I attended LTUE last weekend (a writers conference held at BYU). There were great classes, amazing authors, and inspiration handed out every hour. I had a fabulous time.
With the hundreds of things I heard over the weekend, I chose one specific element to focus on:
"90% of everything is crud."
That is Sturgeon's law, as quoted by Brandon Sanderson. His point in telling us this law was not to agree, but to boldly disagree. He talked specifically about the genre of science fiction and fantasy, and charged all in attendance to be a little more positive. He said that if someone likes something, it's not our job to conform their opinion to our own (more correct) opinion :) Or if we like something that someone else doesn't, we shouldn't start a debate to prove our taste level. For example, I wasn't a huge fan of Twilight, but there are millions of other people (errr, women), who disagree. Instead of picking the book apart, I should celebrate the mass production of something that supports what I love. Writing.
Sanderson said, "We are the genre of hope and optimism, and we need to remember that."
I've admitted that I am a picky person. I am also an optimist.
But I still didn't like Twilight.
If you attended LTUE, what did like best? If you didn't, what have you heard before that has helped you see more clearly?
Related to this topic I loved the point made by Howard Tayler in the class about side characters and improvisation. He said that the first law of improv is that you don't deny the other person. "No but..." is foul language in improv. Rather participants take the other person's statement and build on it with "yes and..." If we use this with our writing and our discussions of taste with others than we will find ourselves saying, "Well, yes if you loved Twilight then you might like The Dark Divine, by Bree Despain, which I found to be even more metaphorical."
ReplyDeleteI want to be a yesander not a nobutter.
I enjoyed LTUE and hanging out with other writers. I learned a lot from the class, Acting for Writers.
ReplyDeleteHe showed how the same dialogue can be presented a multitude of different ways, and mean something different based on what you have your characters "doing." I wasn't sure what to expect from this class, but it was well worth the time.
All of these classes were great, but I really loved the 'Wives Panel'. Strange, I know, but it helped me to gain a little perspective as to what it is I'm trying to do with writing and how I can more effectively get my husband on the same page as me.
ReplyDeleteMore on that later...
Dang, Kimberly. Now you're making me wish I'd attended the Acting For Writers Class. Oh well, I can't attend them all :)
ReplyDeleteMy favorite was Dan Wells' story pacing and structure. I loved the matrix he provided for building the core structure of any story.
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