Hallie's writing workshops

HALLIE EPHRON: It’s WHAT WE’RE WRITING week and, as usual, I get to lead off. For the last month I’ve been writing short pieces like a “Behind the Book” essay for the paperback edition of CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR which comes out in August 2020. The darned thing took WEEKS. If I took that long to write a novel, I'd be on the four-year instead of the two-year plan.

I've also been updating material for writing workshops I’m slated to teach over the next few months.

I was a teacher (see below, me and my third-graders at PS 189 in Manhattan's Washington Heights neighborhood) long before I was a writer, and you’d think prepping for these workshops would be a piece of cake. After all, I’ve taught most of these topics before. But no, every time out, I create a new slide pack and new handouts. I like to add new insights and exercises, update the examples, and incorporate the controversies and issues in today’s publishing world. And this summer I'm developing 2 brand new workshops.

Here’s what I have on tap to teach this summer, assuming that COVID-19 doesn’t shutter writing workshop world completely.

June 12 – 16 – Yale Summer Writer’s Workshop - a small group, 4-day workshop on writing crime fiction: mystery, thriller, and suspense

If past experience is any guide, the people who sign up for this workshop will be exceptional. Last time out, there were at least five participants who, in my opinion, were within reaching distance of getting an agent and finding a solid publisher. In fact, I just got an email from one of them -- she’s been offered representation by an agent who represents some of the top crime fiction writers out there. I’m so thrilled for her. This was after a serious bump in the road when she signed with an "agent" with a sketchy business model. EVERYONE who gets an offer to publish or represent, due diligence! At a minimum, look them up on SFWA's WRITER BEWARE. If it sounds too good to be true it probably is.

June 25 – Manhattanville College Summer Writers Week 2020, Purchase NY – 3-hour afternoon class on writing a page turner

This is a crash course will be part of their annual week of writing workshops. I expect the class will have a diverse group of writers, across genres, from beginners to well-on-their-way writers. The workshop I'm giving is packed with tips and tricks for capturing the reader’s attention, hooking the reader with scene structure, building characters that make the reader care, Infusing the story with suspense and action, and building momentum while leaving room to grow. It’ll be a drink from a fire hose. 

July 31-August 2 – Willamette Writers Conference in Portland, OR

The Willamette Writers Conference is one of my all-time favorites. It takes place over 3 days at a Sheraton at the airport, and it’s got an especially strong film track. There’s always a healthy contingent of young, diverse writers and participants. I’ll be teaching a workshop on creating compelling characters and another on writing suspense. And I’ll be going one on one with writers, talking about their works in progress.

August 13-16 – Writers Digest Annual Conference in NYC 

I love this conference, and not just because it’s in the heart of in my all-time favorite city. But the location is one reason why it draws an exceptional group of agents and editors along with so many talented writer/teachers. I’ll be teaching a pair of workshops—both for the first time. One on rooting suspense in domesticity, and a second on the nuts and bolts of giving a book talk. 

I’m especially excited because Jane Friedman (THE HOT SHEET) will be speaking. She is SO SMART, and her take on what’s going on in the publishing world is always bracing and informative. Way back when self-publishing was pretty much limited to vanity publishing, she was one of the first people who had any idea what a sea change was under way. 

Will you be teaching or taking any classes this summer (the good Lord willing and the creek don't rise).

When not writing, Hallie's teaching...

HALLIE EPHRON: Welcome to another week-long episode of WHAT WE'RE WRITING! I get to kick off with another installment of WHAT I'M NOT WRITING. Promoting and teaching have been keeping more than busy these last few months.

Since CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR launched, I’ve been running around speaking at bookstores and libraries and events and teaching at writing conferences. Since August I’ve given writing workshops at:

• Willamette Writers Conference in Portland Oregon teaching a master class in suspense and two shorter workshops

• Book Passage Mystery Writing Conference in near San Francisco teaching a master class on creating memorable characters and a workshop on plotting
• Southwest Washington Writer Conference in Centralia teaching a master class on character plus two workshops and a keynote

• Surrey International Writers Conference in Vancouver, BC, teaching a new workshop I call "Classic Fiction Writing Rules and When You Can Break Them" plus "Suspense 3 Ways" (which turned out to be Suspense 5 Ways.)

• And the New England Crime Bake last weekend where I taught a master class on creating a cast of characters and was honored with their Lifetime Achievement Award 
• … Looking ahead, in January I'll be at Algonkian's St. Autustine Author-Mentor Novel Workshop and in June the Yale Summer Writers’ Workshop

I love to teach, and I’ve been a teacher for far longer than I’ve been a writer. I think of my book on how to write a mystery novel as my ‘ticket to ride.’ 


There's no greater thrill than returning to a writing conference, meeting writers whom I met with a year or two earlier, and hearing how their work is progressing and the epiphanies they've had along the way. 

You’d think by now I’d have at least a dozen ‘canned’ presentations ready to go, but I hate teaching exactly the same thing twice, and each time out I have new things to say about those old chestnuts: character, setting, plot, dialogue, suspense, viewpoint… 

Recently I noticed one of the problem many aspiring writers had was figuring out what exactly they were writing. It often boiled down to: mystery, thriller, or suspense? Of course most crime novels are a mixture but when you’re pitching your idea, it’s good to know where it most comfortably fits. It’s not that easy to articulate the differences. Like porn, you know it when you see it.

But I gave it a shot. Beginning with the idea that some novels fit neatly into one category. Then starting with some examples, we went from the cover, to the author photo, to the jacket copy, talking about mystery/suspense/thriller, and the fundamental question the novels addresses:

Whodunnit? A mystery

What’s going on here? Suspense

What’s going to happen next? Thriller

Some novels fit neatly into one category. 

Others are a blend.

And, most importantly, each of us has a sweet spot, somewhere in that Venn diagram. As a writer or as a reader, what’s yours?

Why We Teach

RHYS BOWEN: As you are reading this I'm sitting outside an old farmhouse in Tuscany, amid the olive groves and vineyards and I am teaching a writing workshop I've called Novel In A Week. No, I don't expect them to write a novel in a week. The aim is to take an idea they have for a novel, an idea they haven't dared to tackle, or to take a stalled novel and give them the tools to structure it, to give them the bones to build upon so that they can go home and say "Now I see where I have to go."

Too often a beginning novelist has a brilliant idea but gets bogged down  in the middle of exposition and gives up in despair. So I'm looking forward to helping a group of writers turn their dreams into reality.

Someone at Malice asked me why I teach. Aren't my books now bestsellers? The answer is yes. I don't need the money, and in fact a lot the teaching I do hardly pays for my transportation. I teach because I enjoy sharing what I've learned. I guess it must be in the blood. I had a great aunt who was a teacher, my mother became a school principal, my aunt was a teacher and two of my children have been teachers. I have also run a pre-school and taught college--the broadest spectrum of teaching.
Of these I found the college writing classes I taught were challenging, stimulating and really beneficial to me. When I had to stop and think why a particular aspect of a story worked or did not work it gave me insights into my own writing.

Now I find that every time I teach a course I learn something. I am energized and can approach my own writing with enthusiasm. And I find it exciting when I see a new writer who has great potential. I've been on the faculty at the Book Passage writers conference for several years and at least two of my protegees have been published. One is my now good friend Susan Shea! I read her first three chapters and told her that her book actually began on page 19! She sold it!

So, dear Reds and Readers, how about you? I know Hallie and Hank teach all the time. How about the rest of you? Do you teach and if so why? Any experiences to share?

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I taught for several semesters at the University of Southern Maine's creative writing MFA program, called the Stonecoast Program (after a spectacular Victorian-era stone house that has sadly been sold off.) And I've taught a number of quick two-hour seminars. I very much enjoy it, for much the same reason as you describe, Rhys - it helps me focus on the underpinnings of my own work when I have to dissect it (and other fiction) for my students.

There's also a great joy in helping someone find his or her voice and seeing them become a better writer. I believe there are some aspects to fiction writing that can't be taught, per se - for instance, you either have a writer's imagination, or you don't. But there is an enormous amount of technique and clarification that can be passed down, and we're all the better for participating in that process.

LUCY BURDETTE: Darn, I wish I was going to Tuscany! I have 2 books that are stalled, and that sounds like heaven. I don't teach as much as some of you others, but I agree, it always helps me see things in a new way. And it's so much fun to watch someone take a leap forward after getting feedback on their work. I have some very clear memories of classes and workshops I took as I was learning to write. Some of them nearly discouraged me completely, while others provided just the fuel and excitement I needed to forge ahead. I try to do the latter, always!

HALLIE EPHRON: As I write this I'm teaching at Pennwriters. There are two writers here whom Lucy and I taught at our own writing retreat (Ramona Defelice Long and Kimberly Kurth Gray. And other writers I've met at Crime Bake and Writers Digest conferences. And it's always a thrill to hear about their success. Teaching is FUN. And I never get teacher's block.

INGRID THOFT: I love teaching and find that it is a wonderful counterpoint to my own writing.  I think it’s essential for writers to, every so often, get up from their desks and interact with other readers and writers.  My goal when teaching is to get people reengaged with their work if the spark is gone and to also give them practical tools to get the story onto the page.  In December, I volunteered with a second/third grade class to help them write bedtime stories—in my pajamas!  It was a hoot and so gratifying to see kids excited about stories and language.  I’m inspired by the passion and enthusiasm of my students, whether they’re in elementary school or retired or somewhere in between.

JENN McKINLAY: I've taught workshops, mostly, at libraries and senior centers, and a few conferences. Usually, I am trying to kick start the people who want to write a book but don't know where to start. I find I'm mostly teaching them how to get out of their own way. Don't get hung up on selling the book before you write the book, don't sweat the font size. I like to say, "'I love your Fifty Shades of Girl with a Twilight Tattoo, but I'm passing on it because you used the wrong font,' said no editor ever." LOL. The hardest thing about deciding to be a writer is that you have to actually get your butt in the chair and write the book. It's always very rewarding to see students who get it. It reaffirms my own work ethic every time.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: It is the joy of my life. And yes, I do it often, and with much delight.  When I think of how much I had to learn, and keep learning every day, and how many things I wish someone had told me..ah. And sometimes you see it, you know? That spark of recognition of the bit of advice or guidance that connects, and maybe changes a life--or a book at least. It is incredibly gratifying. Paula Munier and I just taught an intense, intensive and totally immersive weekend seminar on Cape Cod for WritersDigest. It was exhausting and exhilarating, and none of our lives will ever be the same. My goal is to have a "student" be at their computer, one day after the class--and say to themself: "Oh! That's what Hank meant!" And I always learn something when I teach.  SO rewarding.

DEBORAH CROMBIE:: I don't teach as much as some of you. I do enjoy it, but I enjoy being a student even more. My favorite part of going to writers conferences is the opportunity to listen to other writers and absorb their insights. I always come back full of ideas that I want to apply to my own books. I would absolutely LOVE to be in Rhys's class in Tuscany right now. I'm sure I would work out all my plot problems while eating delicious Italian food--and that it would be cooler than Texas.  Rhys, your students are so lucky!


RHYS: I was always told Those who can do, those who can't teach..Clearly this is not the case. Here we are.. eight well known, well respected writers and teaching is something we enjoy and look forward to. So do share your experiences: for the writers among us, do you enjoy teaching or have you taken workshops that have been an inspiration, changed the way you think about your writing?

Who teaches other subjects? What does it mean to you?

Class, conference, group or graduate - what's the best education for writers?

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: A whole bunch of great Maine crime fiction authors, myself included, are going to be teaching a one-day workshop in Portland this April. Before that, I'm going to a three-day themed conference on writing and faith, and after it, I've got to reconnect with the UMaine MFA student I've been mentoring. All this different teaching activity has gotten me to thinking: what forms of instruction or writing support are really useful for aspiring authors?

Let's take the example of Winifred Writer. She's been writing on and off for years, and this year, she's going to start and finish her mystery. (I'm sticking with that genre, since that's the one we all know.) She thinks she's pretty good, but the only feedback she gets is from her sister and mom, and of course, they love what she writes. What's the best way for her to strengthen her prose, tighten her plotting, and keep producing her pages? She could join a group online or at the local library. She could take a day-long workshop, a course at the local uni, or a three-day conference. She could hire a freelance editor or attend a writing retreat for several weeks. She could enroll as a candidate for a MFA in fiction.
For myself, I started with a supportive group of would-be writers online. After my first book had sold to St. Martin's Press and I had a second under contract, I was worried that I wasn't doing it right, and signed up for the two week Stonecoast writing conference in Freeport, ME. I mostly came away with the assurance that not only was I doing it right, I was doing it better than quite a few of the other attendees. (With the notable exception of one other woman in my group - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.) I did read, read, read, books in the genre I was writing in and books about writing. Since then , of course, I've taught quite a bit.
How about you, Reds? What was your education in letters? What would you advise Winifred? Is writing fiction the ultimate "See one, do one, teach one" profession?

RHYS BOWEN: I used to teach creative writing at the college level and I realized that I could help hone a skill but I couldn't teach anyone to write. My students either had the spark or they didn't. I think the best advice is to read, read, read and to write, write, write. You only get better with practice. A good, supportive writing group is helpful but they all have to be at the same level and on the same page. Some critique groups can do more harm than good.

HALLIE EPHRON: I used to think you either "have it" or you don't, but I've changed my mind. I teach at lots of writing conferences each year, and the greatest pleasure is meeting people I've met before, back for another year, and whose writing has markedly improved. True the Chimamandas (LOVE her work) of this world are born writers, but the truth is, but they are rare creatures and you don't have to be THAT good to be well published. You just have to spin a really good yarn.
I went to a writing conference while I was writing what would be my first published book and I got the most out of the meanest criticism from a fellow student who kept scrawling (in angry capital letters) POV POV POV all over the first chapter of my novel. Yes, my point of view was sliding all over the place and no, I did not have a clue what she was talking about.


At the 2014 New England Crime Bake I'm teaching a two-and-a-half hour class on POV and deepening viewpoint. It IS something you can learn.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: I'd been writing news stories and investigations for 30 years when I started writing fiction--so I kind of thought I knew how to tell a story. I think having that confidence allowed me to begin my book--which if I knew then what I know now, how difficult is is, I might not have!  I got a critique from the astonishing Jennifer Cruisie, early on, and she was--well, really really tough.("Your eyes are bleeding from this, right?" She wrote.) And I will never forget it--it helped me immensely. NOTHING IS HAPPENING she wrote, in huge letters. And she taught me the meaning of "info dump" and "dreaded backstory."  Both lessons I took to heart.
I think many people--well, no-- I think EVERYONE can be taught to be better. A lot better.  (I have seen manuscripts you would not believe--absolutely cluelessly awful..and I have seen those change and evolve in to--well, hey, pretty good!) There's are geniuses, though, that get better than most of us will ever be.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I started with the continuing ed Saturday afternoon seminars on "How to Write a Novel" and "How to Write a Mystery." Obviously, you can't teach someone to write a novel in four hours, but every little tidbit gleaned helped. That led me to more books on writing, to joining organizations that gave me support, and to an eighteen-week class taught by my late mentor, Warren Norwood. The first chapter I turned in to Warren came back with bid red "Ughs" scrawled all over my deathless prose. Boy, were my feelings hurt. But you know what? I paid attention and I got better.

I think there is a natural talent for language, but that does not necessarily a good story teller make. I think story-telling can be taught--there is so much about craft and structure that is logical. And the improvement in language comes from reading reading reading and writing writing writing.

LUCY BURDETTE: I started out in the late 90's with no experience in fiction writing. I'd read a lot of fiction and written plenty of papers and gotten feedback that I was a "good writer"--that must have given me the confidence to try. Then I had my husband read every word and paragraph of the new novel when he came home from work. (Poor guy!) He was helpful in the beginning, but then I took every class I could find--one on children's books, one on memoir, a full-day class on writing the mystery. And I found a writers' group. And I made writing friends who swapped manuscripts. And I read tons of books and articles on writing.

I KNOW I improved. And I still work hard at it. Some people may be more naturally gifted than others, but I do think most people can get better. Hallie and I have seen the transformation in our Seascape weekend workshops. Writers who showed little understanding truly blossomed by the end. And some have come back a second year and made--wow--amazing transformations!

SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL: I never took a formal writing seminar — but I did work in publishing, on the other side of the desk, which was what I think of as my M.F.A. program.

 

My first job was as literary assistant to the novelist John Irving (The World According to Garp, et al.) in southern Vermont. He didn’t like computers, so he would type on his mechanical typewriter, hand over the pages to me, and I would retype them into the computer. Then I would print out the pages, hand them back to him, and watch as the editing process began. Then I would enter the blue-penciled in edits and rewrites. I learned so much from that job — how writing was a profession just like any other (John worked every day from about 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.). There was never any drinking, never any calls on the Muse — never anything other than hard work and dedication. And endless rewrites. It was fascinating to see what he'd keep, what he'd cut, and what he'd rewrite.

 

My next job was in New York — Random House, where I was lucky enough to work for “Little Random” under then-publisher Harold Evans. Again, even just photocopying and filing and answering the telephone, I was able to learn so much, from legendary editors such as Ann Godoff (my mentor), Jason Epstein, and Kate Medina.

 

As an assistant editor at Viking Penguin, I worked for editor Pamela Dorman, who now has her own imprint of “women’s upmarket fiction” at Penguin. As her assistant, I worked closely with many amazing authors, such as Judith Merkle Riley, Lois Battle, and Stephen King. Just being able to help authors with their work and allay their concerns was an amazing job, as was when I finally got to edit a manuscript  myself (Jane Langton’s Divine Inspiration). 

Working professionally with authors really helped me see that they weren’t “other” as much as people who worked hard and took the idea of writing professionally seriously. Seeing what they did, made it much more tangible to me. And gave met lessons on structure and point of view and pacing and character I’ll never forget.

 

JULIA: How about you, dear readers? Are you part of a writing group? Have you attended classes or conferences? What have you found useful? What would you like to see in a writing program?

THE QUERY GONG SHOW

DEBORAH CROMBIE: The first weekend in May, when many of

my Jungle Red cohorts and mystery community friends were attending Malice Domestic, I was attending the DFW Writer's Conference right here in North Texas as one of three keynote speakers. (My compatriots were my good friend, novelist David Corbett, and narrative non-fiction writer Michael Capuzzo. Both were brilliant!)

Although I've been attending fan conferences and literary festivals a good bit lately, it had been a while since I participated in a writer's conference. It was a great weekend, and if I inspired any yet-to-be-published writers, I can only say that I'm sure the attendees and the other writing professionals inspired me more! What a great and dedicated group.

One of the high points of the weekend was the final event on Sunday afternoon, a tradition of this conference, the Query Gong Show. Everyone gathered in the main ballroom. A panel of agents attending the conference was seated on the dais, each with a gong, and a supersize gong was placed on the floor for other agents' use.

Attendees had submitted anonymous query letters before the event. An MC (who did a great job) picked random query letters to read aloud, continuing until three of the agents had hit their gongs. Then the agents had to explain why they'd gonged--what was it about the letter that didn't work for them?

It was a fascinating exercise.  As you can see here, out of twenty-three letters, only ONE made it all the through the reading.

It's been more than twenty years since I've submitted a query letter, but I do have to write a proposal for every novel, and the requisites are not so different. You have to encapsulate your story in just a few sentences, and you have to grab the reader from the first sentence or two.

Interestingly, I found that the agents had more patience than I did, but we agreed on most points. Although the one letter that made it through didn't do this, I found I wanted to know what KIND of book it was from the very first. Fantasy? Young adult? Mystery? Romance? Women's fiction? How many words? (It is clear from the first sentence of the successful query, however, that the book is a fantasy novel.)

Here, I gathered, are some DOs:

-Identify the type of book, as well as its length.

-Be concise.

-Identify the protagonist immediately.

-Identify the CONFLICT immediately. I can't say this loudly enough!

-You would think it would be obvious, but be polite.

-Set out your credentials clearly.

And some DON'Ts:

-Cut the ADVERBS!!!!

-And the adjectives!

-Don't tell the agent they will like the book--that's for them to decide.

-Don't tell the agent what audience the book will appeal to--deciding that is their job, too.

-And, um, don't threaten the agent. Really...

It might be partly because the focus of my talks for the weekend was plot, but I found that what really stood out for me was whether the query made it clear that the story was going somewhere, and was not just a portrait of a static moment in time.

And another interesting thing, there was not a single mystery or crime novel among the queries. The majority were fantasy or young adult, with a romance or two, and a book that might have been women's fiction... (See what I mean about identifying what KIND of book?)

So, REDS and READERS, what would YOU want to see in a query?  And if you've sent queries, tell us about your experience! (No GONGS on JR, I promise!_