So I was abducted by aliens

A few of us young writers with Connie Willis

So I was abducted by aliens, got towed clear across the universe, had to convince the aliens that flies were an endangered species so they wouldn't blow up earth, got towed back to earth and ended up back at the library just a few seconds before my parents came to pick me and my sister up from this writer's workshop. fun, no?

The wind was blowing blowing blowing hard hard hard. Did I mention the wind was blowing hard? Over 40 mph! We're getting ready for a yard sale, so we had to move boxes to the back room. That meant that we had to go outside with these HUGE empty boxes. The wind about blew us and the boxes clear to Kansas! We also got our mouths and eyes full of dirt. I HATE wind! Especially when it blows all the time and turns the sky brown.

I also went to a writers workshop with guest speaker, Connie Willis. It was one of the best workshops I've gone to in a long time. Connie told us not to tell our parents what we learned. instead, we were supposed to make up this wild story. hence the I was abducted by aliens. she way joking, of course. a few of the many good tips she gave us were: When you're writing, start story when problem becomes a crisis. Arguments are great for leaking information to readers or other character. Show, don't tell. Use accidents and coincidences to get characters INTO trouble, NOT out of it. that is cheating your reader out of a good story! Also, learn from other's mistakes as well as your own. it keeps you from writing crap.