Comic-Con for the Writing Nerd: A Midwest Writers Workshop Experience

+ 

It's that time of year again, where everyone who is any one gathers in force in San Diego for the Comic-Con to beat all Cons. There are panels and celebrities and interviews and cosplay, a play ground landscape that could fuel even the nerdiest wet dream. Now dial this back a bit, swap tenth doctor and deadpool cosplays for business casual slacks and dress shirts, instead of celebrities there are authors and agents, and everywhere you look are writers. This, my writer comrades, is the beauty of a writers conference.

Last weekend, I was part of an intense three day writing conference at the Midwest Writers Workshop in Muncie Indiana. This was my first writers conference experience, and going in I really didn't know what to expect. From 8 in the morning to past 8 at night, myself and a little over two hundred other writers got together and experienced something that was for writers, by writers, about writing and it was exhilarating, inspiring, and exhausting. Last year when I participated in NaNoWriMo for the first time, I said that it made me really feel like a writer for the first time, despite going for a four year degree in creative writing. Suddenly I was generating fiction and it was amazing. When I walked out of the MWW14, I didn't just feel like a writer, but like a professional writer. It was no longer a question of if I would get published, but when. To quote Kyle Newbridge, a friend who also attended MWW14, “I actually feel like a writer now, instead of just a kid trying to throw words at paper in a pretty way”.

So what is it about this writers conference, or any other, that caused this reaction? 

Conferences give you the opportunity to meet people. Agents and publishers get hundreds and hundreds of queries and manuscripts every month, sometimes every week. Most of the beginning stages of publishing are completely played out through paper. Conferences give you the chance to make connections face to face with authors and agents alike. Networking, networking, networking. Learn to love it and know it and understand it, because a key part of becoming a published author is to not only have a following but to be part of a community of writers. Often this community of writers are the reason you find your way climbing up the publishing ladder in the first place. Where might you find the beginnings of this intimate writing community that you are supposed to be a part of? Well, a writers conference is a good place to start. I met so many amazing people and amazing writers this weekend. I've reached out through blogs and email and twitter to them since and already my writing circles have expanded. Sometimes all it takes is sitting in the right seat or standing in the right line. Exchange a card, have some brief conversation, and you've made a connection. These types of connections are so important because these are the kinds of people that will be with you, helping you through your career as a writer.

This is a place to learn. The people who set these up, guest speak, and work tirelessly to make the conference the best it can, they want you to succeed. I never considered myself someone who was ignorant in the ways of writing, but I can't even put into words all that I learned during those three days. It was almost overwhelming, seeing this whole side to the writing community I really had been ignorant of, and could have remained ignorant of had I not pushed myself to experience it. In the fast-paced media driven world we live in, the stereotype of the reclusive writer doesn't cut it anymore. To sell yourself and your work before you even get picked up by an agent or a publishing company you have to stay open to information and learning everyday. Otherwise you will miss out. At MWW14 there were panels with agents, specific presentations on everything from '7 steps to writing a novel' to the ins and outs of social networking as a professional writer. Just one example of something invaluable that I learned of that weekend was Pitch Wars, a writing competition built to help debuting writers cull their novels and get their name out there. Until MWW I never had a clue this existed. From the moment I got there until the moment I left, I will grew as a writer.

Did I mention opportunity? I'm sure it varies from conference to conference, but some of the insanely cool opportunities that are available to you at MWW for instance include: agent pitch sessions (5 minutes to pitch your novel to an agent and try your hand at getting representation), manuscript evaluations (published professionals critiquing your work to help make you better), query critiques, and more. These are one-on-one set ups where you interact with professionals who will give you the best feedback they can. Each person will get something different from a conference. Myself? In tandem with  the earlier quote, I walked in feeling like an amateur who had written "a long story" of questionable publishability, and came out with a referral to an agent, a request for the first 10 pgs of my mss from yet another agent, and more confidence in my novel than I ever believed I would have. 

So the next time you're planning a trip to meet your favorite celebrity with hopes of winning the best cosplay contest, remember to check out all the different writing conferences across the nation, and the world and nourish the other nerdy side of your brain. Your stories are amazing, so give yourself the extra push so they end up on my bookshelf too. 

- Many thanks to the Midwest Writers for giving me an amazing first experience with writing conferences. I will be back!

I Just Couldn't Get Through It – July

When I was younger I used to think I had to read every book I picked up from beginning to end. Even now I have this urge to push through a novel, no matter how much I dislike it or not. But with a “to read list” that reaches into the hundreds, I had to admit, if I didn't like it I should just stop. However, since I don't review books that I don't finish, that left me with the conundrum. How could I let my readers know? This monthly post is going to be my answer to that question. I will list any books I Just Couldn't Finish and tell why this was. It isn't exactly a review, but it's better than giving a book a 0/5 when I didn't actually finish it.

Midnight Crossroad by Charlaine Harris

I really had high hopes for this novel. I loved her Sookie Stackhouse series and I really wanted to find enjoyment in this series too. However, it was just not the same. The narration, third person omniscient, was hard to get into. The story line and plot start out slow...and stay slow. Nothing really happens. I was almost 60 pages into the book and still I felt like there was no plot. Okay, yes there was a little beginning of something beginning to creep into realization, but it was just kind of uninteresting, enough where I didn't mind not following it to fruition. I'm sure there will be fans who actually do like this book, but I won't be one of them.

Allegiant by Veronica Roth

When I first started this series, I came into it with high expectations, which is always a bad move. I had heard a lot about it, from readers and authors I respected. However, it was overall a disappointment. I found that with Divergent I was taken initially with the world building, but not much else. My interest declined from there. The plot of the second felt sloppy and by the end I was annoyed with the built up tension of a plot reveal that really wasn't that interesting or groundbreaking. (Comments on the first two can be found here and here). When I started Alligeant the first thing I noticed was the plot didn't get any better and the main character was driving me nuts with deluge of negative thoughts about killing her best friend (a misguided plot point if I ever saw one. I mean she made a clear conscious choice to not shoot her enemies to death but then she just shoots her friend in the head? What?) That would have been enough to turn me off of the story, but I began to hear about a general consensus of disappointment for this third installment, and that decided me. I didn't find it worth my time to try and slog through it anymore.

In the After by Demitria Lunetta

Initially I was interested in this story from reading the inside cover: cool post-apocalyptic type story with a government conspiracy type tinge, what's not to love? A lot as it so happens. I got about 40 pages into this book and I was still stuck in exaggerated exposition and flash back. It wasn't even very good exposition either. Rule of thumb, flash backs are bad. Figure out where you want to start the story and then start it there, none of this 'I'm gonna be in the middle of something and then think about something in excruciating detail from start to finish'. The other major problem I had with this story was that it had major plot holes already. Specifically, the creatures that attack the world are described as mindless zombie like things that eat people savagely, but are expected to be smart enough to man a ship that comes to earth? It all felt a little farfetched. If this wasn't enough, it seemed like the author was trying a little too hard to sound YA. In other words, the character sounded young and dumb, and not in a good way. It all added up to me realizing really quickly that this wasn't a book I wanted to read.

Obernewtyn by Isobelle Carmody

Elspeth Gordie wishes nothing more than to fit in. But that is hard to do when she harbors a secret that would surely mean her death. She is a Misfit, born with special mental abilities. To be found so is to be hated and feared by the Herders and Councilmen who rule. She has already lived through the burning of her parents, the only thing she can do is hide the best she can. But in one careless moment all of her carefulness is dashed to nothing. She is spotted for what she is and exiled to the dreaded Obernewtyn, a mountain manor where Misfits are brought to and never seen again. Even with her abilities Elspeth finds herself out of her depth. All is not as it seems on Obernewtyn. Someone is keeping secrets and it suddenly seems like it may be her destiny to find out what they are.

Taking place in a post-apocalyptic world, Obernewtyn illustrates humanity on the edge of survival after the unspeakable has happened. It is the first book in The Obernewtyn Chronicles. Carmody does a pretty decent job of world-building for this novel, and I have to say it was honestly what kept me reading and interested. I am not a fan overall of her style. It is way too much telling and not enough showing. This made places of action seem more boring. I found the history at the beginning interesting, but I feel like it would have been better suited sprinkled about throughout the story rather than info dumped on us in the beginning. By the time I finished, I look back and feel confident that as a reader, I could have figured everything out just by reading the story. I didn't need to have it spoon fed to me in the beginning to make sure I kept up. 

I think going with more showing rather than telling could have helped my feelings on the budding romance in the story. I didn't feel like the characters involved had interacted enough to really begin feeling anything for each other. I did enjoy the added intrigue, but it could have been set up a bit more. 

This being said I genuinely liked the story line and the characters. The world is a very interesting one and I continue to want to follow the story and know more about it. I don't know that I would recommend it to other readers, but I am going to keep reading the series myself.

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Park likes to blend in. He's weird enough without anything else adding to it. So of course it couldn't get any worse when the weird new girl sits next to him on the bus. She's loud, in appearance if not in words. Between her bright red impossibly curly hair, her eclectic clothing, and abundant curves, it's hard not to notice her. Park doesn't want any of this. Not the notice he gets from her sitting next to him, or the feelings he gets when he can't stop thinking about her.

Eleanor only wants to lay low, to make it through the hell they call high school and the even worse hell she calls home. She didn't think that the weird angry Asian kid she sat next to on the bus would become the one thing that would get her through each day.

Can something hold together that seemed impossible from the start? Neither of them know, but they have to try.

Eleanor & Park is the third novel I have read by Rowell, the independent stories of Fangirl and Attachments preceding it. As with my other experiences reading Rowell, I was blown away by this novel. I almost feel like the experience was even more profound because for whatever reason I didn't want to give this novel credit. From the outside it looked like just your typical love story, but of course it was so much more than that. It only took the first few pages to know that there was no way I could put this novel down. If it weren't for “responsibilities” (I mean who really needs to work right?), I would have read it in one sitting. There is something about Rowell's storytelling that speaks volumes about humanity, life, and the human heart. She takes stories and characters that could be utterly mundane and makes them so real and interesting that the reader can't help but be swept away. As I've so poetically put it before, she could write about dirt and I'd be hanging onto every word while proclaiming it art.

This novel firmly falls under the genre of Literary YA and it lives up to the name. It is the beauty of first love mixed with the gritty heartbreaking circumstances surrounding a life of neglect and abuse. Of all the books Rowell has done, this so far has been the darkest in theme and content. It really makes the reader think. The story is rife with stereotypes that Rowell then turns on their head. The characters are not all good or all bad. The main protagonists are clearly flawed, many faceted. It makes all of it so much more real and beautiful. It makes it all that much more sad. It very much brought to mind the style of John Hughes films such as The Breakfast Club, especially considering that this story is set in the 80s.

Along the same lines, Park and Eleanore are perfectly imperfect as main characters. They are young and flawed. They do stupid things and make bad decisions. They are also beautifully kind and wonderfully loving. This exists in both of them, not at odds, but harmoniously. They are as atypical as characters get, right down to their physical descriptions. Everyone in the book, including Park, considers Eleanor at least chubby, if not downright fat. Yet from his eyes she is beautiful, the only girl ever to make him feel anything. Eleanor can't begin to see herself they way he sees her. And it goes the same for him. Too effeminate, too Korean, Park never feels like he is enough. But he is more than enough for Eleanor, even if she is afraid to say it out loud. I cannot say how refreshing it was to read a book where the main characters are in turn overweight and of ethnicity. This is so important in giving voice to a minority, for making guys who are slight and sensitive get the girl of their dreams, for showing girls who aren't a size 0-2 that they are capable of being the main protagonist of a story. In today's society this message is one that can't be said enough. The fact that when you look for fan art for this book most of it downplays if not completely negates Eleanor's weight is direct proof of how bad it actually is. We need more characters like Eleanor and Park.

Another part of this book that was done brilliantly was the fashion of narration. Rowell has the point of view bounce back and forth between Park and Eleanor, sometimes every other paragraph or line. In doing so it is almost like reading two stories at once. Every scene is doubled. The reader gets to see and feel every side. Narration like that would have to be very delicately put together, but Rowell does it beautifully, each part flowing effortlessly back and forth but still remaining distinctive to the individual characterization.

*SPOILERS*

One of the only things from this book I wasn't wholly impressed with was the ending. It was too open ended for my tastes. I know some people like that, but not me. I'm a lazy reader and mostly I like having the ending given to me. I'm too much of a cynic to let myself wholly imagine that it all worked out, even if that is the insinuation. This however wasn't enough for me to change my mind about how awesome this book was so only .1 off for the dreaded “open end”. I recommend it to any and all, as well as anything else Rowell writes. I myself am particularly looking forward to reading her newest novel Landline that was published earlier this month.