PRECONFERENCE: WRITING MEDICAL FICTION THAT SELLS
Friday, October 22, 2010
The Resort and Conference Center at Hyannis, Hyannis, Cape Cod, Massachusetts
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Learn from practicing physician/author Gary Birken, MD how to write medical fiction that sells. This course covers material which is supplemental to that covered on Saturday and Sunday and is an ideal preconference for those who are looking for additional practical advice from a practicing physician who has broken through.
SCHEDULE
8:00–8:30 Registration and Continental Breakfast
8:30-9:30 Personal Success Story, Gary Birken, MD
Gary Birken, MD will explain how as a practicing pediatric surgeon he was able to get “his foot in the door” and breakthrough with four successful medical thrillers. Gary will offer practical advice to physician attendees on making their personal breakthrough a reality.
9:30-10:15 Planning Your Medical Thriller
Gary will explain the successful formula and process he uses to take the initial idea and develop the story and characters to bring his medical thrillers to life.
10:15-10:30 Break and Networking Opportunity
10:30-11:30 Secrets of the Craft of Medical Fiction Writing and How to Use Your Medical Background Most Effectively. “Learn the Rules Before You Break Them”.
An in depth look at the proven techniques of writing a medical thriller. Some of the topics to be addressed: “You already know how to write” – build on that knowledge. “The overdose syndrome” – Adding the right amount of medicine to your medical thriller’s recipe. Conveying medical information – talking to your reader in the same way you talk to your patients. The “Do’s and Don’ts of fiction writing” – how to avoid the pitfalls. Showing versus telling. Less is usually better. The differences and similarities of how main stream authors approach fiction. Plot development. The beginning, middle, and end. The necessity of creating obstacles for your characters to overcome. Not underestimating your reader’s intelligence. Pacing and building the tension.
11:30-12:00 How to Use Description in Your Writing. “Too Much or Too Little?”
Using all five senses, avoiding clichés and too many metaphors, revealing and developing your characters through description and much more.
12:00-1:00 Lunch with faculty (provided)
1:00-2:00 Characters and Dialogue – Inventing a Hero/Heroine Your Readers Will Love
How to create likeable, believable and consistent characters. Creating desire in your characters. The use of recurring characters, etc. Dialogue – possibly the most important element of your manuscript. Follow the rules in this area more than any other.
2:00-2:30 Revising Your Manuscript
Good novels are re-written, not written. How to “airbrush” your manuscript for the best possible result. How do you know when it’s ready?
2:30-2:45 Break and Networking Opportunity
2:45-3:15 Writing Best Selling Medical Thrillers
Gary’s genre is fast paced medical thrillers. In this segment Gary will explain and demonstrate the characteristics and formula for most successful medical thrillers including the “Conspiracy,” a young, attractive, intelligent, idealistic, protagonist, setting, short sighted/evil bureaucrats and much more.
3:15-3:30 Writing While Practicing Medicine
Gary will explain how he is able to continue his busy and successful medical practice as a pediatric surgeon and still find the time to write medical thrillers. He will discuss where and when to write. If he can do it, so can you.
3:30-4:15 Advice From the Trenches: Practical Advice For Aspiring New Physician-Authors
Gary will discuss practical issues such as finding and working with an agent, opinions and assistance from friends and family, manuscript preparation, and the financial and other rewards of getting published. He will discuss how to deal with and overcome rejection and the value of believing in oneself and persistence.
4:15-4:30 Concluding Roundtable Discussion
Gary will make brief concluding remarks and open the floor to any additional questions.
FACULTY
Gary Birken, MD is a practicing pediatric surgeon in Coral Springs, Florida. He is the author of the successful medical thrillers: Error in Judgment, Plague, Final Diagnosis, and Embolus published by the Berkley Publishing Group. He is currently board certified in both general and pediatric surgery. For the past 18-years, he has been on staff at the Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital where he is presently the Surgeon-in-Chief and the acting Director of Medical Affairs. He also serves as the chairman of the Board of the Memorial Healthcare System Foundation. Dr. Birken has four children, plays basketball regularly and holds a black belt in martial arts.
REGISTRATION INFORMATION
Tuition for each 1-day preconference is $495 and includes continental breakfast, lunch, breaks, and a seminar handbook.
HOTEL INFORMATION
A limited block of rooms has been reserved at convention rates ($149/ single/double) at the site hotel. These rooms will be assigned on a first request basis. To reserve your room, please call 866-828-9111 and mention the SEAK, Inc. Fiction Writing for Physicians. The Resort and Conference Center at Hyannis is surrounded by 52 totally private acres of beautifully landscaped grounds and offers an 18-hole par 54 golf course, a private patio or balcony for the 232 guest rooms, a complete fitness center, indoor and outdoor pools, a whirlpool, a complete spa, and free parking. The Resort and Conference Center at Hyannis is conveniently located within walking distance of Main Street with its many shops and restaurants. Public beaches and the ferries to Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket are minutes from the hotel. A $12,000,000 renovation was completed at this property in June of 2008.
GETTING TO HYANNIS
The two major airports closest to Cape Cod are Logan International Airport in Boston, MA (70 miles) and T.F. Green Airport in Warwick, Rhode Island (80 miles). Barnstable Airport is a five minute drive from The Resort and Conference Center at Hyannis, but this is a commuter airport that has smaller planes and fewer flights. T.F. Green is preferred over Logan (if you can get a non-stop flight) as it is usually less congested. Rental cars, taxis and car service are available at all three airports.
CAPE COD
Cape Cod is a true destination spot that features beautiful beaches, warm water, great restaurants, historic towns, sightseeing, kayaking, whale watching, museums, numerous bike trails, shopping, nightlife, championship golf, and world famous boating. Cape Cod is also gateway to the islands of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. For more information on what to do on Cape Cod, please visit www.capecod.com.
Cancellations
Conference cancellations received in writing prior to October 1, 2010 will receive a full tuition refund.