No More Lonely

In February, I went to LTUE, which is a writer’s conference for science fiction and fantasy writers. It’s an amazing conference, but the best part is the human interaction.

For some reason, a lot of people think that writing needs to be a lonely thing. Sure, I have to sit and write the words on my own, but that doesn’t mean I don’t interact with others.

Last year, when I went to LTUE, my writing partner and I were planning on going together, and we had someone ask if she could go with us. We ended up bonding through the experience, and now all three of us get together to write as often as we can.

This year, we had two of our friends from our writing group going, and they had a mutual friend who asked if she could join us. The best part about being with other writers at a conference is that you can be yourself. You can talk about the stuff that makes other peoples’ eyes gloss over. Plot and story structure? There’s actual classes on that. You can analyze your own with your friends and work out the kinks in your own story.

Writing is a private thing, and you always put a little bit of yourself in your writing, no matter what it is. When you share your writing with someone, you’re sharing a part of yourself. The other great thing is that they’re a natural support group. They know what you’re going through. Writing queries? Pitching to an agent? They know how nerve-wrecking that is. Finally figuring out your villain’s motivation? They know what kind of a breakthrough that can be.

I love my writing friends, the ones I’ve had for years, and the ones I’ve made recently. And I know that each one of them has influenced the kind of writer I am now.

Writing Conferences

Last month, I had the chance to attend LTUE, which stands for Life the Universe and Everything Symposium. It’s a writing conference, and whenever I try and describe it to anyone, they say it sounds like comic con for writers.

That’s probably true. I don’t know, I’ve never been to comic con.

Last year I attended the same conference for the first time, and it was my first conference ever. There were so many classes, and I was so excited, that I planned my day down to the minute. Which classes I was going to attend, and I didn’t plan for a single break. I was going to make the most out of the conference.

It was a great experience, but by the end I was absolutely exhausted.

This year, I had a different goal. I wanted to get what I needed. If there was a class that I needed, I would go to it, but if there wasn’t one that jumped out at me, then I didn’t go to one that I didn’t want to go. I spent my time interacting with other people. On attending critique groups. On actually working on my own writing.

I got to meet and talk with so many writers. I ate dinner with friends. I loved spending time with my friends, and exchanging information after.

Writing conferences can be whatever you make it. As I talk to others who attend other conferences: Storytellers, WIFYR, etc, it sounds like you get whatever you put into it. If you’re willing to put yourself into it, and if you’re willing to make an effort, then you gain so much. I learned a lot last year, but this year, I experienced a lot. I made lasting friendships and I became a better writer.

And in the end, isn’t that the whole purpose of a writers conference?

For Love or Money

During our Writers Conference, I was very excited to be behind the scenes. I got to see how things worked, but even more than that, I got to interact with the presenters on a much more personal basis. I'm not super outgoing, and I didn't want to annoy them when they wanted to relax, but as luck would have it, I happened to be in the Presenters Room at the same time as J Scott Savage and his wife. We were the only ones in the room, and I gathered up my courage to ask him about his writing.

After we talked for a little bit, I asked him to describe his typical day, since I just envisioned him sitting at a desk writing for hours and hours on end. His response surprised me. He told me that he still works full time on top of all of his writing. He even stepped outside during the conference to get some work done during a break. He told me that he had tried to work full time as a writer, but even as a best-selling novelist, he couldn't afford it.

What an eye opener. The more I tell people I write, the more comments I get about how it'll be nice once the money starts rolling in. Or how I can live off of the money I will earn. Speaking to actual published writers, and hearing their stories, I realize that that probably won't be the case for me. No matter how much I write, there's so much uncertainty. There's no guarantee that I will break out as a new author and gain the fame that everyone assumes happens to a writer.

That might be something that concerned me, if I was doing it for the money. For me, writing is a calling, and it's something I love doing. So even if I don't make millions, or become a best selling novelist, just writing and interacting with other writers is a dream come true.

PlOctoWriMo

Last month, my NaNoWriMo group decided to try something new. We called it PlOctoWriMo. As in Plotting in October Writing Month. We used the article from The Write Life, by Janice Hardy on a 4 week success plan for NaNoWriMo. Read the article here.

We took her ideas and broke them down into different days. Some weeks, we had three different assignments, and some weeks, we only had two. It was so fun to have a mapped out plan on how to plan our novel. Over the years, while doing NaNoWriMo, I’ve found that the more I plan, and the more intricate my writing bible is, the better I write. Not only do I write faster, I’m also able to write more at a time, and I wanted to share that success with our region.

We had two different planning sessions through the month, added to our kickoff, and we had an awesome turnout. We also had a lot more activity online, with many of our participants asking for brainstorming help, and we always were able to help them through their roadblock. Which means they’ve already planned for it before they even got to it.

One of our planning sessions

I know there are pantsers out there, but when it comes to writing a novel in 30 days, I feel like planning is the best way to do it. During our Writers Conference, I actually sat down with J Scott Savage and asked him how long it takes him to write a novel. He said that he takes about 6 weeks to write his first draft. When I told him that last year, I wrote two books in my series during November, he already knew that I was a planner. He didn’t even have to ask.

How about the rest of you? Planners out there? Pantsers?

I'm Not A Teenager Anymore

One of the books I have planned for NaNoWriMo is a contemporary soft science fiction. It centers around a girl in high school, which means I had to do research on teenagers.

I sat down with one of my cousins and grilled him for two hours on how teenagers dress, what they listen to, what they watch, what they say…

And I didn’t feel a million years old asking things like: What do kids these days like to do for fun?

After all of that, I still didn’t realize how much of a non-teenager I am until I went to a critique session for our writers conference. We were split into multiple groups, and part of the split was teenagers and adults. Since I was a part of the committee, I got to rotate through the groups, and for half an hour, I sat with a group of teenagers and listened to them read their stories.

I loved their enthusiasm. For them, nothing was impossible. They didn’t care about the writing rules. Their interest was in the story, and they loved one anothers’ work. They were positive and constructive at the same time. What surprised me was the way they treated me. I was a stranger, and every time they talked, I could sense the shift in the group. The kind where an adult was talking and I was intruding on their fun circle. After a while, I stopped commenting and just listened to them.

There were a few moments that really made me want to laugh.

One girl read a very impressive epilogue to her book, and I was confused about how old her character was. Her response: "He’s way older, like in his thirties."

Imagine how that made me feel!

Also, another girl started telling the others about how excited she was to write the night before. She told us that she stayed up until 10:30pm, and that it was crazy, and she was so tired the next day.

Rexburg Teen Writers Conference

Earlier this month, our region hosted our second annual Teen Writers Conference. Last year, I attended as a participant, and this year, I was so excited when I was asked to be a part of the planning committee.

It was definitely a learning experience. I guess I never thought about all the work that happens behind the scenes. There’s the financial aspect – knowing where the money is coming from, and where he’s going. Then there’s the location. Finding a place big enough, especially in a small town, is a lot harder than you’d think.

And advertising – wow. That definitely forced me out of my comfort zone. My best friend and I offered to do the fundraising/advertising portion of it. Fortunately, our local library was a hug supporter and printed all of our fliers for us. After that, we went to all of our local businesses to see if any of them were willing to support us. We were honestly overwhelmed by the support we received from our community. They really made the whole experience possible.

The conference was a huge success. Of course, there were a few hiccups along the way, but I think that’s to be expected, especially while we’re all still trying to figure out how this all works. I was just happy that there weren’t any huge emergencies.

The best part was being around other writers. There were some with way more experience than me, and others who were just beginning. I almost felt like I could see the past and the future – the writer I was, and the writer I could be. It really made me look at myself, to make sure I’m always progressing.

Alyson Peterson. Her Ian Quicksilver series is awesome!

Lisa Mangrum

J Scott Savage

And of course, I love getting autographed books!