SCWC Blog
A.I. Assist: Space Toilets and Exoplanets
September 26, 2023
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Today’s guest blogger is Ryan K. Hunter, a technologist and AI engineer with a diverse career spanning twenty years. He debuted his “AI, The Writer: Pitfalls, Potential, Practices” workshop at our recent Irvine event. This article is cross-posted from: RKHunter.net Before we div
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The Why of Writing
March 12, 2023
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There’s a scene in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1972 The Godfather in which semi-retired mafia don Vito Corleone discloses to Michael, now reluctant acting-head of the family business, what aspirations he had for his son … VITO: I never wanted this for you. I lived my own life. I don’t apol
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What the SCWC Can Do for You
October 13, 2022
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Unlike conferences aimed solely to lure as many aspiring authors as possible with big-name superstars far removed from the realities new writers today face trying to break into an increasingly fickle publishing world, or with agents & editors who participate only on the condition
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6 Ways Running a Marathon is Like Writing a Novel
October 26, 2020
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Today’s guest blogger is Rick Ochocki, longtime associate, now associate director, of the SCWC. 450,000 people started a novel for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) in 2018, and 53,000 entered the Winner’s Circle, writing at least 50,000 new words of an original work of fiction
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A Chrissie Story
July 11, 2020
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Christine Ann Barnett died early on a Friday evening, June of 2020, in the thick of a plague from which she was mercifully spared. Co-director of the Southern California Writers’ Conference, she was petrified of dying. Her word, petrified. When she told me over the phone, from a hospi
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Don’t Be A Deer In The Headlights
August 04, 2019
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Today’s guest blogger is Jean Jenkins, a co-founder of the SCWC, consultant to writers and freelance editor with over 25 years of editorial expertise placing clients with major publishers in both the U.S. and abroad. “The hardest part is the individual meetings,” an agent once told me
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Better Know a Workshop Leader: Matthew J. Pallamary
June 25, 2019
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SCWC Content and Social Media Manager Lacey Impellizeri profiles multiple award-winning author Matthew J. Pallamary. LI: How long have you been writing? What is your experience in the industry? Did you ever expect to become an author and what is your favorite part of being an author?
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What I Couldn’t Say the Night Before
March 02, 2018
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[View roast video highlights.] I think it only apt that on the occasion of my 30th Southern California Writers’ Conference *San Diego I should lose my voice. In the screenwriting world we like to explain that, good dialogue is the verbiage you wake up in the morning wishing you’d said
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Who Are You Writing For and Why?
August 28, 2017
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Was reading a book, a “summer read” many would call it, devoid of epic themes or turgid prose, or need of a thesaurus within reach. Generally a fast, breezy romp, a summer read is a simple story simply told. In this case: Boy meets girl. Girl loves boy. Boy and girl are forced to work
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A Book Worth Writing
November 14, 2016
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So often it is we judge literary success only by the quality of our rejection – Hey, they spelled my name right on the rejection letter! – that it’s easy to lose faith in one’s path to publication. In and of itself, even publication won’t guarantee less rejection from book critics and
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Give the Reader a Reason
March 29, 2016
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Why? It’s the most important question in writing; the one I hear most during the run-up to a conference. Usually it’s about material going to advance submission readers. “Why can I only submit the first 10 or 15 pages of my manuscript?” I’m asked. “Why not more?” Fair questions. Warra
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Executive Director Michael Steven Gregory • Director Janis Thomas •
Co-Director Rick Ochocki • Associate Linda Ochocki • Copyright © 1996-2024 SCWC, a division of Random Cove, ie