Notes and Scribbles

... post-conference ponderings

The annual Write Stuff conference was just a few days ago, and I’m feeling recharged from the collective energy that a writers conference brings. Meeting new people. Reconnecting with writers I haven’t seen in a while. Catching up on our projects. Encouraging those who are pitching their books. And soaking up the information in the workshops and talks.

Presenter Kristin Bair, talking about writing humor

While I usually prefer to write with a keyboard vs. pen or pencil, when it comes to taking notes in a workshop, I unplug. I noticed that most people in the workshop sessions also opted for filling a notebook or paper tablet; only a few used laptops or iPads. For me, the physical action of putting pen to paper helps transfer the information more reliably into my brain than entering it on a screen. Of course, I have to be able to read my scribbles later . . .

Here are a few takeaways from the conference sessions:

• When you are revising a story or novel, ask yourself: What do I want to say that I haven’t yet said? Who have I not introduced yet?

• Specific details make a scene. The details you choose plant seeds in the reader, suggesting that something may happen. They keep reading to find out.

• An object used in a story externalizes and anchors emotion in a scene. An object becomes important because someone (a character) cares about it.

• Humor can be worked into anything, even a “serious” story.

• When writing a personal essay or memoir, if you don’t remember the exact details of a scene you are re-creating, acknowledge that. The reader doesn’t expect you to recall everything.

• One of the top 10 ways to sell your books is to write more books, more regularly.

What I’m reading

I recently finished Serial Killer Support Group by Saratoga Schaefer. I was wowed by this book, a tale about a young woman who searches for her sister’s killer by pretending to be a serial killer herself (or is it pretense?). The well-crafted fight scenes, the tension, the rising stakes—I couldn’t put it down. I’m looking forward to reading Schaefer’s second novel, Trad Wife, a dark satire.

Next up from my TBR shelf is Kristin Bair’s Clementine Crane Prefers Not To. Bair was the excellent keynote and workshop presenter from the Write Stuff.

Where I’m reading (I wish!)

Because libraries are some of my very favorite places, I was delighted to run across this description of the Sky library in the terrific fantasy novel The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by NK Jemisin:

I wandered through the library’s entrance hall and was greeted only by the sounds of my own faintly echoing footsteps. The ceiling was thrice the height of a man, braced by enormous round pillars and a maze of floor-to-ceiling bookcases. Both cases and pillars were covered by shelf upon shelf of books and scrolls, some of then accessible only by the ladders that I saw in each corner. Here and there were tables and chairs, where one might lounge and read for hours.

Wouldn’t you love to hang out there, too?

Thanks for reading –

Dianna