Now for something completely different: A writing conference for physicians

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My husband, who is a doctor, tossed a brochure on my desk a few weeks ago and said, "Thought you might like to see this."

I picked up the brochure promoting the 10th Annual Fiction Writing for Physicians Conference."Do you want to go to this?"

"No--I just thought you'd find it interesting. You're the writer, not me."

The course is taught by two New York Times best-selling physician-authors, Michael Palmer, MD and Tess Gerritsen, MD. Dates are October 23-25, 2009 at The Resort and Conference Center at Hyannis, Hyannis, Cape Cod, Massachussetts.

Preconference sessions, which are on Friday, the 23rd and cost $495 each, include:
~Writing a killer first chapter
~The art of storytelling
~How to write a medical memoir

Specifics of the seminar itself were a bit sketchy in the brochure, but included:

• Learn to write from your peers who have made the transition from practicing physicians to international best-selling authors
• Gain practical writing experience
• Get written feedback from concise writing exercises dealing with conflict, premises, dialogue, and writing action scenes
• Have a portion of your manuscript (if you have one) reviewed and critiqued by a faculty member at no extra charge
• Soup to nuts fiction writing: from naming characters to getting an agent and getting published
• Have your query letter reviewed and critiqued (with suggested improvements) by a faculty member at no extra charge
• Have your query letter placed in the hands of numerous literary agents (if desired)
• Motivation to write – Others have made the breakthrough and so can you!

I'm not sure how the weekend schedule is set up, but it looks like they have a plan. If you're a physician who dreams of writing a novel, you might want to check this out. Or you might want to let your doctor know about this opportunity. Who knows? Your doctor just might dream of writing a bestseller!