Monday, November 28, 2016

Wrapping up WRITE BETTER FICTION

The past four Sundays of November, eight other writers and I attended the River City Writers' WRITE BETTER FICTION Workshop. River City Writers is a new endeavor by Christopher Golden and James A. Moore to offer various lessons to writers who want to leverage Chris & Jim's combined expertise as published, working writers.  (see their website for more information)
Chris & Jim requested we bring new story ideas we hadn't yet worked on. That would free us from any attachment to previous efforts. I had an idea kicking around, so I went in very cold. I decided on getting at least two takeaways - 1.) How to build out longer (novella/novel) stories. I've been limited to short stuff. 2.) How to "pants" (write by "seat of your pants") rather than outlining. I prefer outlining. Not "David Drake, 10K word outlines," but a bit more structure than nothing at all.

The atmosphere was fun, comfortable, and respectful. We had a good mix of writers with various experience and skill. A lot of us knew each other from past cons and coffeehouses but we also had people who were new to the crowd. I believe they felt as welcome as the rest of us.

Topics covered included; establishing strong openings and setting, theme, plotting (even from a pantsing point-of-view,) characterization, looking forward plot-wise toward twists, turns, and climaxes of the work. Also, Jim & Chris hit us with the red-ink to get our grammar knocked into shape.

Indeed, I came out with a good feel for making my story--a contemporary horror tale--reach novel length. I pantsed my way through 8200 words* and it felt more solid than I'd imagined pantsing would feel. I also picked up on grammar weaknesses I tend to repeat. It is a useful skill to spot when I am doing that now and correct myself as I go.

The River City Writers will be offering more workshops, retreats and events covering everything from writing, to publishing, to book sales/signing events. I am looking forward to seeing what they offer. I will more than likely be participating in many of their events and workshops as I can manage!

Thanks, Chris & Jim!

(* = The wordcount wasn't the goal. The workshop was not about writing a novel in a month. It was about being more thoughtful writers and establishing solid bases from which to launch our stories.)

Monday, November 21, 2016

recent read; This Is Halloween


This Is Halloween by James A. Moore

James A. Moore serves up ten chilling tales dripping with Halloween atmosphere. Monsters, ghosts, malevolent haunted houses, deep dark woods. They are all here - waiting for you.

Jim pulled together a collection of previously published tales. Many take place on Halloween. If not exactly on Halloween, some of the other tales are still perfect reads for the season. Some of the stories are loosely connected by location. The Bedlam Woods are a dangerous place and many tales can be told about that dark forest. The town of Wellman, Georgia--featured in Moore & Rutledge's novels Blind Shadows and Congregations of the Dead--also makes an appearance in one story.

The scent of candle-singed jack-o-lanterns will stay with you long after you close the cover!

p.s. - Look at that gorgeous cover art by Dan Brereton!