Notes from Conduit XXI: This Year Conduit is Old Enough to Drink

Backstory:  Conduit is a sci-fi con, mostly centered around books and writing.  This was my first year.


Conduit wasn't what I expected.  I thought it would be larger, that there would be more costumes, bigger display areas, etc.  I'm not complaining.  My only frame of reference was the Emerald City Comicon last October, which was easily 20 times larger.  So there was a mental shift that I had to make early on.

I always hesitate to wander the book sales area, because I have this gnawing fear that every author I talk to or walk by without buying one of their books will take it as a personal rejection.  Also, chatting up strangers isn't my strong suit, even if we do have something in common.

I really need to get over this social anxiety crap.  And maybe take my wallet out of the ziplock once in a while.

The point being, I mostly hung out at various panel discussions, which I will recount in excessive detail -- mostly as a memory cue for myself -- ... NOW!

Friday:

Con Ettiquette:  A few funny anecdotes, but probably counterproductive for someone whose main problem is being too shy.

What Do You Mean, My Character is in Debtor's Prison?:  A bit of economics can lend richness to your writing, and it's easy to screw up by not giving your world or characters a grounding in economic reality.  Takeaway: every character needs a job, or a really good excuse for not having one.

Brainstorming with your Subconscious:  What do you do when you're not sure what to do with your character?  Give them a tarot reading!  No, really.  It's a powerful cure for writer's block.  I should learn to give a good reading.

Screenwriting 101:  Learned a bit about the art of writing and selling a screenplay.  I'm not interested in doing such a thing, but interesting nonetheless.  One big takeaway: You have to write a screenplay with an understanding of your actual role.  Movies are a collaborative process between thousands of people, so you have to leave a lot of room for all those people to add their own touches.  A screenplay that tells the director every shot to use is a bad screenplay.

Streamlining your Fiction:  Less description is usually more.  No "clothes porn" (describing in detail the outfit of every character, no matter how incidental) unless that's what your audience wants.

Women in Fantasy:  How to make your female characters interesting and well-rounded.  Trick:  Try reversing the genders of the characters and see what details emerge.  Men and women are different, give thought to gender roles in the society you're describing, avoid "dude with breasts" syndrome.  I tried asking a question about women and body issues.  My question wasn't really clear, but one of the female panelists said that women have a superpower for knowing within seconds who the prettiest woman in the room is.

Hickman on Writing:  Lots of material covered fast.  Tracy Hickman did a quick primer on archetypal characters and plot pacing.  I remember almost none of it.

Then home to watch an episode of Dr. Who with my sissy.

Saturday:

The New Face of Self-Promotion:  Drawing a blank at the moment.  I'm quite sure I was there.

Writing/Illustrating Graphic Novels:  Apparently, you can write screenplays for graphic novels.  I had no idea.

Plotting a Novel in an Hour:  We ended up with a three-act novel where a farmboy goes off to save his cow from UFOs and winds up becoming king of the Fae Folk and the keeper of a forest of vampire trees.  Or something.  I was busy filling in the template with a new idea of my own.

The template is as follows:  Overall Plot, Main Character Plot, Impact Character Plot, Love Story (if applicable).  The plot has three acts.  Act I ends with a twist or complication.  Act III usually has a "big reveal" that usually launches into the climax.  Also helps to keep track of the locations and settings, especially the recurring ones.

First Aid in the Middle Ages (w/Nala):  We got there way late, so not much to report.  One hint:  If a character can display great medical knowledge in an early scene, you can usually cut a lot of detail from later uses of that skill.

The Two Faces of a Samurai (w/Nala):  I was so sleepy.  But Nala made me an origami cube, and I kinda flushed out the idea I'd been coming up with earlier.

Bad Fairy!  You're NOT a Vampire!:  An hour spent bashing Twilight cannot be deducted from a man's life.  Tracy Hickman had some strong opinions on this one.  I think it was a bit of a stretch to say that by defanging vampires to make them love interests, you create an underlying message that women should stay in abusive relationships.  But his idea was well-argued, drawing from the early vampire stories to show that they were often warnings to women about the dangers of monstrous men.

In the olden days, I think that Bella's motivations -- desiring to become a vampire in part to achieve eternal beauty and youth -- would have gone completely differently in the olden days.  She would have served as a morality tale about the dangers of vanity.  Probably a better message than the one that actually comes across.

Sat next to a twelve year old Princess Zelda.  Very cool costume.

Then home to watch an episode of Sherlock with sissy and bro.  BBC sure knows how to tell a story.

Sunday:

What Makes a Successful Writing Group:  Not too big, everyone gets something out of it and everyone contributes, they can be difficult to find and join but hey you've got six or seven people right here.  Ideally, have more than one perspective (female/male mentioned specifically, but I think a little genre-bending might be helpful as well).  It takes time to learn the quirks of your groupees, to figure out what sort of advice they're able to give (or take).

I got a few e-mail addresses collected.  I'll need to get back with those folks.

Writing a Multi-book Series:  When is your character, series, or even your world, done?  Took a lot of notes here.  The only thing I'll pass on here is the phrase I wrote down, "Older than God's dog."  I think I may broadcast a little too loudly that my book wants a sequel.  Standard romantic arc:  Infatuation, romance, hard sloggy bits, distance, reconciliation.

Historical Costuming:  Learned the difference between a patina and a bustle, though both look ridiculous.  There have been times when men wore corsets.  Clothing should be comfortable.

Razor's Edge:  How much should you put your characters through, and at what point does it become gratuitous?  What's the difference between a challenge and a punishment.  "Reality has a well-known liberal bias."  #couldawouldashoulda

This got me thinking about my own book.  [delete thoughts.  spoiler alert.]

Building Your Audience:  How to maintain an online presence and find your audience.  We may be entering an era where the (extremely risk-averse) publishing industry may demand that new authors bring a proven fan base with them when they submit a book.  Need to get you some Twitters, some Facebooks, some bloggy bits, and some website.

Not sure what to do with my own online strategy, since I've already harpooned myself with my arrogant left-wing rantiness, and a fifteen year old anti-Mormon website I built.  Also, bryceanderson.com is already taken... by... oh wow that's depressing.  Becoming the most famous Bryce Anderson on Google means dethroning some poor couple's dead child.  Talk about your ethical dilemmas.

As for the rants?  When did we forget our dreams?  I'm passionate, opinionated, and easily offended.  That will lose me some readers.  Hopefully it will gain me others.

Online Publishing:  Is a big new world.  Stepping around the gatekeepers means stepping into the swamp of self-published crap.  Best way out:  Write a damned good book.