5 Reasons to Attend a Writer's Conference

This week many of us here at the Alley are on a post-ACFW writer's conference high. Some of us returned depleted -- I haven't had a voice since the first day of conference. Gulp. But we're all jazzed and ready to reengage with our writing.

Writer's conferences are expensive. So why should you start saving today to attend one next year? I'm so glad you asked!

1) At a writer's conference like ACFW, you will find camaraderie.  For maybe the first time in your life, you won't be the only person you know who has multiple voices in your head. You won't be the only one who sees a headline and immediately spins it into a dozen what-ifs that could launch a book. You will be with people who understand what it's like to live like that. The realization you aren't crazy is frankly priceless.

2) You will learn how to be a writer. True, you can learn that from books, but there is something special about sitting in classes taught by FANTASTIC, successful authors and marketers and business professionals. You can ask people questions that the pages of a book just can't respond to. You can learn tools that will help you better tell the stories of the people in your head. You will also learn how to let go of bad ideas. Believe it or not, we can fall in love with a character or idea that simply isn't ready. You can fix that at a conference.

3) You make key connections. Every single one of my books is contracted because of a relationship that was forged in the appointments and hallways of ACFW. Every. Single. One. There is nothing that pulls you out of the slush pile like meeting face to face with an agent or editor. You become a real person with a personality and passion. One editor who voted in the acquisitions meeting for my next series teared up as she told me how she knew they were helping make my dream come true. That kind of connection does not happen via email. You have to get out there and become a known person.

4) You have an opportunity to serve. Writing is so, so solitary. It is too easy to become focused on ourselves. As a result we stop serving. Many conferences like ACFW will have simple ways for you to give back. Turn your focus off yourself. Sit down and learn about someone else's journey and story. Pray for them. Listen to their pitch. Ease their nerves. It is so priceless. And you may just form some lasting friendships like those here at the Alley.

5) You gain God's perspective for your writing and career. At ACFW, there are daily worship sets, a prayer room that is open 24 hours a day, and keynotes and tracks on the spiritual aspects of writing. Conversations are focused on God and His partnership with us. It is a very real part of the atmosphere. It is quite literally a retreat for me. A place I go to regain His perspective on what I'm doing and the why.

There are many other reasons you could join a writer's conference like ACFW. What would you add to my list?

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Cara Putman

An award-winning author of twenty books, Cara is a lecturer on business and employment law to graduate students at Purdue University’s Krannert School of Management. Putman also practices law and is a second-generation homeschooling mom. She lives with her husband and four children in Indiana.

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Sticks and Stones: The Power of Words

We all remember those words from childhood… that false shield we held up to lessen the sting of juvenile taunts.

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”

I think we knew, even back then, how naive those words truly were. The truth is, words can cut so much deeper than a knife. They can mutilate on contact, leech like a slow acting poison for years, fester and poke at old wounds and insecurities. They can make us doubt ourselves. They can steal our joy. Shake our foundation. Words can puncture deep and keep on digging. Words can hurt.

But…

Words can also heal. Mend. Inspire. A kind word can brighten your spirit. Change your attitude. Change your life. Even change the world.

Words don’t simply wither up and die once they lose their oxygen. They continue to speak for generations.

The word became flesh. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. -John 1:1

Bottom line. Words are POWERFUL. 

And we, as writers, get the unique privilege of working with words like few others do. Sure, writer or not, we all use words. Sometimes we weaponize them in defense like we did when we were young. Other times we lavish them on those we love, and form deep bonds strengthened by expressions of affection. Our tone, our delivery, our word choice all contribute to who we are and how others perceive us.

But when we write, we get to weave words together in an intentional and artful way. We get to be wordsmiths in the truest sense. We don’t simply react to the situation or get runaway with tricky emotions. We craft. We mold. We shape a story like a piece of clay. Trimming and smoothing out the lines. Our words become our message, a way to communicate something deeper than an opinion or an entertaining story. We get to share our hearts on the page. A part of ourselves that isn’t always heard over the noise we create.

Your story, your words… are powerfully important. And when written, have great potential to find an audience beyond your everyday interaction and influence.

So take a moment to think on it. What are your words saying? How are they unfolding your message? Do your words cut or do they inspire? Don’t underestimate them. Let your art speak something to the world. Something empowering. Something true. Something worthy of the thought and process you give to every single precious word.

Write on.

Tell me: What is the central message of the story you are writing now? And how do you make your words count?

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Amy Leigh Simpson writes Romantic Suspense that is heavy on the romance, unapologetically honest, laced with sass and humor, and full of the unfathomable Grace of God. She is the completely sleep deprived mama to two little tow-headed mischief makers and wife to her very own swoon-worthy hero. Represented by the oh-so-wise and dashing Chip MacGregor of MacGregor Literary Inc.

Your Voice Released

A block of stone. 

A blank canvas.

A clean sheet of paper.

What life is filled in such empty spaces! 

As writers—or artists—life brims from such untouched media. And once we dare to place our chisel on the stone, the brush to the canvas, the typed word to the paper, we begin to create the vision first developed in our hearts.

If you've ever walked the hall to the famous statue of David by Michelangelo, you first pass by his "Prisoners"--blocks of stone unleashing  human form in a dramatic, raw fashion.

Michelangelo once said, "Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to find it."

Photo of Michelangelo's Prisoner by Avital Pinnick on Flickr

 As if the bodies are emerging from the block, Michelangelo's imitation of man is whispered on the surface. Not completely finished, not refined nor perfected...but the art becomes a foreshadow of the greatness in what lies ahead—the near-perfect statue of David.

As writers, we often hear judges or editors mention the word, “voice”, and sometimes it seems like a tricky thing to attain in our efforts to craft a story well. If we look at voice in three stages, we might begin to discover the releasing of our own voices:

FIRST CUT: It's messy to cut into stone. Imagine the ugly divots and the shards of marble splayed upon the floor. But Michelangelo knew his direction--to set the statue free. He continued to chip away. Remember, in those beginning stages of a first draft the words might not come easy, but you must continue to write and rewrite, chip away at the blank stone, and release your voice through your unique story.

Photo at Wikimedia Commons

RE-CREATE: Most stories have something in common with other stories, life in general, or universal themes. If we are going to connect with our reader at all, we must have “familiar” in our stories. But don't let “familiar” trump “unique”. Michelangelo didn't create a new form, but used the God-given human form to create art. He sculpted the ordinary human body in a unique way.

Our voice is sculpting the human condition in a unique way.

LIFE: The voice of the writer breathes life into the blank page. It gives the story its pulse. When a writer has grasped their voice, their story becomes one to marvel at, just like Michelangelo's statues.

When your voice continues to grow, your story will fill with life.

Just as the statue of David is a vision the viewer will never forget, your finished manuscript will boldly declare its voice in the heart of your readers.

Have you discovered your “voice”?
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Angie Dicken first began writing fiction as a creative outlet during the monotonous, mothering days of diapers and temper tantrums. She is passionate to impress God's love on women regardless of their background or belief. This desire serves as a catalyst for Angie's fiction, which weaves salvation and grace themes across historical cultures and social boundaries. Angie is an ACFW member and is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of the Steve Laube Agency.

The Confession of a Blank Canvas to a Toolbox Guru

On Flickr by Zen

 You've set up your file with the grid in place. Your layers are labeled in a long list on the right side  your screen...their order intelligently determined. The Opacity is set at 84% on Layer Back Story, and 20% on Layer Character Motive. Each color is balanced to perfectly portray your image...ahem... your setting. And you've plugged in coordinates after coordinates to get it just right.

You open the Text tool and find your font, and place it in the corner at the top of your "canvas" and title it:

Novel 1: Outline Complete

Then click on the menu, scroll down to "Sharpen", and witness your story shine EXACTLY how you expected it to...with your coordinates and layers cheering you on as you type,

"Complete Manuscript" on page 353, just as you had plugged into your outline.

You are probably chuckling at my exaggeration of a Plotter...or a Toolbox Guru to fit the above Photo editing software illustration...but, oh you Plotter-- is it true?? Does it make you tingly to think about outlining each chapter, every plot twist, and thoroughly knowing your character (after all you've interviewed her, her grandma, sister, mom, and coworker) before she's even entered Chapter One, Scene One? If you do just a little bit...do you know how much you are envied? By me?

Let me give you insight into what I refer to as A Blank Canvas...thanks to my dear Alley Cat, Pepper, who helped me realize this post after an amusing conversation about our "different", non-plotter way of tackling a book.

We take a blank page. A canvas, if you will,

     and...

G    A    S   P...

      we...

  t-y-p-e. 

Oooooh, does that scare all you plotters out there? Sometimes, I feel like I should hang my head in shame. How can I not fill out page upon page with each plot point, each chapter, each twist, each drama, each whatever-you-call-it, and build that foundation before I start on my first bedazzling sentence (well...in this fashion of mine (and Pep's, because I must have a partner in crime in this confession...) our first bedazzling sentence is just that, our first...because we might go through twenty different first sentences before we come up with the one that is just right).

On Flickr by Diamond Farah

Do not fear. Or don't think that us Blank Canvas'rs, (I really don't like the implications of being considered blank or a canvas...but for lack of a better term since I am a procrastinator and it is very late...hm...that may have something to do with being a Blank Canvas'r....) please don't think we will never complete a novel successfully...ha! The thing with the Canvas'r  is, we take each brush stroke and begin to "sketch" what we've daydreamed in our mind, or roughly mapped out on an old Hershey's bar wrapper. And if our paintbrush decides to flick a new splatter over here and deepen a motive over there, then we begin to add a new color and take our story in the direction of the paint. We allow the art of writing to create the story on the page...right then and there.

I firmly believe that it really comes down to the way we are wired. There is no right or wrong in this...actually, for the Canvas'r, we might have to go through a little more touch up before adding our signature in the bottom corner...because, after all, the journey's been long and our paintbrush has a mind, or two, of its own!

"To thine own self be true." -William Shakespeare

God is so great. He allows each of us to do His work in a way unique to our gift and our style. Whether you resonate more with the Toolbox Guru, developing a solid outline, a plotted story that takes you from point A to point B just as you had decided in Phase 1,
or
you breathe a sigh of relief that there are actually nuts like me (ahem, and Pepper...and Amy, so I have heard ;)), just like you, who really don't mind crafting the story like a lump of clay--slowly forming the piece without really knowing what fabulous curve or interesting texture you'll create until you're just at that part....

No matter which of these you are...or if you fall somewhere in the middle... trust that the journey is yours, and if you stay true to who you are, equip yourself with the knowledge of the craft, prepare yourself with either the grid or the paintbrush, and listen to your heart and the story, then your confession as a Blank Canvas OR a Toolbox Guru will become a proud proclamation that you are using your gift exactly the way in which He designed for YOU!

So...which one are you???

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Angie Dicken first began writing fiction as a creative outlet during the monotonous days of diapers and temper tantrums. She is passionate to impress God's love on women regardless of their background or belief. This desire serves as a catalyst for Angie's fiction, which weaves salvation and grace themes across historical cultures and social boundaries. Angie is an ACFW member and is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of the Steve Laube Agency.