MGOC Contributor: Diane Turnshek

DIANE TURNSHEK
EXCERPT from "Teaching Young Writers" by Diane Turnshek in Many Genres, One Craft: Lessons in Writing Popular Fiction:

I was never a young writer, but for ten years I have been teaching teens to write what they love. I feel that I am in a unique position to make observations about the differences between young writers and people who are merely new to the craft. Teaching them has taught me a lot. My experience shows me that young writers can turn out genre work equal in quality to that produced by battle-hardened, aged writers. Many of the young writers I have known, through inspiration and force of will, have learned what it takes to produce professional copy and have stuck with the challenging current publishing climate until their work sold.

Advantages to being a young writer abound.

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Diane Turnshek is an astronomer and a science fiction author with short fiction in Analog magazine and elsewhere. She teaches astronomy at the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University and St. Vincent College, where she’s also taught creative writing. Since 2002, Diane has been mentoring graduate students at Seton Hill University in the MFA in Writing Popular Fiction. She founded Alpha, the SF/F/H Workshop for Young Writers in 2002 and the Triangulation anthology series (as editor) in 2003. She served as Eastern Regional Director for SFWA, a professional organization of 1500 genre writers and directed the 2007 SFWA Nebula Awards in NYC. She has four delightful sons and a sweetly supportive dream guy.

Support a Teen Workshop and Bid on a Copy of Many Genres

The Alpha Workshop Fundraiser, is a chance to donate to a scholarship fund for a worthy young genre writer's workshop and also pick up some excellent science fiction, fantasy and horror-related books and other services. Alpha is a fantastic workshop, described by (and oversen by) Diane Turnshek in her essay from Many Genres, One Craft. Contributors to our book who have taught as guests include Michael Arnzen, Scott Johnson, Lawrence Connolly, Timons Esaias, and others.

For their fundraiser, we've contributed a signed copy of MANY GENRES to their fundraising auction to support their scholarship fund.  BID ON IT HERE. Only a week to bid, so act quick: The auction will run January 13-20.

Here's info about the workshop itself:

The next Alpha SF/F/H Workshop for Young Writers (ages 14-19) will be held July 18-27, 2012 in Pittsburgh, PA. At Alpha, students can meet others who share their interest in writing science fiction, fantasy, and horror. They can learn about writing and publishing from guest authors, including Tamora Pierce and Kij Johnson. Participants will write and revise a short story during the workshop. Applications are due March 1, 2012.

Many Genres Signing at Confluence (Pittsburgh, 2011)

Last month, Many Genres authors were highly active at Pittsburgh's annual Science Fiction/Fantasy convention, Confluence 2011. Attendees included Heidi Ruby Miller, Jason Jack Miller, Lawrence Connolly, Diane Turnshek (pictured above), Timons Esaias, and Michael Arnzen. Arnzen and Miller held a small "literary beer" to discuss issues raised in the book, and everyone from Many Genres sat on several panel discussions or participated in a lively book signing. Scott A. Johnson was also a special guest lecturer at the Alpha SF/F/H Workshop for Young Writers, a summer writing camp that is discussed at length in Diane Turnshek's article from our book, "Teaching Young Writers."

Confluence and Alpha are held annually in late July.

See photos from the Many Genres signing, Confluence and Alpha at Michael Arnzen's social networking site, michaelarnzen.com. Photos and coverage are also available on Confluence's facebook page.