Robin Layne's Blog: From the Red, Read Robin - Posts Tagged "cover-design"
Third-Time Charm: Summary of a Writers Conference (Part 1)
Thursday
I was super privileged to attend the Willamette Writers Conference this year. It was my third such conference, and I think my last was in 2009. This year it was easier to reach because it was held at the Doubletree Inn by Portland’s Lloyds Center, right along the Max lightrail track.
The first event, Pitch for the Prize, was Thursday night of July 31, and I was so excited I couldn’t even pack a dinner—or do anything else. So I left as soon as I could and enjoyed a big steak salad at Denny’s along the way, where I flipped a quarter to help me decide which workshops to attend that were slated for the same time slots as others I wanted. My quarter would insist I take one workshop—then I would think I wanted the other.
Entering the hotel was pure pleasure. I looked for Willamette Writers nametags everywhere, seeking other crazy people driven to create via the written word and spread their creations throughout the known universe. It still amazes me how many of us there are, because outside such events, writing for publication can be a lonely venture. Most of my friends and family members aren’t writers. My mother didn’t encourage my passion, and although my father did, he insisted I would have to always sell shoes or something for a living. I still believe him, although I’m no good at selling shoes. Is that why I’m still poor?
I picked up my nametag and folder early, so I had plenty of time to look at the Barnes and Noble corner that featured books on writing and other titles, the silent auction area that was just being set up (it was hot in there at the time), and the information table to learn more about Pitch for the Prize and Manuscript ER. In the first event, writers chosen randomly to give a three-minute pitch of their manuscripts to a panel of editors and agents paid $5, got advice from the judges after their pitches, and the writer whose pitch was deemed best took home all the entry money. I didn’t have a manuscript ready to pitch, but after a while I wished I did. I learned a lot. I took notes, and I might write more later about my experience either here or in the Authors by Design blog. But first I will blog about conference details that are more applicable to what I am doing now. These posts are certain to interest other writers who are in the formulation and writing stages of their creations. They may also interest readers who want to understand what moves them and why, how stories work, and how writers make the kinds they most enjoy.
Friday
Friday, I missed the workshop waiting for Manuscript ER and then getting the advice of “ER operator” Cheri Lasota of Stirling Editing. I was told we would have 15 minutes together, but we must have had well over half an hour. She taught me what I need to do to convert my too-long novel into two separate stories, and revealed the importance of making my whole series have its own story arc. She gave me some tips on how to do that, and recommended I learn more from Larry Brooks, who was teaching three workshops at the conference. She referred me to a blog post by Susan Kaye Quinn to help me brainstorm the rest of my series. The link is www.susankayequinn.com/2013/12/brainstorming-book.html>. Lasota’s website is CheeriLasota.com/StirlingEditing/.
Waiting for Manuscript ER was no chore. While I did so, I began meeting interesting writers, some whom I would run into later throughout the conference. Like Brittany “Bri” Maresh from Alaska, who, when I told her I was writing a vampire series, said, “We love you!” and named me some books she said I must read (Demon in My View by Amelia Atwater Rhedes
, Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black
, and Sunshine by Robin McKinley
).
I’m so glad my drive to finish what I was first inspired to write some fourteen years ago didn’t let me stop when some “experts” in publishing told me “Vampires are dead” (no pun intended?) I don’t chase trends. I write what God gives me to write and what speaks to me, what I hope will speak to others, whatever people might think of the subject matter. I don’t copy other’s work. I almost cringe when anyone responds to me by saying, “Oh yes, vampires are so in now,” or “Of course you write about vampires. Ever since Twilight…” FYI, I got the dream that started me writing my AVS stories before there was a Twilight, and when I started reading the thing and heard it was a bestseller, I was heartbroken and scared. Is this what the audience I’m aiming for likes? I thought. Drivel by a person who breaks every writing rule I was ever taught? Do I have to be compared and contrasted to this amateur? The only really good thing about those books, I thought, was the cover art, and that was only for the original hardbacks. I thought it might be death to my dream. But this Willamette Writers Conference included the videoed opinions of actual high school students, one who said she was sick of vampires because of Twilight. That quote mostly encouraged me; they are not looking for a duplicate. I just have to make my stories different and better. My vampires are not like Stephanie Meyers’s, and my stories are fresh.
From ER, I ran quickly down to the big, crowded room where Larry Brooks taught Story 101: The Three-Way Collision of Idea, Concept, and Premise. He also talked about theme but for some reason didn’t include it in his title. He challenged us to define “story.” One single word that epitomizes a story: Conflict. “Without plot,” he said, “the exploration of a character is a biography of a fictional character, not a story.”
Lunch followed. Having the deluxe admission, I got to hear a speaker with each lunch as well as meet more wonderful fellow writers. Friday’s speaker was Gayathri Ramprasad, who wrote Shadows in the Sun: Healing from Depression and Finding the Light Within
. I wish my camera was working, because Ramprasad was drop-dead gorgeous in her purple sari, all her jewelry, and her black hair piled high on her head. When she read that as a child she was "a princess," I could believe it. Later, mental illness and abuse drew her down into a deep chasm. But getting locked up set her free to learn they couldn’t lock up her spirit. She found love, acceptance, courage, and compassion among the mentally ill. Yet she discovered that they are misplaced and mistreated in prisons and asylums around the world. Overwhelmed, she was comforted by the words of Mother Teresa: “We can do no great things. We can do small things with great love.” (This saying also spoke to me on a special occasion, just two days after Mother Teresa went to Heaven.) Ramprasad formed ASHA International (www.myasha.org) to spread understanding about mental illness and to reduce stigma against this cluster of diseases that one out of four people experience sometime in life.
It was at one of these lunches I met Paula Blackwelder (from Florida), who is working on a documentary about a trapeze artist she knew while performing for the circus herself. I was to run into her several more times (who could miss her long, straight, black hair?), and hear more than one person encourage her to write her own story. If interested in her projects, check out Circus Nation TV Network at www.OnNowTV.com/232.
Next I attended Gordon Warnock’s workshop, An Agent Explains Author Platforms. I had high hopes for this one, but it was the one event that didn’t help me much. It seemed most helpful for non-fiction writers. Other than attending horror conventions, I couldn’t think what real organizations to get involved in to draw attention to my vampire books. I couldn’t even think of any questions to ask.
My next workshop more than made up for that. Laura Whitcomb, author of the YA love stories A Certain Slant of Light
, Under the Light
and The Fetch
, taught Magical Worlds and Real Romance. She said that you can make any world seem so real and down to earth it becomes like magic. She gave us several writing exercises (some which I will continue for some time to come), to help us establish the rules of our magical worlds and to inspire us to believe for the best and keep on writing until we achieve it.
Saturday
My first Saturday workshop was helpful, but I can’t do it justice without sharing a lot of pictures. The subject was Cover Design Secrets You Can Use to Sell More Books, by designer Derek Murphy. It would take me a long time to post a small portion of the covers he showed us, and here they would appear awfully small. His website, www.creativeindie.com will give you some good examples. Here are some highlights of his advice: It is the job of the cover to tell readers what’s in the book. A cover should not so much explain as attract. There are conventions for each genre that help readers find what they want—for instance, vampire books are black, red, and maybe white, sometimes with blood splatters on them. Spirituality is purple or blue. Covers for fiction should make an emotional connection, nonfiction more of a cognitive one. Consider how your cover should look when it’s really small as well as up close. Contrasting colors make a good cover “pop.” The cover should not be crowded but have lots of space. Murphy provided a number of web addresses for stock photography and text, but if you use stock pictures, be sure to change them enough that they don’t look like every other book using that art. If you want to know more from my notes of this workshop or my others, just comment below or message me. It will help me decide what to publish, and if I don’t post about the event you want more info on, I will send you the info personally.
I showed Murphy my sketch for the cover of my first AVS book. Like I thought when he was teaching, it’s too busy. I had Mary, my main character, looking into a dream catcher (because she has prophetic dreams) and behind the dream catcher my vampire girl luring her boyfriend away and the boy approaching her with interest. Murphy advised just featuring Mary behind the dream catcher with her distraught expression. I don’t know if I like that idea as much, but he said that the best cover often isn’t the author’s favorite. At least a front view would show her silver heart locket, which is an important to the story.
I then went to hear Larry Brooks again. In Story 202: Discovering Story Through Structure, he said a great story is about something happening in the pursuit of a resolution to something. A story has four parts: set up (introducing the hero); response (the situation grows darker, the stakes bigger, and the hero becomes a “wanderer”); attack (the hero becomes a “warrior” and has some effectiveness with the problem); and resolution (in which the hero must be a primary catalyst). The setup contains one or more inciting incidents—parts where the conflict becomes apparent. The most important part of the story is the first plot point, which happens between the first and second of the four sections; this event launches the hero’s journey and what he/she needs to do. Between the response and attack is a second plot point (there can be more), which makes the journey different or new. This midpoint a good place for revealing secrets. Between the attack and the resolution is sometimes a lull—a place of despondency for the main characters. If this leaves you scratching your head, please realize I’m giving a quick outline and I’m just learning this stuff. It helps to note examples and figure out how the model fits your own work or those of others who have succeeded before you. Brooks gave many examples from movies and books.
The man gave out so much information in so little time that I found his workshops confusing. But I was sold on his idea that understanding how the elements of story work as soon as possible saves huge time and effort in writing. Because the first story in my vampire series is so long I’m trying to turn it into two books, I went up afterwards and asked Brooks, “Is The Lord of the Rings one story or two?” He said, “That’s why I clarified ‘modern book.’” In other words, what I could most easily do is not allowed today, though it was in the ancient days of J.R.R. Tolkien. I told him of my dilemma—that I feel like I may be forcing a long tale into two separate boxes. He said, “If it won’t work as two stories, you’ll just have to write it as a 70,000-word book and let the editors help you hone it down.” Actually, I don’t know how many words I have in all. I know I have over 500 pages, mostly single-spaced, and that the draft isn’t finished. I question whether a publisher would accept a manuscript that long from a first-time author and go through all the trouble it would take to shorten it. And I don’t have the money to pay a freelance editor to do that for me. So for now my story is in limbo again. It’s time for faith to carry me and my project through another crisis.
I would miss Sunday’s Story 303 because of another workshop in that timeslot, but I bought Brooks' book, Story Engineering
. He signed it, “Robin—One book or two? Go for it … and enjoy!” I will be writing more about Brooks’ model of story writing in one of the blogs as I study my notes and read his book. I may also consult the diagrams on his website.
Rushing Ahead to Great News
This brings us to about midpoint of Saturday in a description I wanted to keep much briefer. Since my text in Word is over four pages long in 11-point type, and since the conference ended 11 days ago, I’m going to stop here and take up the rest of this story in my next blog. Because this post is more biographical and informational than a structured story, I don’t have a problem with cutting it in half—or in more parts, if need be. But before I stop for today, I’m going to rush ahead and tell you the big perk of the whole conference for me: Sunday, as the conference was wrapping up, I sat at a very lucky table. I say that tongue-in-cheek, as I really don’t believe in luck. Maybe I should say a blessed table? The guy next to me won a book when his returned nametag was drawn at random. Then the guy next to him won a book the same way. Lastly, I won one of the raffles to “Hobnob with an Author.” I had paid $10 for 15 tickets and, because I couldn’t decide which author on the list I wanted to spend an hour with, I specified some for mystery writer April Henry and some for playwright and screenwriter Cynthia Whitcomb (Saturday's lunch speaker and sister of Laura Whitcomb). I won the opportunity to meet with Cynthia Whitcomb. I will be having coffee with her tomorrow morning, and I’m still not entirely sure what I will ask or say. Stay tuned and you will find out how it went.
To Be Continued…
I was super privileged to attend the Willamette Writers Conference this year. It was my third such conference, and I think my last was in 2009. This year it was easier to reach because it was held at the Doubletree Inn by Portland’s Lloyds Center, right along the Max lightrail track.
The first event, Pitch for the Prize, was Thursday night of July 31, and I was so excited I couldn’t even pack a dinner—or do anything else. So I left as soon as I could and enjoyed a big steak salad at Denny’s along the way, where I flipped a quarter to help me decide which workshops to attend that were slated for the same time slots as others I wanted. My quarter would insist I take one workshop—then I would think I wanted the other.
Entering the hotel was pure pleasure. I looked for Willamette Writers nametags everywhere, seeking other crazy people driven to create via the written word and spread their creations throughout the known universe. It still amazes me how many of us there are, because outside such events, writing for publication can be a lonely venture. Most of my friends and family members aren’t writers. My mother didn’t encourage my passion, and although my father did, he insisted I would have to always sell shoes or something for a living. I still believe him, although I’m no good at selling shoes. Is that why I’m still poor?
I picked up my nametag and folder early, so I had plenty of time to look at the Barnes and Noble corner that featured books on writing and other titles, the silent auction area that was just being set up (it was hot in there at the time), and the information table to learn more about Pitch for the Prize and Manuscript ER. In the first event, writers chosen randomly to give a three-minute pitch of their manuscripts to a panel of editors and agents paid $5, got advice from the judges after their pitches, and the writer whose pitch was deemed best took home all the entry money. I didn’t have a manuscript ready to pitch, but after a while I wished I did. I learned a lot. I took notes, and I might write more later about my experience either here or in the Authors by Design blog. But first I will blog about conference details that are more applicable to what I am doing now. These posts are certain to interest other writers who are in the formulation and writing stages of their creations. They may also interest readers who want to understand what moves them and why, how stories work, and how writers make the kinds they most enjoy.
Friday
Friday, I missed the workshop waiting for Manuscript ER and then getting the advice of “ER operator” Cheri Lasota of Stirling Editing. I was told we would have 15 minutes together, but we must have had well over half an hour. She taught me what I need to do to convert my too-long novel into two separate stories, and revealed the importance of making my whole series have its own story arc. She gave me some tips on how to do that, and recommended I learn more from Larry Brooks, who was teaching three workshops at the conference. She referred me to a blog post by Susan Kaye Quinn to help me brainstorm the rest of my series. The link is www.susankayequinn.com/2013/12/brainstorming-book.html>. Lasota’s website is CheeriLasota.com/StirlingEditing/.
Waiting for Manuscript ER was no chore. While I did so, I began meeting interesting writers, some whom I would run into later throughout the conference. Like Brittany “Bri” Maresh from Alaska, who, when I told her I was writing a vampire series, said, “We love you!” and named me some books she said I must read (Demon in My View by Amelia Atwater Rhedes
, Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black
, and Sunshine by Robin McKinley
).I’m so glad my drive to finish what I was first inspired to write some fourteen years ago didn’t let me stop when some “experts” in publishing told me “Vampires are dead” (no pun intended?) I don’t chase trends. I write what God gives me to write and what speaks to me, what I hope will speak to others, whatever people might think of the subject matter. I don’t copy other’s work. I almost cringe when anyone responds to me by saying, “Oh yes, vampires are so in now,” or “Of course you write about vampires. Ever since Twilight…” FYI, I got the dream that started me writing my AVS stories before there was a Twilight, and when I started reading the thing and heard it was a bestseller, I was heartbroken and scared. Is this what the audience I’m aiming for likes? I thought. Drivel by a person who breaks every writing rule I was ever taught? Do I have to be compared and contrasted to this amateur? The only really good thing about those books, I thought, was the cover art, and that was only for the original hardbacks. I thought it might be death to my dream. But this Willamette Writers Conference included the videoed opinions of actual high school students, one who said she was sick of vampires because of Twilight. That quote mostly encouraged me; they are not looking for a duplicate. I just have to make my stories different and better. My vampires are not like Stephanie Meyers’s, and my stories are fresh.
From ER, I ran quickly down to the big, crowded room where Larry Brooks taught Story 101: The Three-Way Collision of Idea, Concept, and Premise. He also talked about theme but for some reason didn’t include it in his title. He challenged us to define “story.” One single word that epitomizes a story: Conflict. “Without plot,” he said, “the exploration of a character is a biography of a fictional character, not a story.”
Lunch followed. Having the deluxe admission, I got to hear a speaker with each lunch as well as meet more wonderful fellow writers. Friday’s speaker was Gayathri Ramprasad, who wrote Shadows in the Sun: Healing from Depression and Finding the Light Within
. I wish my camera was working, because Ramprasad was drop-dead gorgeous in her purple sari, all her jewelry, and her black hair piled high on her head. When she read that as a child she was "a princess," I could believe it. Later, mental illness and abuse drew her down into a deep chasm. But getting locked up set her free to learn they couldn’t lock up her spirit. She found love, acceptance, courage, and compassion among the mentally ill. Yet she discovered that they are misplaced and mistreated in prisons and asylums around the world. Overwhelmed, she was comforted by the words of Mother Teresa: “We can do no great things. We can do small things with great love.” (This saying also spoke to me on a special occasion, just two days after Mother Teresa went to Heaven.) Ramprasad formed ASHA International (www.myasha.org) to spread understanding about mental illness and to reduce stigma against this cluster of diseases that one out of four people experience sometime in life.It was at one of these lunches I met Paula Blackwelder (from Florida), who is working on a documentary about a trapeze artist she knew while performing for the circus herself. I was to run into her several more times (who could miss her long, straight, black hair?), and hear more than one person encourage her to write her own story. If interested in her projects, check out Circus Nation TV Network at www.OnNowTV.com/232.
Next I attended Gordon Warnock’s workshop, An Agent Explains Author Platforms. I had high hopes for this one, but it was the one event that didn’t help me much. It seemed most helpful for non-fiction writers. Other than attending horror conventions, I couldn’t think what real organizations to get involved in to draw attention to my vampire books. I couldn’t even think of any questions to ask.
My next workshop more than made up for that. Laura Whitcomb, author of the YA love stories A Certain Slant of Light
, Under the Light
and The Fetch
, taught Magical Worlds and Real Romance. She said that you can make any world seem so real and down to earth it becomes like magic. She gave us several writing exercises (some which I will continue for some time to come), to help us establish the rules of our magical worlds and to inspire us to believe for the best and keep on writing until we achieve it.Saturday
My first Saturday workshop was helpful, but I can’t do it justice without sharing a lot of pictures. The subject was Cover Design Secrets You Can Use to Sell More Books, by designer Derek Murphy. It would take me a long time to post a small portion of the covers he showed us, and here they would appear awfully small. His website, www.creativeindie.com will give you some good examples. Here are some highlights of his advice: It is the job of the cover to tell readers what’s in the book. A cover should not so much explain as attract. There are conventions for each genre that help readers find what they want—for instance, vampire books are black, red, and maybe white, sometimes with blood splatters on them. Spirituality is purple or blue. Covers for fiction should make an emotional connection, nonfiction more of a cognitive one. Consider how your cover should look when it’s really small as well as up close. Contrasting colors make a good cover “pop.” The cover should not be crowded but have lots of space. Murphy provided a number of web addresses for stock photography and text, but if you use stock pictures, be sure to change them enough that they don’t look like every other book using that art. If you want to know more from my notes of this workshop or my others, just comment below or message me. It will help me decide what to publish, and if I don’t post about the event you want more info on, I will send you the info personally.
I showed Murphy my sketch for the cover of my first AVS book. Like I thought when he was teaching, it’s too busy. I had Mary, my main character, looking into a dream catcher (because she has prophetic dreams) and behind the dream catcher my vampire girl luring her boyfriend away and the boy approaching her with interest. Murphy advised just featuring Mary behind the dream catcher with her distraught expression. I don’t know if I like that idea as much, but he said that the best cover often isn’t the author’s favorite. At least a front view would show her silver heart locket, which is an important to the story.
I then went to hear Larry Brooks again. In Story 202: Discovering Story Through Structure, he said a great story is about something happening in the pursuit of a resolution to something. A story has four parts: set up (introducing the hero); response (the situation grows darker, the stakes bigger, and the hero becomes a “wanderer”); attack (the hero becomes a “warrior” and has some effectiveness with the problem); and resolution (in which the hero must be a primary catalyst). The setup contains one or more inciting incidents—parts where the conflict becomes apparent. The most important part of the story is the first plot point, which happens between the first and second of the four sections; this event launches the hero’s journey and what he/she needs to do. Between the response and attack is a second plot point (there can be more), which makes the journey different or new. This midpoint a good place for revealing secrets. Between the attack and the resolution is sometimes a lull—a place of despondency for the main characters. If this leaves you scratching your head, please realize I’m giving a quick outline and I’m just learning this stuff. It helps to note examples and figure out how the model fits your own work or those of others who have succeeded before you. Brooks gave many examples from movies and books.
The man gave out so much information in so little time that I found his workshops confusing. But I was sold on his idea that understanding how the elements of story work as soon as possible saves huge time and effort in writing. Because the first story in my vampire series is so long I’m trying to turn it into two books, I went up afterwards and asked Brooks, “Is The Lord of the Rings one story or two?” He said, “That’s why I clarified ‘modern book.’” In other words, what I could most easily do is not allowed today, though it was in the ancient days of J.R.R. Tolkien. I told him of my dilemma—that I feel like I may be forcing a long tale into two separate boxes. He said, “If it won’t work as two stories, you’ll just have to write it as a 70,000-word book and let the editors help you hone it down.” Actually, I don’t know how many words I have in all. I know I have over 500 pages, mostly single-spaced, and that the draft isn’t finished. I question whether a publisher would accept a manuscript that long from a first-time author and go through all the trouble it would take to shorten it. And I don’t have the money to pay a freelance editor to do that for me. So for now my story is in limbo again. It’s time for faith to carry me and my project through another crisis.
I would miss Sunday’s Story 303 because of another workshop in that timeslot, but I bought Brooks' book, Story Engineering
. He signed it, “Robin—One book or two? Go for it … and enjoy!” I will be writing more about Brooks’ model of story writing in one of the blogs as I study my notes and read his book. I may also consult the diagrams on his website.Rushing Ahead to Great News
This brings us to about midpoint of Saturday in a description I wanted to keep much briefer. Since my text in Word is over four pages long in 11-point type, and since the conference ended 11 days ago, I’m going to stop here and take up the rest of this story in my next blog. Because this post is more biographical and informational than a structured story, I don’t have a problem with cutting it in half—or in more parts, if need be. But before I stop for today, I’m going to rush ahead and tell you the big perk of the whole conference for me: Sunday, as the conference was wrapping up, I sat at a very lucky table. I say that tongue-in-cheek, as I really don’t believe in luck. Maybe I should say a blessed table? The guy next to me won a book when his returned nametag was drawn at random. Then the guy next to him won a book the same way. Lastly, I won one of the raffles to “Hobnob with an Author.” I had paid $10 for 15 tickets and, because I couldn’t decide which author on the list I wanted to spend an hour with, I specified some for mystery writer April Henry and some for playwright and screenwriter Cynthia Whitcomb (Saturday's lunch speaker and sister of Laura Whitcomb). I won the opportunity to meet with Cynthia Whitcomb. I will be having coffee with her tomorrow morning, and I’m still not entirely sure what I will ask or say. Stay tuned and you will find out how it went.
To Be Continued…
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