Thursday, May 12th, 2011  Not the pond I talk about below.It was 54 degrees outside when I left my house this morning: a 30-degree drop in temperature from the afternoon before. There was a bit of a chill in the air, and condensation covered a large expanse of the outdoors.
As I wound my way down the narrow, hilly, and curvy road, I kept my eye out for a view of the pond located at the edge of a nearby farmer’s property.
At 5:30 a.m., I often see wildlife making use of the pond, and today I was looking forward to what I might find.
Brought on by the cool morning, a thin layer of fog hovered over the slowly cooling pond. A single goose swam in the water, partially hidden in the rising tendrils of fog.
Fabulous.
And great fodder for detail in my working — and future — novels.
I thought about this single goose all the way to work, and when I arrived, I jotted down a few of the more striking details:
– cool morning
– condensation on nearly everything outside
– wispy fog over the pond
– details of the pond lost in the fog
– a single goose
– very quiet
– sun hadn’t risen yet
The beauty of a scene like this is that the detail can be used over and over again in different stories and novels, and never has to be used the same way twice. It doesn’t even have to be used as it is!
For instance, why a goose? Why not a deer, if your story takes place in a wooded glade; or a bobcat, if the story takes place in a desert setting?
The same fog could rise in the evening after a warm day.
Perhaps the sun has risen in your story.
(And, by changing details among the details, you’ve not only grown the body of items you can choose from, you increase the possibilities of stories you could write.)
The key to using detail — especially striking detail — is not to overload the reader. Pick only one or two items that stand out, and save the others for another time.
This approach offers three advantages:
- using fewer details allows the reader to imagine the rest of the scene, giving them some “ownership” of the story, allowing them to be absorbed, rather than dictated to.
- it leaves you with several more details to mix and match in other stories you may write in the future, without suggesting to your astute readers that you’re taking shortcuts by writing the same thing over and over.
- the remaining details might be used as story-starters — rather than just scenes or details – for future works.
How have you used real-life incidents or settings in your stories? How do you note them or keep track of them? Do you find yourself using those details in multiple stories?
Monday, May 9th, 2011 This is the second of a 3-part interview series of authors from the book Many Genres, One Craft recently published by Headline Books. Many Genres, One Craft is an anthology of instructional articles for fiction writers looking for advice on how to improve their writing and better navigate the mass market for genre novels.
While the book encompasses many aspects of writing, this series of interviews is all about coordinating and attending writing conferences.
 Lucy A. Snyder is the Bram Stoker Award-winning author of the novels Spellbent and Shotgun Sorceress and the collections Sparks and Shadows, Chimeric Machines, and Installing Linux on a Dead Badger. Her writing has also appeared in several magazines.
She has a B.S. in biology, an M.A. in journalism and graduated from the 1995 Clarion Writers’ Workshop. Since 2005, she’s directed the Context Writing Workshops. She currently is a Seton Hill MFA mentor. Lucy was born in South Carolina, grew up in Texas, and now lives in Ohio, with her husband and occasional co-author Gary A. Braunbeck. For more information, please visit www.lucysnyder.com.
What’s it like being a conference/convention coordinator?
It’s a busy but highly rewarding volunteer job. I coordinate the writing workshops track for Context, a convention in Columbus, Ohio that will be taking place the weekend of August 26-28 (www.contextsf.org). It’s steady work across the entire year that gets busier in the months leading up to the convention. Right now we’re getting very busy with convention planning and preparations. It’s always great to see your efforts pay off in a well-attended convention where you can see people having fun, making new connections, and learning new skills.
 What are the key skills for your role?
To be a writing workshop coordinator you need good organizational skills (scheduling and keeping track of course signups is a big part of what you’ll do), persistence (things won’t always go right the first time), and good problem-solving skills. And of course communication skills are critical. Knowledge-wise, you need to be able to reach out to good instructors, and you need to know how to be able to evaluate potential instructors.
What’s the best thing that’s ever come out of a conference for you? What about for someone else? Was it luck or planning that made it happen?
For me, the best things that have come out of conferences and conventions have been book deals, or preliminary discussions with editors that resulted in book deals. Luck always plays a distressingly large role in publishing, but in each situation I had done a lot of pre-conference planning (in terms of who I wanted to meet and what I was going to present to them) that I think vastly improved my chances of success.
Why should a person attend a conference/convention?
There are a whole lot of reasons to go to a convention. Many people go as much for fun as they do for business. It really depends on where you are in your writing career. If you’re unpublished, you might want to focus of conventions that offer a strong writing track and the chance to talk to small- and medium-press editors, who are often more receptive to new writers’ work. If you have been selling short stories and have just finished a novel, you might want to look for conventions that offer the opportunity to pitch to book editors and reputable literary agents. And if you’re a working writer, you’ll probably be looking for larger conventions that offer the best networking opportunities with editors and other writers as well as a chance to expose new readers to your work.
How can you decide (before you put your money down) if a conference is right for you?
Take a look at the guest/attendees lists — do you see the names of people you’d like to listen to or chat with? Take a look at the programming schedule, which might not be posted until a month or so before the conference. Do the panels and workshops and other events interest you? Now, look at the costs of attending the conference, not just the registration fees but also the hotel, air fare, etc. Can you afford this?
What if you get there, and find it’s not right? How can you make lemonade from the lemon?
Even a well-planned convention can end up with problems due to hotel errors, or high-profile guests may have to cancel at the last minute because of unexpected travel snags or illness. Because of this, it’s best to not pin all your hopes for a convention on a single guest attending or a single workshop, etc. Do your homework first and try to choose conventions that offer a wide range of events that will interest you.
 If you arrive at a convention and at first it’s not what you expected, give it a chance. If you’re looking for the pro author guests and don’t see them, check the hotel bar — this is the prime hangout location for writers. If you came to meet other attendees and find the panels under-attended, check to see if there are going to be room parties later that people may be resting up for. Try to set aside your expectations and be open to what the convention has to offer.
But if it simply isn’t working for you, take a look around and see what other opportunities present themselves. If you’re in the middle of an unfamiliar but interesting city, take the opportunity to do some sight-seeing. You might be able to forge new friendships with other attendees who are similarly disenchanted with the conference.
Also, once the weekend is over, you might want to send a polite, non-judgmental email to the convention chairs to let them know about the things that didn’t work for you or created problems for you. Again, politeness is key here; the organizers are likely unpaid volunteers who worked as hard as they could to put on a good event. They’ll want to know what went wrong for you so they can do better next time, but they won’t be receptive to your message if it’s disrespectful or ends in high-handed demands. Many conventions will offer membership refunds if there’s been a genuine at-con disaster.
If you’re pitching at a conference, what do you need to do?
Make sure you know the rules of the pitch session going in, and make sure you’re following those rules. If you know who you’ll be pitching to, try to learn a little about the agent or editor and his or her tastes, and adjust your pitch accordingly. Practice your pitch on friends, and prepare pitches of different lengths. For instance, it’s always good to be able to describe your project in 30 seconds or less, but you’ll also want an intermediate and longer pitch that you can use depending on the circumstances. And it doesn’t hurt to have a back-up pitch prepared in case the agent or editor says “I don’t think that project will work for us, but do you have anything else?”
When should a person consider NOT going to a conference?
Conferences are wonderful, but if you’re behind on your novel deadline, don’t go, unless there’s a truly compelling reason. You should also reconsider your attendance if going to the conference will send you into debt, or deeper into it. And if you have the flu, please stay home; the virus that gave you an annoying cough could land someone else in the hospital.
If you decide you must cancel and you’re scheduled to participate as a panelist or on other programming, be certain to let the organizers know as soon as possible so they can adjust their scheduling accordingly. It’s simply the polite thing to do.
Many thanks to Lucy A. Snyder for answering a few questions about attending writing conferences and coordinating them. If you have others, please post in the comments. Lucy will be happy to answer them!
More information about Many Genres, including author information and other interviews is available on the Many Genres blog.
Please visit next Monday for the third (and final) interview from Many Genres, One Craft. Part 1 with thriller-auther KJ Howe can be found here.
Order information for Many Genres, One Craft.
Friday, May 6th, 2011  On May 6, 1937, the German airship, Hindenburg, exploded just as it arrived at it’s destination, Lakehurst, New Jersey. Thirty six people were killed.
Herbert Morrison, a radio announcer on WLS Radio, watching the disaster unfold, delivered a live speech as the zeppelin went down in flames, the last line of which has been exploited in movies, television and elsewhere (often taken out of context and used for dramatic — even humorous — effect).
He said:
“Oh, oh, oh. It’s burst into flames. Get out of the way, please…this is terrible…it’s burning, bursting into flames, and is falling… Oh! This is one of the worst… it’s a terrific sight… oh, the humanity.”
Almost a thousand people waited for the Hindenburg that evening. Bad weather and rain delayed both the ship’s arrival and timely docking. A set of unfortunate circumstances: the use of hydrogen for buoyancy and maneuverability (rather than the safer helium gas), the small gas leak noticed too late, Captain Max Pruss’ too-fast landing and subsequent reverse engine thrust, all contributed to the inferno.
Reports say the spectators felt the heat of the blast nearly a mile away.
Here’s Your Prompt: Write an eye-witness account of an accident, a natural disaster, or a medical emergency. What was your first thought, or the first words out of your mouth? What were you doing when “it” happened? Were you with anyone? Were you near enough to be injured yourself? What about anyone else you were with?
Who else was involved? How did it happen? What was the ultimate outcome? Write what you experienced during the event. Don’t ignore your senses: how things looked, felt, sounded, smelled and even tasted. Include how you were feeling when the event was happening, and now, looking back on it, how you feel about it having happened.
Journalistic Prompt: Write the same story as a reporter, not as an eye witness. “Interview” others who saw what happened and relate, in their words, the most key elements of the story: who, what, when, where, why and how. Keep your own opinion out of the story, and be certain to include a spectrum of eyewitness opinions — including contradictory accounts and conclusions — to make certain the story is “fair and balanced.”
For more information on journalism, see my other prompt on the inverted pyramid style of writing for newspapers.
Wednesday, May 4th, 2011  Ever since I posted the story about the typewriter factory possibly closing, I’ve come across more typewriter stories on the ‘net than I thought possible…without even looking for them.
I think this one, about the artist Paul Smith, is pretty interesting. He was born in 1921, with such a bad case of cerebral palsey that he didn’t attend school.
It didn’t stop him from creating some wonderful art – with a typewriter.
Smith taught himself to be an artist, using shading techniques similar to charcoal drawings. He most often used the keys @ # $ % ^ & * ( ) _ to create his art, backing up the carriage and typing over and over again in the same areas of the page. He sometimes smeared the ink with his thumb, adding depth to the picture.
It’s a far cry from ascii art, eh? Here’s some by Jorn Barger for comparison. 
During his life, Smith created hundreds of pieces, including portraits of presidents, animals, religious icons, and especially seascapes and pictures of boats. Often, he gave the pieces away.
I love how he wrote “Typed by Paul Smith” on each piece he created.
See more of his art at the paulsmithfoundation.org.
Monday, May 2nd, 2011 This is the first of a 3-part interview series of authors from the book Many Genres, One Craft recently published by Headline Books. Many Genres, One Craft is an anthology of instructional articles for fiction writers looking for advice on how to improve their writing and better navigate the mass market for genre novels.
While the book encompasses many aspects of writing, this series of interviews is all about coordinating and attending writing conferences.
. . . . . . . . . .
KJ Howe, is a two-time Daphne du Maurier winner, a four-time Golden Heart finalist, and a finalist in the American Title III Contest. She earned her Master’s in Writing Popular Fiction in 2007 and is now represented by the Evan Marshall Agency. International intrigue and pulse-pounding adventure are her passions. When she isn’t writing romantic thrillers, KJ is researching them by shark cage diving in South Africa, interacting with semi-habituated elephants in Botswana, or scuba diving in the Red Sea. You can visit her at www.kjhowe.com.
KJ Howe
Why should someone attend a conference? How can you decide if a conference is right for you?
No matter where you are in your writing career, you can benefit from attending a conference. You can learn from the workshops, find critique partners, network with industry professionals, promote your books, find inspiration to get back to your writing, discover new writing tools, meet people with the same enthusiasm for books, and so much more.
I would recommend finding a conference that is in your genre, so you can make specific connections to editors, agents, and other writers in your chosen field. There are large conferences and small conferences. The small ones offer intimacy, but the large ones offer more choices and a larger number of superstars. I’d try both and see what feels right for you. Some authors find the large conferences a little intimidating, while others enjoy the hubbub and love having access to many big names.
What is the best thing that’s ever come out of a conference for you?
I was very fortunate that at one of my first conferences, I entered a writing contest and was lucky enough to win–and secured an agent as a result. Always throw your hat in the ring and enter contests at conferences. It can really pay off.
What if you get there, and find it isn’t right for you? How do you make lemons from lemonade?
I’ve been at a few conferences where I felt like a fish out of water, but I always try to make the most out of it. There is always something to be gained–from an incredible writing insight to meeting an instrumental person for your career. Keep your heart and mind open. You may be surprised what you discover.
What was the worst thing that’s ever happened to you at a conference?
Very good question. I was once introduced to a high-profile author. I was quite nervous to be thrown into the situation with no warning, and, needless to say, I wasn’t at my most eloquent. As a result, the author turned and walked away without a goodbye. The experience hurt, but I learned many lessons from it, most importantly, to treat people with respect no matter who they are because I’ve felt the impact of being snubbed.
What should you do to prepare for a conference — especially if you want to pitch your book?
I would recommend sitting down and writing out your goals for the conference. Are you there to network, learn craft, find an agent…try to figure out what would serve you best at this time in your career. Also, do your homework about who you would like to meet. You should have access to the workshop schedule ahead of time. Select your workshops based on subject matter and who is teaching. Be strategic and target your priorities.
There is a great article on pitching at the ThrillerFest website at www.thrillerfest.com. Just go under the AgentFest heading–AgentFest is a pitching event where we have 60 agents eager to hear about your book. If you’re looking for an agent, you may want to consider joining us.
 What are some conferences do’s and don’ts?
I would recommend treating a conference like a business event. Dress business casual, be polite and professional to everyone, and don’t imbibe too much alcohol. Most of all, have fun. Writing is a solitary activity, and it’s important to meet fellow enthusiasts.
When should a person consider NOT going to a conference?
Although I feel strongly that spending time at a conference is almost always worthwhile, there are times when you may decide not to attend–if you’re under a tight writing deadline, you may have to spend that week writing (although I know many writers who come to the conferences for certain events while spending tons of time in the room writing). Financial constraints can also play a role. It’s a very personal decision, and it’s important to weigh all those issues before signing up for a conference.
What’s it like being a conference coordinator? Do you get paid?
I have the distinct pleasure of working on the ThrillerFest team, a conference for thriller writers held in NYC every July. Because we are part of the International Thriller Writers, we have people coming from all over the world to participate in ThrillerFest. We’re fortunate to have countless industry professionals attend because we host the conference in NYC where editors and agents can walk down the street to join us.
Working as a conference coordinator is similar to being a juggler. There are so many aspects of running a conference, you need to keep all the balls in the air, hoping none drop. Some of the key tasks include: coordinating the logistics with the hotel staff, arranging for food and beverages, taking care of VIP guests, organizing volunteers to assist with programming, advertising the conference, securing sponsors…the list could go on and on, but let’s just say that many details need to be worked out to make sure the attendees experience a smooth, interesting, and well-organized event.
The position of Executive Director of ThrillerFest is a full-time position–and one of the best jobs in the world.
What are the top three skills for coordinators?
1) Strong organizational skills.
2) Positive interpersonal skills.
3) A detail-oriented approach.
What do you need to know to run a successful conference–and how would one go about getting involved?
My best advice if you’re interested in becoming involved in conference organization is to start by volunteering your time. Learn the ropes from the ground up, so you can see how it all works. That’s what I have done, and it’s been a wonderful learning experience. Also, as a conference organizer, it’s important to do every job at least once. That way, if someone is ill or can’t do his /her job, you can take over seamlessly.
What are some trends in conferences these days?
Conferences offer so much. For high profile authors, conferences can offer an opportunity to meet fans and promote their latest novel. Aspiring authors can network with established authors, learn from the various panels/workshops, and find inspiration from being around people with a similar love of literature. As far as trends go, there seems to be more fan-oriented conferences available, and many conferences offer courses on the craft of writing. For example, at ThrillerFest, we have an event called CraftFest where NYT Bestselling authors share their secrets to writing fiction. For more information, please visit www.thrillerfest.com and take a look under CraftFest.
What’s exciting about running a conference, and what’s not?
There’s nothing like the rush of seeing all your hard work pay off–when people thank you for the event and express their enthusiasm, it makes burning the candle at both ends well worth it.
Man Genres, One Craft can be purchased at Amazon.com.
Many thanks to KJ Howe for answering a few questions about attending writing conferences and coordinating them. If you have others, please post in the comments. KJ will be happy to answer them!
More information about Many Genres, including author information and other interviews is available on the Many Genres blog.
Please visit next Monday for the second interview from Many Genres, One Craft.
9 May 2011 – Edit: Part II with Bram Stoker Award Winner Lucy A. Snyder can be found here.
Friday, April 29th, 2011  I got sucked into the whole Royal Wedding Thing this morning, prompted by the fact that I wanted to see Kate Middleton’s dress.
As I was watching, I got to thinking about hands.
Kate’s hands were in the focus of the camera a lot, because she was waving, of course, and then there was that wedding ring bit. I was quite surprised to see how plain they were. Like the dress and the jewels and the tiara, I expected a little more pomp.
Here’s a close up of the ring ceremony. The angle’s not great, but you can see that Kate’s got blunt nails and little polish on them if any. I had an earlier impression of her having bit them down to nubs, but I think this disproves me. Still, her nails are short and to the point, yes?
Here’s a close-up of my own hands the morning of my wedding – those talons are real, btw, no fakes for me. (I couldn’t bear to waste my time in a salon – and besides, I think typing makes them stronger.)
So, what do Kate’s hands say about her? That she can’t be bothered at all? That she’d rather spend her time doing something else? That she can’t bear to spend her time in salon?
What about the photos to the left? Old hands at the top surely evoke a story. Robot hands must make something come to mind. My favorite are those working on the engine. When I get my hands dirty, I take off my rings. Not these fellows. What does that say about them?
Here’s Your Prompt: Study the hands around you. Look at the hands of mothers and policemen and construction workers. Peer at artists’ hands and those of teachers and nurses. Look at your own hands!
Do these hands reveal the vocation or hobby of their owners or not? Does the mechanic you know carefully remove any hint of grease from his nails before he comes home from the shop? Does the artist strip all the paint off or leave it on? Whose hands are dry and cracked, old and worn, nicked and cut?
Now, write a scene or memoir or even non-fiction about a person who’s interesting feature is his hands. Describe them, and why they’re significant — but don’t keep all the description in a large single paragraph. Work in bits of description and significance between the story: show us how these hands are important without telling us all at once. Keep the tension by gradually revealing the story bit by bit.
Tuesday, April 26th, 2011  Huffington Post reported earlier today that the last typewriter factory in the world (located in Mumbai, India) was shutting down later this year.
They’ve since run a correction, citing a letter from an employee, that while production is down, they are nowhere near closing their doors. And, in fact, there are other factories in the world (located in China, Japan, and Indonesia) still creating these beautiful machines.
The story made me wonder how many people today would try to bang out a masterpiece if they had to do it on a Royal Upright, an Underwood (pictured at right) or even a Brother electronic?
Would you?
I remember speaking with an editor a few years ago at a convention about how computers had really changed the publishing industry, not from the viewpoint of helping publishers, but hindering them.
The fact is (and I’m paraphrasing the editor here) that owning a computer and printer makes it so easy to write prose, print it out, and mail it off to a publishing house, that every Tom, Dick and Harry who got an idea for a novel (or trilogy) is writing one and sending it off.
Publishing houses are inundated with manuscripts (many of which, according to the editor, should never have been written)!
I’ve been writing since I could hold a crayon…and a typewriter — even the ancient Royal upright that we had at home when I was young — was an improvement over wax, despite cramped fingers and wrists by the end of a page or two.
I LOVED the electric typewriter I got for my 12th birthday (thanks, Mom and Dad)!
Would I still be writing if I had to use that ancient Royal? You bet.
How about you? If publishing houses required that manuscripts be submitted on onion-skin paper, typed on an upright…would you still do it?
Friday, April 22nd, 2011  Pretend you (or your character) is scheduled for surgery: something “relatively minor,” like gall bladder removal.
You’re prepped, laying on the gurney in a hospital gown minus your skivvies and socks. The anesthesiologist shoots a nice little brain-numbing drug into your IV and you feel yourself getting woozy.
As they’re wheeling you into the surgery, the doctor leans over you and tells you, “Everything is going to be all right.”
Only, it’s not your doctor…and you knew you were going to be “all right” because what you had going on what something relatively minor.
Before you can protest, everything goes dark.
When you wake up, you realize you’ve still got your gall bladder, but something else is missing.
Here’s Your Prompt: What is it? What actually happened in the operating room? Who was the mysterious doctor? What are the repercussions of this surgery? And, what about your gall bladder?
Friday, April 15th, 2011 April is National Poetry month in the U.S. and Canada.
Do you like poetry? I admit that I don’t know much about it, although I do know what I like.
I favor bouncy, rhyming poems a la Dr. Seuss and Shel Silverstein (because they are so fun!), but I also like e.e. cummings (clever, clever).
Henley’s Invictus is my favorite (Thanks, Charlie!) because the strength of the narrator appeals to me. It’s also dark, and I really like that.
In honor of National Poetry month, let’s have a prompt about poems.
Here’s Your Prompt:
- Write a poem. It can be jouncy, bouncy, rhyming fun, or free verse, or even a patterned poem, such as a sonnet. (If you choose haiku, you must write at least 5!)
Here are some resources on how to write poetry:
- For a twist on writing poetry, choose a favorite scene from a book or movie, and write it in poetry form. Again, it can be free verse, rhyming or patterned.
- Here’s where the reverse poetry idea comes in: find a poem, any poem, that you like. It can be one from childhood, or a new one you’ve never read before. Then, re-write the poem in prose, but the deal is, you have to use the exact words of the poem in your essay /story / scene.
For example, if you were to choose Silverstein’s “Forgotten Language” which starts off:
Once I spoke the language of the flowers,
Once I understood each word the caterpillar said,
You could write…
Once I spoke the language of the flowers: silent and delicate, a trembling of fingers or tilting of head conveyed much. Lengthy speeches could not offer as much information as the casual lift of a hand.
Once, I understood each word the caterpillar said, I knew the flowers for liars….
Get the idea? Find some poetry here:
Brownie points if you post in the comments! Have fun!
Friday, April 8th, 2011 Today’s prompt is all about quantity and nothing about subject matter.
Yesterday, Wil Wheaton posted on his blog Two Hundred Words Before Six in the Morning.
A single page, double-spaced, yields on average 250 words – less, however, if you’re writing poetry or dialogue. But if you can write one page every day, you can churn out roughly one novel a year (two, if you’re writing YA fiction.)
Can you do it?
Here’s Your Prompt: Write 200 words before something: 200 words before breakfast, or before your lunch break is over, or before you have to leave the house this morning.
Write 200 words before you’re finished drinking your coffee / tea / soda. Write 200 words before you have to pick up the kids from school today.
Do you work full time? Write 200 words before you start your workday, or before your morning meeting (admit it, you’re checking your personal email, right? Skip it, and write.)
Do you ride public transportation? Write 200 words before your stop. Or, 200 words before you arrive this morning.
Whatever you do today, write 200 words.
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