Surviving Your First Novel

[selfpublish]

I propose a possible two-part discussion:

First Draft Chaos (discovering your actual story, deciding when to trust your reader, and experimenting with characters and alternate points of view

Revising in the Wilderness (even with a “settled” plot and flow, dealing with the challenge of yielding to unexpected fresh ideas vs being disciplined to stick to your plan, and the role of early readers and coaches).

Bio:
I am slated to facilitate a roundtable on these topics at a summer workshop in Ohio, so Cuesta will have the benefit of a road test. I am one of America’s “oldest emerging writers” at 76 with my ability to ask stimulating questions very much intact, and a keen interest in giving writers a setting in which to be fearless.

I was very active in the Santa Barbara Writers Conference before it’s demise from Covid. I am helping facilitate a workshop at Thurber House in Columbus (Writing What Scares You) and presenting to a class on Leadership at Ohio State University the following day.