Conference Collectibles:
Wisdom from the Front
By Haley Hughes
The
first time I ever attended an RWA national conference was as a reporter for a
chain of community newspapers. From that conference, a friend and I produced an
article that had to be a few thousand words in length. We’d absorbed tons of
information and felt the need to share all of it with everyone.
We don’t have that much space
here and I wasn’t that diligent in my note-taking this time, but I do have some
random pieces of wisdom that I jotted down during the conference.
On emotion
Really successful writers know
what emotional response they’re trying to evoke in a book and they run with it,
said Jennifer Enderlin of
On voice vs. heart
Play to your strengths and don’t
fight your voice, best-selling author Jayne Anne Krentz said during a panel discussion.
It may take a little experimentation to find out what type of book best suits
your voice, she said, and your voice might not be the best voice to write the
book of your heart.
When someone asked her what
route to follow, writing the book of her heart or the book of her voice, Krentz
replied, “Screw the book of your heart.” Write the book of your voice. Your
work will be judged on how well your voice and your story hook up.
She went on to say that the book
of your heart might turn out to be a self-indulgent and spoiled creature.
On the craft of writing
Write every chapter as though
it’s the first chapter, said best-selling author James Patterson during his
workshop. Write stories instead of sentences, try to leave out all the parts
that we skim, and write as though there’s one person across from you and you’re
telling a story.
On revisions
During her workshop,
best-selling author Kristin Hannah gave a lot of good advice on how to approach
revising your work. Two quotes stuck out for me.
“You need guts,” she said. “It’s
terribly difficult to tear apart a book that works at the 80 percent mark.”
Later she said, “The gift of
being unpublished is that you are on your own time schedule.”
On paranormals
The market for paranormals seems
to be still evolving and there is still so much that can be done with it.
“The best paranormals do two
things really well, they’re really sexy and they build a world,” Enderlin said
at the Pro Retreat.
Mary-Teresa Hussey of Luna Books
pointed out during the Pro Retreat that paranormal books allow readers to
experience an alpha male in an emotionally convincing setting.
On romantic suspense and thrillers
Romantic suspense appeals to
people right now because the world is an inherently scary place and readers
want a heroine to be involved in her own protection and in control, Lucia Marco
of Avon Books said during the Pro Retreat. She likes heroines who are strong,
smart and sensible.
Enderlin added that she loves it
when a heroine becomes her own hero.
Patterson talked along a similar
vein when he pointed out that thrillers evoke fear in readers, but the readers
get relief from that fear at the end of the novel, unlike in real life.
On market news
Market news was presented in several
workshops, but there are sources out there that do a much better job presenting
that news than I have space for here, and in a much more timely manner than two
months post conference. But there are three general impressions that stick out
in my brain:
1. Paranormals are hot, but time-travels are
still difficult to sell.
2. Romantic suspense is also hot, but there are
so many good writers out there doing it so well, that it can be tough to break
into that market.
3. Historicals and Westerns are not at all dead.
There are still many publishers looking for them and they still sell well.
“Sometimes it’s not your book that’s the
problem, it’s the market that’s the problem,” said Bob Mayer during his
workshop on Special Operations Tactics for Writers. He gave the example of a
book he wrote several years ago with a strong female lead. The book didn’t sell
then, but since the market has now changed, it has since sold.
On keeping your day job
As writers, we don’t usually focus on why
we should keep a day job. It seems counter productive. It seems like we should
be building our career so that we can afford to do it full time. But this
wasn’t the attitude of the three presenters in the workshop “Have Your Cake and
Eat It, Too! The Advantages of Keeping Your Day Job.”
Benefits such as health insurance and
401(k), being able to afford to maintain their current standard of living,
getting out of the house and interacting with different people in the real
world, sources for story ideas, public speaking opportunities, positive
reinforcement on work, self esteem, and having structured time were all reasons
voiced during a group brainstorming session.
One of the best reasons one writer said
she chooses to keep her day job is that it holds off her sense of desperation
in her writing. She can be more choosy about what she wants to write and not
have to accept every opportunity given to her. As another person said, we can
support our spirits as well as support our households.
Why it’s great to be a writer
In her keynote speech, best-selling author
Lisa Gardner gave her top five reasons on why it’s great to be a writer. They
went along the lines of:
Sometimes writing is a beautiful thing and
sometimes that muse is a bitch.
But anyone can succeed as a writer, from
any background—all you need is a rich imagination and desire.
And when one writer succeeds in this
business, all writers succeed.
Creativity is never wrong. The wildest
idea might turn into the new breakout book.
“We get to come to conference and we get
to meet people just as neurotic as ourselves.”