JRWC12 Tidbit #2 - That Crucial First Page

All writers are taught that the first page is crucial to hooking the agent, the editor, and the reader. Getting that opening scene right takes serious crafting.

It is a much loved and equally terrifying tradition at the James River Writers Writing Conferences to offer intrepid writers the opportunity to have their first page randomly selected, read aloud, and critiqued in a Plenary Session.

Preparing for First Pages

The 2012 First Pages session this year featured a panel of Liz Bicknell (editorial director, Candlewick Press), Ayesha Pande (Ayesha Pende Literary agency), and Alec Shane (agent, Writers House), moderated by JRW's own David L. Robbins. This year's first pages were gleaned from a wide range of genres - general fiction to YA and everything in between.

The JRW First Pages panels have been known to be instructive and sometimes, brutally honest, so submitting is not for the faint-hearted. Nothing less than the writer's absolute BEST EFFORT should be  offered. Anything less will be spotted right off the bat and the experience about as pleasant as being struck by that bat. However, the advice is given to help improve the work and not to "make friends," so be warned.

This year's panel was no less instructive than prior years and perhaps a little harsher than some, but far from the harshest to grace the stage.

Here are some of my notes in the hopes that you'll find some of them as insightful and helpful as I did:

• First page has to set place, person or plot - as many as possible if not all
• "Disputation is key"
• Grammatical errors are unacceptable - these pages are your key to the kingdom and lack of attention to detail here speak poorly of your skill
• Pacing should be immediately evident and appropriate to your genre
• The much lauded "hook" MUST be presented immediately or the agent/editor will become the one that got away
• Voice - give the agent/editor the full impact of your character's unique voice as well as your own
• Don't introduce too many characters in that first scene overwhelming the agent/editor/reader

While none of these points are news to a serious writer of any level, seeing them actively illustrated is priceless. Rules handed out in a vacuum are sometimes poorly implemented, however, being offered concrete examples never fails to nail them down.

This is the purpose of the First Pages session - to educate, to illustrate, and to assist. For the fortunate souls whose pages were read and critiqued, the lesson may not have been painless, but there's no way they could be discounted as anything less than golden.

My thanks to the panel who offered their best advice and comments.

My congratulations to the folks whose pages were read - go forth, revise, and conquer!

JRWC12 Tidbit #1 - The Power & The Glory of The Pitch

First, friends, don't faint, I'll be posting quite a bit this week because I've got a lot of good stuff to share from the James River Writers 2012 Writers Conference. Today - The Pitch

For writers, there is nothing so exciting and terrifying as the pitch session. For non-writers, the term will generate a "huh?" so a moment to describe.

"The Pitch" - Writers need to approach agents and/or editors with their writing and any good writing conference offers short little interview-type sessions for authors. These can range from five to fifteen minutes (times vary from conference to conference) however, the level of terror does not.

At conference Pitch Sessions, authors select the agent/editor that they hope will be most interested in their current brainchild. Then, at the appointed time, heart in throat, notes in hand, they sit down across the table and offer their most concise and eloquent summary of their story.

Think Job Interview distilled down to its most intense moments.

The James River Writers 2012 Writers Conference provided not only Pitch Sessions of seven precious minutes, but also hosted their Second Pitchapalooza with The Book Doctors and this year's guest agent, Alec Shane of Writers House.

Writers signed up and names were drawn randomly. The fortunate stepped up to the mikes and were given ONE MINUTE to pitch their book. In front of a full auditorium, no less. Afterwards, The Book Doctors, David Henry Sterry and Arielle Eckstut, and Alec Shane would offer critiques on the pitch.

Every year, I sit in awe and breathless support of the brave pitchers and gobble up all the helpful advice offered in a kind & generous manner by the panel. Here are a few things that I gleaned and need to apply to my own pitch:

• Lead with action
• Your Protagonist must be named and their stakes explained.
• Your Antagonist should be uniquely identified
• Tease us with the worst thing that could happen/what's at stake
• Give a solid example of your "fabulous voice and particular story"
• Offer comparative titles to help identify your genre/audience

There were far more nuggets of gold scattered at our feet by the panel, but these were the ones I managed to scoop up.

If you're interested in learning more about The Book Doctors follow the links I've embedded and consider their book - The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published


Thank you, James River Writers, for producing yet another spectacular event and I look forward to sharing more tidbits over the course of this week.

MONDAY FORTUNE COOKIE, 10/22/12

Romance is likely; strike up a conversation!

SNARKY REPONSE: Just hope no one decides to strike you back! Fresh!

Romance is likely; strike up a conversation!

In a way, that's exactly what I've been doing all week-end at the James River Writers Writing Conference. This three-day event was held at the Richmond Convention Center and featured a diverse cast of talented speakers on a plethora of informative panels. And everyone from feature speakers to first-time attendees are in the throes of a serious romance with the written word in all her glorious forms.

From the welcome session to the closing 10th Anniversary Celebration, I was surrounded by writers seeking better ways to woo their chosen muse. Conversations always included the key question: "What do you write?" offering everyone the opportunity to share their love affair with writing openly with others who could understand and share the attraction.

View of the Conference Marketplace

Some of my takeaways were:

• Poetry Warm Up provided by author and performance poet, Allan Wolf, challenged us to consider where we were going to place our "pea of truth"
• Our First Page HAS to set place, person, and plot
• Resist the urge to edit while writing that "shitty first draft" - something that's often easier said than done
• Your blog should be the home page of your website to provide fresh renewed content for visitors with suggested updates of once a week at least, though daily (a concept that boggled my mind) would possibly annoy your readers - as Sabrina tells Linus in one my favorite movie quotes "sometimes more is just more"
• Your website "Contact Me" should not be a form but an actual "professional" email address - visitors are put off by the impersonal form
• Successful agent/editor queries are based on careful research - know who they are and why your book would fit their niche

While there were many wonderful pieces to the event, I felt it was beautifully book-ended by the Saturday First Pages critique, an always insightful though oft painful reading & critique of anonymous first pages and the Sunday Pitchapalooza where we listened to brave souls give a one-minute pitch in front of the entire assembly for critique by The Book Doctors and Alec Shane, agent.

If you've never been to the JRW Writers Conference, please be sure to put it on your short list for 2013.

MONDAY FORTUNE COOKIE 9/3/12

Find release from your cares; have a good time.

SNARKY RESPONSE: Yeah, eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow you may die.

Find release from your cares; have a good time.

Seemed like good advice for a Labor Day Weekend and the beginning of Fall! Even though, in my neck of the woods, it doesn't feel like Fall, Labor Day Weekend is when most of us bid adieu to the carefree days of summer. At the very least, I've already noticed the days are getting shorter.

I love Fall! The temperature will start on that gradual downward slide and we'll revel in open windows, nights cool enough to require sweaters, and the scent of smoke from burning leaves or fireplaces.

Between now and New Year's Eve, my social calendar becomes filled chock-a-block with activities of all kinds. The James River Writers Conference, The Richmond Folk Festival, The Garlic Festival, various cultural festivals, and Oktoberfest are just a few of the delights on my crowded agenda. Of course, there are the Big Four—Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's Eve, though I admit the last two are actually within the realm of Winter.

Then there is the annual strip-tease performed by the region's deciduous trees that will hopefully entertain us for weeks. The coy things will bedazzle us with their annual transformation from their current dusty green to vibrant golds, reds, and oranges. Despite the fact that walks outside will often be accompanied by the gentle shushing of fallen leaves, we'll hardly notice the emergence of bare limbs until they're suddenly standing against a cloudless sky, limbs thrust outwards as if to say "ta da," their rainbow garb having been flung to the wind to settle down around their roots.

And the light! The sunlight shifts from the brilliant white yellow of summer to the golden glow of autumn. The disappearance of humidity will brighten the days and at night, the stars will take on a sharper twinkle.

Yes, there may be a built-in sense of freedom in the lazy, hazy days of summer with vacations, abbreviated clothing and footwear, but I'm ready to begin the cooler, cozy days of fall. What about you? Are you ready for Fall or are you in mourning for Summer?

MONDAY FORTUNE COOKIE 7/23/12

"One must dare to be himself, however frightening or strange that self may prove to be."

SNARKY RESPONSE: Hmm, do the names Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde ring any bells?

"One must dare to be himself,
however frightening or strange that self may prove to be."

I'm participating in the James River Writers Book Club, an informal book club for the months running up to the annual James River Writers Conference in October 20-21, 2012. We're reading books written by the featured speakers for the conference and our first book was The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown.

One caveat – I am a genre reader through and through so this book was definitely outside of my usual aisles. That lack of familiarity with this writer's genre may create a level of naiveté to my review, but here's what I thought. And bear with me, I'll explain why I chose a book review for this Fortune Cookie.

Cover of The Weird Sisters
by Eleanor Brown

In The Weird Sisters, Eleanor Brown explores the lives of three sisters. Daughters of a professor of Shakespeare, they are named for three of the Bard's heroines and being three, the analogy of the Weird Sisters was a natural. However, the three women are facing personal crises when they are then brought together in a family crisis. How they deal with all these pressures on their lives and each other makes for a truly interesting read.

In a semi-spoiler, I'd have to say my impression of the story makes it tie in with today's Fortune Cookie. I feel that each sister is forced to face the reality of who she truly is instead of the "she" built on expectations or camouflage. As the Bard said "to thine own self be true" and I feel that The Weird Sisters is about the characters' discovery of who that "true self" is and how to accept it.

Oh, and as another "spoiler," the book is written in Omniscient First Person Plural (We not I), a format I was not familiar with and one that took some SERIOUS getting used to. I must say that about one-quarter to one-third through it became less annoying as I just fell into the story. I've heard some folks continued to be annoyed by it to the end, so be warned. Just don't let that put you off on it.

If you read literary fiction, I would recommend this book.  If you've read it, I'd love to hear your impressions.