Digger

I was out of town last weekend, will be at Convergence in Minneapolis this weekend, and will be having the fake family reunion the weekend after that. Then Bryon and I go on the no work, writing, internet romantic trip of love.

What am I saying? Spotty coverage at best? Yes. SO today you get two entries. First, let's do the entry on Digger by Ursula Vernon.

I expected good from the Hugo voter pack. I expected quality. One thing I did not expect from my Hugo reading was something so unexpected delightful metaphysical that I would be riveted from beginning to end. That thing would be Digger, the six volume adventure epic of a wombat named Digger on an unexpected quest. Throw in demons, Ganesh, a tribe of hyenas, an exile named Ed, and a dead god, plus some musings on just about every aspect of life, and you have a pretty good idea of what to expect.

Digger reminds me of what it would be like to be an Iowan on a quest. Our heroine has a focus of practicality and good will, a conviction to do the right thing combined with a low tolerance for stupidity. Vernon, the artist/author surrounds her with characters that echo and restate these themes. The result is a loamy complicated story full of twists and turns and turns and surprises. And Vernon is not afraid to make hard but satisfying story decisions as well.

So, can you get hold of it? Well, you may need to order it directly from Vernon's site, because it's hard to get out there in the real world. Believe me, I spent a great deal of last weekend trying. Obviously, you may well have guessed which graphic novel will be getting my top Hugo honors. I really, really recommend this.

Catherine

Mirrored from Writer Tamago.

Taos Toolbox: Education

I think last week I promised you several in depth entries on my Taos experiences, and the forecasting went something like this: teaching, community, critiquing(kinda started), setting (done!), and writing culture and mores.

So, today let's talk about the education. Quite frankly, this is the way in which Taos Toolbox receives its highest marks, as far as I'm concerned, and it is the way that the instructors, of course, have the most control over.

On the first morning, Walter Jon Williams, one of our teachers, went over the rationale as to why he'd started the workshop. Each morning and each afternoon, Walter and Nancy Kress gave us a lecture and some useful handouts on aspects of writing. In this way, we talked about fixing scenes, looking at narrative and plot devices, sussing out characters, and a host of other writing activities. I have a notebook full of useful suggestions. Plot breaks were also a solid technique that we learned at the workshop.

And...I'm not going to share this material with you. I'm going to suggest, instead, that you take the class. I was surprised, although I shouldn't have been, at the amount of overlap I noticed between learning to write fiction and learning to do tech writing. Clear, sharp writing remains the same at its core.

Of course, other things--voice, character, tone, plot, story--are all unique to the creative fiction experience, and using these items effectively and analytically is a place many writers need to go to, but often don't know how to get there.

Nancy said something to me at the end of the week that I thought was very interesting. I paraphrase: think about your scenes before you write them and after you write them, but not too much while you're writing them. This quote is for those of you who worried that creativity was somehow disappearing from the equations.

If I could offer the instructors any advice from my 26 years of teaching, it would be this: more homework for more hands-on attempts at the lecture material. More small group work assignments after hours (community building!). And smaller critique groups, but that's for the next entry.

Anyway, Taos Toolbox takes analytical writing technique for creative fiction to the next level, whether that new level for you is experienced workshopper, or gifted story teller.

Cath

Mirrored from Writer Tamago.

Reading at Convergence

Looks like I'll be reading at the Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading, as I usually do. Kathy Sullivan was kind enough to contact me. I'll admit I still have Taos brain, so I'm glad someone else was looking out for me.

So... that'll be Friday at 2pm in Cabana 201. While I'm not 100 percent sure what I'll be reading yet, I bet dollars to donuts that'll be Abigail Rath.

Cath

Mirrored from Writer Tamago.