on the right track.”
The publication’s website invites
submissions from “Black and Indige-
nous people and people of color; trans
people, cis women, agender, gender
non-conforming, genderqueer, two-
spirit and non-binary people; intersex
people; LGBQA (lesbian, gay, bisexual,
queer, asexual/aromantic) people; peo-
ple with disabilities; and especially
people living at the intersections of
these identities.”

Tone, editorial content

A diverse group of editors at The Offing
looks for essays, fiction, poetry, hybrid
works, translations, and humor writing.
“We’re very open to things that are a lit-
tle more outside of the box,” Wong says.
“We’re happy to take things that are a
little bit more experimental.”
One of these is Chaelee Dalton’s
prose poem “Blood Type Personality idea and unpacks it and explores its organizes the poem into categories: A,
Theory” (4/13/21), which appears in deeper and darker history.” B, AB, and O. “We love it when writ-
the “Back of the Envelope” depart- The piece includes a chart com- ers play with form and bring in some-
ment. “In some Asian cultures, blood piled by Furukawa Takeji, a Japanese thing unexpected,” Wong says. “We
type is treated like a horoscope,” Wong professor who, in 1927, published a don’t want to box in any of our writ-
explains. “It can indicate different per- paper titled “The Study of Tempera- ers. We want them to feel free to
Crys Yin

sonalities. The writer digs into this ment Through Blood Type.” Dalton express themselves.”
38 | The Writer • August 2021

“A place for new and
emerging writers to
test their voices and for
established writers to
test their limits.”
Reading period: Year-round.
Length: Varies.
Genres: Fiction, poetry, nonfic-
tion, novel excerpts, cross-genre.
Submission format: Submittable,
via the publication’s website.
Payment: $25-$100.
Contact: Editor Mimi Wong,
info@theoffingmag.com,
theoffingmag.com.
The Offing publishes micro-sub-
missions as well – 10- to 560-charac-
ter works in any genre, published
both on the website and on the maga-
zine’s Twitter account. One of these is
Bucket Siler’s piece “Crush” (4/28/21),
which begins:
Have I told you about this boy
I’ve been dating? He’s never
traveled out of the country.
Doesn’t drive, doesn’t use email,
cries when dogs die in movies.
Contributors
Alex Paik has an essay titled “Ghost-
face Dumplings” (3/26/21) that partic-
ularly resonated with readers after the
March 2021 murder of six Asian
women in Atlanta. It’s a meditation on
Crys Yin’s painting of the same name.
Paik writes:
For many Asian Americans,
food is one of the primary ways
in which we remain connected
to a country that is both our
home and not our home. As a
child of immigrants, my racial
identity was formed not by the
memories of a Korea I never
knew, but rather by the ghost of
an idea of Korea that my par-
ents preserved and created in
their minds as they moved
across the world.
“His piece is very much related to
issues about identity and trying to
understand his own Korean American
heritage,” Wong says. “We were able to
publish his essay as a response to what
was happening in the country.”
Writer and activist Aurielle Marie
has a monthly essay series that The Off-
ing sends out as a newsletter inspired by
the Black Lives Matter protests. Associ-
ate editor Nicholas Nichols spearheaded
this project as a way to amplify the
voices of people on the frontlines who
are doing anti-racist work.
Corinne Leong has an essay titled
“Simple Disguises: On M. Butterfly and
Self-Imposed Archetypes” (4/15/21),
which Wong describes as a hybrid of
personal essay and cultural criticism.
“She does a wonderful reading of
David Henry Hwang’s play M. Butter-
fly while talking about her own jour-
ney and her struggle with her identity.”
Leong writes:
Just as [Hwang’s] Song Liling
has his kimono, wig, and pow-
der, I have my independence,
intelligence, and blameless, soli-
tary fate. I too can convince
myself I’m something I’m not by
playing a simpler role, a list of
qualities acknowledged into
existence by others. Because
while they view us through a
simpler lens than we view our-
selves, they may also view us
more favorably.
Advice for potential contributors
Writers interested in contributing to
The Offing can visit the magazine’s sub-
mission guidelines on the website to see
editorial needs. Include a cover letter
with any information you’d like editors
to know about you and about your sub-
mission – particularly if it would repre-
sent your first-ever publication.
Wong urges potential contributors
to read The Offing, which is available
online for free. “We have a straightfor-
ward mission statement on our site,
and once you read it and some of the
pieces we publish, you get a good sense
of who we are and what we’re about,”
she says. “We’re looking for submis-
sions and also for people interested in
volunteering with us. If your values
align with ours, that’s more important
than how much experience you have
or don’t have.”
Melissa Hart is the author, most recently, of
Better with Books: 500 Diverse Books to Ignite
Empathy and Encourage Self-Acceptance in
Tweens and Teens (Sasquatch, 2019). Insta-
gram: @writermelissahart
Get
PROFESSIONAL
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writermag.com • The Writer | 39
CONFERENCE INSIDER
BY MELISSA HART

The Power of Words Conference

This intimate four-day virtual conference celebrates and champions the use
of spoken, written, and sung word to effect change.

Attendees listen attentively to a presentation at a previous in-person Power of Words Conference.

S
tand Up and Speak Out: Using
“ Storytelling Techniques to
Change Yourself, Your Life,
and the World.”
“Telling this Truth: Creating Social
Justice Theatre.”
“Purposeful Memoir as a Path to a
Thriving Future.”
These are the titles of past confer-
ence presentations at The Power of
annual four-day event that blends sto-
rytelling with community building and
cultural and ecological recovery.
Managing Director Hanne Weedon
describes the presenters and the
attendees as creatives who care deeply
about social change and making the
world a better place. “They use their
voice whatever way they know how –
sung or spoken or in poetry or as a
to take place in New Mexico. However,
due to pandemic concerns, Weedon
and her staff opted to host it virtually
at the end of October. Several tracts are
available for participants, including
ecological literacy, narrative medicine,
social change, spiritual engagement,
and how to earn a living while working
in the arts.
Courtesy of TLA Network.

Words Conference: Transformation,
Liberation, & Celebration through the
Spoken, Written, & Sung Word. Since
2003, staff at the Transformative Lan-
guage Arts Network have hosted the
40 | The Writer • August 2021
journalist or writer; they use the power
of words to change the world,” she
says. “The conference is a really beauti-
ful experience.”
The 2021 gathering was supposed
What you’ll learn
Presenters include writers and story-
tellers, educators and activists, per-
formers and healers. As TLA’s website
notes, participants will learn how to
 “make community together, integrate
what we’re discovering as we’re discov-
ering it, and find more direction in our
life’s work, education, community
commitment, art, and activism.”
Keynote speakers offer two-hour
workshops during the Friday pre-con-
ference, and participants may register
for either a half or full day. Some pre-
sentations will concentrate on stories
focused on health and illness as a way
to heal individuals and communities.
Others look at literature that connects
readers with ecology and inspires envi-
ronmental justice work.
In 2019, Usha Akella taught a
poetry workshop titled “Fetch the Fire:
Writing the Ghazal.” Lisa Chu gave a
presentation titled “Bad Asian Daugh-
ter: Transforming Shame through
Embodied Storytelling,” while Loren
Niemi taught “Walking Fields and
Streets to Find Poems and Stories.”
“This is not a conference geared
towards finding an agent or getting your
work published,” Weedon says. “It’s a
space for people to come together and
be inspired by each other’s work and by
how they’re taking transformative lan-
guage arts out into the world. Presenters
offer experiential workshops that engage
Conference presenters Lisa Chu and Rachel Gabriel pose with board members Vanita
Leatherwood and Liz Burke at the 2019 Power of Words in Phoenix.
Lisa Chu
Conference: The Power of Words
Conference
Dates: October 28-31, 2021
Cost: $230-248.
Location: Online
Contact: Hanne Weedon,
managing director,
director@tlanetwork.org,
tlanetwork.org/conference
the senses; their presentations tend to be
very moving and very powerful.”
Following the formal workshops,
attendees can participate in open mic
events featuring readings, songs,
dances, and other artistic expressions.
Other evenings, conference keynotes,
and instructors offer readings and
musical performances and gatherings
like the 2019 “Improvalooza,” a hilari-
ous, lightning-speed event in which
conference staff made up poems and
stories on the spot.
Featured presenters
Poet and musician Joy Harjo is a key-
note presenter. Harjo is the first
Native American U.S. Poet Laureate,
appointed again in 2020 to serve a
second term. She’s the author, most
recently, of the poetry book An Amer-
ican Sunrise. Indigenous environmen-
tal scientist, musician, and commu-
nity organizer Lyla June is also a
keynote presenter; she’ll discuss her
work as a multi-media performer
with a focus on ecological healing.
Poet Javier Zamora will present; at
age 9, he immigrated 4,000 miles by
himself from El Salvador to join his
parents, who had already settled in the
U.S. His first book of poetry, Unaccom-
panied, examines the effects of civil
war and immigration on his family and
his life. Artist and writer Caits Meiss-
ner will present as well. The writer and
illustrator of the DYI Comix poetry
zine Pep Talks for Broke(n) People, she
does social justice work with a focus
on the power of imagination and cre-
ativity to effect change.
Advice for first-time attendees
Weedon tells first-timers at the Power
of Words Conference to expect a
deeply moving and powerful experi-
ence. “Plan for small gatherings in
which you’ll do really powerful work
with other change-oriented activists
and artists,” she says.
This is an intimate conference of
100-200 attendees. During morning
talking circles, participants meet with
an even smaller group to discuss their
responses to the previous day’s presen-
tations and other events in a safe, confi-
dential space. “What I hear from people
so often is that they come to this confer-
ence and end up finding their tribe,”
Weedon says. “They find an artistic
community working to make the world
right, and they use these relationships to
move the work forward.”
Contributing Editor Melissa Hart is the
author of Better with Books: 500 Diverse Books
to Ignite Empathy and Encourage Self-Accep-
tance in Tweens and Teens (Sasquatch, 2019).
Twitter/Instagram: @WildMelissaHart
writermag.com • The Writer | 41
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Writer’s Conference.
lajollawritersconference.com
Writing conferences, retreats, and festivals are some of the best places
Litquake San Francisco, October.
to hone your craft and learn from some of the top names in the field,
The largest independent literary fes-
but they also offer the unique opportunity to meet fellow writers. In
tival on the West Coast, this event
what can often be a solitary career, it’s important for you to network
and get feedback on your writing. Here are three perks you should take
includes panel discussions, cross-
advantage of at any conference:
media events, and hundreds of read-
ings, plus the now-famous Lit Crawl
1. Make a friend. Finding a like-minded, or maybe not-so-like-minded, through the Mission District. Last
writer to bring into your inner circle can be priceless. You can each year the event happened virtually.
help each other brainstorm, get through rough writing patches, and No decision had been made at press
read new work. time on this year’s event. Contact:
Litquake. 342 Rome St., San Fran-
2. Learn a lot. Attend workshops that speak to you — and as many
cisco, CA 94112. 415-440-4177.
of them as possible. Getting advice from writers who have been in
info@litquake.org litquake.org
your shoes and learning the methods that work for them can make
your entire conference experience worthwhile.
Monterey Writer Retreat Mon-
3. Write. The whole point of attending a conference is to discover terey, April (date TBA). Author-
more about your own writing style. Use the energy surrounding agent professionals offer one-on-one
the event as inspiration and maintain that momentum once you get sessions with writers, including line
back home and are back to the lonely task of working solo. editing and mentorship of short sto-
ries or novel manuscripts. Contact:
The following conferences, retreats, and festivals are a small sampling Algonkian Writer Conferences. 800-
of what the industry has to offer. You’ll find more market listings at 250-8290.
writermag.com. Also, with the COVID-19 pandemic, some conferences info@algonkianconferences.com
have been postponed or moved online. The information here was cur-
montereywritersretreat.com
rent when we went to press. Be sure to check organizations’ websites
for the very latest updates.
Southern California Writers’
Conference – Los Angeles
Irvine, Sept. 17-19. Devoted to
Information in this section is provided to translation might take new turns writers of all levels, the SCWC fea-
The Writer by the individual markets and rather than return to an unsustain- tures dozens of interactive trouble-
events; for more information, contact able normal. ALTA includes sessions, shooting and read and critique
those entities directly. readings, and keynote speakers. Con- workshops, and has facilitated
tact: American Literary Translators some $4 million in first-time
Association. The University of Ari- authors’ book and screen deals
» CONFERENCES, zona, Esquire Building #205, 1230 N since 1986. Contact: Southern Cal-
RETREATS, FESTIVALS
Park Ave. Tucson, AZ 85721. Com- ifornia Writers’ Conference.
(JULY – DECEMBER)
munications & Awards Manager Michael Steven Gregory, Executive
ARIZONA Rachael Daum, Director.
ALTA Conference Virtual, Oct. rachaeldaum@literarytranslators.org msg@writersconference.com
15-17. Tucson, Nov. 11-13. The 44th literarytranslators.org writersconference.com
annual ALTA Conference will be
held virtually and in person, with the CALIFORNIA COLORADO
theme “Inflection Points,” which will La Jolla Writer’s Conference Colorado Gold Writers Con-
consider how the field of literature in San Diego, Oct. 22-24. Learn about ference Denver, Oct. 15017.
42 | The Writer • August 2021
Annual three-day conference
hosted by the Rocky Mountain Fic-
tion Writers features workshops,
panels, pitch session, and network-
ing with authors, editors, and
agents. Contact: Rocky Mountain
Fiction Writers. P.O. Box 711,
Montrose, CO 81402.
website_liaison@rmfw.org
rmfw.org
CONNECTICUT
Ridgefield Writers Conference
Ridgefield, TBD. Keynote address
and reading and a Q&A panel with
agent, authors, and guest editors.
Contact: Word for Words. Adele
Annesi, a.annesi@sbcglobal.net.
ridgefieldwritersconference.blogspot.
com
FLORIDA
Sanibel Island Writers Con-
ference Sanibel Island, TBD; last
year’s conference was virtual. Open
to writers in all stages of their
careers. Offers workshops in fic-
tion, poetry, songwriting, chil-
dren’s literature, journalism,
screenwriting, and creative nonfic-
tion; panels in publishing and edit-
ing; and readings, keynote
addresses, and concerts. Contact:
Sanibel Island Writers Conference,
Reed Hall 242, Florida Gulf Coast
University, 10501 FGCU Blvd. S,
Fort Myers, FL 33965. Tom
DeMarchi, director.
tdemarch@fgcu.edu
fgcu.edu/siwc
KENTUCKY
Kentucky Women Writers
Conference Lexington, Sept. 9-12.
Full penalty-free refunds granted
until a week before the conference.
A women’s literary festival at the
Carnegie Center for Literacy and
Learning featuring workshops for
writers, evening readings, and
events that are open to the commu-
nity. Featured guests include Jami
Attenberg, Mahogany Browne,
Bridgett M. Davis, and more. Con-
tact: Kentucky Women Writers. 232
E. Maxwell St., Lexington, KY
40506. 859-257-2874.
kentuckywomenwriters@gmail.com
womenwriters.as.uky.edu
LOUISIANA
Louisiana Book Festival Baton
Rouge, Oct. 30. Free and open to the
public. Features author readings and
an exhibit hall of booksellers, pub-
lishing houses, and scholarly pro-
grams. Contact: Louisiana Book
Festival. Robert Wilson, Assistant
Director, 701 N. Fourth St., Baton
Rouge, LA 70802. 225-219-9503.
lbf@state.lib.la.us
louisianabookfestival.org
MASSACHUSETTS
New England Crime Bake Ded-
ham, November, dates and format
TBA. Hosted by the New England
Chapters of Sisters in Crime and
Mystery Writers of America. Fea-
tures manuscript critiques, agent
pitches, master classes, and plenty of
opportunities to meet with other
mystery writers and fans. Contact:
New England Crime Bake.
contact@crimebake.org
crimebake.org
MISSISSIPPI
Mississippi Writers Guild
Annual Conference TBA. No
decision had been made on the 2021
conference at press time. In the past,
the conference included speakers,
advice, critiques, fellowship, food,
literary readings, and more. Oppor-
tunity to read work on stage, mix
and mingle, and listen to keynote
speaker. Workshop with well-known
authors and professionals, and enjoy
book signings and writing critiques.
Contact: Mississippi Writers Guild.
Susan Marquez, president. Email
from website.
mississippiwritersguild.com
MONTANA
Montana Book Festival Mis-
soula, Sept. 16-18. Features authors
with readings, panels, exhibits, dem-
onstrations, workshops, and recep-
tions. Contact: Montana Book
Festival.
montanabookfestival@gmail.com
montanabookfestival.com
NEVADA
Green River Writers Memoir
Writing Workshop July 15-18,
Las Vegas. Writing-intensive pro-
gram using memoir as a starting
point. For experienced and begin-
ning writers. Focus on the crafts of
writing and storytelling, and the
evolving world of publishing. Fac-
ulty includes Gerald Hausman,
Loretta Hausman, and Alice Win-
ston Carney. Contact: Green River
Workshops. Alice Carney, Director.
916-947-0983.
carney.aw@gmail.com
greenriverwritersworkshop.com
Las Vegas Book Festival Las
Vegas, TBA. Last year’s festival was
online. No announcement had
been made about this year’s as of
press time. A celebration of the
written, spoken, and illustrated
word. Offers a wide range of pro-
grams built around sharing
resources, developing audiences,
advancing the craft of writing, and
sharing the joys of reading. Most
events are free and open to the
public. Contact: Las Vegas Book
Festival, 495 S. Main St., Office of
Cultural Affairs/4th Floor, Las
Vegas, NV 89101. Email from web-
site. vegasvalleybookfestival.org
NEW JERSEY
Murphy Writing Conferences
Online only, various dates. For
now, the program run through
Stockton University has shifted to
largely online-only events. Check
website for schedule. Contact:
writermag.com • The Writer | 43
MARKETS
Murphy Writing of Stockton Uni-
versity. Peter Murphy, Founder, 30
Front St., Hammonton, NJ 08037.
609-626-3594.
info@murphywriting.com
murphywriting.com
NEW YORK
Brooklyn Book Festival Brook-
lyn, Sept. 26-Oct. 4. The largest
free literary event in New York
City, featuring national and inter-
national authors. Contact: Brook-
lyn Book Festival, 249 Smith St.,
PMB #106, Brooklyn, NY 11231.
Liz Koch.
info@brooklynbookfestival.org
brooklynbookfestival.org
OREGON
Portland Book Festival Port-
land, November, date TBA. Last
year’s event took place online. No
decision had been made on this year
as of press time. Portland’s famed
literary community thrives during
this one-day event (formerly called
Wordstock) that includes author
events, workshops, readings, con-
certs, a book fair, and more. Con-
tact: Literary Arts. 925 SW
Washington St., Portland, OR
97205. 503-227-2583
la@literary-arts.org
literary-arts.org
PENNSYLVANIA
Highlights Foundation Work-
shops Honesdale and online, dates
vary. Workshops geared toward
authors interested in writing and
illustrating for children. Intermedi-
ate and advanced levels led by chil-
dren’s publishing professionals,
including editors, writers, art direc-
tors, publishers, and agents. See
website for list of workshops. Con-
tact: Highlights Foundation, 814
Court St., Honesdale, PA 18431.
877-288-3410.
jo.lloyd@highlightsfoundation.org
highlightsfoundation.org
44 | The Writer • August 2021
HippoCamp Lancaster, Aug.
13-15. Hippocampus Magazine’s
creative nonfiction writing confer-
ence features notable speakers.
Also included are attendee-led
breakout sessions in four tracks,
interactive panels, readings, social
activities, and networking opportu-
nities. Contact: HippoCamp. Email
from website.
hippocamp21.hippocampusmagazine.
com
SOUTH DAKOTA
South Dakota Festival of
Books Deadwood, Oct. 1-3. Fea-
tures well-known authors partici-
pating in book signings,
presentations, panel discussions,
and readings on topics that include
fiction, nonfiction, poetry, chil-
dren’s/young adult, history/tribal,
and writer support. Contact: South
Dakota Center for the Book, 1215
Trail Ridge Rd., Suite A, Brookings,
SD 57006. 605-688-6113.
info@sdhumanities.org
sdbookfestival.com
TENNESSEE
Southern Festival of Books
Nashville, Oct. 9-10. Free and open
to the public. Features readings,
panels, performances, and book
signings with approximately 200
authors in a wide range of genres.
Contact: Humanities Tennessee, PO
Box 60467, 807 Main St., Suite B,
Nashville, TN 37206. 615-770-0006.
info@humtn.org
humanitiestennessee.org/programs-
grants/core-program-overview/
southern-festival-of-books
TEXAS
Texas Book Festival Austin,
Nov. 7-8. Free and open to the pub-
lic, with 300 authors. Includes ses-
sions, book signings, and an
evening lit crawl. Contact: Texas
Book Festival, 1023 Springdale Rd.,
Bldg. 14, Unit B, Austin, TX 78721.
512-477-4055.
bookfest@texasbookfestival.org
texasbookfestival.org
UTAH
Page Lambert’s 21st Annual
River Retreat to the River
Moab, Sept. 20-25. A six-day raft-
ing and writing retreat for women
entering the crossroads of their
lives – professionally, artistically,
personally – the perfect time and
place to inspire creative change.
Featuring special guest Roxanne
Swentzell, a renowned sculptor.
Contact: Page Lambert. Email via
website.
page@pagelambert.com
pagelambert.com/river-journeys
VERMONT
Brattleboro Literary Festival
Brattleboro, Oct. 14-17. A four-day
celebration including readings,
panel discussions, and special
events with emerging and estab-
lished authors. All events are free
and open to the public. Also offers
workshops for a fee. Contact: Brat-
tleboro Literary Festival, P.O. Box
1116, Brattleboro, VT, 05302. 802-
365-7673.
vtbookfest@gmail.com
brattleboroliteraryfestival.org
VIRGINIA
Fall for the Book Fairfax, Octo-
ber, dates TBA. Last year’s festival
was on-demand. A decision had
not been made about this year’s fes-
tival location at press time. Cele-
brate literature at this literary
festival held at George Mason Uni-
versity and other locations in
Northern Virginia, Washington,
D.C., and Maryland. All events are
free and open to the public. Con-
tact: Fall for the Book. Kara Oak-
leaf, Festival Manager.
703-993-3986.
kara@fallforthebook.org
fallforthebook.org
Hampton Roads Writers 13th
Annual Writers’ Conference
Virginia Beach, Sept. 23-25. One
evening and two full days of work-
shops, bestselling keynote speakers,
first 10 lines critique sessions, work-
shops, and agent pitches. Writing
contests, social events, and open
mic sessions. Contact: Hampton
Roads Writers. P.O. Box 56228, Vir-
ginia Beach, VA 23456.
info@hamptonroadswriters.org
hamptonroadswriters.org/
2021conference.php
WASHINGTON
LiTFUSE Tieton, Sept. 24-26. A
poets’ workshop that combines writ-
ing, exploration, improvisation,
meditation, camaraderie, natural
beauty, and readings to ignite your
muse. Offers master classes and
breakout sessions. Will feature poet
Claudia Castro Luna. Open to poets
of all ages and styles. Contact: LiT-
FUSE. P.O. Box 171, Tieton, WA
98947. Email from website.
litfuse.us
WISCONSIN
Wisconsin Book Festival Madi-
son, October and year-round. Fea-
tures local literary talents alongside
national voices, with events incor-
porating literature, film, art, and
performance. Currently presenting
online year-round as well as in-per-
son with dates TBA in October.
Contact: Wisconsin Book Festival,
201 W. Mifflin St., Madison, WI
53703. 608-229-2081.
bookfest@mplfoundation.org
wisconsinbookfestival.org
INTERNATIONAL
Swanwick Writers’ Summer
School Swanwick, Alfreton, Der-
byshire, England, Aug. 7-13. Also
referred to as “Swanwick,” this is a
week-long program for writers of
all ages, abilities, and genres fea-
turing courses, workshops, panels,
and one-to-one sessions. Cost
includes full board and evening
entertainment. Contact: The Writ-
ers’ Summer School. The Hayes
Conference Centre, Swanwick,
Alfreton, Derbyshire, DE55 1AU.
Email from website.
swanwickwritersschool.org.uk
The Vancouver Writers Fest
Vancouver, British Columbia, Can-
ada, Oct. 18-24. The 33rd Vancou-
ver Writers Festival will offer a
forum for authors to connect with
readers in a vibrant exchange of
ideas and conversation. Celebrates
authors, poets, spoken word per-
formers, and graphic novelists. A
helpful event for teachers as well.
Contact: Vancouver Writers Fest,
202-1398 Cartwright St., Vancou-
ver BC, V6H 3R8. 604-681-6330
Email from website.
writersfest.bc.ca
VIRTUAL
AJC Decatur Book Festival
May 4-June29. The independent
book festival features many
authors. It offers readings, panels, a
children’s area, music, poetry
slams, workshops, and more. Con-
tact: AJC Decatur Book Festival.
Email from site.
decaturbookfestival.com
American Christian Fiction
Writers Annual Conference
Sept. 10-11. Network with literary
agents and Christian publishing
houses. This conference allows
attendants the opportunity to inter-
act with other writers and present
their ideas to agents and editors.
Contact: Robin Miller, Conference
Director, ACFW, P.O. Box 101066,
Palm Bay, FL 32910.
director@acfw.com
acfw.com/conference
Bread Loaf Writers’ Confer-
ence Aug. 8-21. Participants in
Zoom workshops will learn skills in
fiction, poetry, and nonfiction.
Magazine editors, agents, and other
professionals will also offer their
feedback and expertise. Contact:
Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, 204
College St., Middlebury College,
Middlebury, VT 05753. 802-443-
5286 blwc@middlebury.edu
middlebury.edu/bread-loaf-
conferences/bl_writers
James River Writers Confer-
ence Oct. 8-10. Offers meetings
with agents, lectures, panel discus-
sions, first-page critiques, a “pitcha-
palooza,” and more. Contact: James
River Writers, 2319 E. Broad St.,
Richmond, VA 23223. 804-433-
3790. Email from website.
jamesriverwriters.org
Kentucky Book Fair March, May,
July, August. Hosting regular virtual
events with authors until an in-per-
son event becomes feasible. Con-
tact: Kentucky Book Fair. 206 East
Maxwell St., Lexington, KY 40508.
859-257-5932.
sara.volpi@uky.edu
kybookfestival.org
Library of Congress National
Book Festival Various dates. Free
and open to the public. The festival
currently offers online presentations
year-round. Contact: National Book
Festival, Library of Congress, 101
Independence Ave. S.E., Washing-
ton, D.C. 20540. 202-707-5000.
Email from website. blogs.loc.gov/
national-book-festival/2021
Mendocino Coast Writers’
Conference Aug. 5-7. The 32nd
Annual Mendocino Coast Writers
Conference will feature morning
workshops and afternoon events.
Wendy C. Ortiz will deliver the
keynote address. Contact: Men-
docino Coast Writers Conference,
P.O. Box 2087, Fort Bragg, CA
writermag.com • The Writer | 45
MARKETS
95437. info@mcwc.org
mcwc.org
Pacific Coast Children’s Writ-
ers Novel Workshop &
Retreat Oct. 8-10 and 15-17. Lim-
ited attendance makes for an inti-
mate and focused setting in
workshops, panels, classes, and
more. Enrollees read peer manu-
scripts in advance, then compare
their conclusions with those of edi-
tors and agents in a collegial, open-
clinic format. The conference also
features a teen workshop. Contact:
Nancy Sondel, founding director.
Email from website.
childrenswritersworkshop.com
PNWA Conference Sept. 15-19.
The conference features seminars,
forums, and appointments with
agents and editors. Participants can
practice pitching. Contact: PNWA,
Writers’ Cottage 317 NW Gilman
Blvd., Suite 8, Issaquah, WA 98027.
425-673-2665. pnwa@pnwa.org
pnwa.org
Poets on the Coast Sept. 10-12.
A weekend writing retreat for
women with Kelli Russell Agodon,
Susan Rich, and visiting writer Jan-
uary Gill O’Neil. Designed for writ-
ers of all levels with sessions on
creativity, generating work, publi-
cation, a master class workshop,
one-on-one mentoring, and morn-
ing yoga. Contact: Poets on the
Coast, Kelli Agodon and Susan
Rich, P.O. Box 1524, Kingston, WA
98346.
poetsonthecoast@gmail.com
poetsonthecoast.weebly.com
Power of Words Conference
Oct. 28-31. Offers workshops, per-
formances, talking circles, celebra-
tions, and more, featuring writers,
storytellers, performers, musicians,
community leaders, activists, educa-
tors, and health professionals. Con-
46 | The Writer • August 2021
tact: Transformative Language Arts
Network. TLA Network, P.O. Box
873, Lansdowne, PA 19050.
tlanetwork.org/conference
Slice Literary Writers’ Confer-
ence September, dates TBA. Panels
and workshops cover the craft and
business of writing with top editors,
agents, and authors. Offers one-on-
one agent meetings and craft classes.
Contact: Slice Magazine.
info@slicemagazine.org
slicelitcon.org
Southampton Writers Confer-
ence July 14-18 Offers intensive
workshop sessions led by distin-
guished authors as well as readings,
lectures, panels, and discussions.
Offers focus in novels, short stories,
poetry, creative nonfiction, memoir,
and children’s literature intensive.
Contact: Southampton Arts, Stony
Brook Southampton, 239 Montauk
Hwy., Southampton, NY 11968.
631-632-5007.
christian.mclean@stonybrook.edu
stonybrook.edu/commcms/writers/
about.php
Summer Fishtrap 2021 July
12-18. Choose a week-long nonfic-
tion workshop focused on your
favorite genre: fiction, nonfiction,
poetry, memoir, short story, or chil-
dren’s literature. Keynote given by
Frank X Walker. Aspiring and estab-
lished writers welcome to spend a
week in writing workshops, panel
discussions, and readings. Contact:
Fishtrap, Inc. PO Box 38, Enter-
prise, OR 97828. 541-426-3623.
Email from website.
fishtrap.org
Toronto International Festival
of Authors Oct. 21-31. Brings
together some of the world’s best
writers of contemporary literature
for 11 days of readings, interviews,
lectures, round-table discussions,
and more. Contact: International
Festival of Authors, Harbourfront
Centre, 235 Queens Quay West,
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5J 2G8.
info@festivalofauthors.ca
ifoa.org/festival
Willamette Writers July 29-Aug.
1. Tracks for fiction, nonfiction,
genres, screenwriting, and young
adult. Consultations with agents,
editors, and film producers avail-
able. Contact: Willamette Writers.
Email from website.
willamettewriters.com/wwcon
Women Writing the West Oct.
7-9. Explore writing and publish-
ing’s new frontiers while celebrating
the pioneering spirit of the West.
Three days of inspiring, learning,
and networking while telling the
stories of the women’s West. Theme
for the 27th annual conference is
“Bridging the Past and the Future.”
Contact: Women Writing the West,
Attn: Administrator Alice Trego,
P.O. Box 10668, Bainbridge Island,
WA 98110.
www2trego@gmail.com
womenwritingthewest.org
Write on the Sound Writers’
Conference Oct. 1-3. Choose
from a variety of topics, with Zoom
breakout rooms also available. Con-
tact: Write on the Sound Writers’
Conference, Frances Anderson Cen-
ter, 700 Main St., Edmonds, WA
98020. 425-771-0228.
wots@edmondswa.gov
writeonthesound.com
Writers’ Police Academy Aug.
6-7. Offers a hands-on, interactive,
and educational experience for writ-
ers who want to enhance their
understanding of law enforcement
and forensics. Guest of honor:
Andrew Grant. Contact: Writers’
Police Academy.
writerspoliceacademy.com
Classifieds
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type assistance; publishers who charge, rather than
pay, an author for publication; publishers who require
a purchase before publication and contests that
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mends requesting a list of references and submission
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have any concerns regarding the advertiser’s com-
mitment or claims, please contact the advertiser
and make certain all questions are answered to your
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Have a query about craft? Need some clarification on an aspect of the publishing industry? Looking for
career advice? Email your queries to tweditorial@madavor.com with the subject line “Advice Column.”
What is the best way to
go about writing a syn-
opsis, and how long
should it be? I’ve heard
one page (single-
spaced) is the norm
today, but how do you
go about condensing
300 or so manuscript
pages into one page
that still makes sense to
someone who does not
know the story?
Oh, and do I still need
to CAPITALIZE the first
mention of the two or
three or so main charac-
ters? Are those the only
names I can mention?
—MY NOVEL WON’T FIT IN
THIS SUITCASE
Dear Suitcase,
When in doubt, read the
directions. Most agents and
editorial houses will have a
guideline for how many
pages they want your syn-
opsis to be. I’ve seen them
ask for one page single-
spaced to a whopping five
pages single-spaced,
although the latter is usu-
ally called a long synopsis.
In any case, it’d be safe and
smart for you to keep a
document in your files
someplace that’s a page
long, so you don’t have to
48 | The Writer • August 2021
Gigi Will Know
We can’t wait to read your questions!
One or two pages is
whiz-bang fast, but if you
can get the gist of your book
down into a good two-line
hook, you can manage
a 1-page synopsis.
reinvent the wheel every
single time you go to sub-
mit a synopsis, even if you
have to add to it if they
request a longer one.
Your question about how
you condense is misguided.
You’re not condensing;
you’re summarizing. They
are two very different
things. You are looking to
give the agent some idea of
the full narrative arc of
your work. Do not fall into
the trap of writing jacket
copy. The agent or editor
wants to know what will
happen: Jacket copy typi-
cally stops short of that and
is more about enticing the
reader to come into the
book’s world. Synopses
serve a different function;
they help agents and editors
to spot strong points and
potential problem areas in
a work.
Here are the things you
want to ensure are included
in your synopsis:
• Major plot points
• Significant subplots
• Maybe two or three sec-
ondary characters
• The beginning, middle,
and end
One possible way of get-
ting a start on what feels
like a big task is by listing
the plot points for yourself
in bullet-point form and
then writing in the intersti-
tial details. If this feels a lot
like the exact opposite of
“show, don’t tell,” welp,
you’re absolutely right. In a
synopsis, that’s precisely
what you want: Tell the
reader what’s happening.
(Incidentally, this does
away with a lot of the
space-sucking language.)
Do not fall into the trap
of editorializing. That is,
there is no need to say
something is a “shocking
twist,” or that “sadly, Moira
is mistaken.” You also don’t
need to include every char-
acter in your book.
Don’t forget to take
advantage of the space you
have in a synopsis to high-
light the voice and tone of
your book, and anything
that’s unique about the
work. One or two pages is
whiz-bang fast, but if you
can get the gist of your book
down into a good two-line
hook, you can manage a
1-page synopsis.
wowomnom/Shutterstock
About the capitalization:
That’s a screenwriting con-
vention. Wrong métier.
Keep packing,
—Gigi
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