{"id":551,"date":"2017-03-21T10:06:59","date_gmt":"2017-03-21T17:06:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/?p=551"},"modified":"2017-05-23T10:08:06","modified_gmt":"2017-05-23T17:08:06","slug":"free-from-fiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/free-from-fiction\/","title":{"rendered":"Free from Fiction"},"content":{"rendered":"

After three years, I guess you can say I have a new tradition: Logistics Nazi for Mary Knipple<\/a><\/span>, Organizer of the Independent Editors at the San Francisco Writers Conference<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

TANGENT: \u201cLogistics Nazi\u201d is a term I came up with over a decade ago to describe my uptight coordination of something like six people to meet up in a group of over 2000. As they say, \u201cThe Devil is in the details,\u201d and sometimes you need to be a bit devilish when dealing with the details. Anyway, I like the term, so I\u2019ve kept it.<\/p>\n

Back to the point.<\/p>\n

My work at the San Francisco Writers Conference isn\u2019t particularly difficult, if you\u2019re a task oriented person with a controlling streak. Yes, I qualify. Really, all I do is make sure the people who signed up for a free editing session behave, get their eight minutes, and get out. This year I also helped with the signing up process \u2013 something I plan to rule with an iron fist next year.<\/p>\n

The other things I do are watch and listen.<\/strong><\/span> Not to the editing sessions themselves, but to the people hovering around, the other volunteers, the editors when they take a break, and whoever else might be around. And so far, I always leave the conference thinking, \u201cThank God I don\u2019t write fiction!\u201d<\/p>\n

There seems to be an angst among these people that I would find intolerable. It\u2019s a strange combination of \u201cwill they like me\u201d and \u201chow dare you think I am not masterful.\u201d I guess I have enough contradictions in my head to add this one.<\/p>\n

\"I
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0I AM A MIGHTY WRITER! \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0No, wait, what if they don’t like it?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Not everyone who attends the conference is a fiction writer, but they make up the bulk of the people I come across. And the type of non-fiction writers that do attend are still trying to get a book published, so they do still need some story telling ability if they want the book to sell.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

My writing, which I call Explanatory, is less about story and more about clarity. If anything, I avoid anything that someone could consider a plot twist.<\/p>\n

Please do not think I think at all badly about fiction writers. When I\u2019m reading for me, fiction is all I read. I am indebted to fiction writers, and a bit awed by them too.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s just that I\u2019m significantly better with existing stories than creating new ones. (Probably why I\u2019ve never been a successful liar.)<\/p>\n

Each year, I look forward to my few days of dominion and the validation that I\u2019m doing the right type of writing. Next year, I plan to have my book with me \u2013 although, the attendees are not my audience. I\u2019m not always sure who my audience is, but I do know that a bunch of people actually writing books is not it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After three years, I guess you can say I have a new tradition: Logistics Nazi for Mary Knipple, Organizer of the Independent Editors at the San Francisco Writers Conference. TANGENT: \u201cLogistics Nazi\u201d is a term I came up with over a decade ago to describe my uptight coordination of something like six people to meet […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[134,4],"tags":[35,164,165,6],"class_list":["post-551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-writing","category-writing","tag-explanatory-writing","tag-fiction-writing","tag-san-francisco-writers-conference","tag-writing-2"],"yoast_head":"\nFree from Fiction - Tora Writing<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/free-from-fiction\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Free from Fiction - Tora Writing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"After three years, I guess you can say I have a new tradition: Logistics Nazi for Mary Knipple, Organizer of the Independent Editors at the San Francisco Writers Conference. 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