Six published authors and an overwhelming number of aspiring bay area writers descended upon 826 Valencia on Monday, September 24, to discuss the magic of creative nonfiction, a literary genre that has gathered considerable contemporary momentum. The approachably informal panel, moderated by Stephen Elliott, author of My Girlfriend Comes to the City and Beats Me Up, included the likes of Beth Lisick, author of Everybody Into The Pool, Mary Roach, who recently authored Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, Alex Vernon, professor at Hendrix College and author of most succinctly bred, Po Bronson, founder of the Writer's Grotto and author of What Should I Do With My Life?, and (a little belatedly) a very saucy Steve Almond, professional Candyfreak.
Dialogue consisted primarily of a revealing assessment of the writing process (Po, for example, likes to hide for hours at a time in a poorly-lit closet), inspiration for finding a subject with a unique angle and voice, and tips for getting published, in a world driven primarily by "what sells". Most authors present confessed that the drive to market a work--to agents, publishers, editors, and readers--is one of the most frustrating and least fruitful ways to go about writing. Instead, they affirmed, heightened and continued interest in a particular subject, as well as the ability to devote oneself to that subject (preferably to some degree of obsession) are more likely to help foster readable, enjoyable work.
Inherently, seminar attendees found, choosing subject matter that is ground-breaking or original is a relatively trivial concern (The armed forces? Sweet treats! Corpses?), compared to how a writer approaches the material, and how tireless research and artistic vision collaborate to realize a superior end product--a piece of individuality beyond duplication, which defies both the basic commercial instincts of publishers and the danger of someone's ideas being stolen by another, baser, inspiration-starved representative of the literary world. In the freedom to research whatever topic one decides to pursue, using whatever methods desired, there is unbound potential--and thus almost certain and unassailable novelty.
Three hours of conversation and intermittent question-and-answer sessions passed with ease, and every seminar attendee finally departed with significantly more authorial wisdom and, with encouragement from Steve Almond, a little more disdain for the Man.
