Nathan Bransford - The Forums

Cookie wrote:I got some people I'm working on.

That would be me. Sorry for being so late to this party, everyone, but I've been crazy busy these past few weeks. After taking a year off of school, adjusting back is proving to be a bit harder than expected...

dios4vida wrote:Norse mythos absolutely fascinates me.

I'll do my best not to let you down! Assuming I'm the one who ends up covering it, of course.

Hi everyone!

A bit of big-picture talk here.

We currently have 14 session ideas listed, most with volunteers to moderate said subjects. Since we're talking about four and a half days in Vegas, two sessions a day, but at least an afternoon or even a whole day off for touristy stuff/on-your-own-or-with-a-partner writing or critiquing, that means we have more ideas than available time slots.

Below are the sessions that have been mentioned up to this point (I think I got them all - please feel free to add more if I forgot some!). Please pick your top 8 and post them below. We'll use the results to plan what will take up those valuable workshop slots!

Meet ‘n’ Greet
Story (no leader)
Character Development
Dialogue
Prose/Description
Revisions/Editing
Social Networking (no leader)
Writer Tools and Technology
Insecurities Roundtable
Book Share Roundtable
Critique Groups
Query Workshops (encompassing tag lines, elevator pitches, etc.)
Mythology
Self-Publishing
Other (please specify)

Meet ‘n’ Greet
Dialogue
Prose/Description
Writer Tools and Technology
Critique Groups
Query Workshops (encompassing tag lines, elevator pitches, etc.)
Mythology
Self-Publishing

Here are my votes:

Meet ‘n’ Greet
Dialogue
Character Development
Revisions/Editing
Critique Groups
Query Workshops (encompassing tag lines, elevator pitches, etc.)
Mythology
Self-Publishing

I figure the "book sharing" will happen anyway, even without a formal session on it. Thanks for keeping this organized - let me know how/if I can help.

All right, let's see!

Meet 'n Greet
Character Development
Prose/Description
Revision/Editing
Critique Groups
Insecurities Roundtable
Mythology
Self-Publishing

dios4vida wrote:Hi everyone!

A bit of big-picture talk here.

We currently have 14 session ideas listed, most with volunteers to moderate said subjects. Since we're talking about four and a half days in Vegas, two sessions a day, but at least an afternoon or even a whole day off for touristy stuff/on-your-own-or-with-a-partner writing or critiquing, that means we have more ideas than available time slots.

Below are the sessions that have been mentioned up to this point (I think I got them all - please feel free to add more if I forgot some!). Please pick your top 8 and post them below. We'll use the results to plan what will take up those valuable workshop slots!

Meet ‘n’ Greet
Story (no leader)
Character Development
Dialogue
Prose/Description
Revisions/Editing
Social Networking (no leader)
Writer Tools and Technology
Insecurities Roundtable
Book Share Roundtable
Critique Groups
Query Workshops (encompassing tag lines, elevator pitches, etc.)
Mythology
Self-Publishing
Other (please specify)

I'm not sure if I am going to be able to come still, but in the event that I can, here are my choices:

Meet and Greet
Query Workshops
Characterization
Story (will this include pacing?)
Prose/Description
Self Publishing
Revisions/Editing
Critique Groups

Here are my picks:

Character development
Dialogue
Prose/ description
Mythology
Writer tools and technology
Critique groups
Revisions/ editing
Query Workshop

Okay, here's the current tally (including my votes):

Critique Groups 6
Query Workshops (encompassing tag lines, elevator pitches, etc.) 5
Meet ‘n’ Greet 5
Character Development 5
Prose/Description 5
Revisions/Editing 5
Dialogue 4
Mythology 4
Self-Publishing 4
Writer Tools and Technology 2
Insecurities Roundtable 2
Story (no leader) 1
Social Networking (no leader) 0
Book Share Roundtable 0 (the general consensus is that this will happen no matter what)
Other (please specify) 0

WE'RE STILL TAKING VOTES!!! If you haven't put in your input, please do! The more people we can get to vote, the better the BransforumFest will be for everyone!

Can someone give me an idea of what we mean by "Story" as a session? Like theme, outlining/planning, and more conceptual level discussions of our stories, or something more specific?

I didn't include Meet and greet because I figured if push came to shove and I needed to name one more session, I'd want it to be on writing. We can meet and greet ourselves over meals and shopping/drinking/lounging.

Story (no leader)
Character Development
Prose/Description
Revisions/Editing
Social Networking (no leader)
Writer Tools and Technology
Insecurities Roundtable
Critique Groups

trixie wrote:Can someone give me an idea of what we mean by "Story" as a session? Like theme, outlining/planning, and more conceptual level discussions of our stories, or something more specific?

Well, that's the problem with that session. It was mentioned, but no one has stepped forward with concrete suggestions of what to include or how to lead it. Right now it's just an idea that someone mentioned. If it ranks in the top spots, we'll have to rustle up a volunteer and some ideas for it.

Okay guys, I guess this is about all of the votes we'll collect (WE WILL STILL ACCEPT VOTES!!). The top 6 finalists are:

Critique Groups
Character Development
Prose/Description
Revisions/Editing
Meet ‘n’ Greet
Query Workshops (encompassing tag lines, elevator pitches, etc.)

There are two remaining spots (maybe - once we get a schedule set we'll adjust the actual number, so there may be more or fewer sessions) and a three-way tie for them. NEW VOTE!!! Which two sessions of the following would you prefer to attend:

Dialogue
Mythology
Self-Publishing

Hup! Just in time, it seems. Sorry I'm late.

I can agree with five of the six top choices, but can't meet n' greet be done in its own time, like before we even begin the workshops? I agree with Trixie here--why establish an entire workshop slot for it if we can do it another time? It's fine either way I suppose (plus I'm still not sure if I can attend--working on it).

As for the last three, I'd vote for Mythology and Self-Publishing. The first because it's fun (and I may be one of the people running it...) and the second because I'm still on the fence about it.

this is a toughie. I am going to go with mythology and dialogue.

dialogue and self-pub.

Dialogue and Self-publishing get my votes, too.