In true Williams fashion, our team ran the clock right up to within seconds of the deadline (we dived through the door and turned in our story roughly 15 seconds before midnight), but for once, it wasn't all my fault. I swear! Stop giving me that look.
Our final submission was an interesting collection of compromises. Not a masterpiece of creative fiction by any stretch, but at least a generally coherent draft of a story. I'll link to it below for those who want to read it.
Anyhow, the product of our writing was not the most valuable thing I got out of my participation in this event. It was actually the process itself that I enjoyed most. I had a blast. There were some rough points along the way, of course -- fatigue, disagreeements, and obnoxiously loud coffee houses. But on the balance, it was a great learning and growing experience, and a fun time getting to write and meet all kinds of new people. And those rough points made for some of the funnier and more memorable parts of the weekend.
My friend Vinnie Kinsella has posted a much more thorough account of our weekend adventures over at his blog. If you're curious to know more about the event format or about how our weekend unfolded, he provides a great play-by-play breakdown. And our story itself, "News Face", is posted on the Sledgehammer website.
In sum: good times, great people, crazy deadlines. I've decided that Sledgehammer is not about perfectly architected and polished manuscripts. It's about writing with adrenaline. It's like Hood to Coast for author types. I’ve already marked it down on my writing event map for next year, and I'm looking forward to the memorable stories that will emerge from that team. (Oh, and whatever story we write and turn in, too.)
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