After the First Draft: Revising a Work in Progress

All writing is rewriting, or so they say. This workshop presents revision strategies for taking that imperfect first draft and whipping it into a thing of beauty. Exercises focus on distilling your premise, gaining perspective, examining structure, honing your voice, practicing sentence craft, and much more. Bring any type of work in progress, whether a novel, memoir, creative nonfiction, or story collection. In separate one-on-one conferences, each participant will develop an individual revision plan.

Jeff Campbell is a freelance book editor, author, and writing teacher. As an editor for nearly 30 years, he helps authors tell their stories and shape their manuscripts in a wide variety of genres. For a dozen years, he was a Lonely Planet travel writer. Most recently, he’s written three YA science books. His latest, Glowing Bunnies!?: Why We’re Making Hybrids, Chimeras & Clones (Lerner Books, 2022), was named a “Best Book for Teens 2023” by the New York Public Library and was a 2023 SCBWI Golden Kite Award finalist.

Nature Writing: Telling the Lake, Story by Story

 Writing authentic nature stories, articles, or poems means having a keen awareness and knowledge of the environment that is the setting or focus of our writing. During this workshop we will learn how to tap into our senses and sharpen our awareness of the natural world by observing and learning from the most enlightening of storytellers – Pyramid Lake and its environs. We will spend time walking the shores of this pristine, wild lake and the surrounding woodlands journaling the plant and animal life and opening ourselves to the stories the lake tells according to time of day, light and shadow, and shifts of weather. Notes and sketches will be used to create or enhance poems or prose pieces which will be shared and discussed. This workshop will be held both out-of-doors along lake shores and indoors. Participants are strongly encouraged to venture out on their own outside of workshop time –to find a dock or rock or bench to observe and write.

Most of this workshop will be held out of doors. Bring notebooks and pens/pencils, rain gear (let’s hope we don’t need it), sturdy rain-proof footwear, knapsack, insect repellant.
 
Mary Cuffe Perez is a “woods roamer” and author of books of poetry, fiction, non-fiction, children’s novels and has published natural history articles in Adirondack Life, Northern Woodlands, the Conservationist and Blueline magazines.

 

 

Registration Opens at Pyramid Life Center

Registration at Pyramid Life Center opens on January 16, 2023.  The dates for Fall Writerfest are Sunday, September 10 to Friday, September 15 and the fee remains $395.  

There are a few changes we want to point out to you early in the process. All registrations will still be done through the Pyramid website, but we are no longer asking students to pay in full to be assigned to a workshop. You only have to be registered. Pyramid will be doing the room assignments this year, so it is important that you put room and/or dietary requests in the space provided when you register. Nelle and I will likely not see those. You must communicate those concerns directly to Pyramid, but Nelle is still available to answer your questions. 

The daily schedule will remain much the same as previous years. We are planning morning meditation/centering, full morning workshops, after lunch one hour seminars, and evening readings. We are in the process of setting those up and will be announcing the offerings in the not-too-distant future. As in the past, you will register in advance for a morning workshop. Everything else is on a walk-in basis.

We look forward to seeing you in September, Nelle and Ellie

Another Successful Fall Writerfest

We had another successful Fall Writerfest last week. Each year is a learning experience for us as we see what works and what does not work as well as we’d hoped. We will start planning for Fall Writerfest 2023 at Pyramid Life Center, Paradox, NY after the first of the year. For now, here are some of the takeaways from this year.

·        Our 2023 dates are expected to be September 10 – 15. We start the Sunday after Labor Day. Check the Pyramid website for updates including registration procedures.

·        Linens include pillows, pillowcases, sheets, blanket(s), washcloths, and towels. Some people bring a sleeping bag.

·        We will be planning to have pre breakfast meditation/centering, 5 morning workshops, and 4 after lunch seminars.  

·        Faculty will include a mix of new and returning instructors.

·        We meet at Pyramid Life Center, but we may or may not be the only group there. It is common for Pyramid to have groups coinciding or overlapping. 

What happens at the lake . . . . a prompt.

 “Nature Writing: Telling the Lake, Story by Story” with Mary Cuffe Perez explores the critical role that setting plays in poetry, fiction and nonfiction. Mary will teach ways of capturing the story a setting wants to tell according to time of day, weather, light and shadow. 

A writing prompt you might get in Mary’s class: “A rowboat tied to the dock at Pyramid Lake is beckoning you to get in and row out to the island.  What happens next?”

See the full workshop description here.

Picture Book Prompt for "Tell Me a Story"

 “Tell Me a Story: How to Write a Picture Book in 4 Easy Lessons” with Linda Marshall explores the magic of the earliest books we share with children - and the ones we still remember vividly. Linda is an award-winning author with almost 24 traditionally published picture books. She will be teaching her method of creating memorable picture books.

Here’s a writing prompt you might get in Linda’s class: “Is there someone in your life whose story you want to tell? What part of their story do you want to share with children?”

See the full workshop description here.

"Double Booking"

Two of the Fall Writerfest faculty, the two Mainers, have recently signed book contracts. Clif Travers has signed with Down East Books for The Stones of Riverton, his collection of linked stories based on cemetery markers in a small Maine town. Due out in the summer of 2023.

Ellie O'Leary has signed with North Country Press for her memoir, Up Home Again, due out before the end of 2022.

No cover reveals yet, but they're coming.