Teaching Writers' Workshops

I'm teaching writers' workshops to elementary school students this year. I've started by working with fifth graders. Memories of fifth grade are especially sentimental to me, as it was my own fifth grade teacher who told me (and my parents) that I would someday become a writer. I don't know if I quite believed her back then, as I thought I would become a rock star. But somehow she knew the inevitable. A writer can't help but write.

My own workshop attendees are teaching me something interesting about life. When we have a passion and share that passion with others, we come full circle. I'm loving the kids' enthusiasm and zest for learning about the world of writing. Yes, these kids seem to be having fun and are inspiring me, too. When I received a pile of homemade thank you cards from one of the classes, it was better than receiving a bag of gold. Some thanked me for "opening up a new world," others said they started writing stories for fun, etc. I will hold on to those letters and treasure their thanks, and hope that I might see some of these budding writers in print someday.

I never tire of learning, either. I'm currently taking a terrific writing workshop with Anastasia Suen (http://www.asuen.com/). I believe a writer should never stop being a student. The craft of writing is lifelong and the art of writing is inspired by a life lived well.

"Live a good life
And in the end,
it's not the years in a life,
it's the life in the years."

~Abraham Lincoln

Cheers to writers' workshops everywhere.

~M~

Leesburg Idol for Writers

Friday evening, I drove twenty minutes to Old Town Leesburg, one of my favorite spots to shop, visit galleries, and eat. But this night was not for food, casual conversation, or gallery hopping. This was a rare occasion; it was Leesburg Idol for writers. As I parked my car and made the walk to my destination, I didn't know what to expect. Idol for writers...this should be interesting, I thought. I took part in this great adventure and entered the beginning of my novel, Kingdom's Gateway. The requirements were a cover page with the title, genre, and logline; a query letter; and the first three pages of a novel. A logline, should you be curious, is a one to two sentence summary of your story. It should be catchy, with personality, and show-off your unique voice. Not everyone stuck to the one to two sentence logline rule, as it is often hard to write what your story is about in so few words. But as all three agents (Idol judges) pointed out...it is a must to master the skill of the logline.

To start off, we were introduced to our three great agents of the night, Deborah Grosvenor of Kneerim and Williams Agency; and Paige Wheeler and Jeff Kleinman of Folio Literary Management. Hearts raced, faces flushed, voices cracked while each logline was read aloud to the panel of judges for their first impressions. The judges deliberated (in front of us all) as to whether the story would garner an additional reading. They would decide if the submission would go into a yes, maybe, or no pile. If your story was put into the no pile, you knew the agent would not read past your logline. If it was put in the maybe pile, the agents would look further into your query letter, and if your logline made it into the yes pile, you were in the running.

I'm happy to say my story was one of the original six to make the final round, then two more were added from the maybe pile,bringing the total finalists to eight. The beginnings of all eight stories were read to the audience (for 1.5 minutes a piece). Then the round of judging took place. The audience voted for the winners of the first Leesburg Idol. It was enlightening, educational, and a great way to network with other writers and agents. And though I did not ultimately win one of the generous prizes, I came away feeling like a winner. The evening was a success for all!

If you live in the Northern Virginia area, you should check out Northern Virginia Writers and the Writer's Center for a listing of more great upcoming events.

https://www.writer.org/

~M~