Sara E. Johnson, 1st Sunday
"I've Been Everywhere” is a quirky tune written by Australian country singer Geoff Mack in 1959. It’s comprised mostly of place names. Johnny Cash nails the North American version. (“I’ve been to Chaska, Nebraska, Alaska, Opelika, Baraboo, Waterloo, Kalamazoo, Kansas City, Sioux City, Cedar City, Dodge City, what a pity.”) The New Zealand rendition came out in 1966 and starts: “Well I was hitching a ride on a winding Hokitika road, when along came a lorry....
The narrator gets a ride.
The lorry drivers asks if he’s ever seen such a dusty road. The
response: "Look, listen
mate, I've been everywhere in this here land. I've been to
Kaparoa
Whangaroa Akaroa Motueka
Taramoa Benmore Pongaroa
Horoeka
Rimutaka Te Karaka Whangarei
Nuhaka Waimahaka Motuhura Waikaka
Motonui
Hokonui Papanui Wainui
Matawai Rongotai
Pikowai. I've been everywhere, man.”
That’s how I feel about crime conferences. I’ve been everywhere, man.
Bouchercon Malice Domestic Left Coast Crime
Sleuthfest CrimeScene Killer Nashville Clam Bake
Suffolk Mystery Festival CrimeCon
Writers Police Academy ThrillerFest…
I exaggerate a little but you get the idea. This year I sought a different experience – one in which I could hone my work-in-progress and attend sessions on craft. I just returned from Writers in Paradise, a week-long, competitive conference held annually in St. Peterburg, Florida. Dennis Lehane and Sterling Watson cofounded it in 2005. Its mission is to provide talented and hardworking writers of all levels and genres the opportunity to learn from and work with other writers under the guidance of masterful authors.
This years ‘masterful’ authors included guest of honor Michael Connelly and instructors Laura Lippman (crime), Ann Hood (novel), Stuart O’Nan (novel), Michael Koryta (supernatural, horror, suspense), Andre Dubus (short story), Madeleine Blais (nonfiction), and Luis Alberto Urrea (memoir).
I submitted 25 pages and a synopsis of my work-in-progress. I was thrilled to be accepted into Laura Lippman’s crime fiction class.
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At the opening night barbecue, WIP alumni Jemimah Wei (The Original Daughter) and Nancy Johnson (People of Means) gave tantalizing readings from their books while we sipped beverages.
The next evening Michael Connelly was the keynote speaker. He was kind and modest. He writes tirelessly and with urgency. He gets joy out of creating a good turn of phrase. He writes one book at a time, front to back, and starts each day by revising what he wrote the day before. (Me too!) Michael Connelly tips:
Keep your speed up. Momentum in writing is momentum in reading.
Always look for the pivot.
Character, character, character.
Michael had started a new Bosch book just the day before. He shared the opening chapter with us. The first sentence is “Bosch walked between the headstones checking names as he passed.”
Madeleine Blais, who as a staff writer with the Miami Herald won a Pulitzer Prize for feature writing, enthralled me with her craft session on research. She’s written many nonfiction books. Her latest is Queen of the Court: The Many Lives of Tennis Legend Alice Marble. Madeleine tidbits:
Research is genre agnostic.
Go there.
Have authority when you use research. It pleases the reader.
At the panel The Writing Life, Michael Koryta challenged me to write lean and emphasized that a person can never have too many headlamps. (Okay. That’s not writerly advice except perhaps, metaphorically. It was funny, but maybe you had to be there.)
My group met three hours daily with Laura Lippman, who was just named a Grandmaster by Mystery Writers of America. My manuscript was workshopped first on the first day – gulp! The experience was nerve-wracking and helpful. In chapter three, Sophie the dog drops a frozen human hand at her owner Reba’s feet. Reba, who is 81, thinks Hugh is not here to tell me what to do. Then she flashes back to Hugh’s stroke two years earlier.
My fellow crime writers helped me understand that no one flashbacks when they are staring at a severed hand! Laura Lippman emailed additional comments: The thing I can never control/predict (and hence my love for WIP) is the class response. I don’t think I have ever seen a workshop more united in its love for a character (Reba).
I happy dance. Then -
Does it make sense if I say I loved Reba’s scenes, but I don’t love the hand/dismemberment? This is an extremely subjective opinion, but I feel the more our killers mess with their victims’ bodies, the more desensitized our readers become. Murder is bad enough, it doesn’t have to be heightened.
I am considering Laura’s point, because – well – she’s published twenty-five books, but she also said, “Only you know the book you’re trying to write.”
I learned as much about writing from the other writers in our group and their manuscripts. Do we look like the killers that we are?
Something happened at Writers in Paradise that has been lacking for me at other conferences: I made new friends: Cheryl from NC and Autumn and Christine from CA among others. Perhaps it’s because of the length of the conference: eight days or perhaps it was because of the small groups. It enhanced my experience and we plan to stay in touch and prod each other on.
Writer Idol, held two afternoons, is modeled after reality show American Idol. Brave participants, including me, anonymously submit the first page of their manuscript to be read aloud. A panel of three faculty members decide whether it passes muster. (Two raised hands and the piece gets gonged.) I sat on the edge of the seat, but mine was never fished from the pile. What stopped the panel on other first pages were:
green eyes – overdone!
starting with a dream
taking too long to get to the point
overwriting
I’m back in icy North Carolina now, digesting at least a portion of what I have learned. Excuse me while I delete a flashback from an opening chapter. The severed hand? Please buy my book when its published to see if it’s a goner.
What conferences have you attended as a reader or writer? Do you have a favorite?
Until next month, friends,
Sara Johnson, 1st Sundays