Writing Tips from a Writing Conference
Two weekends ago, I attended Life, the Universe, and Everything (LTUE), a sci-fi/fantasy writing and creative symposium held annually in Provo. This was my first time there, or at any writing conference for that matter. The conference lasted three days and was full of panels, presentations, readings, and networking events. Panelists included best-selling authors (Brandon Sanderson, David Farland, Larry Correia, and Dan Wells, to name a few), new authors, editors, agents, and others in the publishing industry. I attended 18 panels/presentations on topics like branding, research, self-publishing, and, of course, writing (character-driven vs. story-driven, outlining, experimenting in fiction, writing different cultures). By the end of it, I was mentally and physically exhausted. I also got sick the next day—I think the combination of winding down after all the adrenaline and being around hordes of people had something to do with it. Despite this, I absorbed an incredible amount of information, and I wanted to share some of what I learned. Some of these may be obvious, but since I’m an editor and not a writer first, it was helpful for me to hear these pieces of advice.
Do your research.
Read inside and outside your genre.
Reading books in your chosen genre will give you an idea of how things are often done, allowing you to decide how you want your story to conform and how you want to make it unique. What does the narration usually look like? Structure? Character development? Obviously, your story will be your own, but it may be helpful to look at what’s already out there. Reading books outside your genre is also important because you can get a feel for how things are done elsewhere. What are the main differences? Do you love certain elements found in another genre that you can draw inspiration from?
Know your tropes.
Tropes are literary shortcuts used to communicate an element of the story. It’s almost impossible to write a story without tropes, and using them is inherently neither good nor bad. Some common tropes are the love triangle, the chosen one, the damsel in distress, and the villain’s monologue.
Genres usually require stories to contain certain tropes, or else the stories aren’t considered to be in that genre. Romance needs a happily ever after, science fiction needs technology, and fantasy needs a magic system.
Knowing your tropes means knowing when to use them and when to lose them too. There are definitely harmful tropes out there, which often rely on stereotypes. Overusing tropes can also lead to clichés. On the other hand, tropes can be comforting or entertaining, and many readers enjoy it when stories contain familiar tropes.
What are some tropes the panelists are tired of seeing? People who act rationally throughout the story but do something out of character at the moment of crisis, absent parents in YA, and romances where one of the leads is a terrible and unsympathetic person.
TVtropes.com lists endless tropes that exist in media.
Two series on YouTube that examine tropes are Tropes vs. Women in Video Games and Trope Talks!
Research for accuracy.
It’s likely you’ll have to do some amount of research for your story. You may have to describe clothes from a certain culture or explain how arsenic affects the body or write believable swear words from a different time period. Whatever you’re researching, the level of accuracy you need to achieve will be based on how you’re presenting the information and what readers are expecting. If you’re writing historical fiction, readers will likely want the setting and descriptions to be historically accurate, or else it might pull them out of the story. If you’re writing sci-fi or fantasy, readers may be more willing to suspend disbelief, especially if you’ve earned their trust with robust worldbuilding already. Here are a few tips I picked up:
When doing research on the internet, try to be as specific in your search as possible, and limit the amount of time you’ll spend on it. Otherwise, six hours later you’re now investigating the airspeed velocities of African and European swallows.
Reach out to experts. They may be willing to meet with you, talk to you on the phone, or answer questions by email. Many people love talking about their fields of expertise. The worst they can do is say no.
Not all research has to be done on the internet. Consider going to places like museums, and engage the docents in conversation about what you’re researching.
If you can’t find an exact answer, it’s usually okay to make an educated guess. It may also be wise to ask yourself how crucial it is to the story and whether it’s necessary to include a detail at all. Leaving it out may not affect the story, but guessing may create an unhappy or skeptical reader.
If you’re in writing mode, use brackets or another placeholder so you can go back and do the research later, rather than interrupt your writing process to look something up. For example: She panicked when she saw the number of buttons and levers on the control panel. [Insert description of airplane control panel layout.] She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then got to work.
Readers judge—quickly.
You don’t have a lot of time to make an impression on readers. Some readers stick with a book regardless of how they feel about it, but many will stop reading if it’s not capturing their attention.
Book covers should catch the attention of potential readers.
If someone is already planning to read your book, the cover won’t make any difference to them. The goal of a book cover is to get someone who’s unfamiliar with your book to read the synopsis, which will then hopefully get them to purchase it. Look at book covers in your genre for what’s typically expected: science fiction has space ships or aliens, romance has someone standing shirtless or people locked in an embrace, and thriller has a shadowy figure whose back is turned, either running or wielding a gun or both. There are also similar typefaces used within the genre. Sure, book covers may not be the most original, but it’s about familiarity. If I’m a sci-fi reader, book covers that I immediately identify as sci-fi-esque are more likely to catch my attention.
The first pages are crucial.
There’s a reason why writers spend so much time perfecting their first chapter. In a panel on judging books, one panelist said that the first two pages must capture their attention. Another panelist talked about how they’ll stop reading if the first pages contain too many linking verbs (verbs that connect a subject with the rest of the sentence without showing action, like is/are). The panelists also talked about a 10% rule—depending on the length of a work, they’ll give it 10% to convince them to keep reading. A 300-page novel gets 30 pages, a 100-page novella gets 10 pages, and a 20-page short story gets 2 pages.
Representation matters.
Readers may stop reading if they see inaccurate or unrealistic portrayals of identities that matter to them. They may also stop reading if they don’t see themselves reflected in the story at all. Not everyone is White, male, straight, cisgender, and able-bodied, but this is often the default in media. For more on this, read my post about conscious language and writing outside your identities.
Mental health disorders are rarely portrayed accurately in media. Oftentimes, we see someone who is sad one minute and happy the next described as bipolar, someone who is neat and organized described as obsessive-compulsive, or someone who is violent described as schizophrenic. Not only are these descriptions often inaccurate, they’re also often harmful and feed stigma that is already prevalent in society.
You may have heard about “tests” used to gauge a story’s representation of women, such as the Bechdel test (and yes, there are criticisms about what passes and doesn’t pass it). There are other basic rules that can be used, some of which are outlined by The Unedit.
Oftentimes writers avoid giving their POC/LGTBQ+/disabled characters flaws because a) these characters are seen to represent everyone with that shared identity or b) these flaws may play into stereotypes. It’s okay to make characters nuanced and human, and it’s also important to understand what these qualities mean for the character and narrative.
Biases that exist in this world don’t have to exist in the world you create.
If you’re writing about an identity you don’t have firsthand knowledge of, consider hiring a targeted beta reader/sensitivity reader who can specifically critique story elements related to the identity. Keep in mind that this is not about censorship. It’s about authenticity and not doing harm.
I love this comment made by a panelist when asked about what publishers are looking for when it comes to representation: “Should we match the market or change the market?”
Your story, your process
Your story and your processes for writing, editing, and publishing are up to you.
Are you a plotter or pantser?
These terms are used to describe two types of writers—plotters outline their stories before writing (at least to some extent), and pantsers write by the seat of their pants. One advantage of outlining is being able to see where you’re going with the story. Otherwise, you may find that you’ve written yourself into a corner and have to find a way out.
Learn about different types of story structure. Do you want to write a hero’s journey? Do you want to use the seven-part structure or an Aristotelian narrative structure?
Outline a book you enjoy that’s in the genre you want to write in. Use that as a framework.
See if the snowflake method is right for you.
Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat was mentioned multiple times. Some sang its praises while others dismissed its usefulness. If nothing else, it may be worth checking out the beat sheet from it.
Re-evaluate your outline as you go, especially if you’re getting stagnant. Maybe what you thought was your story’s triggering event isn’t actually the triggering event.
After writing the ending, look at the beginning of the story again to make sure you’ve kept all the promises you made to the reader.
Know the ins and outs of your world and characters.
You will need to know more about your world and characters than will likely ever make it on the page. These details can add depth to your story that may not exist otherwise.
When creating your world, ask yourself questions about the environment and the different cultures there. What are the physics of the world? What are the people’s values, traditions, rites of passage, and funeral customs? What is their view of outsiders? What has their history been that has shaped their worldview?
“Interview” your characters to get to know them and their motivations. Would they be lying to you? What are their mannerisms and nonverbal communication styles?
Figure out how someone would boil water in your world. Would they get a pot, and if so, what would the pot be made of? What’s the source of the water? Would they create a campfire or turn on a stove? Would they use magic or technology to do this? This simple question can say a lot about the world and characters.
What if you have too many ideas, or none at all?
Writing can be feast or famine. Sometimes you have too many ideas and don’t know which one to start with. Sometimes you have writer’s block and can’t come up with anything. Both are normal.
Feast: When asked how to decide between multiple story ideas, one panelist said they write a query/pitch for each idea to make sure they know what each story is about. This can help narrow down story ideas when some of them aren’t as fleshed out as you thought they were.
Famine: Inspiration can come from anywhere. Try doing creative writing exercises. Ask the “what if?” question about anything (“What if penguins ruled the world?” or “What if humans couldn’t feel physical pain anymore?”). Talk to children, whose imaginations can spark ideas.
You do you.
This was probably the biggest overall message I heard at the conference, and it was reinforced at almost every panel.
Write stories that make you happy.
Yes, you may want to write stories that will make readers, agents, or publishers happy. If you’re successful at selling it but hate writing it, what does that mean for you?
Be your own biggest fan.
If you don’t want to read what you’re writing, why would anyone else? That doesn’t mean you can’t be frustrated or dejected in the process of writing or what comes after, but be proud of what you’ve created.
Choose a brand that’s authentic to you.
Branding can include your published name, genre(s) of choice, logo, online handles, and presence in-person and on social media. Think about what you want to project into the world and how it reflects who you are and what your writing is. Talk about politics or don’t. Use a pen name or don’t. Curse in public or don’t. These are all considerations when deciding what your brand is and what it represents.
Take the writing advice that works and leave the rest.
Everyone has advice, but not all of it is going to work for you. One panelist said that if the advice is going to motivate you to write, then it’s good advice for you. If it’s going to discourage you from writing, then it’s bad advice for you. Don’t be afraid to try out different processes and find what fits you best.
Final thoughts
Attending a writing conference was a new experience for me, and I gained a wealth of information from it. I’m definitely inspired to pursue creative writing, which will likely be a painful but valuable growth process for me. I hope these insights are helpful for you too. Remember that there are few universal right or wrong ways to do things when it comes to writing. At the end of the day, just write, whether it’s for you, your family, your readers, or your desk drawer.
