The more people I meet who want to be writers, the more one thing comes clear: Most would-be writers really don't want to learn the literary subtleties pitched at most writers conferences; subtleties such as "Sexual Consciousness: Exploration or Exploitation?" and "Seventy-Two Variations of the American Voice."
No, most would-be writers really want to learn how to be Tom Clancy, or Stephen King, or Louis L'Amour. They want to write big, thick, juicy novels that read like the wind, sell a million copies and become blockbuster movies.It's why, I've found, so many people come away from local writers conferences feeling vaguely undernourished and disappointed.
It's also why writers conferences such as the LDS Writers' Workshop at BYU Hawaii are catching on.
Slated for next June 4-8 in Hawaii, the workshop is the brainchild of Christopher E. Crowe and other members of the English faculty at the school. And the thing that charms me about the conference is its bold lack of presumption.
For instance, the workshop faculty will include Jack Weyland (king of quick-read Mormon novels such as "Charley"), Orson Scott Card (Mr. Popular Fiction himself), Lael Littke (who writes mysteries and articles for Ladies' Home Journal) and Janice Kapp Perry (a songwriter who makes no bones about being sentimental).
And there's no hidden LDS agenda to the conference. The LDS bias is right on the table. Apart from the writers, 13 LDS publishing companies will be on hand.
The conference is not for hardship cases, and refuses to pander. If you want to attend, you better find a way to get to Hawaii.
Cost of the five-day affair is $200 ($275 after Dec. 31, 1990). That covers tuition as well as room and board. If you have your own room and board, tuition is $80.
There is a limited enrollment of 275. After that it's "aloha."
In the end, this is the type of conference that makes the high-powered pull their hair and moan about middle-brow values.
It's also the type of conference that will go down like a dinner with hundreds of would-be Margaret Mitchells out there.
For more information write: 1991 LDS Writer's Workshop, Division of Continuing Education, BYU-Hawaii, Laie, HI 96762, or call Dr. Crowe at (808) 293-3633.