SCWW Conference - Special Labor Day Weekend Offer

By Ginny Padgett

2012 SCWW Conference – October 19-21 – Myrtle Beach

It’s that time of year again. School is back in session, football returns to fan-filled stadia and South Carolina Writers’ Workshop holds its annual conference.

Here’s the latest conference news. The early-bird registration rate ended yesterday (September 1), but if you register by September 15 and email me at ginnypadgett@sc.rr.com and tell me you saw this blog, I will extend the $50.00 discount. Additionally, I’ll extend the deadline for purchasing a manuscript critique to September 15.

Registration remains open until October 17; however, you’ll pay full price and only pitch and query-letter critique appointments remain for sale.

I hope you’ll join us for the conference. It’s an excellent opportunity to network with other writers and industry professionals, hone your craft, expand your knowledge of publishing trends…and who knows, come away with a book deal! It’s going to be a great weekend for writers in South Carolina.

Take a look at the weekend activities that will mark the 22nd SCWW Conference. (See http://columbiawritersworkshop.blogspot.com/search/label/Ginny%20Padgett) You can go to www.myscww.org/conference/ for all the information, including links to registering for the conference and making your Hilton reservations.

SCWW Conference, October 19-21, Hilton Myrtle Beach Resort, Save the Date!

By Ginny Padgett

This year I am the Conference Chair for the SCWW Conference. For those of you who don’t know, the SCWW Conference has a national reputation for excellence. It features a faculty of about 20 well-placed agents, editors, and authors from NYC and around the country. I’d like to invite you to take part and enhance your writing and marketing skills.

Friday sessions are three-hour intensives, an add-on to regular conference registration. Also on Friday, premium critique appointments are scheduled. This year Intensive topics include social networking, self publishing vs. traditional, breaking into the world of publishing, book pregnant – now you have a book deal, what do you do next? Some of these seminars will be led by SCWW’s own: Mike Long, JM Kelly, Fred Fields, Carrie McCullough, Hope Clark, Maureen Sherbondy, Brenda Remmes, to name a few.          

On Saturday, the day is filled with 45-minute sessions lead by faculty members; in addition, purchased Real Time Query and Pitch appointments are scheduled. A general SCWW membership meeting will be held during the lunch break. Saturday evening there is a booking-signing event during cocktail hour. At dinner, this year’s keynote speaker is PATTI CALLAHAN HENRY, NYT BEST-SELLING AUTHOR.

Each evening every dinner table is hosted by at least one member of the faculty; this is a great networking opportunity -- not to mention the cocktail hour on Friday and Saturday evenings. The atmosphere is relaxed and friendly, and the faculty is approachable and receptive.

Sunday’s sessions end at noon. The Silent Auction (a lot of people do their holiday shopping here!) ends about 10:00.

Last year, the SCWW Conference was rated as the #1 in the country by at least one independent web search. Come see what the buzz is about. Registration opens June 1 at www.myscww.org. Take advantage of the Early-Bird registration rates, and make your room reservations by September 1 to insure a SCWW special room rate from the Hilton and help SCWW fill it’s room-block requirement for free meeting space.

If you have any questions, email me at ginnypadgett@sc.rr.com.

I hope to see you there 

Writing as Catharsis

By Ginny Padgett

I think many writers benefit from the catharsis of writing. In fact, it’s probably a driving force for some. Recently, I made an interesting discovery about myself.

An upsetting incident presented itself to me; a dear family member was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease. I couldn’t seem to tame the raw emotions that continued to wash over me. I hate being in that kind of emotional state and I wanted relief. My Muse spoke to me! Go write about it…in a POEM. I didn’t question the directive, but I was surprised because poetry is not my preferred writing genre.

I sat down at the computer and an hour later I had a poem I called “Elastic Love,” and I had left all the emotion on the page. I’m not saying how good it was, but it did the trick for me.

A few weeks later, another situation arose carrying the baggage of unpleasant emotion; a frustrating conversation with a friend who continually spouts a negative outlook. This time I didn’t hesitate. I felt a poem coming on. Again I had success…restored equilibrium and a poem I dubbed “Human Appliances.”

This is what surprises me. I don’t derive the same kind of catharsis from writing prose as I do poetry. I guess if I were to analyze this I could come up with a hypothesis to explain this phenomenon, but I don’t care. It works for me. I probably won’t submit these poems for publication, but I do enjoy reading them occasionally.

I am curious to know if you’ve discovered unexpected benefits from your own creative endeavors. Leave a comment.

The Games We Play

By Ginny Padgett

When our writer’s group gathers every few months for a social evening, three standards mark the meeting: 1) good food; 2) camaraderie; 3) a writing exercise.

At our most recent soiree we were asked to write an opening for a story. The prompt to that exercise follows in bold face; my paragraphs ensue.

This activity really massaged my creative muscle, so I challenge you to use the prompt and, as our host Alex Raley said to us, “…see where it leads.”



“Mr. Witherspoon, a Susan Matthews is on line one for you.”

“Okay, thank you.”

Bill closed the office door and pressed the line one button. “Susan, I told you never to call me at the office.”

“Bill, we have to talk. Can you meet me for lunch?”

Bill hesitated for a moment before responding, “I’ll pick you up in twenty minutes beside the dry cleaners on the corner two blocks from your office. We still need to be discreet.”

After returning the handset to the phone, Bill took a key from his briefcase and unlocked the bottom desk drawer. Retrieving a Sig-Sauer P232, he tucked it into the waistband at the back of his gray flannel pants. He donned the single-breasted jacket and went into his private bathroom.

The full-length mirror assured him his weapon didn’t disturb the svelte lines of his $2,000 suit. He leaned forward to study his face and then concentrated on relaxing the tense muscles that showed the stress from the last two weeks. Taking a cleansing breath, he tried on several smiles until he found one that would convey trustworthiness and compassion to Susan.

Locking his office door behind him and then turning toward his assistant’s desk, he said, “Elaine, please cancel all my appointments for the rest of the day. The assisted living facility where my mother lives just called. She’s suffered another stroke and I need to go to her right away.”

“Sure thing, Mr. Witherspoon. I’m so sorry. If I can do anything, just ask. Don’t worry about anything here.”

“Thanks, Elaine. I appreciate your concern,” he said as he strode toward the reception area and the elevators beyond.

Writers

By Ginny Padgett

Recently I was asked, “Who is your favorite writer?”

“William Faulkner,” was my quick, word-association answer. I do think that is always the most accurate answer.

Afterwards, I asked myself if that answer was really accurate. After a brief mental review I came up with my three favorite authors: William Faulkner, Lillian Hellman and John Cheever.

Then I asked myself if that list was accurate. (I guess I talk to myself quite a lot!) After all, it had been quite a while since I had read any of them. So I embarked on a reading adventure.

I began with what I thought to be my all-time favorite book by my all-time favorite writer, Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury. Yes, it still tops my list. His writing and characters are as rich and fecund as the Mississippi land he immortalized.

I read The Sound and the Fury for the first time in my late teens. It was the experience that dropped me to my knees to worship at the feet of the novelist and his calling. The skill of transporting a reader through space and time to that of the writer’s choosing via a bit of ink and moldy paper seemed like alchemy. That first reading impelled me toward writing.

Next I read Pentimento: A Book of Portraits, by renowned playwright Lillian Hellman. Superb! Probably my all-time favorite passage comes from this book. It’s a description of what the word pentimento means, which is an artist’s alteration in a painting. If you’re not familiar with this beautiful language, I urge you to seek out this book to see for yourself what a prose poet Hellman is!

Then, I read all of John Cheever’s short stories, for which he is most famous. I began with a slim volume entitled Thirteen Uncollected Stories by John Cheever. I discovered the reason they had remained uncollected for so long! I next launched into The Stories of John Cheever, a 700-page tome of beautifully crafted, laser-sharp commentaries of post-WWII middle-class America.

The adage about the power of the pen is as true as ever. In my opinion, the exigency to write should be the eighth addition to Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Seven Basic Needs. Man has been compelled to record his experiences and their impact on the world around him since prehistoric times. Writing is what makes us human; that’s why we have opposable thumbs, for goodness sake…to hold a writing tool!

Writers hold up a mirror for self-examination. Writers grind the lens to sharpen our myopic vision. Writers have the power to change lives. Writers are gods among mortals.

So, now I’ll ask the question of you, “Who is your favorite writer?”

Ginny Padgett

I’m a 58-year-old South Carolina native, married with two grown sons and have a degree in advertising and public relations from USC. I’ve worked as a copywriter for a television station in Savannah, several ad agencies in South Carolina and Georgia, as well as doing some free-lance work here and there. Recently, I’ve done a little technical writing on a free-lance basis. I’ve taught piano lessons and worked as a pre-school teacher when my boys were small. The largest part of my adult life has been spent in the nurture of my children, the most important job I’ve ever had.

I wrote my first play when I was 12 years old. It received poor reviews from my cousins. “She’s dead in the garden!” is an infamous line from a scene that is still remembered at family reunions. I started a TV screenplay right after college, but I didn’t develop my idea. A few years later, I was astounded when The Golden Girls debuted. That was the premise of my screenplay. Over the years, I’ve started several novels and dismissed them as rubbish.

2010 was a big year for me. I had an essay read at "The Devine Art of Survival," a dance performance by UNBOUND Dance Company (seen in Columbia and in Charleston at the Piccolo Art Festival). I also had an essay and short story published in The Petigru Review.