One of my favorite weekends of the year is upon me. Since discovering the intimate little Foolscap convention a few years ago, this has been the highlight of my con year. Gone are the movie viewing rooms, the huge panels on pop culture, the movie trailers, the flood of costumes…this is a con for spec-fiction writers, artists, and fans of the above. It is small enough to be an excellent networking opportunity, and filled with learning opportunities.
This year, they are doing a writers workshop.
I’ve never DONE a writer’s workshop. And I’ll be damned if I didn’t want to do this one. Yeah, I might be pretty good at what I do. But let’s not get cocky here — there are still volumes to learn about my craft. The writer who thinks he knows everything about writing is deluding himself. The writer who stops growing and learning is the writer who stagnates.
So, yeah…THRILLED to be doing this tomorrow. I have my notebook and pens picked out, and will be bringing along Snowflake, my trusty netbook so that I can transcribe things in a quiet moment.
And I’ve started a new story — one that got me out of the pool at the gym early the other day because I was writing paragraphs in my head. It’s sword and sorcery, but a different take on the theme. I might work on it tomorrow in the workshop. I already know where I want to go with it, and it would be brilliant if I could finish it this weekend.
When it’s done, I hope to get this out to some of the big magazines. Getting picked up by a “qualifying market” before the end of year would be the frosting on what has been a fantastic 2010!
Tales from the Ragged Edge 
It was great to have you at Foolscap, Nathan! I hope the workshop(s) were everything you hoped for.
Yes indeedy! If ya’ll would be interested in adding a section on plotting/outlining next year, I’d love to volunteer my services in advance.