| Sara Biren |
Best Writing Advice
Both of these nuggets for writing fiction came from Terry Davis, author of Vision Quest and one of my instructors at Minnesota State University, Mankato.
• Start your story on the day something changes for your character.
• Plant the seeds of your ending in your opening; you may need to go back and sprinkle them into the beginning after you’ve written the ending.
Personally, I’d say write what makes your heart sing, and don’t be afraid to be vulnerable. Your words matter. Your words can help you process the world around you—and might just help someone else do that, too.
Best Writing Craft Books
• Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott; I turn to this manual again and again.
• Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Brown and Dave King
• Starting from Scratch: A Different Kind of Writers’ Manual by Rita Mae Brown; my very first book on craft, published in 1989 and still relevant today.
Best Podcast for Novelists
• The Career Novelist™ Podcast with Camille Pagán
Best Conference Advice
An easy way to meet new people and make lifelong writing friends is by volunteering. Whenever possible, volunteer to help the conference or event organizers, even if it’s only for a short time. |
| TK Sheffield |
Best advice: Join a writing group. Don't give up if the first one isn't perfect. Test out a few to find a good fit. Writing groups keep you on task, accountable, and honest. You need those things to finish a novel!
Best craft books: Elements of Style by Strunk & White. Story Engineering by Larry Brooks and the StoryFix website.
Best conference: The WWA Fall Conference, of course! Others include Killer Nashville and the New York Pitch.
How writing changes the world: Writing and reading are exercises for the brain. To stay sharp, logical, and creative, read the classics. Read good writing. If you're depressed, sad, or happy, write a paragraph, and then another. You don't need to show anyone. Writing helps clear the mind, isolate ideas, and solve problems. Do it for yourself, if no one else!
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| Jim Landwehr |
Best Writing Advice – Just focus on getting the story down. Know that it is probably a cruddy first draft. Then, revise, rewrite, repeat. My favorite part of writing is “new creation.” When I told my writing instructor I preferred it over editing, she said, “Well, editing essentially is “new creation.” Start by getting the story down, and your discipline to the entire process will do the rest.
Best Writing Craft Book
- Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott spoke to me as a writer needing encouragement getting started.
- On Writing by Stephen King was fantastic, but meant more once I’d written a lot.
- Write Within Yourself as by Bill Kenower was a really good. Motivational and encouraging read, too.
Best Conference/Event Advice – Talk to people. Writers are often introverted, but, man, they like to talk about writing. I know I do.
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| Nicolas L Chiarkas |
Best Writing Advice - Make sure your ending is inevitable and a surprise.
Best Writing Craft Books -
- On Writing by Stephen King
- A Poetry Handbook by Mary Oliver
- Save the Cat: The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need by Blake Snyder
Best Conference/Attending Events Advice - If you're an attendee, sit in on presentations, not in your wheelhouse; if you're a presenter, understand it is not about you.
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| Catherine Gove |
Best Writing Advice - Inspiration is fleeting. Jot down your bright ideas, conversations, and aha's and expand them later at the desk.
Best Writing Craft Books - The Art of Time in Memoir: Then, Again by Sven Birkerts
Best Conference/Event Advice - If you don't know what to say to a stranger, ask them what they have learned so far at the event.
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| Thomas Wayne King |
Make It Tangible. ASAP. All our ideas, thoughts, inspirations, jolts are great, but of little value until we set them in some tangible, manipulable form. Write 'em. Record 'em. Sketch 'em.
Make It Tangible. ASAP.
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| Laurie Scheer |
Best Writing Advice - Write. “A writer writes. Always.” This astute quote is uttered by Billy Crystal in the movie Throw Momma from the Train.
Best Writing Craft Books - I have only one. I do not know how anyone writes anything - fiction, nonfiction, short stories, poetry, screenplays, stage plays, etc. without reading and continuing to consult The Writer’s Journey by Christopher Vogler throughout their writing careers.
Best Conference/Event Advice - Don’t be shy. If you see an author/speaker whom you admire and/or you’ve just seen their presentation, be sure to introduce yourself and let them know you like their work - in moderation of course. There are many times that these individuals are seated alone at one of the lunch or event functions and would welcome a complimentary discussion. If you know enough about an agent or publishing representative, do the same. Be polite, always. You’ll be surprised by the interaction.
They are, after all, writers and people interested in writing, just like you. The conference is a wonderful sandbox where one can meet like minds.
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| Luella Schmidt |
Here's my current favorite from George Saunders just last month. "When I'm writing well, joy predominates over fear. I feel confident that I can delight you. When I'm writing badly, I feel the opposite: everything is a liability. So, then, part of my craft is figuring out how to get myself into the former state and stay out of the latter. How to be joyful (confident, playful, inquisitive?) How to avoid caving in and becoming fearful and literal and obsequious to a reader who is against me?" |
| Rebecca Swanson |
Best Writing Advice - Let there be no gratuitous ornamentation in your writing, write every day, be open to honest feedback from anyone.
Best Writing Craft Books -
- If You Want to Write by Brenda Ueland
- Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg
- The Passionate, Accurate Story by Carol Bly
Best Conference/Event Advice - Get speaker presentation notes and review them in advance OR assure attendees that notes will be emailed after the conference - this helps attendees to be active listeners and helps presenters to relate to an engaged audience.
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| K. M. Waldvogel |
Best Writing Advice - Join a writing critique group not made up of friends or family.
Best Writing Craft Book - Writer to Writer: From Think to Ink by Gail Carson Levine
Best Conference/Event Advice - Sit and mingle with people you don’t know. You’ll be amazed at how friendships will develop.
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| Barry Wightman |
Best Writing Advice - Story, truth, and beauty, baby!
Best Writing Craft Book - How Fiction Works by James Wood
Best Conference/Event Advice - Select the sessions where it's clear you'd learn a thing or two right up your alley, sit in the back row for easy exit if needed, then find one or two sessions/panels to which you feel inexplicably drawn. Magic might occur there.
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