Observations From Hadleyville: SOUTHWEST CHRISTIAN WRITERS STUDIO

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

SOUTHWEST CHRISTIAN WRITERS STUDIO

I have made my way to Glorieta, New Mexico this week for the Southwest Christian Writers Studio. Not a massive, top-heavy, cattle-car conference, the SWCWS is quite intimate. Some might see a smaller conference as a bad thing. Not so. This conference is person-to-person, hands on brilliance.

I don't have to stand in line to talk to one of the well-qualified staff. I sit down with them at meals, walking across campus or in the coffee shop. The classes are small enough to encourage interaction and the seminars are down to earth and applicable to the every-day writer, every day.

For those of you who have not yet attended a conference, I highly recommend them. Not only do you learn inside tips and facts about the publishing world, but you meet WRITERS. Established writers, novices, and in-betweeners are here. You will talk to publishers, agents and editors in a casual, friendly, setting. The networking you accomplish is more than worth the cost of the conference and travel. You are starving your writing career if you ignore the conferences.

It's pretty exhausting, running around at 7,500 feet, but well worth the effort.

1 comment:

Carol Anne Wright Swett said...: Don, you are so right. This experience is quite wonderful. I am so thankful for the faculty and students. Can't wait to begin applying all that I am learning when we get home but will be sad to leave. So thankful that we can all stay in touch and continue to support each other's growth as writers in the days ahead.; October 20, 2011 at 5:04 AM

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WORDS OF WISDOM FOR WRITERS

The secret of becoming a writer is that you have to write. You have to write a lot. You also have to finish what you write, even though no one wants it yet. If you don't learn to finish your work, no one will ever want to see it. The biggest mistake new writers make is carrying around copies of unfinished work to inflict on their friends.

I am sure it has been done with less, but you should be prepared to write and throw away a million words of finished material. By finished, I mean completed, done, ready to submit, and written as well as you know how at the time you wrote it.
-Jerry Pournelle

WHAT'S THIS HADLEYVILLE THING?

Those of you familiar with Mark Twain’s works might recognize my blog title. As Samuel Clemons grew older, he became increasingly disillusioned with humanity. Towards the end he began referring to the Damned Human Race; employing the secular and religious epithet at one stroke.

I find I’ve not reached that level of despair myself. I still believe in redemption and I still see signs of nobility even among we fallen, damned creatures. So, I could not bring myself to call this blog “On the Damned Human Race.” I do however, resonate with another of Clemmons stories; “The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg.” And viola, there you have it. “Observations From Hadleyville.”