I've been doing workshops for some time as my means of engaging with the writing community at large. It seems like the best way for me to do so, since I'm not terribly savvy with social media and I am, let's face it, incredibly awkward in person.
Recently, I did my first "talk" instead of a workshop. This was the Worldcrafting presentation with Central Valley Fiction Writers. We'd attempted to get together for a workshop, and I do think that world-building as a topic deserves that level of attention. However, at the time they scheduled my workshop, they couldn't garner enough interest to make it worth the students paying. I tend to agree. While I enjoy workshops, I also don't want people to pay for something that they aren't going to get something out of.
This talk brought about my first use of Zoom for presenting, as well as my first "live" discussion of writing with other writers in a professional setting. That is, outside just chatting with my other aspiring author friends. Along with it came no small amount of impostor syndrome. I've not had as much time to write my own fiction, due to working on finishing my degree, and therefore, I felt a little like... who am I to tell other people how to think about worldbuilding? They've written books! And published them! Meanwhile, the only fiction publication I had going for me was in an anthology, with my diligent co-author, and it has since been taken from Amazon. Boo.
Regardless, I found the attendees to be engaged and very interested. They rolled with the terms I have created for understanding the parts of world-building a bit better. And afterward, we opted to, instead of doing activities like in a workshop, just talk. This was helpful in that the attendees could get a second clarification on my schema. I'm a bit abstract sometimes, and I'm glad ultimately helped them mentally encompass the differences between moves we make as writers while creating. It also allowed for the attendees to talk about parts of their projects, ask questions and get ideas, and create a bit of a wishlist for things they would like to create for authors, if they had the time or money.
Needless to say, in spite of my anxiety regarding speaking... It worked rather well. I'd do it again. And I might consider it in lieu of creating another workshop, if I can get the audience. That's definitely in the works, the workshops. However, since Ivy and I pulled away from the RWA for all the reasons, it's harder to commit in that way.
Upcoming, Ivy and I have planned to take the co-writing workshop and simply turn it into a book. While it was often a requested workshop, it was never one we got much interaction for. I'm not shocked. It's hard to know what to ask, unless you happen to be taking the workshop together. We figure, an e-book at maybe $5 a pop would be more worth people's hard earned (and potentially able to be written off on taxes) dollars.
Things like character development and point of view, though... Things like worldbuilding and adaptation and subverting trope... It's just more fun in a group? I understand why people tend to drop out of workshops. We're all busy. But the interaction is the reason you're paying to spend any time with me.
I may do another post, or a static page with some handouts, for the terminology I've invented for understanding worldbuilding. Until then, I know this month's speaker is Ivy Quinn, who is, frankly, awesome. And a lot more focused than I am, let's be honest.
Check it out and sign up here:
September 10th: “Short but Sweet: How to Write Novellas Quickly and Efficiently”
