A Week in Writing #166 - Report From The Front - Writer's Digest Novel Writing Conference 2017

This was a week in writing where craft took precedence over practice. My son, Paul, and I attended the Writer's Digest Novel Writing Conference in Pasadena this past Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The conference, which was mostly programs devoted to Craft, Character, Genre and Beyond (Revisions, Querying and Publishing), was a chance not only to learn from other writers and professionals but also to mingle with other writers. (Being the introverts that we are, the mingling not so much.)

Being in the seemingly endless round of revisions on the oft-discussed Familiar Stranger, I found the conference to be really informative and energizing. I would find myself sitting listening to someone talk about the inciting incident and then couldn't wait to get home to start moving chapters around to get to the first hook in the story.

I attended the following programs: Ten Ways to Create Compelling Characters (Even Unlikable Ones) by April Eberhardt [Character]; Make Your First Chapter Matter by Sophie Littlefield [Craft]; Page-Turning Secrets for Thrillers and Suspense by James Scott Bell [Genre]; Your Submission Questions Answered by Laurie McLean, Holly Root, Patricia Nelson, and Taylor Haggerty [Beyond]; Plotting for Pantsers by Rachel Herron [Craft]; Making Your Setting a Character by Susan Meissner [Character]; Mystery/Thriller Panel with Liz Fenton, James Scott Bell, David Corbett and Nina Sadowsky [Genre]; Writing Conflicted Characters: How to Dramatize Mixed Motive & Other Contradictions by David Corbett [Character]; Fearless Writing by William Kenower [Beyond]; Writing the Perfectly Imperfect Character: The Character Cues Technique [Jordan Rosenfeld]; and The Four Perspectives: A System For Revising Everything From One Chapter to a Whole Manuscript by Jennie Nash [Beyond].

Not all programs are created equal and some are more informative than others. Many seemed to have to rush through their presentation, one presenter said that she normally takes 6 hours to do this hour-long lecture. Several seemed rushed or cut-off. One presenter seemed very disorganized. Most seemed to at least have a book or two or three to sell or promote, several of which were not surprisingly available for sale at the convention. That, however, is par for the course as that is also true at Comic-Con.

Perhaps the most inspirational was William Kenower's Fearless Writing, trying to free the writer from worrying about what someone else will think while you're writing. It's supposed to be easy to write, but many writers hamper themselves by worrying about what someone else will think. Try not to do that. And part of the fun is not necessarily knowing where the story is going, so let yourself be surprised.

Several things were repeated over several programs, including common sense items like the three-act structure, though one pushed it to four by splitting Act 2 in half. It may seem like a formula, but it works. As James Scott Bell noted, you won't make an omelet with a watermelon. Readers have certain expectations that as a writer you should be addressing.

Characters were also discussed in several programs. The more you know about your main and secondary characters the better, though I'm not sure I want to interview them or write extensive biographies about each one. The important thing is not to tell the reader everything about them in a block of exposition, but to let their flaws and strengths come out through dialogue and action.

I'm too much of a pantser to do that much planning, but I've been working with my two main characters long enough and over several unpublished efforts that I really think I know them pretty well. But being reminded to tell and not show never hurts.

I also got a better perspective on agents. Hearing them speak made them seem more human. They don't want to necessarily reject you, at least the ones who attended this conference said they didn't. But a new agency, two of the agents of which were there, said they got 300 queries a day for the first couple of months. That seems like an impossible feat to get through. They did stress that the query guidelines on their websites should be followed since that's how they're pipeline works. As an example, if they ask for no attachments, it's because it slows them down to have to open them. A good lesson is to try to give them what they're looking for as far as genres and submissions.

The Romance Writers of America was touted more than once as an organization worth joining, even if you don't write romantic fiction. There were also several other conventions and websites mentioned, too numerous to mention here, but I guess there is always strength in numbers. Unfortunately, I'm more like Groucho Marx and wouldn't want to belong to any organization that would have someone like me as a member. Heck, I didn't attend any of the mixers that the conference offered. For me, I just don't feel like I'm ready for that sort of immersion, at least not yet.

For the most part, the attendees to these kinds of conferences tend to be on the older side of things. A few like my son bring down the average age, but I would imagine the median age was somewhere in the high 50's or low 60's. A lot of gray hair. And while there were quite a few men, women were in the majority here as attendees as well as presenters.

Having attended the conference I'm more excited about getting back to Familiar Stranger and have a new desire to dig in and make it better. I would recommend attending this conference or a similar one if you have the time and money. It will make you a better writer.

There was other news this week: Our search for a new colorist for Powers Squared continues. We sent out invitations to four candidates and so far one has returned their sample and one other has contacted us about what format to return it in. We gave them two weeks, so there is still time.

Trophy Unlocked's Saturday Morning Review was the final horror film review for October: What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962). We also published a review of the video game Abzû on Sunday. So some things never stop even with a conference.

This next week, I'm hoping to get back on the horse and get on with Familiar Stranger, though I do have a review to write, but I'll save that for next week.

A Week in Writing #163

So the week went from okay on Monday to feeling like I had gotten a kick in the gut by Sunday afternoon. More about that later.

Never really got into the groove this week as much as I wanted to. I did write, but not as much as I had planned on. Did a little writing on Familiar Stranger, but sadly very little. I had wanted to really work on it this week, but other writing took persistence either through bad time management or for other reasons.

I did try to prep for the Writer's Digest Novel Writing Conference that's coming up later in the month. There was a webinar where a writer explained how to prepare for it. While it happened during the day on Tuesday, I tried to listen to it. Usually, I can go whole days without talking to anyone, so I thought I might be able to listen while I worked. But about ten minutes in one of my co-workers wanted to discuss work stuff and a few minutes my boss called me into her office to discuss more work stuff. So needless to say, I never had a chance to listen to it and still haven't but there are still a few weeks to go.

Spent some time working on posting a review for Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1950), including finding photos for the review and, believe it or not, trying to correct grammar. I spent some time later in the week going over the review again before I asked Paul to edit it. He apparently still found things that needed to be changed. That review appeared as Trophy Unlocked's Saturday Morning Review and is the first in this month's Halloween salute. Still, need a fourth film. We watched the Final Cut of Blade Runner on Friday and while it may be boring, it doesn't rise to the level of horribly so.

But put away your wallet, that wasn't the only review we posted. Based on a showing we went to over the weekend, I posted one for Loving Vincent, a new film that uses 65000 oil paintings over a live-action film to present the story in the visual look of Van Gogh's paintings. It's an experimental film that also manages to tell a story with good acting.

Started on for Side Street (1950), but haven't so far gotten further than an introductory paragraph. Watching that movie, on Thursday night, also took away from writing, though I wanted to watch it to remove it from our DVR. We've had it since TCM's Last Summer of Darkness, along with a boatload of other film noirs we recorded but haven't yet watched. Sometimes, your desire to watch films outdistances your actual time to do so.

Tried to work with Final Draft for the first time on a future script for Powers Squared. Maybe it's me, but it seemed rather clunky. I'm used to writing in Word, but I thought I should learn to at least get a feel for the software. There goes a couple of nights work. I also realize that I need to update the website with more information about the upcoming issues, so that's work for another day.

More pages from the artist, layouts for pages 17 through 19 of issue #5. Those came in on Friday, but it was Sunday before we had the time to look at them; that's the way it goes sometimes. Also received four pages from our colorist, but those were accompanied by the kick in the gut. After three issues, she's notified us that she has to quit. Another career opportunity for her will take too much of her time. While we're happy for her, it really hurts to lose her.

Next week, I hope to pick up the pieces and carry on.

A Week in Writing #146

I had a pretty good week. Didn't accomplish everything I wanted, but I think I made progress on all fronts, including the oft put-to-the-side Familiar Stranger. Actually finished a chapter and started a new one. I think once I get past this part of the book it will go rather quickly, as it is this part of the book that has been the problem.

On the writing front, I just registered for the Writer's Digest Conference in Pasadena in October. I had considered only going on Saturday, but now I'm planning to go all three days. One of the added bonuses is that I get to attend with my son Paul.

Powers Squared took up its usual bulk of time, but wasn't as much this week as it has in the past. While our artist finished four pages, it still took about two weeks. Sometimes I feel like we focus in on one or two panels and that can really slow progress down. After a while, we get to the point where we feel it's as good as it is going to get and move on.

Our colorist was absent for a second week. We heard from her, but no pages. It is really not a big deal at this point. We know she's working on it. Our letterer, though, did come through with a couple of pages. We're getting close to being through with Issue #3, which is encouraging, even though we started it six months ago. I'm hopeful the next two can come together faster.

Speaking of the Issues #1 and #2, I registered for copyrights for them. Trying to get that out of the way ahead of publishing. No word on exactly when, but it's a bit of business that needed to be done.

I think I've finished the cover letter and synopsis for submission to Image, but I'm finding myself to be somewhat reluctant to send it in. Maybe it is the fear of rejection, but I'm hesistant. I'll have to get over it, but for now it's ready to go, just not sent. Next I need to work on the Dark Horse submission, which includes a lot of synopsii of different lengths.

Had an idea during the week for a future story for Powers Squared. I haven't done more than write it down. Involves Instructor Miller becoming Destructor Miller. We'll see if anything ever comes from it.

Finished my review of Red Dust, but I still have Journey Into Fear to go. Published Dance, Fools, Dance (1931) over the weekend, which was a hold over from last week's Saturday Morning Review.

So all in all, not a bad week in writing. Maybe I could have done more, but I'm pretty pleased to have been able to get in a little bit of everything.

A Week in Writing #131

Well, time caught up with me last week. The Monday holiday was sadly not a time for a lot of writing as there were other things that took precedence. That's one thing about writing on the side, there is never enough time.

Case in point, the Blogging 101 course I was taking online. I had other things to do last weekend and apparently lost my chance to complete the course, as it now seems to have all but shut down. I can look at the "lecture" and the assignments, but there is no place to submit the assignment so I guess I'm done. It's very hard to slice up limited time too finely and maybe online writing courses are that one bridge too far.

Writer's Digest seems to think all of their subscribers are either making a living writing or have endless amounts of time during the day. I don't know how many courses I've passed on because they have the on-line lecture at 1 pm on a Thursday afternoon. Not really a good time for me nor would I imagine other writers as well. It's too bad, too, because there are definitely areas I could use help on, like query letters and setting up a writer's website. Oh, time and money why have you forsaken me so?

I did some rewrites on Familiar Stranger, but never enough. I'll try to work more on that this coming week as I think I finally know how to get into the story. Still, have other hurdles to cross, but I'm hoping at some point that I can blop in most of what I've already written, so hopefully the page numbers will increase. Right now I'm still in the first 17 pages and only about 2800 words.

Worked on some ideas for a pre-story for Powers Squared, though at this point it is just an idea. Did some research on magical creatures so, at this point, I still think it's a go.

More progress on the comic book. Our colorist "finished" issue # 1. I'm putting quotes around finished because there are still a few panels we need to work on involving flashbacks. Not quite right yet, but I'm confident we'll get there. We're also talking about the cover and Issue #2.

The artist is making progress on Issue #3. Right now we're laying out pages 9 through 12, which means we're coming to the middle of that issue.

Part of my concern this week has been what to do when we have a finished Issue #2 and what we should be doing before then as well. Sadly, I'm not a marketing genius and don't think I have the time to take an online Writers' Digest course on the subject if one did indeed exist. My hope is not to mess things up before we "launch" this on the world; the when and how TBD.

The pre-story is one idea as well as Twitter and Facebook sites. That means content and I'm not 100% sure how much or what to put out there that will both spark interest but not give away too much. We do want people to pay for it at some point.

Published a Saturday morning review of Hayao Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro based on the 2005 Disney version of the film, thus ending animation month on Trophy Unlocked. Also working on a future review of his next film, Kiki's Delivery Service. Also published a Review Hub for films we've reviewed that have been nominated and/or won an Academy Award updated to reflect tonight's awards. A much bigger project than I anticipated, but glad to be on this side of it.

Award shows always make me a little anxious. Not that I necessarily think I'll win one some day, but it's the fact that most of the people in the room seem to be a part of something I want to be a part of. Old dreams don't die easily.

A Week in Writing #129

Much better week for writing. Even though there was rain, the commute wasn't as bad as it was the week before, which gave me a little more time to write. Of course, it's what you make of that time that counts.

I'm taking a Writer's Digest course in blogging, which is about trying to grow this blog's audience. While I'm thankful for the 20 or so who read this every week, I would like to perhaps expand it a little.

The course has gotten me to think about what kind of blog I'm writing. It's not really a how-to or advice kind of blog. I really did begin this as a way of keeping myself honest about what I'm doing. Not that there's not some advice sprinkled in, here and there, that hasn't really been the focus 129 posts in. I'm not really looking for sympathy either, but perhaps understanding.

I would like this to be a blog where I can talk freely about what I'm working on. For the most part, it has been about three things: Powers Squared, Trophy Unlocked and whatever book I'm working or trying to work on in addition. Perhaps, if you're like me and writing is your avocation, you might find by reading this blog that you're not alone and you might see what I'm doing and learn from my example; I don't pretend to have the answers.

Powers Squared, our comic book, is still coming along. The colorist is working at about four pages a week on Issue #1 and the artist is more or less doing the same on Issue #3. I know what you're thinking about Issue #2. It's not getting any love at the moment, but that'll change in a few weeks. I'm never sure how much to talk about it here, as far as getting into details. Our work on it comes in spurts depending on the deliverables. Then we have to find the time to sit and review and send our comments back.

I was hoping to have a meeting in the upcoming week with a creator of a comic book who has "made it." He was offering to give me some advice, but for whatever reason, we haven't been able to finalize a time. For the most part, I'm a slave to his schedule, though I want us to meet close where I work. Who thought logistics would play such a part in writing?

A milestone of sorts for Trophy Unlocked as this past week we passed the 200,000 pageview mark. While many blogs pass that much quicker, it is still something I'm proud of. It shows that we've stuck with it over the years. Adding to that total, by a whopping 17 pageviews so far, is my review of Beauty and the Beast (1991) which I published on Saturday morning. February is Animation month on Trophy Unlocked and there will be more in the coming weeks.

One of the things I do to help drive pageviews is to tweet on anniversary dates for titles we've reviewed or ones that fall on special occasions. Today I made the embarrassing discovery that I had tweeted about three titles a day early. Not a big deal, but I was about to post tweets for the same titles this morning. As I was writing the first one I had a strong sense of deja vu and looked to see I had already tweeted about them.

Began in earnest my rewrite of Familiar Stranger. I was trying to channel my editor and decided I needed to start the story further along. Still not sure if I've found that right spot yet, but feeling a little better to actually be writing again. However, I failed to make my thousand words a day goal by about 6,000 words give or take, but I'm getting there.

A Week in Writing #128

This week I spent about as much time commuting as I did actually writing, but still, progress was made on at least one front, the comic book, but even that seemed as slow as the rush hour traffic. It wasn't until Wednesday, and only after my nudging, that we got any pages from our artist. I'm trying to be patient, but I don't want to fall behind on this. My schedule is four pages in two weeks from him and I'm trying to stay on top of him to meet that. So far this week, we have layouts for three pages, but they need minor tweaks.

I think I've written this before, but seeing the script drawn out is a very interesting experience and it makes you rethink things as you go sometimes. I know I can be a bit wordy, so I saw a chance to combine some dialogue if the artist tweaked a panel to show more characters.

Sometimes we go round and round over an image that I want him to draw. I try to describe what I'm looking for and when that doesn't work, I'll try to find an image on the internet to send. Have you tried to Google "Man looking over his left shoulder"? A lot of images come back, few of which is a man looking over his left shoulder. Got a few women not looking over their shoulders and even a picture of a man doing pulls ups and missing his left arm. But I managed to find one that I used and sent to him, "like this, but with a different expression" or something to that effect. Usually, he'll come around even if it is sometimes the third or fourth try.

Having a similar back and forth with our colorist over how to handle flashback sequences. I'm trying very hard not to fall back on what the previous colorist did. I still have that work, I paid for it, but I want what we do now to be different. I sort of liked how we had handled flashbacks in the past and had thought we had used sepia tones, but we hadn't as it turns out. She gave it a real try, but it's not working for me. Not her fault, it just isn't right. We decided to put a pin in it and come back to it at a later date. Otherwise, she's really making good progress and is easy to work with.

There's a lot of compromise with anything collaborative, even though I'm footing the bill. I'm not an expert at any of this. Speaking of that, I'm supposed to have a lunch this coming week with someone who has created their own comic book and is now producing it into a TV show. I sent him the current version of the comic book, but don't know what he thinks of it. He did touch base during the week, but nothing was scheduled yet.

Did complete and publish my review of Toy Story, which was my Saturday Morning Review on Trophy Unlocked. I thought I would kick off a week of animated film reviews while I work on a review of Charlie Chaplin's The Adventurer. Watched that and a few other of Chaplin's Mutual shorts out of respect for David Shepard, who died this past week. A true film lover and archivist, I was lucky enough to have taken his course at USC, back when I was working on my Ph.D.; not that I got that degree, but that's a story for a different post.

Had a big idea for Trophy Unlocked. Thought I'd create an Academy Award Review Hub of all the films we've reviewed that have been at least nominated for an Oscar. Who knew so many films we'd reviewed had nominations? It's quite a list as it turns out and I'm still doing research. Not sure if I'll get it posted before the Awards or not. Me and stretch goals.

Worked on my editing for Familiar Stranger, but I'm thinking I'm going to really need to just rewrite the thing. My subplot is sort of lame and I think I could punch it up easier by sitting at the computer than with pencil on paper. The story has a lot of problems, but I'm finding most of the unfinished work I have is in the same boat. I got to a certain point and never carried them to completion. I'm hoping to start on that this coming week.

Did my first assignment for my Writer's Digest online class. I waited until this morning to sit down and do it, but it never seemed like the right time before today. Either I was too rushed in the morning or too tired at night; maybe unmotivated is the right word; maybe lethargic. When you fall asleep after dinner it's all I can do to get up and do some writing. The assignment seemed like a hill too high to climb. One down four to go. Yikers!

A Week in Writing #127

Had a bit of a panic this weekend as it relates to Powers Squared; short-lived but still worrisome. Late on a Friday night, everything seems worse than it really is. When all was said and done, the pages colored and lettered, we still had the original artist's border on them. Can't see anyone publishing them with those on them. It turned out that it wasn't that big of a deal, cooler heads prevailed and our new colorist came through, so whew, crisis averted.

Otherwise, progress seems to be being made. Eight pages of the first issue have been re-colored, three pages have been re-lettered and the first four pages of the third issue have been laid out, penciled and inked. Still a little behind on that issue, but the artist was ill for awhile.

Through emails from a mutual friend was connected to the creator of Lantern City. He's offered to help us figure out the ins and outs of the comic book industry. I'll take all the help I can get. We're supposed to meet for lunch the week of February 6. With caveats about the reconstruction of Issue #1, sent him a copy. I figured it was better to put something in front of him, rather than just a synopsis.

Still editing chapters of Familiar Stranger, up to Chapter 11. The experience is really making me want to rethink parts I've already re-thought before. I think I tried to add too much to the beginning and it sort of keeps the main story from getting underway. I also know that when I get into it further, I know there are other problems to deal with. Sort of want to stop editing and start rewriting. I end up spending the last half hour or so of the day either editing or reading.

Read the second trade paperback of Saga and have started in on The Thief of Thieves' number 2. While these were recommended for lettering I have gotten into them. Not sure what effect it will have on our book, but it always good to see what else is out there. It also helps to see how other people lay out their books, etc.

Started a course through Writer's Digest, Blogging 101. It's the first one I've taken and I haven't gotten past the Introduction. I'm hoping to figure out ways of getting more page views here as I try to build my writing career and start to hopefully push the comic once it's time to do that. I did the introduction in the morning before I went to work on Friday. I still need to finish lesson one. Not looking forward to homework, which is why I put it off. So I've got that to look forward to next week.

No new reviews were written this week, though I did take tentative steps towards writing one for Toy Story. We watched it recently before going to a Pixar Animation exhibit at the California Science Center. Did publish The Girl From Mexico (1939) as part of Trophy Unlocked's Saturday Morning Review. Thought with immigration being in the news that we would have gotten more than 18 page views, but I didn't publish it for that reason. We're not political on the blogs; that's for others to do.