Sunday, July 30, 2017

Teaching An Old Dog New Tricks

I attended a workshop at the Medina library yesterday morning. After publishing sixteen books, having one more in the editing stage which has gone on way too long, two completed and under consideration by various publishers and another which I'm still working on, I really didn't think I'd learn anything new. I only went to help fill up the room, since so many of my romance writing chapter mates were out of town.

The workshop was on plotting, and presented by Mary Ellis. https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=mary+ellis&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Amary+ellis

Mary's a local talent, but she writes Amish books and mystery books, neither of which are my chosen genre. She also writes romances, but they're inspirational and don't contain any sex scenes or vulgar language. Also not my type of writing. Over the years I've tried various types of plotting software and have kind of developed my own method, but my first drafts are always short on word count. I can usually rectify this by the second or third draft, but I'll never be a JK Rowling type of writer.

So here I was, warm body in a chair in the room, Mary giving insight about the way she plots (by chapter and word count)  and how she lays out sub-plots and secondary characters and it hit me. The lightbulb truly went off over my head and I glanced around the room to see if anyone else witnessed the flash of light.
In this current work of mine, I have two brothers returning home from the Civil War. They are so desperate for money they steal from my heroine's father and the heroine goes after them. But I've never explained WHY they are desperate. What a great sub-plot! What a great way to add to my word count! What a great idea to turn these cardboard cut-outs into somewhat sympathetic characters!
Not exactly the bad guys in my book, but you get the drift.
My advice to every writer who reads this is go to every workshop you can, because you never know when inspiration will strike. The library is a great resource, since the workshops are free, but there are events scheduled in northern Ohio throughout the year for whatever genre you write, or want to write, in–children's lit, cozy mystery, romance, you name it. All you need is an open mind and the willingness to listen and then apply what you've learned. And it's never too late to teach an old dog new tricks.

8 comments:

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    1. Thanks, Madelyn. This is why I attend workshops whenever I can. You never know when the lightbulb will go off.

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  2. Love the photo of you as a saloon gal. If you had lived in the Old West, that's a career path I can picture you choosing.

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    1. I'd have made a damn fine saloon gal, you're right.

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  3. Never stop learning. Missed you at conference. Hanging with the young ones by myself was exhausting.

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    1. You seemed to hold up well. Congrats again, my friend.

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  4. Thanks Becky, I always seem to learn some of the most important things from the most unlikely sources, thanks for the reminder!

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    1. Thanks for stopping by today. You're right. You never know where the AHA moment will come from.

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