This will be the last post regarding the 4th Street Fantasy Conference Hannah and I hit a few weeks ago. There's no real rhyme or reason to this post, I'm just going to list remaining quotes or comments I wrote down made by the authors at the conference. They're all interesting but weren't strong enough for a whole blog post (or I just got lazy. Probably both)
Patricia C Wrede - She suggested that as an author, you should really hire an accountant to help out with the taxes and junk. She doesn't have one, but that's only because she was an accountant until she could support herself with her writing
Elizabeth Bear - "Nobody with a clean house ever wrote a book"
Patricia C Wrede - "There's only 2 rules to writing. You have to write and what you write has to work"
Lois McMaster Bujold & Steve Brust - both touched on the term Burn Story, which meant writing through the story points as fast as possible, trusting you'll come up with more.
Steve Brust - in regards to Burn Story - "If you're saving something (a plot point, etc) for later, you won't come up with something new"
Elizabeth Bear - "Writing is too hard to do well, which is why we have to do it in stages with revision"
Sherwood Smith - In regards to derivativeness of Eragon and Christopher Paolini - It's possible the people who published Eragon did so purely for financial reasons and the money, but we mustn't forget that Christopher Paolini wrote Eragon out of joy, because he loved those aspects of the genre.
Emma Bull - in response to Sherwood Smith's above comment - Joy, though, doesn't necessarily = readable fiction. That's where craft comes in.
And to wrap it up, Elizabeth Bear shared a motto she and her CPs had in regards to getting that agent or book deal - "Right Day, Right Desk, Right Story, Write Better"
Showing posts with label Conferences. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Conferences. Show all posts
Monday, July 18, 2011
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
In Which I'm Held Accountable
If I says it on the interwebs, then I follow through. Fact. That's half the reason I keep this blog going. I've become a much more prolific writer since I started this baby up, because it keeps my goals in the forefront of my head. Also the routine helps.
So, as promised, a post about audience and writing for yourself and junk.
Back when I was at the conference (yes, another post generated from the conference. I've got at least one more left, too.) There was a discussion on the panel regarding writing for your fans. Lois McMaster Bujold had admitted she'd written her last book because a good friend, whom she owed, straight up asked her for it. Otherwise, everyone pretty much agreed that you shouldn't really write for your fans. Let me 'esplain.
Steve Brust said that he'd had a conversation (and I believe he actually said it was almost knock down drag out fight between the two of them) with Harlan Ellison who stated that as a writer, it's important to be hostile to your fans.
Brust thought this was ludicrous, but he also understood the meaning behind it and kinda agreed. Brust stated that if you write what the fans who are in contact with you ask for, you will disappoint and lose the fans you truly care about.
This goes back to writing for yourself. If you cater to others, it can stifle your creativity. BUT (yes, there is a but) Brust also felt there was a problem with writing just for yourself. He felt if you only write for yourself, it becomes self-indulgent. His solution was to pick a person or two, and write for them. For him, it was typically one of his CPs. He'd write to entertain them.
The last thing he said was, if you worry about your audience, you won't have an audience to worry about because they'll be bored.
I tend to fall in the middle somewhere. I definitely write to entertain myself (otherwise, I get bored and then I wouldn't write) but also I have a few specific people I write for. Twin especially - I often write scenes that I hope will entertain her.
What about you? Do you write for yourself? For someone else? How does it work for you?
So, as promised, a post about audience and writing for yourself and junk.
Back when I was at the conference (yes, another post generated from the conference. I've got at least one more left, too.) There was a discussion on the panel regarding writing for your fans. Lois McMaster Bujold had admitted she'd written her last book because a good friend, whom she owed, straight up asked her for it. Otherwise, everyone pretty much agreed that you shouldn't really write for your fans. Let me 'esplain.
Steve Brust said that he'd had a conversation (and I believe he actually said it was almost knock down drag out fight between the two of them) with Harlan Ellison who stated that as a writer, it's important to be hostile to your fans.
Brust thought this was ludicrous, but he also understood the meaning behind it and kinda agreed. Brust stated that if you write what the fans who are in contact with you ask for, you will disappoint and lose the fans you truly care about.
This goes back to writing for yourself. If you cater to others, it can stifle your creativity. BUT (yes, there is a but) Brust also felt there was a problem with writing just for yourself. He felt if you only write for yourself, it becomes self-indulgent. His solution was to pick a person or two, and write for them. For him, it was typically one of his CPs. He'd write to entertain them.
The last thing he said was, if you worry about your audience, you won't have an audience to worry about because they'll be bored.
I tend to fall in the middle somewhere. I definitely write to entertain myself (otherwise, I get bored and then I wouldn't write) but also I have a few specific people I write for. Twin especially - I often write scenes that I hope will entertain her.
What about you? Do you write for yourself? For someone else? How does it work for you?
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
In Which We Discuss Writing Groups
So at 4th street, the writing seminar this year focused on writer support networks.
Patricia C. Wrede said writing groups are broken down into 3 different types:
Critique Group
Support Group
Social Group
A crit group would be a group focused purely on getting everyone's stuff read and critiqued by other members of the group.
A support group is a group that focuses on commiserating about the difficulty of being a writer and supporting each other during the highs and lows.
A social group is a group where writers get together discuss gardening. Or movies, or anything they want as long as it's not really related to the business or craft of writing.
She went on to state that all writing groups have aspects of these three categories. You're not going to go to your crit group and get absolutely no social interaction or support, but it's not going to be the main focus of that group.
The key, she said, to being happy with your writing group, is to decide which one of those three categories you want and make sure you join or form the correct group.
If you want/need crits from people, you'll be frustrated by a support or social group. And if you want support, you may feel hurt if you join a crit group.
Regarding a crit group, Lois McMaster Bujold stated that it's very important to be in a group where there's at least one person who's better than you, so you can grow as a writer. But she also stated what most of us already know, that providing critiques for others also makes us better writers.
She said, in regards to reading someone's work who is way below you in skill/talent, or the work is just not good, the key thing to remember is to:
Be on the side of the story. To remember that there is something in the story that is worth being written.
And to focus on that if you're having a rough time with a rough MS.
And lastly, to remember that it is their story, not yours, so try to keep that in mind if you're thinking about all the cool stuff you could do with their MS.
So how about you? Are you in a writing group? And if so, which kind? Mine is 50% crit and 50% social, split right down the middle.
Patricia C. Wrede said writing groups are broken down into 3 different types:
Critique Group
Support Group
Social Group
A crit group would be a group focused purely on getting everyone's stuff read and critiqued by other members of the group.
A support group is a group that focuses on commiserating about the difficulty of being a writer and supporting each other during the highs and lows.
A social group is a group where writers get together discuss gardening. Or movies, or anything they want as long as it's not really related to the business or craft of writing.
She went on to state that all writing groups have aspects of these three categories. You're not going to go to your crit group and get absolutely no social interaction or support, but it's not going to be the main focus of that group.
The key, she said, to being happy with your writing group, is to decide which one of those three categories you want and make sure you join or form the correct group.
If you want/need crits from people, you'll be frustrated by a support or social group. And if you want support, you may feel hurt if you join a crit group.
Regarding a crit group, Lois McMaster Bujold stated that it's very important to be in a group where there's at least one person who's better than you, so you can grow as a writer. But she also stated what most of us already know, that providing critiques for others also makes us better writers.
She said, in regards to reading someone's work who is way below you in skill/talent, or the work is just not good, the key thing to remember is to:
Be on the side of the story. To remember that there is something in the story that is worth being written.
And to focus on that if you're having a rough time with a rough MS.
And lastly, to remember that it is their story, not yours, so try to keep that in mind if you're thinking about all the cool stuff you could do with their MS.
So how about you? Are you in a writing group? And if so, which kind? Mine is 50% crit and 50% social, split right down the middle.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
In Which We Hit A Conference!
Well, not actually "hit", but you know what I mean.
So Hannah and I hit up 4th Street Fantasy Conversation conference Friday Saturday and Sunday. We'd gone last year and wanted a repeat of the experience.
4th street isn't exactly a writing conference (though there's definitely a lot of writing discussion). You're not going to find any agents or editors (unless they're a panelist or just a participant), or have pitch sessions or chances to have your work read by industry professionals (unless you become friends with them or something).
4th street is set up as one giant conversation. There's a group of panelists, mostly authors, usually a fantasy fan, and sometimes an agent or editor, and they discuss, with the audience, the panel topic.
It's fun and I always seem to learn a lot.
Here's a run down of the conference (and like I said Monday, I have quite a few blog posts planned from discussions, so there will me more details on specific topics in future posts)
Friday morning and afternoon was reserved for the Writer's Seminar. This was an additional $35 (I think) and was one long panel devoted to a topic related to writing. For this year it was Writing Support Networks.
Elise Matthesen was the moderator and we spent hours talking to Lois McMaster Bujold, Elizabeth Bear and Patricia C. Wrede about their paths to becoming authors and the support networks they used along the way.
This, for me, was the best part of the whole conference.
Friday:
Topic: Magic, Monsters, Metaphors
Panelists: Elizabeth Bear, Emma Bull, Will Shetterly, Caroline Stevermer
What was discussed: This was pretty much a big discussion about monstrous people and forces that could control them. Jekyll and Hyde was mentioned quite a bit as was Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Who, both who were good examples of men who, without their companions, could be quite monstrous.
Topic: Birth Control and Families in Fantasy
Panelists: Lois McMaster Bujold, Pamela Den, Sherwood Smith
What we discussed: I was really excited about this panel, but it kind of let me down. I think it was due to weak moderation and so the topic kept delving into real world discussions about women's issues.
Saturday:
Topic: It's a Secret to Everyone
Panelists: Anne Gwin, Will Shetterly, Patricia C. Wrede
What we discussed: This delved a bit into whether or not you as the writer are keeping secrets from the reader, or keeping secrets from the characters. Also discussion of surprise vs tension (A surprise is when people are playing poker and the table explodes. Tension is when we see a person plant a bomb under the table)
Topic: Feast and Famine
Panelists: Alec Austin, Elizabeth Bear, Jon Singer
What we discussed: mmmmm, food. This panel was deliberately scheduled right before lunch. Which was good because there was less talk about eating horses and dogs, and more talk about how stupid it is when adventurers cook stew out on the trail.
Topic: Middle Book Blues
Panelists: Steven Brust, Marissa Lingen, Scott Lynch, Sherwood Smith
What we discussed: Talks about how people can take as long as they want to write that first book, but once that's published, there's a lot more constraints when writing the second one
Topic: Scenes of Conflict
Panelists: Lois McMaster Bujold, Pamela Dean, Caroline Stevermer, Patricia C. Wrede
What we discussed: Another panel I was excited for and then a bit let down by. Discussion about how violence doesn't always = conflict and how emotion can equal conflict
Topic: Class and Colonialism in Fantasy
Panelists: Elizabeth Bear, Steven Brust, Will Shetterly, Ginger Weil, Skyler White
What we discussed: This panel created a lot of arguments and got off topic pretty quickly. There was a lot of discussion regarding how people imagined the middle class throughout different ages of human history and how they're frequently inaccurate
Sunday
Topic: Novelty, Complexity and Mass Appeal
Panelists: Emma Bull, Scott Lynch, Michael Merriam and Sherwood Smith
What we discussed: A lot of talk about different levels of writing within the genre. That often a newbie to the genre sees something in the work as groundbreaking, but experienced readers of the genre find it derivative. But that everyone starts somewhere and there's nothing wrong with writing books as breakout genre novels for those who are inexperienced
Topic: Getting beyond a successful character
Panelists: Steven Brust, Lois McMaster Bujold, Ginger Weil
What we discussed: Both Brust an Bujold are authors of long running series with the same character. Brust said he would never tire of writing this character and Bujold says she struggles with leaving people wanting more before you've given them too much and ruine the whole series for them
Topic: Pestilence, Plague and Public Health
Panelists: Elizabeth Bear, Scott Lynch, Anne Gwin, Stella K Evans
What we discussed: A great panel talking about the lack of public health concerns in genre fiction. I learned a crap load about cholera and was relieved to realize I often have characters with missing teeth and illnesses in my fantasy novels.
So that was the conference in a nutshell. I'll be going on at length in later posts about specific discussions and the awesome brunch Hannah and I had on Sunday (IT WAS SUPER AWESOME!)
So Hannah and I hit up 4th Street Fantasy Conversation conference Friday Saturday and Sunday. We'd gone last year and wanted a repeat of the experience.
4th street isn't exactly a writing conference (though there's definitely a lot of writing discussion). You're not going to find any agents or editors (unless they're a panelist or just a participant), or have pitch sessions or chances to have your work read by industry professionals (unless you become friends with them or something).
4th street is set up as one giant conversation. There's a group of panelists, mostly authors, usually a fantasy fan, and sometimes an agent or editor, and they discuss, with the audience, the panel topic.
It's fun and I always seem to learn a lot.
Here's a run down of the conference (and like I said Monday, I have quite a few blog posts planned from discussions, so there will me more details on specific topics in future posts)
Friday morning and afternoon was reserved for the Writer's Seminar. This was an additional $35 (I think) and was one long panel devoted to a topic related to writing. For this year it was Writing Support Networks.
Elise Matthesen was the moderator and we spent hours talking to Lois McMaster Bujold, Elizabeth Bear and Patricia C. Wrede about their paths to becoming authors and the support networks they used along the way.
This, for me, was the best part of the whole conference.
Friday:
Topic: Magic, Monsters, Metaphors
Panelists: Elizabeth Bear, Emma Bull, Will Shetterly, Caroline Stevermer
What was discussed: This was pretty much a big discussion about monstrous people and forces that could control them. Jekyll and Hyde was mentioned quite a bit as was Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Who, both who were good examples of men who, without their companions, could be quite monstrous.
Topic: Birth Control and Families in Fantasy
Panelists: Lois McMaster Bujold, Pamela Den, Sherwood Smith
What we discussed: I was really excited about this panel, but it kind of let me down. I think it was due to weak moderation and so the topic kept delving into real world discussions about women's issues.
Saturday:
Topic: It's a Secret to Everyone
Panelists: Anne Gwin, Will Shetterly, Patricia C. Wrede
What we discussed: This delved a bit into whether or not you as the writer are keeping secrets from the reader, or keeping secrets from the characters. Also discussion of surprise vs tension (A surprise is when people are playing poker and the table explodes. Tension is when we see a person plant a bomb under the table)
Topic: Feast and Famine
Panelists: Alec Austin, Elizabeth Bear, Jon Singer
What we discussed: mmmmm, food. This panel was deliberately scheduled right before lunch. Which was good because there was less talk about eating horses and dogs, and more talk about how stupid it is when adventurers cook stew out on the trail.
Topic: Middle Book Blues
Panelists: Steven Brust, Marissa Lingen, Scott Lynch, Sherwood Smith
What we discussed: Talks about how people can take as long as they want to write that first book, but once that's published, there's a lot more constraints when writing the second one
Topic: Scenes of Conflict
Panelists: Lois McMaster Bujold, Pamela Dean, Caroline Stevermer, Patricia C. Wrede
What we discussed: Another panel I was excited for and then a bit let down by. Discussion about how violence doesn't always = conflict and how emotion can equal conflict
Topic: Class and Colonialism in Fantasy
Panelists: Elizabeth Bear, Steven Brust, Will Shetterly, Ginger Weil, Skyler White
What we discussed: This panel created a lot of arguments and got off topic pretty quickly. There was a lot of discussion regarding how people imagined the middle class throughout different ages of human history and how they're frequently inaccurate
Sunday
Topic: Novelty, Complexity and Mass Appeal
Panelists: Emma Bull, Scott Lynch, Michael Merriam and Sherwood Smith
What we discussed: A lot of talk about different levels of writing within the genre. That often a newbie to the genre sees something in the work as groundbreaking, but experienced readers of the genre find it derivative. But that everyone starts somewhere and there's nothing wrong with writing books as breakout genre novels for those who are inexperienced
Topic: Getting beyond a successful character
Panelists: Steven Brust, Lois McMaster Bujold, Ginger Weil
What we discussed: Both Brust an Bujold are authors of long running series with the same character. Brust said he would never tire of writing this character and Bujold says she struggles with leaving people wanting more before you've given them too much and ruine the whole series for them
Topic: Pestilence, Plague and Public Health
Panelists: Elizabeth Bear, Scott Lynch, Anne Gwin, Stella K Evans
What we discussed: A great panel talking about the lack of public health concerns in genre fiction. I learned a crap load about cholera and was relieved to realize I often have characters with missing teeth and illnesses in my fantasy novels.
So that was the conference in a nutshell. I'll be going on at length in later posts about specific discussions and the awesome brunch Hannah and I had on Sunday (IT WAS SUPER AWESOME!)
Monday, June 27, 2011
In Which I Decided Not To Be Lazy
I originally planned just to throw up a nice easy post for today since I had the conference all weekend, but now I've changed my mind. The conference spawned at least 3 blog posts ideas, not to mention a post about the actual conference (tentatively scheduled for Wednesday) so I figured I could at least talk about something.
On Friday, Hannah and I had lunch with Elise Matthesen (who is like the most awesome person EVAH! I'm serial. We thought this last year too. She's one of those people that as soon as you hear her talk you want to be her friend/stalk her/be her).
We were discussing how novel writing and short story writing are two different skills and that not every writer possesses them.
She said it angers her when novel writers say "I need to write some short stories to try and break in" and then short story writers state "I need to write novels because there's no money in short stories" (which is when Elizabeth Bear pointed out that there's no money in publishing anywhere).
Anyway, to illustrate the original post, Elise had Patricia C. Wrede tell an amusing anecdote.
Pat announced that she had sold every single novel she has every written (which is CRAZY!) but when asked how many of her short stories she'd sold it was only about 50%.
She was a perfect example of someone who could write novels, but couldn't translate that skill over to short stories.
This isn't the case for everyone. I can write both. Elise just wanted people to stop worrying about trying to "break in" or to write something you weren't suited for just because someone else tells you to. You have to do what's right for you.
So how about you? Can you do only one or the other? Or are you one (like me) who can do both?
On Friday, Hannah and I had lunch with Elise Matthesen (who is like the most awesome person EVAH! I'm serial. We thought this last year too. She's one of those people that as soon as you hear her talk you want to be her friend/stalk her/be her).
We were discussing how novel writing and short story writing are two different skills and that not every writer possesses them.
She said it angers her when novel writers say "I need to write some short stories to try and break in" and then short story writers state "I need to write novels because there's no money in short stories" (which is when Elizabeth Bear pointed out that there's no money in publishing anywhere).
Anyway, to illustrate the original post, Elise had Patricia C. Wrede tell an amusing anecdote.
Pat announced that she had sold every single novel she has every written (which is CRAZY!) but when asked how many of her short stories she'd sold it was only about 50%.
She was a perfect example of someone who could write novels, but couldn't translate that skill over to short stories.
This isn't the case for everyone. I can write both. Elise just wanted people to stop worrying about trying to "break in" or to write something you weren't suited for just because someone else tells you to. You have to do what's right for you.
So how about you? Can you do only one or the other? Or are you one (like me) who can do both?
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
In Which I Conference
So I mentioned on Monday that I was out all weekend (and Friday evening).
And the reason was:
Palindrome and I went to a writing conference!!
4th Street Fantasy to be exact.
It was our first writing conference and Hannah located it by doing an interwebs search for local writing conferences. She's just so clever.
It was quite a bit of fun. And we got 4th St Fantasy pens that were also flash drives! AWESOME!
The Program and thoughts (in red) are as follows:
Thursday, June 24, 2010
8:00 PM – Three Shouts On a Hill
Last year we added a pre-conference opportunity to laugh and play. It was so successful that we decided to continue it and establish a tradition! Tonight we share in presenting the world premiere of Jo Walton's play version of the Irish legend of the Sons of Tuirean: Three Shouts On a Hill.
And the reason was:
Palindrome and I went to a writing conference!!
4th Street Fantasy to be exact.
It was our first writing conference and Hannah located it by doing an interwebs search for local writing conferences. She's just so clever.
It was quite a bit of fun. And we got 4th St Fantasy pens that were also flash drives! AWESOME!
The Program and thoughts (in red) are as follows:
Thursday, June 24, 2010
8:00 PM – Three Shouts On a Hill
Last year we added a pre-conference opportunity to laugh and play. It was so successful that we decided to continue it and establish a tradition! Tonight we share in presenting the world premiere of Jo Walton's play version of the Irish legend of the Sons of Tuirean: Three Shouts On a Hill.
Jo Walton, Author, on the right
Hannah and I did not attend Thursday. We have day jobs and junk.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday, June 25, 2010
4:00 PM – 5:00 PM What should I be reading (that I'm not)?
An open discussion of what's exciting out there: not limited to fantasy or genre at all! We want to know what's getting us jazzed in the world of books and web stuff.
Tom Whitmore, with much audience help
Tom Whitmore, Conference Organizer and retired reviewer
Again, the day jobs prevented us from hitting this one. Too bad because I bet it was a lot of fun. However they made a list and posted it online.
5:30 PM – 6:30 PM How do you know when a story's going wrong?
An editor, a writer, a reviewer and a reader talk about how to tell when a story is going wrong, and what to do about it, from their perspectives.
Steven Brust, Karen G. Anderson, Teresa Nielsen Hayden, Pamela Dean
Steven Brust, author, and his awesome editor Teresa Nielsen Hayden
Hannah pulled some strings at the day job and was able to leave work early. So we got zazzed up and hit this panel as our first foray into the conference. Both Steven Brust and Teresa Nielsen Hayden (editor for Tor books) were fantastic panelists. Funny and enlightening. Mostly the conclusion was, things can go wrong in the beginning, middle and end, but the middle and end mistakes are usually brought about by poor revision. Also this panel served to add to my confidence that the majority of work in the slush is terrible so we're already at an advantage.
8:00 PM – Getting to know you gatherings
Join Steven in the Smokers Den for Philosophy and Fun, Peggy in Courtyard Ballroom A for Singing and Silliness, Tom in Courtyard Ballroom B for Musings and Meanderings, or Janet in the ConSuite for Munching and Mischief... or stroll among them all. Other amusements will undoubtedly ensue.
Since we weren't planning on attending anything on Friday, we skipped this because we'd have to be up early for Saturday. Next year, I would definitely stick around to get to know everyone better
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, June 26, 2010
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM Mixing genres
We've had a raft of different ways of mashing up genres over recent years. Fantasy with rivets, dragons with novels of manners, future-setting fantasy — what's coming next, and why does this sort of synthesis work well (when it does)?
Jo Walton, Elizabeth Bear, Teresa Nielsen Hayden
We started off with a delicious breakfast. Twin came with and I brought my camera to take photos but for some reason it stopped working (though it's miraculously OK now...).
Elizabeth Bear told a fun story about how her first novel she submitted was All the Windwracked Stars which has MCs that are: A Valkyrie, Fenrir and a two headed mechanical horse. The response from her editor was that it was a good book, but not suitable as a "first novel". It was eventually published as her fourth book (and both Hannah and I picked it up from the dealer's room)
11:30 AM – 12:30 PM Beyond promotion: Reputation management
Why is it wrong to put a stack of your books in front of you at a panel? What is effective at a convention in terms of promotion, and why? How do you get a reputation, and what do you do once you have one?
Steven Brust, Ctein, Patrick Nielsen Hayden
This was my least favorite panel. They pulled someone from the audience who was actively engaged in self promotion to sit on the panel as well. But all the authors more or less said, why would anyone want to self promote themselves when that's what the publisher was for. Which wasn't very helpful for everyone in the audience who didn't have publishers. Or who were published at small prints and couldn't even get bookstores to understand that they weren't self pubbed. Still, it was an entertaining panel. It just made me think that I should try real hard to be published with Tor books (BTW, they still accept un-agented submissions. Crazy awesome, right?)
2:00 PM – 3:00 PM How does the medium affect the story?
There are many ways to tell stories. Why choose graphic novel over song? What are the advantages of keeping it short or making it long? Why has epic poetry pretty much died?
Adam Stemple, Elise Matthesen, Elizabeth Bear
Elise Mathessen, writer, jewlery maker
This was an interesting panel. It ended up mostly focusing on using music or jewelry as a medium. Elise Matthesen was one of the most interesting people at the whole conference. She also had a jewelry booth set up for shopping where Hannah bought a set of earrings based on Jo Walton's discussion of her face shape. Hannah also bought an old Renfest costume of Elise's that she was selling for $80 which is ridiculously cheap. (I wanted one of her necklaces, but it was $425 and there's no way I could ever justify that). While the panel was going on Elise made us vote on what kind of jewlery we wanted to her to make. Eldirtch Horror won out, and then Pirate (even though Steampunk was CLEARLY the better choice...). When the panel was done she had created two necklaces.
3:30 PM – 4:30 PM Fantasy vs. Progress
Sarah Monette had a blog post which began a discussion on the nature of progress in fantasy, and how conservative fantasy tends to be. Of course we had to continue it.
Sarah Monette, Marissa Lingen, Adam Stemple, Patrick Nielsen Hayden
Elise Mathessen, Sarah Monette, Elizabeth Bear (aka Bear), authors
This panel discussed why, in fantasy, we rarely reach, or go beyond, the industrialized age, and why we think that is so. Topics included Tolkien and his supposed dislike of technology that somehow allows him to have bicycles and umbrellas in The Shire which are not simple bits of technology
5:00 PM – 6:00 PM Submit, or die!
What keeps you from submitting and what keeps your submissions from being seen by the right people? Includes stories about the story an author won't submit.
Tom Whitmore, Elise Matthesen, Skyler White
For some reason, I can't remember what was discussed in this panel... WTF
Update: I now recall, with help from Hannah, that the discussion more or less centered around the fact that sooner or later, it becomes more painful to not submit, than to submit
7:30 PM – 8:30 PM Second thoughts: The morning after
The aftermath of Food, Fashion, and Fornication. Happily ever after? I don't think so. Unruly, lively discussion of what happens next.
Patrick Nielsen Hayden, Jon Singer, Elise Matthesen, Karen G. Anderson
We skipped this one and went home so we'd have more energy to tackle Sunday
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Sunday, June 27, 2010
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM Point of view: How not to suck
Who's telling this story, anyway? Why should I care? Does it make a difference?
Jo Walton, Sarah Monette, Steven Brust
This was a fun in depth discussion about POV and authors that use it well and those that don't. A lot of focus was spent on the unreliable narrator
1:00 PM – 2:00 PM The new cliches
When does something change from a fad to a cliche? What's jumped the shark recently (besides "jumping the shark")?
Teresa Nielsen Hayden, Tom Whitmore
Discussion ranged from anti-cliche's that become cliches to trends. General consensus was that if you begin a story by examining a cliche, it was probably OK, but if a cliche was the punchline of your story (ie - aliens come to earth in the past and create Adam and Eve) then you're in trouble
2:30 PM – 3:30 PM But that's a different panel...
Everything you wanted to discuss that got tabled until now.
We voted on two topics to discuss. And though both Hannah and I voted for "Why the horror genre collapsed" the winners were "How to make your problems fun" and "When to stop revising"
For "Problems" there was discussion about how every writer is given a "freebie" which is a writing skill that just comes naturally. For me, it's dialogue. Then to take that skill and use it to help the areas you suck at. Bear stated she hates setting, so she uses her freebie, which is fun, to try and make setting fun to work on.
For Revisions it all depended on what kind of writer you were. Do you know the ending? Then you probably need less revisions. If not, you'll need to go back and work it in. All the authors said they had had a book that they either had to, or came close to, starting completely over on. Also they pointed out that every writer, on every book, will always reach the point where they feel like they're the worst writer in the world.
So that was it! It was super fun and I'll definitely hit it next year.
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