Good morning, cyberspace! I apologize for not getting a post out last week. Week Two of Spring FicFrenzy was rather difficult (and therefore unproductive), and then I caught a pretty nasty head cold, which made Week Three of Spring FicFrenzy even less productive. But I’m happy to say that I am now officially on the mend!

As I type this, it is Easter morning. It’s chilly. It’s a little gloomy outside. But there’s a flame in my heart that wasn’t there a few days ago. On Saturday, I attended my first ever in-person writer’s convention. It wasn’t particularly large. It wasn’t particularly mind-boggling. But it was just the spark I needed to rekindle that creative flame burning inside of me.

I and about a dozen other writers joined together on Saturday morning to exercise our writing muscle, learn more about the craft, and–in my case–remember what it means to be a writer through and through.

This week, since I really don’t have any progress to report on my current WIP–painful to admit though that is–I thought we could dive into some of the lessons I learned at the Storyteller’s Convention. After all, there might be other writers out there who are struggling with the very same things that I have been.

THE STORYTELLER’S CONVENTION

ONE – The importance of dialogue

Local playwright Autumn Owens spoke to us all about the importance of dialogue, not just in plays and scripts, but in novels and literature, as well. She explained dialogue on the page as “manipulating the voice in the reader’s head”. How we write dialogue–how we use punctuation, verbal tics, and even dialogue tags–has an integral effect on a reader’s enjoyment of the story.

I was particularly interested in her viewpoint on dialogue tags. As a writer, I want my readers to understand exactly what I’m trying to say, right down to the nitty gritty of tone and context in my dialogue. To ensure this, I find that I often use dialogue tags as my personal crutch, giving context clues to how my characters are talking by ensuring that their voice is read correctly by the reader. But that’s actually–to put it more bluntly than Owens did–bad writing.

According to Owens, if the dialogue is doing its job well, we shouldn’t have to use dialogue tags. Context can be picked up in so many other ways than with a growl or a sneer. It’s our job as writers to show that context to the readers.

Some questions she encouraged us to ask ourselves about dialogue tags include:

• is it enhancing?
• is it hindering?
• is it necessary?

The main point, however, was a truth about actual human conversation that a lot of writers tend to overlook (including myself). More often than not, natural sounding dialogue isn’t about what the characters are saying to each other, but rather what they are not saying. It’s what lies between the lines that makes our dialogue sound human.

TWO – It’s okay to put something down and pick it back up again

There was more to this talk by local author Ann Weir than just this, but I think this was the tidbit that I picked up on the most.

For so long I’ve been struggling to pick up my writing again. It’s evident through this blog. It’s evident in my writing life. It’s evident in the way that, even writing this now, I’m struggling with whether this post is something I can even make publishable.

I don’t know the exact moment I put my writing down. All I know is that one day I was on fire with writing, and then the next I was not. And ever since then, picking that torch back up and keeping it lit has been a struggle. It’s been years of on-and-off-again. Years of struggling with remembering why I’m doing this. Years of lowkey not believing I’m even capable.

But the way Weir said it, so simple it almost could be looked over, it finally finally clicked. It’s okay to put something down and pick it back up again.

This isn’t the first time I’ve heard this. I’m pretty sure my friend Phoebe has told me this a million times. But on Saturday it finally clicked.

It’s really, really okay that writing wasn’t my main focus for a while. It’s okay if I dive back into it. The guilt is a liar and is no longer worthy of my time.

Another point Weir made in her talk was the importance of submitting your work. Submit, submit, submit. Not every door will be opened, but the more you put yourself out there, the easier it will be to continue submitting and–eventually–the right door will open for you. So finish things. Finish things and submit things.

And also, if you’re self publishing, do not go with Amazon’s free ISBNs. Buy your own. It’s more expensive, but it’s worth it.

THREE – Keep a diary

The president of the American Diary Project spoke to us on Saturday, as well! The key takeaway from this talk was how fascinating the stories we tell of our own lives can be.

Diaries don’t just tell us what happened. They tell us how it felt.

I keep a diary. It’s something that I’ve always done, though I don’t have all of my old diaries. Back when I lived in my apartment, one of the mice that were constantly terrorizing me and my roommate got ahold of a few of my diaries and I unfortunately had to lay them to rest. (Both the journals and the mice.) And while I don’t write in my diary every day, I do find a sort of cathartic rhythm to writing in them when I do.

I guess I’ve never really given much thought to what will happen to my diaries once I’m gone, but I do feel more compelled than ever to keep writing in my diaries–to keep the story of my own life alive for as long as I can.

FOUR – Random bits of interest

There was a lot more that happened at the Storyteller’s Convention, but I fear I don’t have the time or mental space to write it all down right now. My notebook–a brand new one with a bunch of dinosaurs stamped on the cover–is brimming with the notes I took. I’ll probably pour over them over the next few days as I try to dive deep into the world of writing. But for now, I’ll leave you with some randomness that I wrote down during some of the other talks! These are one-off thoughts, so I think bullet points will do:

• if you write, you are a writer
• sometimes, you don’t need a thought in your head–you just need to sit down and write
• we’re often not as stuck as we feel–we are just familiar with where we are right now
• just get the ideas down for 10-20 minutes a day–eventually, the book will take shape
• “You’re not stranded. You’re just carrying too much.”
• don’t listen to the naysayers
• don’t listen to your own negative voice
• ask questions; if you don’t like the answer, ask someone else
• learn to be good with deadlines and pressure
• characters should be human first–forget about archetypes and genre
• know who your audience is, and write to them specifically

I feel like there’s more that I’m failing to put here, but this will have to do for now! I really enjoyed my first in-person conference experience, and I’d love to go back next year if I can! Though I will admit…I’m still looking forward to the day when I can attend Realm Makers in-person for the first time!

TALK TO ME!

Have you ever participated in a writing conference (either in-person or online)? Did you learn anything valuable? Make any friends? Tell me about your experience below! I’d love to hear it!