"Crafting a Great Story" panel

Now that the fabulous 2010 Get Lit! Festival is over, the team at Get Lit! thought we'd take some time to reflect on a few of the amazing events held this year.

One of the first events of the festival this faithful intern attended was the "Crafting a Great Story" panel, which featured Janet Fitch, Kevin Canty, Lore Segal and Lisa Norris, and was moderated by Laura Read, instructor at SFCC.

The four panelists each read a sample of their work and then opened things up for questions to the audience at large. Many community members were in attendance as well as SFCC, EWU and other college students, and the questions ranged from "Where do you get your ideas for novels?" to specific questions about plot, character and getting published.

Both Kevin Canty and Janet Fitch agreed that the process of writing a piece can stretch over a very long time period. Canty informed the audience that he is currently working on four novels (!?!) at the same time, and informed everyone that he didn't publish his first story until age 40. Fitch expressed a similar journey, describing how she decided to be a writer at age 21 "before she'd written anything," she joked, and from that point it took her ten years to get her first story published.

The panelists also agreed that much of their best work had come out of pieces they'd originally envisioned being much shorter. Fitch's novels Paint it Black and White Oleander, she told the audience, both grew out of short stories, and Lore Segal explained how sometimes you have to let the piece determine its own length.

Each author expressed a different way of approaching their work, but they all agreed on the importance of having someone you can trust to read your work and provide honest feedback. Fitch and Canty both cautioned against using a family member, while Norris countered that she has successfully relied on her spouse to be her first reader throughout her career.

Throughout, all the panelists were friendly, kind, funny and open. They joked with each other and with the audience, but answered each question earnestly and thoroughly. During a break halfway through as well as after the panel, each author was approached by audience members who had another question or just wanted to shake hands. One SFCC student took a self-portrait of himself and Lore Segal using his IPhone while a local writer chatted with Lisa Norris. A few students eagerly held out books for Janet Fitch to sign while Kevin Canty thanked a student for their praise of the short story he'd just read.

Overall the panel was a resounding success! The auditorium was full of eager listeners, the audience asked well-meaning questions and hearing each author read a snippet of their work before beginning the discussion was so interesting. I left the panel feeling inspired by each writer's commitment to their work and relieved that these confident, successful authors had struggled as young writers. Gives the rest of us a little hope!

Festival Wrap-Up

What a fantastic lineup we had for the festival this year! Thank you to all of our authors, organizers, volunteers, supporters and attendees.

Just a few thoughts on the slew of amazing events this intern was able to attend:

Selected Shorts: Hearing Isaiah Sheffer in person was incredible. James Noughton and Susanna Thompson, both accomplished performers, were the other readers and the audience was entirely enamored with all of them. The stories, revolving around the theme of "Fatherhood" included selections by John Updike, Roald Dahl and Maxine Swann.

Richard Russo/Jess Walter: If you didn't make it to this event, you've probably already been told, but you missed out. Big time. Russo and Walter, longtime friends, had a packed house at the Bing Crosby Theater rolling in the aisles. Walter read a hilarious short story, as yet unpublished, which he explained came out of a writing exercise between he and Sherman Alexie, while Russo read from his latest novel, That Old Cape Magic. The two bantered back and forth, discussed screenwriting as well as novel writing and answered extensive questions from the audience. When the evening finally ended, everyone exiting the building was still smiling and laughing.

In Conversation with Janet Fitch: This headlining event at the Bing Crosby Theater was also a tremendous success. Fitch read from Paint it Black and then settled into an onstage question & answer period with a moderator. The setup seemed perfect for Fitch, whose conversational style drew the audience in and made the event feel very intimate. Her honest opinions and self-deprecating humor made for an engaging event, and she also took various questions from the audience after the onstage Q&A. There was quite the line for book signings afterward, that's for sure. You can check out her blog here.

Those are just some initial thoughts on the fantastic events attended by this intern! Keep checking back for more information on next year's equally amazing lineup!

Check out what authors Janet Fitch, Ana Maria Spagna and Susan Rich thought by visiting their blogs!