Free workshop from Lisa Manterfield: Wooing the Muse
Many of you know that I have a teaching and retreating partner: author and editor Lisa Manterfield. You’ll see more of our collaboration in this newsletter, but first, here’s something Lisa will be doing on her own: she is very generously offering a free workshop to “my” writers (YOU) on how to woo the muse. Read the description below and I’m sure you’ll think, oh, I know that feeling. If so, register here to save your seat!
WOOING THE MUSE
Writing a book is challenging. Maybe you’ve hit the saggy middle of your story, or you can’t figure out the ending. Perhaps you’ve fallen out of love with your main character, or maybe you’re struggling to get your brilliant idea out of your head and onto the page in the first place.
In this fun, idea-packed workshop, you’ll discover tricks and charms to get unstuck and get your writing back on track. Through out-of-the box writing prompts, you’ll learn how to reinvigorate your characters, discover the heart of your story to illuminate your plot, and find new ways into your work when the muse refuses to be helpful. Finally, you’ll learn new techniques to jumpstart your writing, tricks to keep you going, and self-care tips to avoid burnout and keep you falling in love with the craft.
Whatever your brand of writer’s block, you’ll leave with a bag of tricks to woo the muse and help you move forward again, including free-writing and free-drawing exercises (no drawing skills necessary) that we'll have tried together in class, and a handout to remind you of all the new ways you'll have of wooing the muse.
I’m sure once you take this workshop from Lisa, you’ll understand why I so enjoy working with her—and you might want to continue working with her too. What can I say? Your wish is my command.
QUERY LETTER ONE-DAY RETREAT
On September 6, Lisa, the amazing Heather Lazare, and I will be leading a one-day retreat in Half Moon Bay, focused on perfecting those query letters. If you don’t know Heather, she’s a well-respected editor and publishing consultant, ex-Simon & Schuster, so with plenty of industry insights and connections. She’s also, as you can see from this photo, a fellow shellfish lover and great fun!
The retreat is juried-in and limited to twelve participants. We will be gathering at a luxurious private home looking down at the harbor of Half Moon Bay, less than 45 minutes south of San Francisco. Plenty of accommodation is available close by for those who want to make a weekend of it.
Our full-day program will take you on a delicious, productive, and camaraderie-packed journey that will teach you how to draft, angle, and strengthen your all-important query letter, so critical to selling your book. All participants will also receive a professional query edit on their finalized queries, post-retreat.
The fee for the retreat, including all food and drink, an instructional seminar, workshopping, written feedback on your query letter from five peers and two professional dev editors, and an ask-us-anything Q&A session—not to mention great camaraderie and new connections—is $595.
If you’re interested in joining us, register here for a submissions package. Please note that this retreat is open only to novelists or narrative memoirists.
While we’re on Shirin-and-Lisa collaborations, Lisa and I are also teaching an eight-week course, How to Sell Your Novel for Stanford Continuing Studies, starting Monday, July 7th. The course covers writing your elevator pitch, your synopsis, and your query letter, and includes a chance to practice your pitch in front of an agent and a query coach. If you’d like to join us for that, registration is still open here.
And finally, if you missed our warm and wonderful chat with Rosa Kwon Easton last month, you’ll find a link to it here. The conversation was as relaxed and enjoyable as it was informative, due to Rosa’s great open spirit and personal generosity. Don’t miss it.
Hope to see you at any of the events above, and if not, I wish you the best of luck with your endeavors and above all, happy writing!
Shirin