"Writing is work, even when it’s fun. What separates a writer from an author is the person that keeps writing, even when it stops being fun." -Aprilynne Pike
As I'm sure everyone knows, the writers conference LDStorymakers concluded on Saturday. It was great, so much fun with inspiration packaged up and sent home. There were many awesome moments, and I'll highlight a few:
-Bree Despain's class on Paranormal YA was a lot of fun to be in. She is a class act. Favorite part was discussing the paranormal metaphor, hiding the "heavier" real issues under the paranormal umbrella.
-Aprilynne Pike's class on Writing For The Market was incredibly informative. She is one smart chicky! She talked about how keeping your audience in mind while you are writing is just as important as keeping your grammar in mind. She also quoted Reverend Lovejoy, "Yes with an if, no with a but..." You can't get any better than that.
-Watching Jeff Savage's lego-man clip starring James Dashner with an english accent. I hope this shows up on YouTube soon.
-Friday evening entertainment, Shaun Barrowes.
-My ten minutes with Krista Marino. Great lady, very down to earth. And she really liked my first five pages. Huzzah! A couple of her notes read, "Great work at leaving the reader guessing for more," and, "I really like this sassy protagonist."
-Meeting agent Laura Rennert, and throwing out a thirty second pitch. She was lovely, didn't seem bothered at all that I approached her. And when I told her my book was a YA Dystopian, she was very excited. She asked for my first three chapters. Double Huzzah!
All three national guests (Krista Marino, Laura Rennert, and Nephele Tempest) had great things to say about the conference, and more specifically, the amazing talent we have here in Utah. We should all be so proud :)
What was your favorite part of Storymakers? If you had a pitch, how did it go? Why do you think the talent pool is so strong in Utah? What are you working on? Let's chat. There's nothing like talking about writing to get excited about it.
I have to say, I think one of the best sound bites I got out of StoryMakers was from Anita Stansfield at a panel I did with her. I'm still thinking about it an cheering! She said, "A first draft is what you want to say; a final draft is the way you want to say it." As soon as the words came out of her mouth Dan wells and I turned to each other and went, "Ooooh!" and then thumb-wrestled over who was going to take credit for having said it. (In the end we decided we'd go ahead and be honest and tell people Anita said it . . .;))
ReplyDeleteA.
Aprilynne! Nice to hear from you (and I hope I got all your quotes right, yikes! :)
ReplyDeleteI agree that I LOVED Anita Stansfield's wisdom. The other nugget I loved was, "Write a sentence, change a diaper. Write a sentence, make a sandwich. Keep writing those sentences and over time you'll have a book."
My favorite moment was handing Krista the $1 Garage-Sale Pirate Coat. She dropped the cutest F-Bomb I've ever heard!!
ReplyDelete(Course that was my only moment.)
And having everyone compliment Debbie's skirt (that I whipped up for her the day before)!!
I wish I had a moment to share. Maybe next year... :)
ReplyDeleteSo many moments and so little attention span to share them in.
ReplyDeleteGiving Krista the pirate jacket was way fun. Sitting with Aprilynne and visiting about her book was great. Pitch session was great. Meeting Laura was fantastic. Meeting Shawn Barrowes was delightful...he said to keep him posted about when I get published. So nice.
Best class...so many but I double ditto Debbie's notes on Bree Despain's paranormal class.
Laura Rennert's class on cross over fiction was so enlightening.
Nephele Tempest said in her closing remarks, "Think of us as your next round of readers. We are just people who love to read and made a carreer out of it. Not scary really."
Krista's class on the first five pages about giving your reader a foot hold in the world and a focus on the problem.
Seeing everyone was fantastic. Loved it!!
I don't think I could be happier for you if it was me! Really! Way to go, Deb! (You'll be sure and keep me updated? Right? Of course you will. Or I'll stalk you down...)
ReplyDeleteIt was a great conference. I missed some classes I wanted to take. Thanks for the sound bites. :D
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