From The End of the Book: Writing in a Changing World
by Mariana Damon, Marnette Graff, Nina Romano, Lauren Small, and Melissa Westemeier
Don’t you love books? There’s nothing like cracking open the spine of a new book, releasing the smell of fresh ink into the air, fingering the crisp pages and glossy cover, wondering what kind of secrets and surprises await you.
For people who write, books are more than just a pleasure. They’re the dream of a lifetime. Even beginning writers can envision their finished book: the cover design, their photo on the back flap, the size of their name on the front, the blurb by Jodi Picoult attesting to the brilliance of their work. They imagine their work for sale in bookstores, speaking about it on Oprah, seeing strangers in the airport reading it.
Yet in the face of this fantasy, books are becoming an endangered species. Independent bookstores are closing by the dozens, major chains are filing for bankruptcy, publishers are going out of business. Fiction is among the hardest hit. If you’ve ever tried to get a novel published, you know how difficult it has become. It feels as if you have a better chance of getting hit by lightning than finding an agent. And even writers with agents can’t strike a deal to get their manuscripts in print.
Have we reached the end of the book?
While it’s true the old publishing model has gone the way of the rotary phone, the hunger for good writing and compelling stories remains unchanged. The desire to write seems only to grow stronger, with more and more people sitting down to put their ideas into words. New technology serves the emerging writer’s quest to reach an audience: print on demand services, websites, blogs. There’s even a whole genre of cell phone novels, with Twitter ones on the way.
These new options offer solutions—and create a host of problems. How can writers know which medium is best for them? Should they become bloggers? Create a website? Is it better to publish in online journals or in old-fashioned paper-and-ink? Meanwhile writers struggle with the same questions that have bedeviled storytellers for centuries: How can I improve my craft? Reach an audience? Sustain my writing life in the months—or years ahead—until my work is done? Will I ever reach the end of my book?
These problems faced five writers who signed up for a writing workshop at the University of Iowa in the summer of 2004. Faced with the challenges of a changing world, they decided to break out of the old workshop model and create their own. The result was Screw Iowa!, an independent writers group dedicated to helping writers hone their skills, connect with readers, and—most important of all—keep on writing. Since 2004, individual members of the Screw Iowa! writing group have:
· published a poetry collection—with a second one on the way
· completed an MFA
· founded a press
· published a novel
· established thriving blogs
· presented at conferences
· taught writing workshops
· founded "Writers Read"
· created websites
· published short stories, essays, and poems in print and online journals
And finally, written this handbook to share their method with the world.
How can you be successful in a changing world? The answer is by connecting, working with other writers who share your passion and your goals. Together writers can overcome the hurdles that face—and so often defeat—the solitary writer. In our book you will learn:
· how to find a writing group to sustain your writing life
· the values that underlie group work
· how to give—and receive—the kind of feedback writers need to edit their work
· how to overcome writer’s block
· how to find opportunities to put your writing skills to work
· the best way for you to get your work into print, from blogging to print on demand services to starting your own press
We address how to troubleshoot and resolve conflicts. We give concrete examples so that you can see how the editing process works. We advise the best way to attend a writing workshop, and guide you through the process of hosting your own. Most important of all, through our book and accompanying website, we give you the support you need to keep on writing, day after day, until you have achieved your goals.
Have we reached the end of the book? The Screw Iowa! answer is most unequivocally NO! But can you reach the end of your book? Can you find the help you need to keep on writing until your story is finished? The answer to that is a resounding YES. Come join us. Begin writing today, the Screw Iowa! way.
The End of the Book: Writing in a Changing World is now available from Bridle Path Press.
