Shmorgh is Bored – the Interweb Home of Randy Henderson

Here’s a copy of the Writers of the Future video that was shown during the big awards show this past April, which shares a few glimpses of my own experience there.  If you watch it, I’m sure you’ll find more than a few things interesting, humorous, and/or educational, but I’ll just speak to the parts in which I’m featured.

at 2:42 — I mention the blind submission process.  I really do appreciate and applaud this about Writers of the Future.  It helps to eliminate the chance of unconscious biases playing a role in the selection of winners — having no obvious clue as to the gender, location, or possible ethnicity of the writers when judging their work.

Of course, the contest is still looking for specific types of stories, just as any market does — they are, I believe, hoping to target younger readers, for example.  And obviously, the personal tastes, experiences and pet peeves of the judges will come into play at some level, and so perhaps a greater diversity in judges is something to strive for.  Which, again, is true many places.

at 4:02 — they begin talking about the 24 hour story exercise, where you have to take a random object, a random book from the library, and a casual conversation with a random person on the street, and write a story in 24 hours incorporating elements of each.  This was probably my favorite part of the workshop, the thing I found most useful.  Not because it forced me to conceive and write a story in 24 hours (though it is of course good to know you can do so), but in that it forced me to break out of my writer shell and engage with people.  I think a lot of us writers are introverts, or socially awkward, but in order to write richly detailed and unique characters it helps if we actually engage with people out in the world, people who are not other writers or people we already know.

at 4:28 —  Me chatting with a random person on Hollywood Boulevard.  He was a bucket drummer and standup comedian who followed his favorite pro ball player out to LA, and then began a string of career changes.  He claimed to have written jokes for the Chapelle show, to be a part-time actor, and after I mentioned I was a writer he said he’d switched from acting to writing scripts since he felt there weren’t enough shows and movies out there with positive roles for black men.  He also philosophized for a bit on the increasing disconnectedness of our society, with everyone staring at their cell phones and living virtually. It was one of the more interesting conversations I can remember, and would not have happened if I hadn’t engaged a perfect stranger on the street.