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2006-08-10 - 10:43 p.m. So, a couple weeks ago, I attended The Midwest Writers Workshop and had a fabulous time. High points included the fire alarm going off twice during Dark Rain Thom's discussion, several great speakers including Mike Redmond, Lou Harry, and Hallie Ephron. Lou Harry was the final speaker at the banquet. Lou has been a stand-up comedian, an author, and is currently the editor of Indy Men's Magazine. (No, it's not THAT kind of men's magazine. It's safe for work.) In his sessions, Lou never failed to 1-Teach the subject at hand very well and 2-Generate laughter from the class. Naturally, when we saw that Lou was the final speaker, we were all delighted and were expecting some great laughs to go out on. Lou had other ideas. Standing in front of a white board that was literally filled with diagrams on plot and character and exposition, Lou told us how, though he enjoyed humor, there was a very serious and academic side to writing and that we were going to spend the next hour discussing it. He kept a straight face for nearly a minute. Then, he flipped the white board and invited three random audience members up to play MWW Jeopardy. The game was possibly rigged, however. One of the contestants was Earl Conn, one of the smartest men in the room. Lou eventually gave up keeping score. After the banquet, Lou invited everyone up to his hotel room for a poker party. He had invited some of us before, otherwise we probably wouldn't have taken him seriously. That's how I found myself playing Texas Hold 'Em with the editor of Indy Men's Magazine, the president of Robin Vincent publishing, Hank Nuwer (author and instructor) and my friend Tony. Play was tournament style and I'm pleased to announce that I came in second. Matt, of Robin Vincent Publishing, pretty much kicked my ass once it got down to the two of us. Considering the fact that I was learning the game as I played, I don't think second is too shabby. As far as writing goes, I submitted the first chapter of a novel and got some very good critique from Doc Hensley and I left a short story in the library which drew some very good comments. I definitely will be rewriting it with the suggestions in mind. Over all, this was possibly the best workshop I've been to. If you want to write, this is the workshop to start with. It's small enough that you get some real contact with the writers and it's big enough that they can draw writers that are worth listening to. EDIT: Almost forgot. I won a writing book with the following limrick. There once was a writer named Stu I actually tied with a lady who (I believe) ended up winning the overall prize for the weekend with her Manny entry, so I was in good company. 
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