LTUE this year was rather hectic overall. I managed to get half-days at work for Thursday and Friday, but also decided to create some business cards and do some art for a friend. I think I got in a little over my head with all that.
For the first two days, I mostly helped out at the Leading Edge table. It’s always great to hang out with my friends from the magazine. I did manage to get to one event: the combined readings by Sarah Seeley of her orc love story and S. A. Butler of her novel. Overall, I was a bit worn out so it was nice to ease into the convention slowly.
Saturday was the main day and the day I was feeling most excited to hear the presentations and panels. I slept in and missed some of the morning events so I started off with Brandon Sanderson’s reading and book signing.
Although I’ve heard his story before, he focused on a few particular points I found interesting. Before he had success he had to focus on who he was going to be as a writer. He couldn’t just chase what the market thought was good at the time, but had to answer the question of what fiction he wanted to write. Another big point he brought up is that it’s sometimes best to wait and attempt our masterpieces. While the ideas of an epic story might excite a beginning writer, often they won’t have the skills needed to keep such a massive plot together until they’ve practiced on a few smaller plots first.
I was left to ponder his points for a while, since it took about an hour to get a book signed, but it was definitely worth it.
Since the signing took up so much time, I had time for just a few more panels. Next up was the one on writing books for younger readers (children’s picture books up to YA). There was a lot of good advice, but I’ll just highlight the three pieces I thought most interesting. First, writing a picture book is like writing poetry; it must be concise yet powerful. Second, the child protagonist must solve their own problems most the time. Nobody likes a reactive character who just gets handed solutions. Third, try to write smart fiction, the sort that can entertain audiences of all ages. Just because they’re books for younger readers doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice any depth of character or plot, although the age group you write for can determine what the plot and issues might be.
Next up was the description in writing panel. I’ve read or heard quite a bit on description so I didn’t take too many notes, but things like immersion, using the senses, focusing on what’s most important, and avoiding repetition are the things I wrote down.
With all the writing advice of the day, I was ready for my final panel: Starting the Next Project. My friend Joe Vasicek was on the panel, and he and the others offered some great advice. If you need to come up with a lot of ideas, sometimes it’s best to go on a long walk and daydream up how your story world might be. Projects should be done in stages, like first draft, first revision, etc. Move a project through one stage before working on another one, unless the project is somehow stuck. It’s also important to capture ideas so they aren’t in the way of your current project. With all their good advice, I was ready to go home and think of which project to start again.
But there was one final event for the night that turned out to be even more amazing than I expected. The banquet after an event is usually pretty relaxing. This time I had my friends with me, so it was a bit easier to converse over dinner. Brandon Sanderson was the toastmaster and gave an excellent address about celebrating the unique values of the genres we right in. Adventure, wonder, and worlds to explore are part of what makes fantasy and sci-fi so great, even if it’s what the literary elite might not understand. As things were wrapping up, my friends suggested we go meet some of the big authors there, so we had the wonderful chance to briefly chat with Brandon Sanderson and Orson Scott Card.
LTUE always leaves me feeling excited for my own writing and the writing of so many other authors. Together we are making stories that can change lives, so now we just have to go out there and get them down in words.