Every year I attend one of the greatest writers conferences on the West Coast, the La Jolla Writers Conference. Here elite authors, often regulars on the New York Times Best Sellers List, speak and teach. Below, you will find highlights from this year’s conference.
Writers don’t need ideas. They daydream and the ideas come. There is a difference between a plot and a story. For example: King dies and queen dies is a plot. King dies and queen dies of a broken heart is a story.
Raymond Fiest
Art cannot be taught. Craft can. Technique inspires thoughts like, “Why did the character show me that?” Chandler wrote, “A slice of spumoni wouldn’t have melted on her now.” And, “Her look would have stuck out his back by at least four inches.” These are definitions of character that rise above mere exposition.
Steven Boyett
The art of pacing is like an umpire making calls at a game. You don’t notice him but he keeps the game fair and the ball in play. Nitpicking details sacrifice pace. Don’t drag your reader through extraneous details just because you spent time researching them. Instead, distill words down to the dramatic core.
Andy Gross
Writers have a plethora of imagination that we must free up. Let go of thoughts like, “What if my mother reads this?” Just write the book. No writer ever wastes time writing. Even if what you produce is fertilizer, keep putting it out there. Stuff grows in fertilizer. You may be nourishing flowers along your writing path.
Jan Burke
All of the authors quoted above have had multiple award-winning books. Follow their counsel and your writing will reach new heights!
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