Worth Getting Up For

I had to get up at 5 am on Friday and Saturday to get to the LDS Storymakers boot camp on time. I don't get up at 5 am. Ever. That's the middle of the night as far as I'm concerned. (My husband gets up at 5 almost everyday. That's insane, but he has a long commute.) I wanted to do the boot camp, though, a critique group led by a professional author. How could I pass that up? So, I dragged myself out of bed at 5 am, and arrived at the conference at 7 in the morning, when I am normally still asleep.

It was terrific. So worth getting up early for. Our instructor was Dan Wells, author of I Am Not a Serial Killer.  He also does the Writing Excuses podcast with Brandon Sanderson and Howard Tayler. Wow. I was so excited to learn he would be our instructor. Ordinarily, the thought of reading my own writing out-loud in front of an author I respect and admire would turn me into a jittery ball of nervousness. I probably wouldn't be able to talk. But that wasn't the case this time. Yes, I know the reason for this (thank you, Tracy.) Anyway, the other members of the table were Devon, Terra, Shallee, and Luisa. We took turns reading pages from our chapters and then giving each other feedback. I really loved how Dan made us feel that all of our comments and thoughts were valuable. He acted like just another critiquer and not the big know-it-all author. That really put me at ease. I got some great feedback about what worked and what didn't in the first chapter of my current project. It was valuable for me to know how the book is working as a sequel with people who have never read the first book. It seems like I really can make it stand on its own, which is what I hope for. I only got about 6 or 7 pages critiqued, but it was well-worth it. It was worth getting up at 5 am for. I would do it again in a heartbeat. In fact, I plan on doing it next year. I think I might get myself a hotel room this time, though. Then I won't have to get up until 6. :)