Last year, Deborah King asked me to be one of the two All-Genre instructors at the amazing Novel-in-Progress Bookcamp. Years before, I had presented a workshop on characters and sat on a publishing panel. But being an instructor meant teaching an eighty-minute workshop every day for five days, supplementing what my co-instructor taught, critiquing my students, and socializing during meals and other events with campers.

Generally after presenting one workshop, I’m beat. Could I do an entire week?

Of course, I told Deborah I would do it. I was honored, and it was a great opportunity.

In the months leading up to Bookcamp, I’d fallen into a life I really love. Writing in coffee shops, playing pickle ball, attending neighborhood events, babysitting my grandson, splashing with family in my condo’s pool. But, with Bookcamp starting on June 21st, I had to devote most of June preparing my lessons and had to cancel some gatherings. What was I thinking?

Nerves

And then in the days leading up to Bookcamp the nerves hit. I love teaching almost as much as I love writing and rarely get nervous. But I’d never been to the Siena Retreat Center in Racine (on Lake Michigan), so I didn’t know what to expect. Also, I was co-teaching with someone I’d only met through Zoom. Would we click?

When I arrived Sunday afternoon, I reconnected with old friends and met new ones. Writers are so easy to talk to. Simply ask them about their current work-in-progress, and they’ll happily tell you all about the dangers they’ve put their protagonist through.

That night, I met with my students and co-instructor. We immediately clicked. Okay, so far, so good.

Inspiring Writers

Monday morning, the technology actually worked for my Keynote presentation on main characters—one less thing to worry about. Lynn Pauly, Crystal Frost, and Jeff Mason were attentive students, eager to learn. And Christina Marrocco, my co-instructor, was supportive and complimented my writing style and topic with hers on secondary characters.

We gave Lynn, Crystal, and Jeff homework for next day’s scene and setting workshop—write scenes that we’d like to see in their novels. They were excited to get to it. On Tuesday, they read us their scenes. The results were amazing.

Exceptional students, exceptional writers

But teaching was more than my ability to present the information clearly. Because I’d read my students’ pages, I knew what issues they had and what I needed to focus on. This was a first for me. In the past, I’d present on some topic of craft or book business to a room filled with strangers with little to no idea the level of their writing.

Lynn, Crystal, and Jeff made it easy. I’d never encountered beginning novelists with this level of sophisticated writing. Not only that, they were open to receiving comments and taking them into consideration. And they were respectful of one another, genuinely taking an interest in each other’s stories. They were a joy to work with.

Trivia Night, Slush Pile, Short Story Contests, Live Lit

In addition to our morning sessions, others taught craft workshops (dramatic tension and setting, feel vs. show vs. tell, action scenes, and more), agents presented on query letters, and book coaches met with their students. At night, we competed in Trivia Night, listened to an agent panel commenting on a query slush pile, listened to the stories that won contests, and participated in a Live Lit event.

At mealtimes, discussions were varied and intense. During one lunch, I sat with a group who was deciding who at Bookcamp was most likely to survive a Hunger Games-like challenge. My name didn’t come up.

Inspiring Myself

By Wednesday, I knew I’d return next year if the directors of Bookcamp give me that opportunity. I also understood why I taught. Yes, it’s a lot of work, but it’s so incredibly rewarding helping writers achieve their dream of completing their first novel. There’s nothing else like it.

All-Genre Dream Team

The five of us in our All-Genre Workshop bonded quickly. In the afternoons, we grabbed chai teas and coffee at the Mocha Lisa Coffeehouse. In the evenings, we dined at two local restaurants (I had no idea Racine has such a pretty marina) and grabbed drinks at the Mosquito Inn before Trivia Night.

We’ve kept in touch via texts, and are looking forward to finding more inspiration at our first writing retreat in October!

Come See Me

On Sunday, July 19th, I’m selling books at the Kenosha Book Festival, 5031 7th Ave., Kenosha, WI. It’s a terrific event with lots of vendors hosted by local bookstore Studio Moonfall (right across the street from the Festival. See you there!