Jeff Dunteman on Taos Toolbox
by wjw on January 30, 2012
2011 Toolbox grad (and computer legend) Jeff Dunteman has written a totally unsolicited (by me, anyway) description of Taos Toolbox over on Inkpunks.
Walter and Nancy are both superb teachers and are not to be missed. I was startled, though, at how much I learned from my thirteen student colleagues, not solely through their critique of my own work, but also by seeing how they themselves create and manage the many moving parts in a novel-length story . . . I might describe my colleagues as un-seasoned professionals, trying hard to master that seasoning but always as professionals. There was not a poseur in the bunch, and while we’ve been in only sparse touch since the workshop, I am proud to call them all friends.
Which brings up a point that maybe I haven’t stressed enough. Taos Toolbox isn’t about lone writers jumping through hoops laid out by a couple of instructors— it’s about a group of writers trying to make their own, and each other’s, fiction better. It’s about building a cadre, a karass, a posse. A team.
We’re on the mountain for two weeks for a reason. Because we’re on the mountain together.
I don’t know why you haven’t emphasized some of the team-building aspects of the Toolbox: the hot oil wrestling, the “Drink Your Way Around The World” night, and the group bear hunt where the writers are armed only with knives.
That’s how you make a possee.
I just wanted to say, thanks!
Because of this post, I downloaded, read and reviewed Drumlin Circus. The name threw me off a bit; I was not expecting much. I was quite wrong. It was a brilliant story with many layers and great characters. I loved the different levels of conflict and the various influences on the character’s motivations. Please write more.
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