In it she mentions that Kevin is the most driven person she knows. She recounts a story of when she met him in a writing class. Kevin made a bit of a scene (I’m only giving the Cliff’s, or in this case the Steve’s, notes version here. Pick up the antho if you want the full version. Trust me you do.) Kevin mentioned that he had published and been paid for over a hundred short stories. And -wait for it- he was 18. Unless I some how read things wrong. Also, I’m sure these were all semi-pro sales since his first pro sale was ‘Final Performance’ which was published five years later. That these were semi-pro doesn’t take anything away from the achievement.

All I can say is wow. Kevin is made of awesome. And this ups my drive. I love stories like this because I consider myself a sort of ‘blue collar writer’. I don’t think that I’m the next Hemingway or even Phillip Roth but I can tell a good story. And that’s all I want to do. So, even though I think that they’re mega-talented, people like Kris and Dean and Kevin inspire me with their hard work.

Anyway that’s my two cents, now back to the word mine.

Thanks for the heads-up, Steve. You’re right, the RWA Nationals stuff is great for writers in general, not just romance.

Here’s the link if anyone doesn’t have it:
http://www.rwanational.org

The talk was great and, I thought, mapped over well to other genres. Also, if you go to Amazon and search for Stephanie Bond under Amazon Shorts she has an article on how to write a business plan for your writing career (it’s the second article in the minding your own writing businss series). What she says meshes well with what Dean and Kris have to say. Actually, they say alot of the same stuff but I feel that there was enough of a difference that she earned my eight dollars.

Also, Stephanie mentioned that to generate cashflow (and she said that writing is all about cash flow) she still writes category romances even though she’s published many single titles. This brought to mind a question for Kris: Is there any thing in other genres that would be comparable? The only thing that I could think of was media books just plain writing more. Her strategy seemed smart but I couldn’t think of how to map it over. Hmm…maybe I’ll have to branch out into romance.

Anyway, just thought I’d pass this along for anyone who didn’t know. The RWA is a great resource even if you aren’t a Romance writer. Actually, scratch that, ESPECIALLY if you aren’t a romance writer. They are all about building a career and approaching writing like a business. Aside from Kris and Dean, I haven’t found any other resource that was so helpful career wise.

Alright, I have to go and scratch the writing itch.

Steve

O_o

Do they realize they’ve put down the writers of every other genre, including literary fiction?

The Bread Loaf Writer’s Conference for literary fiction lasts for 10 days. TEN DAYS.

I can’t even think of a prominent writer’s workshop for thrillers, mysteries, romance, or children that lasts for more than two weeks.

The freelance software programmers I know leave town for training for at most two weeks a year. Otherwise, they do online classes or take local classes. The lost time and money becomes too much after 1-2 weeks.

“I think that’s unrealistic. Adults have responsibilities that often can’t be shrugged off easily.”

I have to agree with you on that!

Also, now that I’m thinking about it, the six weeks eliminates by default young scifi writers with certain unusual backgrounds: severe chronic illness (I know a beginning scifi writer who could handle a week away from her doctors, but not six weeks), military service commitments, or a cultural background that expects young people to earn money to support their extended family.

The latter haunts me a bit, because this is a real problem for young writers, both in the “majority” and “minority” cultures in our society. It’s a heck of lot easier to win a fight with your elders to get 1-2 weeks away from working your job (which provides desperately needed income) to go to a writer’s workshop.

Exactly, Ryan. 🙂

One of the reasons we do the workshops “in small gulps” as you say, Brad, is so that people with kids and a real job can come. I’ve heard the Clarion folk say that people who can’t get six weeks off don’t want to be writers. I think that’s unrealistic. Adults have responsibilities that often can’t be shrugged off easily. I think that’s one reason Clarion & some of the other workshops attract young writers while ours generally don’t. Younger people don’t have the jobs or the families yet.

Beginning in 2009 my wife and I decided to start sending me to at least one continuing education event — writing related — per year. On top of me hitting local cons. So far the Lincoln City stuff has been top-notch and I kinda feel like other workshops might be a let-down. The Lincoln City stuff has been so damned fun! Still, I am strongly considering Orson Scott Card’s workshop if it comes to Utah in 2011. Especially if you and Dean go on a workshop hiatus.

Clarion, Odyssey, Taos Toolbox, all sound very interesting, but I simply don’t have the time or money to unplug from my life for that long. Which is another reason Lincoln City tends to be a “win” for me, because I can do Lincoln City stuff in small gulps, as opposed to long, expensive drafts like Clarion.

I’ve learned way more about writing from professional writers on the Internet – there’s so many out there. I’m not one of you just yet. I will be.

I think social media makes it easy for those of us who are introverted to interact on our own time and in our own way. Just a theory, however. I look forward to seeing you too, Rob. 🙂

Now with Facebook, I collect writers. My wife calls me (the introvert) a social media ho. Now I just need to get Twitter working better for me.

I look forward to networking at the upcoming Marketing Workshop!