Jacqueline Guest
Check Out the Writer Project:
On Being the Writer in Residence
for
The Marigold Library System
As part of the Check Out the Writer Project sponsored by the Writers’ Guild of Alberta and the Library Association of Alberta, I am privileged to be the Writer in Residence for the Marigold Library System. For me, this is a huge compliment and an exciting opportunity and I am extremely grateful.
The
Marigold System comprises libraries stretching across southern
It is indeed, a daunting task to coordinate the Writer in Residence Program in the numerous communities encompassed in this vast territory, but Linda Williams, at the Marigold Library System head office in Strathmore, makes it look easy. This woman is a dynamo and a genius at ensuring everything runs smoothly. Without her Herculean efforts and the help of her colleagues in the system’s libraries, I would spend my day trying to arrange the myriad details involved in this huge undertaking. The lady deserves a raise!
All residents of the system are welcome to participate by attending any of the special Writing Workshops listed at their local library and/or by submitting a sample of their writing to the Marigold Library System head office where it will be forwarded to me for reading and a helpful critique. And the perks don’t stop there…
After submitting their work, the writer will meet with me for a specially arranged interview at their library to discuss and review their writing sample. I’ll provide some suggestions on polishing their manuscript, submission do’s and don’ts, where to send it and how to find exactly the right publisher for their talents.
For
me, this is a particularly exciting project as I have the opportunity to meet
and work with new and emerging
It seems overwhelming, but don’t worry, that’s what this program is all about. Being in the company of other exhausted writers, hearing terror tales about rejection letters and writer’s block, as well as our small and large successes, will make you realize that your experiences are far from unusual, in fact, they represent what every writer goes through over and over… and over!
Since I’ve been there, I can suggest some shortcuts to publishing success as well as offer encouraging words when the going gets tough and never doubt that from novice to seasoned pro, we all need those warm fuzzies! Believe me, without fellow word processor slaves to complain to, some days would send me ‘round the twist! The world needs to hear how tough this writer thing is and how unfair that Steven Spielberg doesn’t want to turn one of my books into a blockbuster movie! Yup, we all have those days and belonging to a community of writers helps with the hurdles and encourages us to go on. The world needs new books and if not us, who is going to write those insightful tomes? I say- Keep Chugging! Onward and Upward! Tally Ho!
Sometimes we need confirmation that what we’re doing as writers is totally right. This is where my Wild Ride Writing Workshops help. I cover all the basics from building a story from the inside out to putting together the perfect pitch package so that when you finally decide to take the plunge and submit your work to a real honest to goodness dragon of a publisher, your submission will be taken seriously and be so polished and perfect, that it will look like this is old hat for you.
Writers write and where better than at a fun session where no rules apply and our motto is: what happens at the Workshop, stays at the Workshop! (Comes complete with a Handy Hand Out and Loads of Laughs and best of all, everything is FREE!)
Inside your local library awaits the best resource a writer ever had- your Library Goddess! This wonderful woman, (or man!), can find research material with the snap of her fingers; suggest novels that illuminate the secrets of the genre you write for; show you what’s hot and what’s not in that tsunami of new books out there and, best of all, put an entire world of books into your hands with the wave of her magic wand, or maybe that should be a click of her magic mouse.
Library Goddesses will save you, the writer, hours of wasted time and money finding that obscure piece of information needed to finally complete your first draft so you can start on the next step- the joy of editing. Librarians are like having your own personal assistant who works cheap and knows everything!
Encouraging patrons to see their libraries in a new light is also part of the Writer In Residence Program. Libraries provide literature from the four corners of the world to inform and entertain, to challenge conceptions and open our minds. They also supply a vital resource for the community with support, knowledge and a wealth of interesting programs to overwhelm the senses. From Books on Tape to Community History to Story Time for Tots, libraries do it all- and at very little expense to the card holder. Always open to suggestions, your library would love to provide programs of interest and a venue for those programs. Libraries truly are the Full Meal Deal in your community.
And let’s not forget the most wonderful thing of all about libraries- they give us a truly wonderful gift. They renew and restore the magic that is reading!
As a Writer in Residence, I want to encourage you to have faith in yourself as a writer. You can do it! We all have stories waiting to be told and I want to help you craft yours so that others can hear your voice in the books that you write.
I can hardly wait to read the next submission…
Write On!
Cheers,
Jacqueline
©2008 Jacqueline Guest - Updated 2008-04-04