4 Obstacles Keeping You from Finishing Your Manuscript Disclaimer – Before I can be slapped with the charge of hypocrisy, let me be the first to say that I have succumbed to all four of the manuscript impediments listed below. I have two novels in print (The Sum of Our Gods and Corporate High School), and…
Willamette Writer member and writing instructor Jill Kelly knows how to revise. An award-winning author and editor and a former professor of grammar and literature, she’s helped hundreds of writers move their work to excellence. This month, she’ll be leading two Willamette Writer workshops in Salem. To get us started on the road to revision, she’s…
At Poets and Writers Live in Portland, several literary journal editors offered their perspectives on how to submit to literary journals. Travis Meyer of the journal Poor Claudia got right down to business: “Put your name in the top right corner. Use Georgia, double-line height, healthy margins.” Cheston Knapp of Tin House said “I’m a…
You wrote a book. It’s been acquired! Now what in the world do you do with yourself?
Every writer has heard the axiom that penning a book is only the first in a long run of hurdles, and if we’re honest with ourselves every last one of us has believed that must be a mendacious proposition. Writing is hard work.
by Chip MacGregor As you begin preparing for this year’s Willamette Writers Conference, I’d like to suggest you keep ten words in mind… • READ. Don’t just show up and wonder who the speakers are. Read the blog of the keynote speakers. Read the books of the workshop teachers. That way, when you get to…
Authors sometimes don’t do all they can do to get the most out of their book events. A small turnout can feel discouraging, but in fact, small readings are a great opportunity to connect personally to convert readers into loyal fans. Mary Bisbee-Beek offers her wisdom and knowledge for our members to help get the…
Willamette Writers encourages writers of all genres to enter the FiLMLaB Competition–even those who have never written a screenplay before. Screenwriting has generally accepted conventions and guidelines. Below are some valuable resources as well as links and screenwriting tips to make your short screenplay the best it can be: Our weekly FiLMLaB blog offers tips about…
by Ruth Witteried It is not easy to find the Oscar Nominated Shorts on Comcast Pay Per View. I found them once, then they seemed to disappear from cable and the internet. In fact, they had been pulled from the internet prior to the Academy Awards and a recent search turned up only their trailers.…
by Ruth Witteried As the Willamette Writers kick off their second Script to Screen short screenplay competition, several writers have requested tips for creating successful entries, or at the very least that we share the ‘trips’ of previous submissions; the avoidable errors that we ran into most often when judging. Tip #1 Use professional script…
