One of the best things about the online writing community is the ability to connect to one another through websites, forums, blogs and conferences. Yes, I said conferences, ONLINE conferences! In case you haven’t heard, there was a huge conference going on this past week called, The WriteOnCon.
The WriteOnCon is a free online writer’s conference held every summer. This summer it was from Tuesday, August 16th thru Thursday, August 18th. There were lit agents and editors abound. They provided several tips on the process of writing, how to professionally conduct yourself online and the future of the publishing industry among other things. The amount of information available was incredible.
My favorite parts of the conference were the live chats, the vlogs and the articles. So basically, I loved the entire thing.
Watch this awesome vlog:
The live chats provided several insider tips for writers. Here are some of my favorites:
Michelle Andelman said, “Use the query letter to pitch your project. Use social media (in the background) to pitch yourself.”
She also said, “Reliance on dialogue tags is a common prose issue I find with lesser known writers, reliance on them to reveal emotion where characterization should be doing the trick.”
“Opening on dialogue often jars me.”
According to Emily Meehan, “Amp up your online presence. Make friends, but good friends and don’t say anything you will want to take back!”
Jim McCarthy says, “I’m cribbing someone else’s tip. I have a number of clients who do three, sometimes four books a year, and for obvious reasons, they end up dealing with writers’ block from time to time because of that. I love my client Victoria Laurie’s approach which is that if you get stuck, you keep writing anyway. Because you can delete anything you come up with, but the chances are better that you’ll come up with something that clues you in to where you should be going if you’re writing something than if you’re just staring at the page.” Also, “I’m not seeing horror, in spite of my regular requests for it. I’m also not seeing a lot of comedy (possibly because I’ve been asking for so much horror). But voice driven, comedic novels are a thrill for me.” McCarthy also believes that the genre he’s been seeing too much of lately is dystopian. He says, “I love dystopian books, but if another derivative novel about the apocalypse and a love triangle crosses my desk, I will actually be rooting for a nuclear holocaust.”
“Can’t stand anyone who opens with waking from a dream or any discussion of the weather.”
“I desperately want to find brilliant LGBT fiction for any age group. Whether it’s fun and commercial like Rainbow Boys or literary and lovely like Luna.”
According to Jim McCarthy, a bad cliché in writing is “not every cheerleader needs to be a bitch. But also, you don’t have to spend a whole novel showing us how unlike stereotypes your characters are.”
Annette Pollert’s tips for revising:
“As I edit, I am always asking:
1) Why are you telling me this? (relevance)
2) Why are you telling me this now? (placement)
It’s helpful to ask these questions on a chapter/paragraph/line-by-line basis as you revise. It keeps a narrative tight, and helps to build tension and drama (on the page that is).”
“My favorite novels begin with conflict. And I will add to Jim’s answer by saying, waking up in bed at sunrise is one of my least favorite places to start.”
According to Annette Pollert on bad clichés in writing, she says, “How frequently do you gaze into someone’s eyes/register someone’s eye color when you first meet?”
In reference to traditional vs. self-publishing, Sara Megibow said, “There are LOTS of good reasons to traditionally publish – editors, support, marketing, cover, placement in bookstores, reviews, print run, but there are also lots of good reasons to self publish – turn around (meaning finish the book to release of the book), control over content and price point, artistic vision and access to ereaders.”
She also says, “There are a few bad reasons to traditionally publish… if you’re someone who simply wants to hold the book in their hand doesn’t probably understand how long and how hard it is to break in to NY. They can learn, but, simply to publish isn’t a big enough reason to tackle the beast. There are a few bad reasons to self publish… namely, those writers who simply want to flip off agents and editors for passing on their book – this is NOT a good reason to self publish.”
“The name of the game in traditional publishing is (supposed to be) quality and professionalism. The name of the game in self publishing (supposed to be) is get yourself educated on what’s involved before doing it – editing, cover design, placement, uploading to different kinds of devices, marketing, promotions.”
“The selling point for many writers right now is “because I can.” If you self publish – get educated. Find out what it takes, follow authors who are successful at it and make it about quality and successful sales, not just about because you can.”
Those are just some of the quotes I found inspirational. To learn more about the participants in the conference, please check out the WriteOnCon faculty here.
I also learned the following:
1. Get a composition notebook. Title it, “The Idea Page.” Enter all of the ideas you have for future works in progress. You’ll do this to honor your ideas and it will also help you to not forget.
2. If you add 500 words or less to your work in progress in a single sitting do not look at that as failure. It shows that you are committed to writing and that there will be a time when you will finish. Go with your instincts and trust yourself.
3. Ask yourself questions as you are writing your wip including, is this better in first person or third and what if the character did this or that?
Here are some excellent articles from the WriteOnCon:
Balance writing and your life
What writers should and should not talk about online
Magic Realism
Myths and Misconception videos about the publishing world
Your novel isn’t ready because
Connecting to the lit community online
Creating Irresistible picture book characters
How to write a synopsis
Revising your way to success
What I’ve posted is a small part of the conference. If you’d like to look over some of the pre-recorded live chats, view more vlogs or read more articles, please visit the site here: http://writeoncon.com/.
I want to thank everybody who worked to get this conference up and running. Your hard work showed and I am now inspired to take action.
6 Responses to “The WriteOnCon 2011”
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awesome post. I was late to join the conferences so this is great for me, thanks!
I’m glad you found it useful. That conference was amazing!
Newest Follower, here, and part of the campaign. Glad to have found you! 🙂
Hey Janina, I was at WriteOnCon too, and I appreciate this summary. You’re right, this was a major undertaking and incredibly useful to writers who can’t, for whatever reason, attend live conferences. Good to meet you (I’m a fellow campaigner).
Hello!
Fellow Campaigner here…. just cruised around your blog a bit and came up on this hugely valuable post! Thank you so much for covering this information. I will surely look up the information you posted. As a new writer, I am amazed at the plethora of contacts available online.
Thanks again and happy writing!
Kris
Wow, I’m so glad you all find this post so useful. The WOC is ridiculously awesome. 🙂 It’s nice to meet all of you. 🙂