by CWC Marin administrator | May 28, 2016 | Classes and Workshops, Craft, Events
To write books that are authentic, compelling, and memorable, says Petaluma author Amanda McTigue, speaking at the CWC-Marin May meeting, you need to develop your voice. Voice is the secret sauce that distinguishes what you write from what other authors write.
But it’s not an add-on, she stresses, it is the telling in storytelling. The voice is the story.
McTigue is author of the novel Going to Solace, set in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, where she grew up. The story follows family members and caregivers whose paths cross as they go to local hospice, called Solace. McTigue, who also writes short stories and plays, is a longtime member of Redwood Writers.
How does an author find his or her voice? Well, that’s not easy to distill in a few sentences.
One simple way, says McTigue, is to change your focus. She led us through an exercise at the meeting. First, she asked us to take a minute to describe the room we were in. Then she showed us some photos, including one of a barefoot refugee child in front of a row of tents, peeking over a fence. Another of a old woman with a scowl on her face.. Then she said, describe the room again, through the eyes of that child or woman. I wrote about how the refugee child would see a bunch of older people sitting in chair and wearing shoes. Just having a different person looking at the scene changes the voice.
McTigue also stressed that asking questions about your work is key to finding your voice. Questions like who are we writing for and why? She used two examples to illustrate how these questions might be answered. Siddhartha Mukherjee, author of The Gene: An Intimate History, is writing a popular science book for readers who are open to what he is writing. On the other hand, Ta-Nehisi Coates, author of Between the World and Me, writes the book as a letter to his son, but the actual audience is white people who are clueless about what it’s like to be black.
The choices those authors make about their audience and the goal of their book influence the voice.
You can learn more about Amanda McTigue at amandamctigue.com.
(This is but a brief sample of what we learned. There’s no substitute for attending these valuable meetings in person. Don’t miss short story writer extraordinaire Molly Giles, who will be presenting her wit and wisdom at the June 26 meeting.)
PHOTO BY TIBIDABO PHOTOGRAPHY
by CWC Marin administrator | May 3, 2016 | Classes and Workshops, Events
Join us on May 22 for Amanda McTigue’s presentation on developing your author’s voice. Her presentation starts at 2, and we welcome you to come early for our Opening Act at 1, an Open Mic, where the first three (or maybe four) writers who sign up get a chance to read from their work.
by CWC Marin administrator | Apr 11, 2016 | Events
Thanks to Joan Steidinger, Laura Lopez, Chris Smith, Alison Marshall, Johnnye Gibson, Suzanna Solomon, and more for their contributions to The Writer’s Life conference at Book Passage yesterday. Special thanks for these photos to Teresa LeYung Ryan, who also delivered her presentation on marketing while we were parading in and out of the room for our five-minutes pitches to agents.
by CWC Marin administrator | Mar 16, 2016 | Events
You’ve signed up to meet with an agent and pitch your book at the CWC-Marin’s Writer’s Life Conference in April 10.
On the schedule, you have five minutes. Not much time. However, ideally you want to make your case within the first minute, minute and a half. So you can spend the rest of the brief meeting discussing your pitch.
But don’t panic.
One, think of this as practice. While the three agents are open to finding their next promising author, they’re primarily there to help you improve your pitch. You can learn a lot from the process even if the agent doesn’t take your proposal..
And even if you hit a home run and the agent is excited about your book, you still have to write a bang-up query letter. (And maybe the book as well?)
Two, there are plenty of resources available to help you refine your pitch. Like Chuck Sambuchino’s 7 Tips for Pitching to an Agent or Editor at a Conference or Cynthia Gallagher’s How to Pitch Your Book at a Writing Conference.
Sambuchino suggests to come with questions. What do you want to learn about the publishing process?
Gallagher recommends reading book jackets or movie descriptions. You want your pitch to describe the book’s genre and basic premise, and to intrigue a tantalizing hook.
(Can you guess what bestseller started with this pitch? “This is a family saga that begins with a birth in 1750 in an African village and ends seven generations later at the Arkansas funeral of a black professor whose children include a teacher, a Navy architect, and an author.”)
Three, you’ll be in good company. You can rehearse your pitch with fellow writers at the conference. It’s a jam-packed day, but there are breaks you can take advantage of.
Here are links to find out more about the two agents and one publisher available for pitching:
by CWC Marin administrator | Mar 4, 2016 | Events
[ workshop flyer | registration | volunteer signup | how to pitch an agent ]
Join us for a daylong conference covering fiction and nonfiction writing, with three literary agents available for five-minute pitches. (See How to Prepare for Making Your Pitch to an Agent.) Morning coffee and rolls are included, along with a bag lunch, in the registration. Vegetarian and gluten-free options will be available.
Registration
To register, fill out the form below or download the registration form and mail with a check (payable to CWC-Marin) to: Laura Lopez, 936B Seventh Street #229, Novato CA 94945. You can also pay by Paypal.
