With literary agent Donald Maass May 14th, 2016
On Saturday I had the immense pleasure of attending a workshop with the inimitable Donald Maass. He’s run his own literary agency for some twenty-six years, so he’s had plenty of time to analyze what makes writing work and what prevents it from doing so. He shared his best tips with us as we—a roomful of 100 writers, mostly from Sisters in Crime—scribbled notes as fast as we could as we attempted to keep up with him.
As he gave more and more suggestions for how to revamp scenes and make our readers care about our characters, many of us were inwardly groaning. “I didn’t say this was going make your manuscript get done faster,” he reminded us. That’s for sure! But if I can keep even a few of his principles in mind, I know I can write stronger material.
Here’s the kicker: I actually read his book about the breakout novel about a decade ago. In the fall, I started rereading it. Even though I still agreed with all the advice, I hadn’t internalized it. Hopefully the session in Phoenix will be useful.
Even though Don spoke for 7.5 hours, however, he reminded us that there was more. In fact, he runs a week-long workshop. It must be like a secret weapon! I’d better sign up as soon as possible.
As he gave more and more suggestions for how to revamp scenes and make our readers care about our characters, many of us were inwardly groaning. “I didn’t say this was going make your manuscript get done faster,” he reminded us. That’s for sure! But if I can keep even a few of his principles in mind, I know I can write stronger material.
Here’s the kicker: I actually read his book about the breakout novel about a decade ago. In the fall, I started rereading it. Even though I still agreed with all the advice, I hadn’t internalized it. Hopefully the session in Phoenix will be useful.
Even though Don spoke for 7.5 hours, however, he reminded us that there was more. In fact, he runs a week-long workshop. It must be like a secret weapon! I’d better sign up as soon as possible.
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