Day 5 Wayward Wormhole writing retreat is in the books! (Get it, “books?” Nerdy novelist joke.) Today was a long day with no nap, but full of learning, networking like a grown up, and laughs.
Offered by Cat Rambo’s Academy for Wayward Writers, these retreats are a once-in-a-lifetime (for me, most likely) opportunity to really stretch myself as a writer and a person disinclined to speak to other people. These festivities are taking place in Oistins, Barbados.
Morning Workshop on Opening Lines
I knew where and when I was supposed to be this morning, and we tried a new route to the venue that didn’t involve dodging vehicular traffic on the busy thoroughfare. Much nicer.
Karen Lord meet with all eight of us to dig deeply into what makes opening lines effective. While we want to get the reader into the story quickly, the writer doesn’t have to crash a car to do so. The opening need to be both engaging and information packed, convening setting, character identity and relationships, and the narrative voice.
Sociological Fiction
Karen also gave an interesting talk on sociological fiction, which actually fed nicely into the opening lines discussion. Sociological fiction is a way to think about world building that emphasis the interplay of history, public issues, and person problems for characters. It is not unique to any genre or style of writing, but does elevate any story to which it is applied.
We packed up sandwiches for lunch, and I ate in the hummingbird garden. The hummingbird resists photos, though. The consensus is that it was this guy, Green-throated Carib.
Meanwhile, enjoy yourself with my latest novel, The Talking Cure.
“The Talking Cure is a marvelous story—an Agatha Christie-style murder mystery infused with a strong sense of the Weird… and a hearty dose of magic on the side. It’s ideal for all fans of the sinister, the surprising, and the strange.”—Cherie Priest, award-winning author of Boneshaker
Find The Talking Cure at these fine locations:
Left Bank Books in St. Louis
Do you prefer an explosive opening to story? Or something quieter? Comment on the blog.
If you enjoyed this blog about the writing craft, you might like to read about Conflict, Crisis, and Climax.
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Wolfhearted is also available as an Audible audiobook, here.
Earlier this year, St. Louis Writers Guild published Weird STL, an anthology celebrate the strange, spooky, and just plain wonderful stories of our hometown. This volume of short stories, poems, a play, and essays includes a Sean Joye universe short story, “Big Magick.” Joseph Arwald, one of the baddies from The Big Cinch, tells us what really happened to the Ferris Wheel from the St. Louis 1904 World’s Fair.
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The direct link to review Wolfhearted on Amazon is here, The Resurrectionist, here, and Water of Life, here. Thanks in advance.