Who’d have thought there was so much one could do with the concept, “Show, Don’t Tell?” I found there were about 7-9 different scenarios when a writer might be tempted to use narrative rather than scene (and maybe I didn’t find all the examples) and virtually every writer who ever put together a “how to” book has weighed in on it. One of my best resources, though, I have to say, was James Alan Gardner’s “A Seminar on Writing.” Clear, direct, articulate and full of good examples. The class worked hard for two days and seemed to get a lot out of it. And I had fun, too!
Gearing up for fall teaching
Busy fall: I will be teaching “Show, Don’t Tell” and the year long novel writing course, “A Novel Approach” for the Alexandra Centre, and I have been asked to be a writer-in-residence for one of the local French Immersion schools. Lots of research and planning–I always feel that when I am being paid, I really need to put my best foot forward! Looking forward to all of them.
Chicon was great
And, the day after I got home from the motorcycle trip to Washington, I hopped a plane for Chicago. Chicon was wonderful. I got my “Analog Mafia” pin, and was there to congratulate Stan on his retirement and Trevor on his new position. Got to meet the author I work with as an editor for Edge, in person. Sat on two panels (moderated one) and had a reading and a workshop–some good stories, there. Met new people and explored a bit of downtown Chicago, the edge of Lake Michigan and the Chicago Institute of Art with old friends. Good times!
Some surprises just work
It was a year in the planning, but we were able to surprise Don for his birthday. Yes, we did it AGAIN. What helped was holding the party at my sister’s house (which is absolutely gorgeous, about 8 km south of Golden, perched on a height of land overlooking the Columbia river). On the way home from our motorcycle trip, I just casually said, “Hey, why don’t we visit my sister on the way home?” and Don said, “Okay.” So we stopped in for a cup of tea and had a surprise birthday party instead, with all our family, as well as his siblings from Ontario! Bingo.
Back on the road
If one holiday wasn’t enough–I got a second! We left right after WWC for a motorcycle trip around the Olympic peninsula (Washington State) and down into Oregon. Beautiful country. The highlight for me was camping at Ozette Lake (we were very lucky to get a campsite–there were only fifteen, but we arrived on a Sunday evening and actually had a choice of 3-4 sites). We hiked the 3 miles to the beach, the 3 miles along the beach and the 3 miles back on the triangular path through the rainforest. Very inspiring. And–as a prairie girl, I never get to see/smell/feel/hear the ocean, so that was a real treat. And–so much to tell! The twisty roads our motorcycle ate up, great food, wonderful camping, friendly people. Very relaxing.