Writers’ Workshop Sailing off the Turkish Coast

February 7th, 2008 | By Larry Habegger | No Comments »

Learn How to Craft a Travel Article, Write a Memoir and Publish Your Book

I’ll be leading a seven-day writers workshop on the personal travel narrative aboard a traditional 82-foot gulet (a Turkish yacht) September 20-27, 2008. Come join me!

On this seven-day intensive workshop sailing on the Aegean Sea you’ll learn the ins and outs of crafting a superb story and how to bring your work to print, whether it’s a short essay or a book-length memoir. I’ll help you develop powerful stories with simple tools and plot the course to successful publication.

For information about sailing along the ancient shores of Turkey with me, contact Robin Sparks at robin@robinsparks.com.

In this workshop you will learn how to:
• Unearth kernels of inspiration
• Find the right way in
• Create the ideal structure to give a story maximum substance and meaning
• Access memory to add depth and texture
• Use techniques of fiction to add drama and suspense
• Craft the perfect ending
• Edit to make the story a page-turner
• Develop the kind of book proposal publishers are eager to see
• Create the perfect marketing plan so your book will sell
• Write like a poet but think like a publicist

Daily writing exercises will help you find the focus of your story, and discussions will provide guidance for shaping and polishing. Participants will gain confidence about what makes a story work and how to make it shine in the marketplace. (more…)

The Nieman Conference on Narrative Journalism

February 7th, 2008 | By Larry Habegger | No Comments »

I’ll be a speaker on various topics at the Nieman Conference on Narrative Journalism in Boston March 14-16, 2008. The conference is produced by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard. I’ll be part of a panel discussion on editing titled “Behind the ‘Blue Pencil’: Editors talk about the long form” with Vanessa Mobley, Jon Marcus, and Peter Davis. I’ll also teach in the “Craft Round Robin: Small group sessions led by writers and editors” helping participants craft their work. Check out the schedule.

A Travelers’ Tales TeleWebcast

December 7th, 2007 | By Larry Habegger | No Comments »

Travelers’ Tales is doing something fun for its book, Antarctica: Life on the Ice. Working with Cheryl McLaughlin at 360 Book Buzz we’re producing a Virtual Book Tour with the cornerstone being a LIVE FROM ANTARCTICA TeleWebcast with writer and editor Susan Fox Rogers and contributors penguinologist David Ainley, IT expert Karen Joyce, and researcher Katy Jensen, who will be joining in LIVE FROM ANTARCTICA. This free TeleWebcast will happen Dec. 13 at 5 p.m. PST. Take this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to put your questions about this fascinating, forbidden place to these Antarctica experts. Register now to be a part of this free TeleWebcast (you can participate through the web or through any phone). Click here http://www.SusanFoxRogersBookTour.com.

Lit Crawl in San Francisco on Saturday Night, Oct. 13

October 11th, 2007 | By Larry Habegger | No Comments »

I’ll be MCing a powerhouse literary travel evening—Border Crossings: Travel Writers Share Stories of Adventure—on Saturday, Oct. 13 in San Francisco’s Mission District during Lit Crawl, part of the annual Litquake festival. Performers will include authors and TT contributors Richard Sterling, Tanya Shaffer, Ken Matusow, and Lucy Jane Bledsoe, and author Georgeanne Brennan. The show begins at 6 p.m. at Casanova Lounge, 527 Valencia Street (between 16th and 17th Streets). Other lively events will follow. This is the fourth year of the crawl and features more than 200 authors reading in 35 venues. For the full schedule, see the Litquake website.