What's Up Wednesday

Original Graphic by Karen Duvall ©2008

How about online workshops through blogs? I've seen a few crop up over the past few months. Some are constant, like the Crapometer, or Evil Editor, and others pop up as the blogger's mood strikes, like Nathan Bransford's occasional challenges. And let's not forget the one going on right now over at Miss Snark's First Victim. Don't forget, people, that the deadline for submitting your first page to Authoress's Are You Hooked contest is tomorrow by 9 a.m.

I came across a great discussion over at Paperback Writer yesterday regarding online workshops hosted by blogs during the week of the RWA National Conference July 28 through August 1. Author blogger Lynn Viehl doesn't attend Nationals (nor do I), so she thought it would be fun to host workshops for all the writers Left Behind who couldn't attend the conference for whatever reason, or they just wanted to avoid rubber chicken dinners, crowded elevators, and over-priced hotel rooms. Lynn has been hosting these workshops for the past two years.

So a bunch of writers, some published and some not, will be helping to host FREE workshops on their blogs during the week of the RWA National Conference and this casual online "conference" has been tagged Left Behind. There will be links to all the workshops on Paperback Writer, and I will post the links on my blog, too. Because of course I'm going to host a workshop as well. Hey, I don't want to be left out on all the fun!

My Left Behind workshop will be on writing effective description. As a visual artist, it's one of my stronger writing skills, and I'll share a few of my tips. Because Chalice, the main character in Knight's Curse, has supernatural senses, I will post an exercise each day of the week for writing description using each of the five senses. Sound like fun? Those who want to play can post their writing samples in the comments section, which will be open for discussion.

Here's the bonus: There will be a prize drawing! What's the prize, you ask? Well, it's not one of my books, I promise. I have tons of writing how-to books collecting dust on my bookshelves and I'd love to give some away. So at the end of the week, I'll randomly draw a winner from among the commentors who participated in the workshop. If you want to be eligible for the prize, signing on as Anonymous just won't do. I'll need to know who you are and how to contact you. Don't worry, I don't do email blasts of self-promo crap, so your personal information is safe with me.

The prizes will be: WRITING THE NOVEL FROM PLOT TO PRINT by Lawrence Block, HOW TO WRITE KILLER FICTION by Carolyn Wheat, and PLOTTING AND WRITING SUSPENSE FICTION by Patricia Highsmith.

Mark your calendars for July 28 through August 1 and start honing your descriptive writing skills. Questions?