by Andrea Davis, Intern
Sometimes, writers lose their creative sense; they lose their drive or motivation; they hit a wall. And we all know we’re not talking about just any wall. No, we’re talking about one of those walls that has the infuriating ability to open and close—like a sliding glass door.
One minute, the door is open, the salty ocean breeze is billowing from outside to inside, and you are swiftly bouncing from the kitchen with margaritas in your hands to the sandy beach. It’s a beautiful picture, right? But then, someone closes that door and you go to make your way back out to that sandy beach after refilling your marg, only to be met with glass slamming into your face and your marg spilling everywhere.
You knew where you wanted to go. You could see the beach from behind that glass door, but you still didn’t get there—just like you are sitting there with a blank page on your computer screen when you already have an entire story waiting to be written inside your head.
Well, say no more. Here is one pre-conference workshop and two main event breakout sessions in the upcoming 2018 HippoCamp: A Conference for Creative Nonfiction Writers that will help you get words onto the page:
Pre-conference Workshop C: Write Into the “Heart” of Your Story with Jenna McGuiggan
This workshop is a three-hour optional add-on before the conference officially begins. In this time, McGuiggan will discuss “the two essential building blocks of CNF; using imagery and metaphor to create meaning; and choosing and slanting details to create texture and depth.” Don’t be one of the writers who fall into the common traps of “only recording what happened” or telling what they felt or thought rather than expanding beyond that.
Don’t Kill Me With Your Words: Writing Authentic Dialogue That Doesn’t Suck with Elane Johnson
Please, don’t tell me. Show me! And yes, this applies to dialogue as well. It’s a hard balance between the two when you’re writing speech, but it can be done, and Johnson is there to tell—I mean show—you how!
Bring It On Home: Crafting Endings in Nonfiction Essays w/ Anita Gill
With every great beginning needs to be an even greater ending. In this session, Gill will help you dig deep into essays and uncover both subtle and prominent techniques that were used; thus giving you more techniques to apply to your own work.
If you would like to register and/or find out more about the conference and various sessions that will be offered, do so here.
Until then, happy writing!
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