I’m back down from the rarified air of this lovely little conference!

This is my second Hillerman Conference and I’m definitely going back again (and again)!

 

If you’ve never attended this conference, save up your loose change and get on board! It’s the friendliest writing conference I’ve ever attended – where else can you walk up to Craig Johnson or John Sandford, shake their hand and have them compliment you on your Stetson or thank YOU for listening to their lecture?

Some of the highlights of this year’s conference:

• “The Art of the Rewrite” by Susan Cummins Miller
• “What Writers Can Learn from the Movies” by Sandi Ault
• “Writing a Series” by Steve Havill
• “Tricks from the Screen Trade” by Melinda Snodgrass
• “Strategies for Successful Collaboration” by Susan Boggio and Mare Pearl
• “The Serious Subject of Writing Humor” by Kris Neri
• “Contracts and Copyrights for Writers” by Sherri Burr
• “The Writer’s Business Plan” by Susan Guyette
• “Basic Advice from an Editor” by Peter Joseph

We also had great panel discussions:

• “To Outline or Not To Outline” with Anne Hillerman, Sara Hoklotubbe and John Sandford
• “The Art of Blogging” with Dawn Wink, Joe Badal and Susan Tweit
• And a couple of great Q&A sessions with CB McKenzie/Peter Joseph and John Sandford/David Morrell

Anne Hillerman and Jean Schaumberg put on the best conference you can imagine – join us next year!

 

 

I’ve spent a lovely three days hob-nobbing with other authors and attending writing panels. Here are some gems from the classes.

• The day I stop learning about my characters is the day I become bored with them — Margaret Coel
• Good beginnings and endings are like good art: I know it when I see it, but it’s awfully hard to define — Jamie McGrath Morris
• One of the biggest dialogue mistakes I see is when all the characters sound alike — Craig Johnson
• Write the kind of novel that, once the reader picks it up, he cannot bear to put it down; not the kind of novel that, once he puts it down, he cannot bear to pick it back up — Margaret Coel
• Before you even sit down to write, know — in this order — what the ending is, and what the beginning will be — Kirk Ellis
• Writing is not a profession, but a vocation. Think bigger than just a contract, a published book. Ask yourself ‘Is this worth one to three years of my life?’ before you begin that novel — David Morrell
• Try this: gather a stack of award-winning novels and read the ending first. Then, read the book to see how the author gets from Point A to Point Z. Do that 500 times. Can you imagine how much you’ll learn about the art of plotting? — Steve Havill
• Here’s a big secret: have someone read your dialogue back to you — Craig Johnson
• ‘Let me tell you a story’ is a very powerful lure — Jamie McGrath Morris
• It’s never as good as it could be. And ‘spoiler alert:’ it’s never going to be — Kirk Ellis
• Become a student of human nature — Craig Johnson

What is the best advice you’ve ever heard from another writer?