Maximum WTPS as Slush Pile Live! Returns to Spring Conference
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GREENSBORO—The North Carolina Writers' Network 2018 Spring Conference will offer its fourth annual Slush Pile Live! on Saturday, April 21. This popular program offers more Writing Tips Per Second (otherwise known as WTPS) than you're likely to find anywhere.
Registration for the NCWN 2018 Spring Conference is now open.
How does Slush Pile Live! work? Beginning at 4:00 pm, attendees may drop off either 300 words of prose or one page of poetry in the room of their choice (prose and poetry will be read in both MHRA rooms 1214 and 1215). The author’s name should not appear on the manuscript.
At 5:00 pm, a panel of editors will listen to the submissions being read out loud and raise their hand when they hear something that would make them stop reading if the piece were being submitted to their publication. The editors will discuss what they did and did not like about the sample, offering constructive feedback on the manuscript itself and the submission process. All anonymous—all live!
Those interested in having their anonymous submission read should bring a hard copy of up to 300 words of prose from a single work or one page of poetry (40-line max) to one of the Slush Pile Live! rooms. Submissions should be double-spaced, 12-point, Times New Roman font. No names should appear on the submissions.
This year's panelists include:
- Stephanie Andrea Allen (BLF Press)
- Jason T. Graves (Prospective Press)
- Terry L. Kennedy (The Greensboro Review)
- Zelda Lockhart (LaVenson Press Studios)
- Robin Miura (Blair)
- Kevin Morgan Watson (Press 53)
As many submissions as the panelists can get to in an hour, that's how many they'll read. Authors can reveal themselves at the end, to thunderous applause, befitting their bravery, but only if they want to.
“If you’ve never worked or volunteered for a publisher or literary magazine before, the submission process can seem kind of mysterious,” says NCWN Executive Director Ed Southern. “‘Slush Pile Live!’ will give attendees a peek into the editorial screening process, with the added bonus of giving feedback to anonymously submitted manuscripts in a non-threatening way.”
Other familiar programs will remain, including faculty readings, an open mic for conference participants, an exhibit hall packed with publishers and literary organizations, and “Lunch with an Author,” where conference-goers can spend less time waiting in line and more time talking with the author of their choice.
Spaces in “Lunch with an Author” are limited and are first-come, first-served. Pre-registration and an additional fee are required for this offering.
Pre-registration for the North Carolina Writers' Network 2018 Spring Conference closes Sunday, April 15. Register now!
The nonprofit North Carolina Writers’ Network is the state’s oldest and largest literary arts services organization devoted to writers at all stages of development. For additional information, and to register, visit www.ncwriters.org.
Fiction at NCWN's 2018 Spring Conference
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GREENSBORO—In most fiction, characters enter scenes, face conflict, and work toward the resolution of that conflict. There are as many approaches to this formula as there are writers in the world, but character and scene remain the twin engines of storytelling.
The North Carolina Writers' Network 2018 Spring Conference happens Saturday, April 21, at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Registration is now open.
Emerging fiction writers, or those who want to sample a broader selection of classes, may register for classes in both the morning and afternoon sessions.
Heather Bell Adams, whose debut novel Maranatha Road was published in 2017 by Vandalia Press, will lead the session "Essentials of Scene-Crafting (fiction)."
A good scene does a lot of heavy lifting by immersing the reader in the fictional world, introducing characters and their innermost concerns and propelling the story forward. What essentials should we keep in mind to ensure our scenes are as powerful as possible? In this workshop, attendees will look at scenes from novels or short stories to see what makes them successful. Then they'll engage in prompt-driven exercises to craft their own story-building blocks.
"Writing the Character You Know Best: The Strengths and Pitfalls of Autobiographical Fiction " will be led by David Halperin, author of Journal of a UFO Investigator: A Novel (Viking Press, 2011) and five nonfiction books on Jewish messianism and mysticism.
Beginning fiction writers often start out with stories that are fictionalized versions of experiences they’ve actually had. This can give your work a compelling solidity and authenticity; it also can impose shackles from which your writing needs to be freed. In this workshop, registrants will share about their experiences writing in this way, and explore strategies for keeping the strengths without the pitfalls.
Finally, "Cinematic Storytelling Techniques for All Writers" with Susan Emshwiller, a produced screenwriter and co-writer of the film Pollock, is sure to benefit any writer regardless of what genre he or she writes in.
Whether you write novels, short stories, memoirs, poems, or plays, the tools and tricks of screenwriting can enrich your storytelling dramatically. Conferencegoers will see film clips, do prompt writing, and learn tips on effective exposition, dialogue, theme, the power of reactions, creating mystery by withholding information, show-don’t-tell, how to hide setups for surprising payoffs, writing with “shot-sizes” to invigorate your work, and more.
Additional conference programming includes "Lunch with an Author" (only available to those who pre-register); faculty readings and open mics; and the fourth annual Slush Pile Live! where poetry and prose will be read aloud in two rooms in front of panels of editors and publishers, who will raise their hands as soon as they hear something in the pieces that would make them stop reading if they came across the submission in a slush pile.
The nonprofit North Carolina Writers’ Network is the state’s oldest and largest literary arts services organization devoted to writers at all stages of development. For additional information, visit www.ncwriters.org.