writing camp

yeah...I know...it's taken me a while to write about "writing camp" this year - between the heatwave and "real life" I haven't had much time to find my brain since I got back...& some of you have already read this in emails I sent so just skip those parts...& the rest of the oregon trip will be documented with photos asap too...day 1 started out with a mimosa and an all-fruit smoothie laden brunch, getting a sunburn on a friend of a friends' deck with a lovely view of some factory straddling the willamette...no idea what neighborhood I was in since I was only a guest & not driving...then back to my friend b & k's house where I did my final packing, tried to get relief from the heat, said goodbye to k & her beautiful kids & then off to Reed w/b. driving. skipping the boring paying too much money for bad housing & worse food part, I'll just dive into our first workshop meeting during which I took no decipherable notes except "read first page" and "synopses - 1 minute", a list by day & name of who was being workshopped each day & the pages we would be focusing on in each piece...that's it for day one...oops...then off to cocktail hour, the first of many bad meals...apparently variety isn't in Reed chef's vocabulary...then time for another beer & a reading during which I took no notes either[8:00 pm Lorrie Moore Reading—interview with Elissa Schappell]...My actual notes begin with "Swofford - Monday 7/10...voice & tone...structure - how story is being told; why is the writer telling this story, narrative life vs. real life, narrative drive...meaning, sense & clarity (all underlined)...Christina Asquith "The Emergency Teacher", Rob Wilder "Daddy Needs a Drink", William Gass...then we broke for lunch...next up "The Editors Panel" described in the schedule as "GETTING INTO PRINT: Tin House Editors When asked about early attempts at publishing, many accomplished writers mention filling desk drawers or papering walls with form rejections before achieving an initial acceptance of their work. Learning how best and where to submit your work often comes after years of careful reading and continued effort. In this panel, the editors of Tin House magazine and Tin House Books offer emerging writers a rare opportunity to learn about the process from the publishing side of things. "...basically a repeat of last year's editors panel - my notes from this panel read: "Non Fiction & literary pilgrimage" "Tin House Books submissions - 50 pages, synopses & outline help" "Small Spiral Notebook - Fiction, The Canary & Jubalot - Poetry" "Santa Monica Review" and "that man sure has ugly shoes!"...next up was the Agents panel which was less then helpful overall during which we learned that the memoir is dead, last year's comment was repeated that agents are now editors (a disturbing thought if one's agent has more of a sales than literary background) & many other wonderful things...my notes read only, "James Frey - the Enron of Memoir" and "ideal query letter"...apparently they didn't say much I cared about...here's the description on the schedule: "THE AGENT GAME: Finding an agent to represent your work can be a time-consuming and hair-raising endeavor. Ideally, the relationship between agent and author is both professional and personal, providing a writer with much-needed support and encouragement. In this seminar, New York agents talk about what writers should know before seeking representation and offer unique insight into their profession.Panel with Sarah Burnes, Liz Farrell, Betsy Lerner, and Ira Silverberg" 7/10 reading - took no notes...reading with Karen Karbo, Elissa Schappell, Dorothy Allison...both Karbo & Schapell were good...Dorothy Allison was wonderful as per usual. All writers should be this good at reading their work.