Claim Your Story

Writing Conference, Ashland, Oregon

Monthly Archives: September 2014


by 1 Comment

There is STILL time to register for Claim Your Story

Lithia Springs Resort, Ashland, Oregonclock 1 top half

October 4, 9-5

  • 1/2 day conference price also available, with or without the luncheon/ key note.
  • Keynote/ luncheon only is also available
Image by Billy Tice, Austin, TX

Image by Billy Tice, Austin, TX

 Claim Your Story Writers Conference, October 4 at the Lithia Springs Resort in Ashland, is a day-long gathering that will deepen and spark your writing practice and help you sell your work in a crowded marketplace.  Workshops will be taught by talented authors who are also distinguished writing teachers: Melissa Hart, Midge Raymond and Jessica Morrell.

 

 

Schedule:                                                    

  • Brave on the Page, Jessica Morrell
  • Everyday Book Marketing: Promoting Your Book During Your Regularly-Scheduled Life, Midge Raymond
  • Keynote: Write the Story You Want to Read, Melissa Hart
  • What’s in a Title, Jessica Morrell
  • Scene in Story: The Critical Component, Melissa Hart
  • Branding Discussion and Q & A

 Keynote: Write the Story You Want to Read, Melissa Hart.  This keynote, informed by a famous J.D. Salinger quote, asks you to claim the story you’ve always wanted to read by boldly sitting down to write it yourself. Hart will challenge you to consider the excuses we make for not writing and inspire you to make a literary life your top priority.

The Lithia Springs Resort in Ashland is an uplifting, charming setting. Conference attendees can tour the gardens and enjoy the peaceful surroundings.

 To register: Cost for the conference is $125 and includes a catered lunch and beverages. To register or for more information about the conference including the schedule, visit the conference website here at http://claimyourstory.com Payments can be mailed to Jessica Morrell, P.O. Box 820141, Portland, OR 97282-1141. PayPal payments are also accepted.

For more information on the instructors visit:  

www.melissahart.com

www.jessicamorrell.com

www.midgeraymond.com

Jessica Morrell, the conference coordinator, is the author of six books along with the upcoming White Heat and No Ordinary Days. She works as a developmental editor and is also the founder of Summer in Words Writing Conference in Cannon Beach, Oregon and Making it in Changing Times Writing Conference in Portland, Oregon.

Conference logo by Billy Tice of Austin, TX

 


by Leave a comment

The world of stories….

I had to share one of my favorite sentiments about the world of fiction by George R.R. Martin creator of the Song of Fire and Ice fantasy series: game-of-thrones Ned Stark

The best fantasy is written in the language of dreams. It is alive as dreams are alive, more real than real … for a moment at least … that long magic moment before we wake.

Fantasy is silver and scarlet, indigo and azure, obsidian veined with gold and lapis lazuli. Reality is plywood and plastic, done up in mud brown and olive drab. Fantasy tastes of habaneros and honey, cinnamon and cloves, rare red meat and wines as sweet as summer. Reality is beans and tofu, and ashes at the end. Reality is the strip malls of Burbank, the smokestacks of Cleveland, a parking garage in Newark. Fantasy is the towers of Minas Tirith, the ancient stones of Gormenghast, the halls of Camelot. Fantasy flies on the wings of Icarus, reality on Southwest Airlines. Why do our dreams become so much smaller when they finally come true?

We read fantasy to find the colors again, I think. To taste strong spices and hear the songs the sirens sang. There is something old and true in fantasy that speaks to something deep within us, to the child who dreamt that one day he would hunt the forests of the night, and feast beneath the hollow hills, and find a love to last forever somewhere south of Oz and north of Shangri-La.

They can keep their heaven. When I die, I’d sooner go to middle Earth.


by Leave a comment

Q & A With Melissa Hart

Melissa HartQ: What is your best writing tip?
A: Develop a habit of writing every day.  Carry around a spiral notebook and pen or a laptop and commit to at least ten minutes.  You can write a decent rough draft of a poem, a piece of flash fiction, or a paragraph of a novel or memoir or nonfiction article in ten minutes.  The goal is to make writing a habit–like flossing, only a lot more fun!

Q: Is writer’s block real? If so, how do you tackle/ circumvent it?

A: I don’t think writer’s block is real.  I think it’s possible to think you have no ideas, but a ten-minute freewrite on a major conflict you’re experiencing, or a significant joy, or a question that’s keeping you up at night, or your favorite funny family story, will get your ideas flowing.

Q: What’s your writing process?

A: I’ve structured my life so that when I get an idea for a piece, I can usually sit down and scribble out a rough draft that day.  I write the first draft longhand in a notebook, and then transcribe my chicken-scratch onto the computer.  I write multiple drafts, then have my husband read a polished version of a piece.  We discuss it in terms of his perceptions and editing notes, and then I revise again.  I read my work out loud several times during the process (sometimes to my cats) to check for pacing, flow, and believable dialogue.

Q: How do you make time to write?

A: It’s difficult when I’m teaching a lot and parenting a lot, and I must get exercise daily or I go bonkers.  But the time is there. Often, I’m lucky enough to be on deadline for a magazine essay or article, and that forces me to make time to write, even if it’s late in the evening or early in the morning.

Q: What are you working on next?

A: I’m in the editing stage of my first middle-grade novel, which Sky Pony Press will publish next year.  It’s called Avenging the Owl, about a California surfer-kid forced to move to Oregon and volunteer as a raptor rehabilitator after he accidentally injures a boy with Down syndrome while trying to kill a Great-horned owl that seizes his kitten.


by Leave a comment

Q & A With Midge Raymond

MidgeRaymond-photo

Q: What is your best writing tip?

A: My best writing tip is to Write Every Day — and by that I don’t necessarily mean sitting at the computer typing but being in that writerly zone in which you use every possible moment to think about your project. While in line at the post office, for example, think about your characters, think about a letter she might write, think about a time he got someone else’s mail. There are so many moments in which we’re not able to write, but we can still be thinking like writers.

Q: Is writer’s block real? If so, how do you tackle/circumvent it?

I think it’s real for some writers, and probably nonexistent for others. When I find myself getting stuck on a piece, I try a couple of strategies. One, I’ll simply switch to something else; as a short-story writer, I usually have several short stories in progress. If I want to stick with a particular piece but am not getting where I need to go with it, I’ll take a break and do something related to the project: research, freewriting — or I’ll simply take a walk and think about it away from the desk, which always helps.

 Q: What’s your writing process?

A: It changes every day — I have no typical process because for me there’s no such thing as a typical day (which generally I think is a good thing!). For a while last winter, I got up before dawn to write; lately I’ve been writing in the afternoons at the library. It all just depends on when I can fit it into my schedule. One thing I’ve enjoyed a lot is getting away from my desk and writing in a notebook — being off the computer helps me get into a more creative mood.

Q: How do you make time to write?

It’s my biggest challenge! I make sure to take some time off every year to get away (out of town) to write — this is the best way to reconnect with my writing. I’ll also try to re-create this writing time at home, in my everyday life — a couple hours here, a Saturday there — whenever I can.

A: What are you working on next?

Right now I’m working on about six new short stories … all in various stages of development.


by Leave a comment

The most important things are the hardest to say

“love writing in the sandThe most important things are the hardest to say. They are the things you get ashamed of, because words diminish them — words shrink things that seemed limitless when they were in your head to no more than living size when they’re brought out. But it’s more than that, isn’t it? The most important things lie too close to wherever your secret heart is buried, like landmarks to a treasure your enemies would love to steal away. And you may make revelations that cost you dearly only to have people look at you in a funny way, not understanding what you’ve said at all, or why you thought it was so important that you almost cried while you were saying it. That’s the worst, I think. When the secret stays locked within not for want of a teller but for want of an understanding ear.” (Stephen King)


by Leave a comment

Midge Raymond on Naming Characters

Midge Raymond has excellent advice on naming your characters. You can find her blog here. Romeo and Juliet–classic examples. Romeo and Juliet statueMidge will be teaching a workshop on marketing and will also take part in a panel on branding at Claim Your Story II, October 4.

 

 


by Leave a comment

Reminder: October 5 is the final day to receive room discount

If you’re attending the conference and don’t live in the Ashland area, please make your reservations at Lithia Springs Resort by Friday, October 5 to receive the discount.

The place is incredible–restful and lovely and filled with small thoughtful touches that make your stay more enjoyable. Jay and I are looking forward to our third stay there.

Be sure to mention “writer’s workshop” to receive your discounted rate.

Thanks,

Jessica

LSR-May-bloom920