When’s the last time you wandered through a fair-like exhibition full of writers and writing resources?  For many of us, the answer’s “a loooong time ago.”

When’s the last time you rode a magic carpet over that exhibition? If your answer is anything BUT “never,” I know you’ve been to one of the year’s best events in Second Life: The Autumn Writers Exhibition (AWE) in Second Life.

A bird’s-eye view of one section of the Autumn Writers Exhibition (AWE) in Second Life

Thanks to the great folks at the Written Word community in SL, more than 100 writers, songwriters, comedians, magazines, newspapers, writing groups and other resources are gathered in a jumble of colorful tents and displays on Cookie Island in SL until November 2, 2008. It’s completely free (to both exhibitors and visitors) and requires no First Life travel!

What’s this got to do with magic carpets? you might be wondering.

Written Word co-owner Hastings Bournemouth is also a building/scripting wizard who created a way to fly over the entire exhibition, from one tower to the other, while seated on a carpet.  Not only is the ride great fun, but it puts the whole exhibit—and the island it’s on—in perspective.

One or two avatars at a time can ride the magic carpet over AWE

In addition to such fun (and free!) experiences as taking the tower elevator and the carpet rides, here’s a sampling of what you can find among AWE’s displays:

• Published and unpublished writers to chat with
• Samples of original writing (poetry, fiction, nonfiction, songwriting, scriptwriting) from some of the best writers in Second Life
• Second Life publications that buy freelance material
• Venues—from coffeeshops to the West of Ireland Cultural Center and Library—that offer a range of opportunities to writers
• SL groups and venues for playwrights and actors, musicians, and storytellers

Just a few of the more than 100 booths at AWE in Second Life

“The exhibition is similar to a literary festival that I’d like to go in RL,” the other owner of Written Word, Jilly Kidd, said in the Second Life Newspaper’s report on the event.  Jilly and Hastings organized the first AWE last year, and it was so successful, they decided to do it again this year.

Cash Prizes for Writing & Exhibiting

This year’s AWE is proving to be even bigger and more exciting—and potentially profitable for authors and exhibitors both!  Jilly and Hastings are offering three prizes of L$5,000 each for:

• The best display by an exhibitor
• The best original poem or song submitted
• The best original fiction or nonfiction story submitted

The writing competition is open to anyone.  Here’s a summary of the guidelines:

• All entries must be original writing, on the theme of Autumn.
• The prose can be fiction or non-fiction up to 2,000 words, and the poetry can be a poem or song lyric with no limit in length “but don’t make it a whole book-length poem!”
• Entries must be received by October 31, 2008.

Jilly adds, “Entries that have appeared on other websites and in other publications will be considered because you can’t see too much of a good thing and we believe setting limitations on writers and artists is unfair.”  Visit AWE for more details.

Occasional poetry/short prose “slams” will also be held during AWE. Just “turn up and enter, and the audience decides—winner gets L$2,000!” according to the AWE web page.

Starting Oct. 26: A Week of Special Events

The final week of AWE, beginning October 26, is the “Main Events Week” and includes readings by published poets and novelists, interviews with publishers, and music, comedy, and fireworks.

The best way to get all the details on these events is to join the Written Word group in Second Life.

To teleport to the marvelous 2008 Autumn Writing Exhibition, use this SLURL:  http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cookie/40/175/21.

And be sure to take a ride on the Sheherazade magic carpet!

(At left, my avatar, Alas Zerbino, enjoys a ride on the magic carpet as it passes a row of AWE booths.)

Methinks it used to be far easier to be an introverted writer.  And since 95 percent of writers are introverted (according to Ursula LeGuin), me-double-thinks it used to be a whole lot easier to be a writer, period!

Writers today have to be almost as expert at the extraverted skills of marketing and sales as they are at the craft of writing.

So what’s an introverted writer to do (other than surrender to despair)?

There’s advice all over the Internet, of course.  One of my favorites is a blog called Shrinking Violet Promotions, although just about every writing-related site (including this fascinating article from Atlantic.com) says something on the topic.  But I know from my work as an instructional designer that just reading about a skill does not produce mastery; you must also practice it in realistic situations.

What does that have to do with Second Life?  Simple: Second Life lets us introverts practice being extraverted without making complete fools of ourselves!

Seriously, Second Life is being used by all kinds of individuals and organizations to learn and practice life-skills. Here are just a few (really neat) examples:

• Avatars Help People with Disabilities
• Real-Life Fears Faced in Online World
• ‘Naughty Auties’ battle autism with virtual interaction
• Interview With the Agoraphobic: Fighting the Fear in Second Life
• CBS Second Life Show on how SL can help people with health challenges

Likewise, Second Life can help us introverted writers practice the extravert skills required of 21st Century writers.  Especially those of us who live long distances from First Life opportunities for practice.

“Hardly anybody ever writes anything nice about introverts. Extroverts rule. This is rather odd when you realise that about nineteen writers out of twenty are introverts. We are being taught to be ashamed of not being ‘outgoing’. But a writer’s job is ingoing.” ~ Ursula LeGuin

“How in the world can that be?” I can hear some of you thinking.  Well, here are two areas where I’ve made major improvements — and all from the safety of my home office:

1. Reading/speaking to an audience

One of the most common ways writers market themselves is by giving public readings.  Not a skill we are born with — especially introverts!  When I read my first story to an audience in SL, it was a disaster.

(Part of the problem was that I didn’t know how to use a PC mic to speak in SL, so my delivery most closely resembled Roseanne Roseannadanna shouting a speech into the depths of Mammoth Cave.  Hence, I highly recommend first learning the basic techniques of SL voice chat; these videos by Torley Linden are fabulous for that!)

But the beauty of it is that no one could see the abject fear and humiliation on my face or the fetal position I assumed when I realized the extent of the disaster!  Instead, I just apologized in text chat, said I was having microphone problems.  And the next time I was called up to read before this group, no one left, or even hissed or booed!

Since then, each time I’ve read a story or poem in SL, I’ve worked to improve some aspect of public reading, one skill at a time — first the technical intricacies, then voice modulation, then performance reading, and so on — all from the safety of hiding behind an avatar who always looks composed!

I’ve even managed to win a “Circle Slam” reading contest in SL (though I have to admit there was not a lot of competition).

By the time I face my next First Life audience, both my confidence level and reading skill will be about a thousand percent higher than before SL.

2.  Networking with other writers

This one relates to an astonishing discovery I made.

First, understand that as an introvert, I prefer to listen than to talk — which means I have only the teensiest bit of experience carrying on a spontaneous, witty conversation with someone I just met.  Now, assume that person is an agent or an author I’m in awe of, well, needless to say the term “shrinking violet” becomes the understatement of the year! So when I meet writers or agents or publishers in First Life, my tongue usually ties up in knots, and I transform myself into as close an approximation as possible of the wallpaper.

But, in Second Life, most communication is done via text chat, which is — well, writing, of course! My best skill!  Many writers talk about how they learn what they think by writing it down.  I’m the same way.  So in the virtual world, instead of responding to someone with bumbling “ah’s” and “ummm’s” and keeping my voice as low as possible so I can swallow a word if it sounds too stupid when it comes out, I can write my conversation!  Even review it and edit it before anyone sees it! In the world of text chat, no one hears my pauses, my stutters, my faux pas.  They only “hear” the actual words I want them to hear; my self-edited statements.

As a result, I’ve developed more confidence in my ability to come up with relevant, even witty responses to others — even to authors way “up there.”  A skill that’s spread into First Life!

Now when I meet someone, I have more trust that I’ll make the right response, which means I have less of the anxiety that prevents me from even thinking of something halfway intelligent to say and more belief in the worth of my contribution.  I no longer pray for the floor to swallow me; instead I open up to the other person, get to know him or her, share a little of myself — in essence forge another link in that network that’s so critical to a successful writing career.

And best of all, I sometimes make a new friend!

These are only two of the infinite ways to improve the skills needed to be a writer in the 21st Century, but you get the idea!  I’ll bet a lot of writers have discovered this awesome aspect of Second Life — if you’re one of them, how have you seen your skills grow?  We’d all love to hear about it, so please share in a comment!

What writer’s toolbox does NOT include that basic implement we call the writing prompt?  For many of us, a writing prompt is equivalent to the common hammer or screwdriver.  It’s ubiquitous, useful for just about any construction or repair job, and often works better than a bucket-load of more sophisticated tools.

Entrance to the headquarters of INKsters on the writer-friendly Cookie Island in Second Life.

So of course the writer’s prompt has made it into Second Life.  But one SL group, INKsters, is particularly great at getting us sometimes-slacker writers to pick up that tool and actually pound out a few paragraphs on a regular basis.

How?  By making it fun, easy, and financially rewarding!

INKsters Competitive Writing Group is the brainchild of the writer behind the hilariously named ItsNaughtKnotty Cannned avatar (note the three capital letter in the first name spell INK).  She speaks for a lot of us writers in Second Life when she says she’s “positively intoxicated by the literary community in Second Life.” The daily writing prompts/competition is one way she spreads the “high” around.

As ItsNaughtKnotty herself explains it:

“The INKsters give you a mechanism, loads of encouragement, and maybe a hint of guilt now and again, all in an attempt to spur you on to becoming a successful writer. I started this group . . . because I wanted to force myself to write everyday and hoped a few people wanted to try to do the same thing. Since then hundreds of people have thought the idea made a lot of sense and I’ve published more fiction than in the rest of my life combined.”

Below is the Second Life home of ItsNaughtKnotty Canned, founder of INKsters daily writing competition.

INKsters was one of the first writing groups I discovered in Second Life, and ever since, I’ve been encouraged, guilted, and humored into markedly increasing my daily writing output, thanks to their daily writing prompts.

The prompts range all over tarnation and back, as you might expect.  ItsNaughtKnotty, with the help of others in the gang, comes up with a month’s worth of prompts at a time–sometimes centered around a theme; other times not.  But it doesn’t matter, because the point is to get you writing–about anything you can.

“They’re designed to expand your mind and suggest a possible direction for you today. Please think divergently and create something beautiful, funny, poignant, interesting or informative,” says ItsNaughtKnotty.

The really cool and motivating aspect of the INKsters daily writing prompts is this:  You know whatever you submit will be actually read by someone (ItsNaughtKnotty herself), and if she picks your submission as the day’s winning entry, you will be paid real money.

(Well, truthfully, it’s not a lot of real money–somewhere in the neighborhood of about a penny in US currency–but it’s 25 Linden Dollars, which is a large enough amount to look very nice in one’s Second Life bank account.)  Plus, INKsters publishes all entries (with winners’ appropriately noted) in a monthly Second Life equivalent of a photocopied ‘zine that’s sent to all INKsters group members and made available to all Second Life residents.

Because of INKsters, I’ve been wielding the writing-prompt tool a lot this year—and have a lot more creative writing to show for it—even though I only enter the contest a fraction of the time (usually because I can’t get my piece down to the 500-word limit, or I forget to submit before the 11:59 p.m. cutoff).

All entries submitted to the daily writing competition are published in monthly anthologies available for free to all Second Life residents.

Plus, I’ve grabbed the brass ring three times in the few months I’ve been tracking the contest. (Of course, two of those three wins were shared with everyone else who submitted that day, because ItsNaughtKnotty liked them all, but still, she liked mine, too!)

Yet even when I don’t win the daily contest, I feel like a winner just because I’ve spent that much more time focused on my creative writing.  And it never hurts to re-read what ItsNaughtKnotty says about the “vagaries of competition”:

“Sometimes your most beautiful work ever is overlooked in the judging process, and sometimes a total piece of poop wins, and those of us who’ve been writers for a long time are so used to this, we don’t even notice it anymore. We hope you understand completing and submitting your writing makes you a champion. The competition is a motivational tactic to help all of us feel a sense of urgency to create something beautiful from nothingness every day.”

How can you not want to write every day with a cheerleader like that on your side?

To get the aid of the writing prompts, you don’t even have to have a Second Life account.  Each day’s prompts are posted on the INKsters blog.

Second Life headquarters for INKsters and the group’s daily writing prompts. The blue mailbox on the left is where you submit your prompt response for the daily writing competition.

But to enter the writing contest, you do need to step into Second Life and deposit your writing in the mailbox that “Shakespeare” manages at the INKsters headquarters in Second Life.  (And it’s worth your while many times over to join the INKsters SL group, which you can also do with “Shakespeare’s” assistance.)

So if you’re in Second Life, or thinking about going there, head on over to INKsters’ welcoming corner of Second Life and discover the amazing usefulness and fun of the daily INKsters writing prompt and competition.  And if you’re not, make the INKsters blog a regular stop on your daily writing journey.

The virtual world offers many more tools for us writers, of course!  What have you found in Second Life that’s enhanced your writing practice?  It’s a big virtual world out there, and I’d love to hear about what you’ve found!

Yeah, I know—writers are supposed to chain their butts to the seats of their writing chairs if they want to achieve real literary success. But it’s the rare writer (Emily Dickinson is one of the few who come to mind) who can thrive solely in the airspace between the fingertips and the keyboard (or the pen tip and paper, if you employ the old-fashioned method of writing). Most of us have to fill the creative well every now and then before it dries up like an old leather shoe.

Attending the blogging class by Kitviel Silberberg (Teddy Gross) that gave me the know-how to start this blog

So, while I surely don’t want to discourage any writer from the essential practice of applying butt to chair and writing, writing, writing . . . when it’s time to fill the well or break through a block, virtual reality can be as rewarding as the physical one.

Here are just a few ways writers can benefit themselves and their writing by taking a trip into Second Life:

1. Enter a writing contest. For some writers, their muse jumps much higher when poked with a contest prod. There’s at least one writing contest every day in SL, and usually more. One of my favorites is the daily prompt/contest run by ItsNaughtKnotty Canned of INKsters. Write 500 words about the day’s prompt, stick it in the INKster’s mailbox under Shakespeare’s smiling face on Cookie Island, and you could win a small bit of money and warm recognition for your efforts. There’s nothing like a writing prize to boost one’s ego!
2. Participate in a reading. Even more common than writing contests are open-mic events across the world’s continents and islands. Poetry readings where the lonely poet can jump in and read are held just about every day. Or check out an open-mic event open to either poetry or prose. One of the best I’ve discovered is the Wednesday Writers’ Circle at the Waterstage on Cookie Island, put on by the wonderfully supportive people behind the Written Word group in SL.) Or maybe you’d rather tell a story: Perfect! Several story-telling groups invite your participation in their regular events.
3. Get a lesson from a pro. The SL writing community is rapidly approaching the top of my list of “best-kept secret resources for writers.” This virtual world is full of writers of all experience levels, including many published professionals who love to share their work and their wisdom to help other writers. They offer classes, workshops, readings, advice, and support—often at no cost or on a donation-only basis—and seem genuinely interested in helping those of us with less experience.
4. Role-play your characters. Are your characters stuck in a scene? Is one riding a horse but you haven’t a clue what it looks like atop a horse? Or a surfboard or hot-air balloon, but you haven’t the time, money, and/or courage to try it out in First Life so you can describe your character’s experience? Well, you can do all of these and more from the financial and physical security of your own home! Your avatar can do in this virtual world just about anything a person can do in the real world. Sure, it’s not exactly the same as doing it in real life, but it’s amazing how much the virtual experience gives the sense of the actual one. Try it—you’ll see!
5. Travel to exotic locations. Similar to the previous point. Sure, living in the jungles of Burma in First Life is very different from anything you can currently experience in Second Life. But the amazingly detailed replicas of locations throughout the world are almost as valuable as traveling there in First Life—and sometimes even more so. After all, you can’t fly up to the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome to examine its tiniest details like you can at the incredible replica created by Vassar College in Second Life. And it’s a heck of a lot cheaper!
6. Trade critiques with other writers. Getting feedback on your work is not just important for improving your writing, it can also provide motivation and accountability (both of which tend to be in short supply when doing the lonely work of writing). But you have to meet other writers to find a critique/writing buddy, and that’s where Second Life can produce for you. In addition to one-on-one trades I’ve made, I’m planning to set up organized writers’ groups at Story Mountain Center for Writers, with regular meetings just like First Life writers’ groups.
7. Play. Relax, have fun like you’d never allow yourself to do in First Life, and go back to your First Life keyboard or paper refreshed and invigorated by laughter—it’s amazing the creativity that pours out after a good time! (In a future post, I’ll share some of the crazy things I’ve done in SL that I’d never for a moment consider doing in FL. (If I forget, remind me of the Dancing Cow!)

My list could go on and on . . . but I would love to hear from you! If you’ve ventured into Second Life, what kinds of events or activities have benefited your writing? Please post a comment to share with the rest of us!