To
sum up the Big Sur Writing Workshop in one word: WOW. And now for the multiple
word version…
The
organizer of the workshop encouraged people to carpool. So I decided that I’d
offer to drive, and I wound up with a passenger from San Francisco. Of course I
felt a little trepidation about driving with a stranger for 3 hours (and even
more when I thought about how I’d also have to drive back), but my carpool
companion wound up being a really nice guy who writes middle grade fantasy
books. Although we didn’t have much in common, we chatted quite amicably for
most of the trip.
The
weather was glorious—warm, sunny, and not a cloud in the sky. This is quite
unusual for Big Sur in my experience. It’s a good thing the Big Sur Lodge is
located slightly inland because otherwise I would have had a hard time not
ditching the workshop and going to the beach instead.
I
got checked in and remembered that I was sharing the suite with a mystery
roommate. She hadn’t arrived yet, so I claimed a bed and went to find the
conference room. I got there early and met some fellow writers as we waited for
the faculty to arrive. There were 14 of them in all. Most were agents from the
Andrea Brown Literary Agency. There were also three editors and a few published
authors.
Each
writer was assigned to two faculty-led critique groups. I wound up with agents for
both of my groups. One of these agents is the agent that I was intending to
submit my favorite story to, so I was thrilled. Both of my groups had four
other picture book writers, which I was excited about because groups with mixed
genres can be a little challenging (I’ve gotten used to critiquing 500-700 word
manuscripts. Throw a chapter of middle grade or young adult at me and I freak).
The
groups each met twice during the weekend. Group A met Friday and Saturday in
the afternoon, while Group B met Saturday and Sunday in the morning. The idea
was that writers would have some time to revise in between meeting with their
groups.
I
went to Group A, which was led by the agent I was interested in, clutching my “baby”
and smiling. When the session was over, I left feeling completely dejected. Each
person had 24 minutes to read aloud their story and then get feedback from the
other writers and the agent. I was so sure that this agent was a good match for
me and that she’d love my story. While she did
like my character and the concept behind the story, she told me that the plot
was old and tired. She challenged me to rewrite it before the next Group A
session.
Trying
not to feel panicked, I mingled with the faculty and my fellow writers during
cocktail hour and dinner and then raced to my room to begin revising. I worked
for about an hour before exhaustion overtook me and I went to sleep, still
having not met my mystery roommate (her luggage had arrived so I knew I had a
roommate, she just wasn’t in the room).
I
awoke the next morning feeling refreshed and ready to meet Group B. My roommate
was cocooned in her bed and I left for breakfast without having met her.
Through breakfast I debated endlessly in my head whether I should share the
same story or a different story with Group B. I eventually decided that I
couldn’t deal with more feedback about my “baby” so I shared a different story
with them.
Much
like Group A, Group B (both the agent and the writers) loved the character and
the idea, but thought I could do a better job with the plot. I’m not as
attached to this story and I too felt it had some issues, so it was a lot
easier to hear that I should try to revise it. I just wasn’t sure when I’d have
time to do this.
I
headed back to my room with my box lunch and finally met my roommate. She was quite
a character and I could probably write a whole post just about her. Suffice to
say she decided not to spend her afternoon revising and instead took her pack
of cigarettes and a tall boy down to the river. I, on the other hand, spent the
three hour time block between lunch and Group A’s second meeting revising my
story (looking back it seems more fitting to say “slaughtering my baby”). I
actually rewrote the story from start to finish and it was terrible. I thought
to myself that if the group liked it, I’d have to quite writing. Turns out they
did not like my rewrite, so that was a relief. I
did however, get some interesting ideas for revising the not-crappy version.
After
dinner, I went back to room feeling pretty exhausted. But rather than turning
in early, I decided to try rewriting my second story before meeting with Group
B the next morning. Once again, I completely rewrote the story from start to
finish. By midnight I was finished. I set my alarm and cursed the inventors of Daylight
Savings. Not only was I going to bed way later than usual, I was going to lose
an hour of sleep. The sacrifices that writers must make.
Group
B offered a lot of good feedback on my rewrite. While it was good feedback it
was the type that requires me to completely rewrite the story once again. This
time I did not feel dejected though, so that was a huge improvement. I also
felt very encouraged when the agent told me that she’d “love to see where this
character winds up” and I told her I would too and that perhaps I’d submit the
story to her someday.
By the
time lunch was over and I was saying goodbye to the new friends I had met, I
felt utterly wrecked. And then I had to drive for three hours to get home. Such
is the life of a writer.
It
was truly an amazing weekend. I learned that I can do a complete rewrite of a
story in three hours. In fact, I can do it twice in one day. I also learned
that I do really want to do this whole writing thing. I talked with a woman in
one of my groups who said she wasn’t sure the whole writing thing was for her.
I left feeling totally enthused to continue pursuing my dream.If I weren’t
immersed in planning a wedding, I’d have already started revising both of the
stories I got critiqued. As it is, I can barely squeeze in writing the longest
blog post ever. But after next Saturday, my schedule will be freed up and I’ll
be ready to dive back in to writing.
What
I’m reading: I’m still working on The Emperor
of All Maladies. I finished Outlander
and I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series. I started
reading Unbroken: A World War II Story of
Survival, Resilience and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand and Hollow City: The Second Novel of Miss
Peregrine’s Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. I’m enjoying both of them
very much. Now, if I could just stop watching Gilmore Girls on Netflix, I’d have more time to read…
