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Come sail the Inland Sea
As soon as I heard from the Inland Sea Writers Conference, I was determined to work out a deal. I really wanted to speak to this gathering in a small Nebraska town. We need more groups like the Inland Sea Writers and I wanted to help the conference succeed.
I've presented workshops at several National Writers' Workshops, national training institutes and conferences in the United States and Canada and dozens of other state conventions, regional conferences and newsrooms. What makes the Inland Sea Writers so special?
I just love the idea.
I wish we had dozens or hundreds of groups like the Inland Sea Writers. This is an informal group of writers of varying genres from rural Nebraska and Kansas who get together to practice, study and enjoy their craft.
Brent Cobb, who recruited me to speak at the conference, told me the group formed in 1997. It's an informal group with no dues. About 30 writers from around McCook, Neb., (population about 8,000) and Oberlin, Kan., (population about 2,000) have participated, with a core group of 13. Maybe half of those attend "on an almost regular basis."
The name reflects the group's creativity and the historical fact that this barren region of the High Plains was under water many millennia ago.
The writers have little in common except their love for writing. The core group, Cobb says, includes four journalists, three or four who dabble in novels, four poets, three or four who write for children, six non-fiction authors and a science fiction writer. And if that adds up to well over 13, that's because several work in more than one genre.
In 1997 the group wrote a progressive novel. The following year, they wrote a regressive novel, with the first writer writing the last chapter, the second writing the penultimate (a good writers' word) chapter and so on.
"At one stage we tried themed meetings where members would come ready to discuss something like semi-colons or query letters or internal rhyme," Cobb says. They went through a "vigorous stage of critique."
Now the group is largely a support group. "The staple of each meeting is a round-robin where each writer answers: 'What I've written since we last met,'" Cobb says. "We've found it's helpful to discuss writing goals and hold each other accountable. We also find it helpful when we talk about what we haven't written since we last met - and why."
Answers to those questions lead to "a productive discussion about the techniques, market outlets, sources, pitfalls and shortcuts. Inevitably, most writers agree they come away from the meetings charged up and motivated."
Lots of writers groups have similar meetings that never grow beyond the immediate circle. This group held a retreat in 2002. Last year it reached out with the first Inland Sea Writers Conference, a one-day gathering that attracted 35 people. This year's two-day conference will be July 23 in McCook and July 24 in Oberlin.
I will present three workshops and lead a clinic in which journalists will read drafts of their stories and we will critique them together. Omaha novelist Alex Kava will be a featured speaker Friday, talking about "Using Fact For Fiction" and "Writing What You Didn't Know: Research." Saturday's featured speaker will be Marcia Preston, editor of ByLine magazine and winner of the 2004 Mary Higgins Clark Award for suspense fiction for her novel, Song of the Bones. She will talk about "What It Takes To Be A Writer." Area writers will lead several other sessions during the conference.
Too often we complain about the lack of training opportunities wherever we are. Even if you live in a rural area, and especially if you're in a metro area, maybe you should follow the Inland Sea example and make your own training opportunity. If you belong to a writers group already, perhaps you could try presenting a conference to bring together still more writers in your area. If your group is already planning such an event, let me know and I'll spread the word.
I'm worried about one thing, though: After dinner Friday night they're planning a "Writers as Entertainers" variety show. I promised a humorous talk, "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Story." Do you have some funny stories from journalism that I could borrow?
Link of the week:
Bob Baker of the Los Angeles Times doesn't post writing advice on his
Newsthinking Web site as frequently as he did when he was an editor. But
I love how he takes us inside his thought process as he writes and organizes
his stories, so it's still worth checking out occasionally to see if he's
posted something new. Well, he has, so go check out his latest, "It's
the transitions, stupid" and if you haven't visited before, browse
through his archives for lots more writing advice: http://www.newsthinking.com/
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