Author: Inspire Envisioning

November 6, 2019

5 Reasons to Go to a Writers’ Conference

Last month I attended Gollanczfest 2019, a one-day celebration of science fiction, fantasy and horror writing and publishing, hosted by leading UK SFF publisher Gollancz. The conference had two separate strands. A reader’s ticket gave access to author panels and signings, while a writer’s ticket granted entry to the smaller venue across the street, where, in addition to signings and panels (included editor and agent panels), authors gave speed-advice sessions. I came to the morning sessions on a reader’s ticket and had a great time meeting people and learning.

If you write, edit, or read avidly, a writers’ conference can be a worthwhile use of time and money. The good news is that there are lots of writers’ conferences out there, ranging from one-day events to multi-week ones, from genre celebrations like Gollanczfest to wide-ranging get-togethers, from inexpensive local dos to festivals full of international delegates and big names. If you do some googling, you’ll probably find some that will pique your interest.

You might be wondering what you can get out of a writers’ conference that can’t be found from said googling. While online learning is great, there’s no substitute for contact in the real world. Here are 5 benefits I’ve gained from going to writers’ conferences.

Meeting people: Conferences are useful for networking. You’ll meet individuals from across the industry, including authors, editors, publishers, and readers. Networking can lead to career opportunities. At the Scottish Association of Writers’ 2018 Conference, I met a new freelance client, and some writers meet their agents or editors at conferences. It can also lead to lifelong friendships. I recommend attending with an open mind and an interest in getting to know people.

Learning about the industry: Writers’ conferences are chock full of industry people talking about what’s new in publishing. You’ll learn about trends, themes, and the nuts and bolts of publication. You might also learn about related fields – one of my favorite parts of Gollanczfest was a panel where four authors whose books had been made into movies talked about the process. A takeaway point from Ben Aaronovitch (author of Rivers of London): If you want any creative control, assert your requirements from the outset and be willing to not have a movie made otherwise. Also, be clear on what price you are willing to accept.

Meeting authors and getting new books: I’m listing this separately from meeting people because, in addition to meeting authors at sessions and “in the crowd”, writers’ conferences usually bring in authors to lead panels, give readings, and do signings and other events. Sometimes it’s intimidating to approach a big-name or favorite author, or they’re too busy to chat. But you might have the chance to pick up one of their books and have them sign it, learn from their experiences, or hear them make funny character voices. And writing conferences always come with a book table full of goodies – some of which may be hard to find outside the conference, and some of which may be that next exciting read you’ve never heard of. Don’t show up with an empty wallet!

Getting a better sense of your own writing approach: While listening to and interacting with the writing community, you’ll find some authors and approaches to writing that resonate with you and some that don’t. It’s a good chance to tune in to your own taste – that inner voice that tells you what’s worth writing about, for you personally, and how you want to go about doing it. It was illuminating for me to listen to panelists discussing worldbuilding from opposite angles – Alexander Dan Vilhjálmsson set detailed rules for himself regarding language and setting, while Ellen Kushner started by following a character around and combining elements of historical periods that seemed cool. Writing is a big industry with room for many kinds of voices, and hearing how other people tell stories can feel like permission to tell your own.

Having fun! A big part of writers’ conferences involves business and talking shop, but when you get a bunch of people together who share a common interest, they’re also bound to have a good time. At Gollanczfest, I got to meet Laura Lam/Laura Ambrose, whose Romancing the Page series I reviewed, and chat with her and other writers during a break. At the 2018 Scottish conference, I played trivia with friends from my writers’ group and we won a round of free drinks. There were lots of hearty shared breakfasts and in-jokes flying around. If you go to a writers’ conference, be ready to jump in, don’t be shy, and you’re likely to have a wonderful time!

October 7, 2019

How to Write What You Don’t Know

“Write what you know.” It’s one of the oldest truisms of creative writing. Life experience offers a wealth of material and ideas. Once you’ve experienced an aspect of life for yourself, it’s easier to depict it accurately, because you know what you’re talking about. However, there are heaps of books out there about aliens and magic powers, none of which has been proven to exist in our reality. There are fantastic stories about improbable events which the writers have never experienced, and touching nonfiction written on subjects in which the authors are not experts. Good writing isn’t inevitably drawn from direct experience. Here are some tips on writing what you don’t know.

Research: If you want to write about something you aren’t familiar with, research is a good starting point. Read authoritative books on topics related to your subject. Watch movies or TV related to it, or listen to podcasts and radio on the topic. Some writers seek out museums or travel to relevant locations. If you’re writing about something that others have experienced but you haven’t, seek out first-person accounts. Decide on some initial questions you want to know the answers to, and begin researching them online. One link will lead to another, and you may find yourself diving down a rabbit hole of relevant and interesting information. Sometimes posting in online forums or on social media will yield great results as well.

Talk to people who know what you don’t: Go one step beyond research by talking directly to the source. If, say, you want to learn about Italian cooking, you might learn a lot from talking to an Italian chef. Informational interviews are a great way to learn more. Remember to thank the people you interview for making their time and expertise available. One way to do this is by treating them to coffee or a meal during the interview. You can also seek out specialized beta readers or sensitivity readers who come from the knowledge area or background that you are writing about and can advise on authenticity in your manuscript. In some cases, you may already know people who are knowledgeable about your subject. You may be surprised what you can learn from your friends, and from their friends!

Try something new: Say you’re looking for writing inspiration and your own experience isn’t yielding it. As Neil Gaiman says in his storytelling MasterClass, sometimes the answer is gaining more life experience. Try something that interests you which you haven’t done before. Go somewhere you haven’t gone. Talk to new people. Julia Cameron calls this “filling the well” of your creativity. Trying new things is a wonderful source of ideas!

Get inspired by media: Reading a book or watching a show can give you great ideas for writing that don’t necessarily come from direct experience. What would it be like if you got the chance to visit that magical land? What would happen if that vampire got together with the policeman tracking him down? Wouldn’t it be cool if…? Fanfiction comes from these inspirations, but a lot of original media has come from them as well. Use your imagination to build on the springboard of inspiration from creative work that has come before.

Take “write what you know” metaphorically: Maybe you’re a nurse who’s looking to write about something unrelated to nursing. As you write, you might find that other aspects of your experience are still relevant. The emotions of treating patients might enrich your characters’ experience, or the fast pace of your job might help you write a convincing suspense plot. Don’t just draw from your experience by looking at what you’ve done. Draw on what you’ve thought and what you’ve felt. Extrapolate by imagining yourself in your characters’ shoes.

“Write what you know” may be stellar advice in some cases, but by looking beyond its literal meaning, you can extend that foundation of knowledge to a much broader range of topics. Happy writing!

September 3, 2019

5 Ways to Use Travel as a Springboard for Writing

If you love to write and have the privilege of being able to travel, you might dream of doing both things in tandem. Maybe you’ve heard stories of digital nomads who hop from country to country and make a living from their laptops, or writers who travel in their camper vans. If that’s not a lifestyle you’re looking to commit to (at this point, anyway), here are 5 shorter-term ideas for combining the work of writing with the life experience of travel.

1. Write while in transit

J. K. Rowling famously got the idea for the first Harry Potter book while on a train. If you can write on a bus, train, subway, or plane without getting motion sick, those are great excellent places to do it. Time that might otherwise be spent watching Netflix or just sitting there can be surprisingly productive, with the motion bringing your mind into “the zone”. If you’re too sensitive to motion to look down at your paper or laptop, these forms of transport are still great places to people watch. Look around you and imagine the life stories of your fellow passengers. Ask yourself how they’d react if a wild situation were to suddenly occur. Amtrak recognized the unique inspiration-generating quality of time spent in motion when it offered train-based writing fellowships (a program that, sadly, no longer exists). Walking, a shorter and self-propelled form of transit, is also great for generating ideas.

2. Keep a travel journal

Many writers keep notebooks for their ideas. While traveling, if you want to capture stories from the road, bring a journal and try keeping track of what happens each day. Given the unpredictability that often accompanies travel, you never know when or how inspiration might strike. It might not be immediate, either. If you hold on to your travel journals, they might become sources for ideas in hindsight. Cheryl Strayed kept a journal of her time on the Pacific Coast Trail and came back to it 17 years later, reshaping the material into her beloved memoir Wild.

3. Go on a writer’s retreat

There’s a reason for the popularity of writers’ retreats. Sometimes nothing gets the creative juices flowing like the fresh perspective provided by a new setting, with time and space away from your daily life. Getting out of your routine is one of the gifts of a writing retreat, and often the locales are inspiring in themselves. There are writing retreats for many different budgets and goals, from solitary cabins to vacation-like experiences that bring people together and incorporate exciting local activities.

4. Write about places you visit

Lots of good writing is born from journeying: the whole genres of travel writing and travel journalism, memoirs, poetry, and the list goes on. Writing about the places you visit is a great way to get involved and get to know people there, as I discovered while in the Northwest Territories where I made wonderful connections by writing about fashion shows and arts festivals for local newspapers and magazines. Visiting places can spark ideas for pitches to travel websites or magazines. If you write professionally, in many countries you can claim related travel costs as professional expenses for tax purposes. Some locales offer travel grants for writing and researching place-based projects. If you’re lucky, you might even break into travel writing that will send you somewhere to report from on the ground.

5. Use the setting to fuel your imagination

Sometimes writers write about the places they visit, and sometimes they use travel to invent new places. If you’re writing speculative fiction, travel and worldbuilding can go hand in hand, as imaginary places are typically grounded in real ones. Would the Stillness of N. K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth trilogy exist, or be as convincing, without the author’s research trip to visit volcanoes in Hawai’i? Ellen Goodlett, author of the YA fantasy Rule, spent a year traveling the world with the Remote Year program while completing her novel. One of her interviews details how bits and pieces the places she visited showed up in her book’s imaginary kingdom.

Do you dream of writing and traveling? What ways have you thought of to combine the two?

August 1, 2019

SFF Book Recommendations and Aristotle’s Building Blocks of Writing

Writing is a holistic activity, but when it comes to honing our craft, it’s useful to break it down into parts. The June 30 episode of Writing Excuses, a podcast about the craft of writing that focuses primarily on fantasy and science fiction (SFF), introduced Aristotle’s elements of tragedy. These six aspects of writing apply to modern storytelling as easily as they did to ancient Greek plays. While Aristotle placed these elements in a specific order of importance, the authors on Writing Excuses argue that their relative importance changes based on what an author is trying to achieve. In my opinion, there’s no better way to make use of this theory than by looking at how it applies to books that do each element well. Below, I share how each element is used in an SFF book I recently read and loved. Take these examples as a starting point rather than a be-all and end-all. And, if you’re writing a work in progress, think about how Aristotle’s elements apply to it and which ones you want to emphasize.

Plot: Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

Aristotle ranked plot as the most important element of tragedy, and a tightly plotted yarn certainly keeps us reading. In Children of Blood and Bone, the divîner caste in the West African-inspired land of Orïsha have been brutally oppressed since the king eliminated their magic. Young Zélie finds a scroll that temporarily reignites these powers and gets caught up in a plan to bring magic back for good. This novel is tightly plotted and action packed. Each chapter ratchets up the tension, with gladiator battles, kidnapping, and an epic hero’s journey.

Character: Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

Three women take turns narrating this loose retelling of Rumpelstiltskin, and protagonist Miryem has the standout character arc. The daughter of a Jewish moneylender who is too softhearted (and frightened of persecution) to ask for his money back, Miryem resolves to turn around her struggling family’s fortunes and takes over her father’s job. She teaches herself to be relentless and drive a hard bargain. Her skills attract the attention of the mystical Staryk king, who wants to make use of her ability to “turn silver to gold.” Miryem’s evolution from daughter of a struggling family to skilled and hardened moneylender to strong-willed leader is a delight to witness.

Idea: The Black Tides of Heaven / The Red Threads of Fortune by J. Y. Yang

The Tensorate universe is founded on ideas. It has a carefully crafted magic system that involves entering the “slack” and “tensing” different elements to achieve effects. It’s a world where children choose their own gender in their own time and are considered genderless until then. Yang’s two novellas follow the twin children of this world’s dictatorial leader as they choose divergent paths, Akeha (Black Tides) becoming male and leading a rebel faction, Mokoya (Red Threads) becoming female and hunting monsters in the wake of personal tragedy. This intricacies of the magic and gender systems are fascinating and thoroughly explored. What happens when someone falls through the gaps, or thinks they know the rules but might be missing something? Yang has thought of that, too.

Dialogue: The Tea Master and the Detective by Aliette de Bodard

One of the joys of an odd-couple cop story is the interplay between the pair. This novella’s two space sleuths are Long Chau, a consulting detective with a drug addiction and a hidden past, and The Shadow’s Child, a sentient spaceship traumatized from past military service who now makes a living (barely) by brewing and selling tea blends that keep customers’ minds clear in deep space. Long Chau approaches The Shadow’s Child for two things: tea and transport into the deep spaces that still trigger her trauma in order to find a corpse to study. The mysterious circumstances of said corpse’s death lead the pair to investigate. De Bodard’s dialogue is understated, with formal tones conveying the characters’ wariness around each other. Gaps in conversation show where they leave things unsaid and where Long Chau misses social nuances. At times, the characters are edgy and snarky:

“I’m writing a treatise on decomposition. How the human body changes in deep space is a shamefully undervalued area of study.”

“I can see why you’d be a success at local poetry clubs,” The Shadow’s Child said, wryly.

There’s a lot to appreciate in this story, and the dialogue is one element that works to show evolution in the characters’ fragile trust.

Music: An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon

Astrid has spent her whole life on the Matilda, a spaceship that has carried humanity’s survivors for generations towards a promised land. It’s a brutal milieu, divided by nation-like decks, where the lower deckers (intersex people of color) are subjugated and forced to work on the revolving plantation deck. Astrid discovers that the journals of her late mother, an engineer, hold a secret code and that the Matilda’s bouts of power loss and illness may be more significant than anyone realized. Astrid is a nuanced and brilliant protagonist on the autism spectrum whose formal diction sets her apart from fellow lower-deckers, and the inhabitants of each deck in turn are distinguished by their language. Solomon imbues each shipboard culture with its own turns of phrase, use of pronouns, expressions, and cadences. The music that gives shape to this novel’s worldbuilding is exquisite.

Spectacle: Heroine Complex by Sarah Kuhn

Spectacle means putting on a good show. Kuhn’s fantastically fun urban fantasy, the first in a trilogy (with a follow-up novella and more to come soon), is full of flash and dazzle. Evie is the put-upon personal assistant to superheroine Aveda, her longtime best friend. But when Aveda is injured in a demon fight, Evie is called on to impersonate her, and the fire power she’s worked so hard to hide may be the very thing that saves the day. In SFF, spectacle can happen through worldbuilding and description as well as through action scenes. The heroes in Heroine Complex fight fanged cupcakes, and one of the pivotal battles takes place during a karaoke contest. Bring on the popcorn!

July 2, 2019

Book Review: Romancing the Page

I just finished a novella collection that combines keen publishing industry insights with charming f/f romance. Presenting Romancing the Page!

Written by fantasy author Laura Lam (Pantomime, False Hearts) writing and self-publishing under the open pen name Laura Ambrose, the three novellas in this series spin love stories between writers and publishing employees in the world of science fiction and fantasy. One reviewer likened them to “f/f candy,” and the comparison is apt. I found the romances compellingly paced, and raced my way through the characters’ conflicts and nuanced inner worlds to the payoff of each happy ending. I also enjoyed the novellas’ settings in London and Edinburgh, the UK cities I’ve been living in these past couple years.

In the first novella, A Hidden Hope, two American writers – former critique partners and lovers – meet at London a conference three years after their falling out. Neither had been published when they knew each other. Now Natalie has a precarious midlist career penning the fantasy novels she loves, and El, formerly convinced of the superiority of her “literary fiction,” has a big-budget fantasy debut coming out under a male pseudonym. Due to their previous involvement, there’s a lot of chemistry between the duo from the get-go, and hurt simmers beneath their resentment. The characters’ differing reactions to each other convey their temperaments: Natalie lashes out while El tries to make up. Once the two inevitably get together, expect quirky dates and plenty of heat. The conference setting allows for sharp industry insights as well. The uncertain fate awaiting authors of big debuts, Natalie’s need to support herself through a grueling secondary freelance career, the panel on sex with its skewering of sexism, the question of to what extent El using a male pen name has impacted her success… it’s all keenly observed, an insider’s point of view. The ending is an optimistic take – a realistic best-case-scenario if you will – not just for the central relationship but for the two writers’ careers, with neither skyrocketing but both finding their perfect balance.

The second novella, A Perfect Balance (see what I did there?), focuses on a likeable side character from the first: Emma, a friend of Natalie and El who has written urban fantasy about a rock band of zombie women and now work as an SFF editor. I really want to read Emma’s books! In fact, the novellas, and this one in particular, are packed with imaginary books that sound like fantastic additions to bookshelves, and I wish that Laura would write them. But on to the book at hand. Emma has been hooking up with a woman she met through an app, with neither using their real name or looking to pursue a relationship. Their dynamic is low-key kinky: Emma likes being told what to do, and the other woman likes giving orders. That is, until Emma comes back from a vacation to find that her company’s new marketing employee, Sage, is none other than her anonymous lover! Now Emma is the one giving orders as they work together on the marketing campaign for the biggest debut of the year. Both of them have reasons, rooted in their pasts, to fear committing to a relationship, but as they get to know each other, down to exchanging favorite childhood books, it gets increasingly challenging to avoid one. In her point of view chapters, Sage’s difficult relationship with her wealthy and demanding father is a big focus. She’s trying to break away and find herself, and by the end of the story, she does. Emma’s reasons for avoiding commitment seemed thinner to me – not necessarily invalid, but underdeveloped in comparison. Both characters’ passion for their work and competence at doing it were joys to read. In all the novellas, the satisfaction of doing good work is a deep part of the happy endings, and that’s something I appreciate. I also like how the author mixes things up with each character dynamic. While the other two pairings in Romancing the Page read as butch/femme-ish, Emma and Sage read as a femme/femme couple and Emma is bi or pan. The focus on power dynamics is lovingly rendered.

Speaking of power dynamics, An Unheard Song is rife with them (though not in a kinky context). Annalie, the author of the hit fantasy debut from the last novella, has been agoraphobic since her second book tanked. Her anxiety is compounded because this is her second career failure – she was previously a musician. She’s working on a third book, but isn’t able to go to the library to do the necessary research, so she hires an under-the-table assistant. Cam was a music scholar who lost out on dissertation funding because a woman on the committee propositioned her and then turned down her application after she said no. As Cam and Annalie work together and their attraction grows, they discover that the same woman is Annalie’s ex, responsible for halting her music career, and they decide to get revenge. In a romance context, the employee – employer dynamic feels borderline uncomfortable at times, though the characters tread sensitively around this dynamic. As people, though, Annalie and Cam are a powerfully complementary pair. This is the novella where the conflict felt most real, as the characters are dealing with much deeper issues than poor communication. Cam is afraid of telling her mother about her sexuality, of speaking out against harassers, and of fully expressing herself. Annalie is working on her anxiety through therapy and, at the onset of the story, is too afraid to leave her Edinburgh flat. The characters push each other to grow, speak up, find courage, and reclaim their power. While each takes the necessary action for her own growth, neither does so alone.

If you’re looking for some light, insightful summer reading, give Romancing the Page a read! I’ve linked to each novella separately in their reviews, too, in case one particularly appeals to you.

What are you reading this summer?

June 3, 2019

Lessons on Writing Relationships… from Romance Novels

Feedback on the first draft of a fiction manuscript I’ve been working on for a while, while positive in other aspects, suggested that the characters’ relationships lacked a certain spark. So, while working on the second draft, I turned to a genre that models relationship writing: romance.

Romance writing is a realm where constraint fuels creativity. A relationship focus and a happy ending are key to meeting the genre’s expectations. Readers know that the main characters are going to get together in the end; the fun (and literary skill) is in finding out how they get there. As well as being enjoyable to read, romance offers wonderful insights into building characters and crafting the dynamics between them. There’s nothing like a romance novel – focused on chemistry, rapport, and relationship development above all else – to illustrate how to write effective relationships in fiction!

Here are a few of the romance titles I’ve enjoyed recently, and the insights I’ve gleaned from them.

The Bride Test, by Helen Hoang: For Hoang, writing romance intersected with discovering that she was on the autism spectrum and creating characters who share neuro-similarities. In this delightful novel, the mother of Khai, an accountant on the spectrum who wants nothing to do with relationships, returns to Vietnam to find him an ideal bride. Esme, a whip-smart janitor with a young daughter (inspired in part by Hoang’s immigrant mom), is eager to seek new opportunities in America. But to secure a better life for herself and her family, she must, in one summer, win the heart of a man who believes himself unable to love. The relationship between Khai and Esme evolves with sensitivity to their very different needs and experiences. While there’s mutual attraction, it comes with a lot of misunderstandings, often related to culture or neurology, that the characters must overcome. Hoang excels at creating interpersonal conflict with solid reasons behind it, both internal and interpersonal. Read this novel for a great example of how two very different characters, with realistically divergent experiences, can convincingly come together.

The Summer of Jordi Perez (and the Best Burger in Los Angeles), by Amy Spalding: In this queer YA romance, Abby begins a summer internship at her favourite clothing store only to discover that a co-intern, Jordi, is also vying for the single job available once the summer ends. But the two girls hit it off so well that sparks fly between them, and private, plus-sized Abby, who’d cast herself in the archetypal romantic-comedy “friend” role, must come to grips with photographer Jordi’s view of her as a leading lady. Abby’s thoughtful perspective definitely leads here, with Jordi being more of a secondary character. I found her a great example of crafting a non-point-of-view romantic interest who is appealing and fleshed out – scenes with her photography and family are charming, though not central. Another great secondary character is the funny jock Jax, best friend of Abby’s best friend’s boyfriend. A secondary storyline follows the “friend chemistry” that evolves between him and Abby as the unlikely pair sample L.A.’s burgers for a rating app.

Outback Billionaire, by Nikki Steele: The cover cracked me up, but the writing kept me reading until I finished it in one sitting. This was a fun read with a tight perspective on the two romantic leads, alternating POVs between Marlo, an American aspiring actress brought to Australia by her good-for-nothing manager fiance (they break up quickly thereafter), and Jack, a wealthy cattle station owner who offers her a job on his land. In a genre often focused on the heroine, I would have liked to know Marlo better, but found Jack’s concerns (health problems, hot buttons, vulnerabilities) to be particularly well explored. His interests are appealing and understated. The fantasy of wealth is conveyed through the understated sensuality of French press coffee, good wine, and a love of open spaces. The Australian Outback is described with precision and gorgeous language – you get a romance and armchair travel in one!

Hate to Want You and Wrong to Need You, by Alisha Rai: In this family-drama romance series, two families that once co-owned a grocery chain have a bitter falling out after a parent in each family dies in a car crash. Hate to Want You is the story of Nick and Livvy, children of the respective families, a couple forced to break up after the families split. Since then, they’ve hooked up once a year, and when Livvy comes back to town, both of their suppressed feelings for each other threaten to reignite old wounds. Wrong to Need You develops a romance between Sadia, single mom and widow of Livvy’s brother, and the surviving brother, Jackson, a once-close friend who cut Sadia off after being accused of burning the flagship grocery store. I have yet to read the third book, Hurts to Love You, which ties up loose ends in this angsty saga of family secrets. Rai’s series excels at developing multiple character relationships at once. Family, friendships, and romantic ties are all complicated and all matter deeply to both plot and characters. Every heated moment has emotional heft. Mental health issues are integral to the plot, and the characters are diverse and deep. If you’re interested in writing romantic relationships, an ensemble cast, or both, the Forbidden Hearts series is well worth your time.

If you’re looking to bring more romance in your reading life (either for fun, for writerly insights, or both), Smart Bitches, Trashy Books is an awesome resource for discussions and recommendations of what’s good, what’s not so good, and what’s out there. And of course, there are lots of romance deals available on Amazon to get you started!

I’m delighted to see this genre getting growing critical respect (the New York Times Book Review now has a romance critic!) and publishing a wider variety of voices. In an often harsh world, there’s something both comforting and radical in reading about all kinds of people finding happiness.

May 9, 2019

Literary Adventures at Sea

Jewelle Gomez and Dorothy Allison onstage with Sapphire Books owner Chris Svendsen

Fellow book lovers, have you ever daydreamed about going on a literary cruise? I’ve thought they sounded like fun ever since I learned they existed. Despite getting sick on the last cruise I went on, after receiving a deal offer from Olivia Travel on a lesbian cruise featuring a full slate of author events, I couldn’t resist giving vacation at sea another try.

Our cruise left from beautiful San Juan, Puerto Rico. The itinerary included port visits on several Caribbean islands, as well as daily music or comedy shows, so there was plenty to do besides hitting the books! After getting a sunburn while touring San Juan, stuffing myself at the buffet, and giving airtime to my athletic side on excursions, though, the quiet and reflectiveness of the literary programming was welcome.

Sapphire Books is a small, California-based publisher of lesbian books, primarily fiction. This was their second Literary Adventures at Sea cruise collaboration with Olivia, and they pulled out all the stops, bringing maybe a dozen authors and the owner/founder on board. The two biggest names were Dorothy Allison, author of Bastard Out of Carolina, and Jewelle Gomez, author of the classic lesbian vampire novel The Gilda Stories (which is soon getting a sequel, over 25 years later!). Both are longtime writers and activists in the queer community. Sapphire’s programming included panels, a main stage discussion between Dorothy and Jewelle, themed readings (such as murder mystery and romance readings), Q and A’s, a cocktail party, and book signings. There was also an opportunity for writers to pitch their projects to publisher Chris Svendsen.

The pitch session was a highlight, surprising Chris with the sheer number of attendees. She’d been expecting a small group, but as the pitches were one-on-one, she had to break the session into two and schedule another one at a later time for some of the participants. It was clear that the queer women on the cruise were eager to tell their stories. Many, like me, had been drawn by the cruise’s literary events. It was inspiring to chat with women about their writing projects – anthologies, detective novels, humorous novels, memoirs. Each of us had five minutes to pitch to Chris. Along with her advice at the beginning of the session, at least one Sapphire author was on hand to offer tips: give a brief plot summary, a hook or tag line like you’d find on the back of a movie, and leave out irrelevant details.

Among the readings and panels, “Romancing the High Seas” stood out. Authors read from works ranging from a spicy story involving a nun to a science fantasy yarn to a tale of four “women of a certain age” with lovers and secrets. I was intrigued by Sallyanne Monti’s reading from her memoir, Light at the End of the Tunnel, detailing a friendship with another woman that began with an email sent to the wrong address that evolved, against all odds, into a lasting romance. That book ended up coming home with me! After the authors read their excerpts, which had a good mix of humor and vulnerability, they answered questions and spoke about their writing processes. “It has to be real,” said one of them, noting that her writing is deeply grounded in personal experience. Another added that “people might like to think lesbians just sit there and pet each other like kittens, but that’s not the truth!” In response to a question about writing sex scenes, one author noted that it’s helpful to write them in the bath (writers, take note!), while others use these scenes to reflect their characters’ inner lives and move the plot forward.

The biggest event was a moderated conversation between Dorothy Allison and Jewelle Gomez, billed as “Advocating in Turbulent Times” and held on the main stage to a crowded audience. The two authors spoke warmly and engagingly about their past, future, writing projects, and long-lasting friendship. Dorothy came across as a firebrand with a big heart, while Jewelle, whose Gilda Stories hold a special place in my heart and who I partly went on the cruise to see, came across as gentle and kind. There’s a lot of recent debate about the extent to which writers should be accurate and sensitive when writing about marginalized demographics and groups to which they do not belong. Jewelle, calling herself a “bean counter,” noted the need to think of the many different people who might read her books and to be mindful of writing something with inadvertent negative implications for a certain type of reader, citing an example when a young man at a college reading interpreted Gilda as “hating men,” which was not her intent. Thinking this way about your work, Jewelle posited, is a matter of kindness. Dorothy mentioned that the youngest generation of queer people has less community than her generation (which was “always in meetings”), and emphasized the importance of real-world connection – reading blogs, the authors noted, is no substitute for bonding with other people or engaging with good books. Following the reading, I was honored to join other cruise attendees in meeting both authors.

I left the cruise’s literary adventures at sea with renewed faith in the power of imagination and story. It was wonderful to see so many queer women writers thriving, finding an audience, and connecting with each other through their words! Would I recommend a literary cruise to fellow writers? If you don’t get too seasick, go for it!

April 9, 2019

Learning Writing from the Masters: Pros and Cons of MasterClass.com

This year I was given an incredible birthday gift – a year’s subscription to MasterClass.com – and I wanted to tell you about it because I think there are many others who’d appreciate and benefit from these classes as well. MasterClass is a website that features video classes taught by celebrity experts in their fields, and the big names are really the draw. It’s not every day that you have an opportunity to learn about writing from Neil Gaiman or acting from Natalie Portman! Thus far I’ve focused on my subject of interest, the writing classes.

So what can you learn from the masters about their craft? A lot, I’ve found! This month I’ll share my breakdown of how MasterClass works, what you do and don’t get from it, and a taste of what I’ve learned from the writing classes so far.

How MasterClass Works

When you sign up for MasterClass.com, you can purchase either a single class for $90 / €70 or a year’s All-Access Pass for $180 / €150, which includes access to every class on the website. The All-Access Pass is a good deal if you’re interested in more than one of the classes, as it allows access to a wide range of content on your own time.

Each class features about 20 videos from the expert in question. They take the form of condensed mini-lectures of 10 to 30 minutes or so, focused on a particular topic and divided into subtopics. Catchy music breezes you in and out of each segment. Each class has an accompanying workbook that summarizes key points from each video and offer supplementary exercises. The classes also include “office hours” where you can post your responses to these exercises, and instructors provide video feedback to selected students, as well as a community hub.

Pros and Cons

MasterClass is a wonderful way to learn from professionals who are or have been foremost in their fields. When you have instructors like Margaret Atwood, Judy Blume, and Dan Brown, their resumes speak for themselves. Students get to learn their philosophies and techniques – to see how these authors created their successful books and learn about the ups and downs of their careers.

Practical know-how is blended with heartfelt wisdom. The great thing I’ve discovered so far is that both of these vary from writer to writer. Listen to a few of the classes and they’ll start repeating key points, but also contradict each other at times! For instance, Judy Blume begins with character while Dan Brown begins with setting. R. L. Stine begins his class with by saying that, in contrast to the popular advice to write from your heart, he’s written many books and not a single one from the heart. You’ll take what works for you from each instructor and apply it as it fits, and there’s a wonderful sense of liberation in realizing this. The teachers thus far have all been animated, genuine, and encouraging. I get the sense that they believe in their students and want to see them succeed.

The videos are well made, with good production quality and visual touches (Neil Gaiman showing pages from one of his comics, Margaret Atwood demonstrating point of view through moving around boxes and staplers). The format is easy to work into the day – you can easily listen to a video, say, on a lunch break or train commute. Everything goes at your own pace, so you can take the classes as quickly or slowly as you like. For self-directed learners, and those who learn well through online interaction, MasterClass might be as good of a fit for you as it is for me.

MasterClass is not going to be for everyone. It’s not a substitute for the hands-on nature of an in-person writing group or workshop. If you’ve taken writing classes before, some of the content will be repetitive. Because the classes are so different, and the writers have diverse approaches, you’ll find that some will speak to you more than others. You’ll want to have the time to devote to digging in, learning, and really applying their teachings to your own writing, so some amount of “free time” for this is required. Some of you may be interested in taking classes on other topics, but there’s such a range (from politics to cooking to composing…) that you’re likely not going to take them all, or be interested in everything on offer. The workbooks vary in the intensity of their supplementary teachings and homework. Some feel more like outlines of the class, while others, such as Neil Gaiman’s, offer extensive reading lists and wonderful in-depth exercises to apply what you’re learning. If you’re committed to it, I believe that MasterClass and its teachings will improve your writing. I’ve found new insights and inspiration to revise the manuscript I’m working on.

If you’re reading this and thinking that MasterClass sounds like your thing, you can check it out here. Happy writing!

March 4, 2019

The Roles of Emotion in Writing

“Where do you get your ideas?” This question, commonly asked to writers, elicits many different responses. Inspiration can come from current events, life experiences, interests, the combination of different concepts, dreams, a character who pops into one’s head, or seemingly out of nowhere. There are probably more sources of inspiration out there than there are writers, with some claiming that getting an idea is the easy part and the challenge, and craft, lies in fleshing it out.

Ideas are the “head” aspect that impels us to write, but emotions are the “heart” side of this. Often writers are driven to the page or keyboard by some feeling, whether anger at injustice, grief over a loss, or wonder at something beautiful they’ve witnessed. To write powerfully, tapping into emotional truth helps a whole lot. This is done through connecting with your own emotions, and through applying tools of the craft to connect with your readers’.

Writing and your emotions

Writing has long been viewed as cathartic, and research now supports this view. Writing about difficult experiences, including trauma and grief, helps make meaning of these experiences and reclaim personal power. Writing from emotion is healing for the psyche and even the body, with potential immune benefits for those facing terminal or life-threatening illness. And writing from strong positive emotions might strengthen them as well, and shape them into something that will resonate powerfully with others. (Just think of your favorite love poem.)

Writing from emotion transcends the personal. You’re not the only one who feels the emotions you translate into words. Most of us have had the experience of opening a book and finding a passage that described a personal truth, touching us deeply and leaving us feeling understood, less alone, perhaps even more at peace. Natalie Goldberg claims, “When you heal yourself, you’re helping everyone. When you become clear, it helps everyone become clear.”

Aliette de Bodard wrote her Locus and Nebula award-winning science fiction short story, “Immersion”, fueled by “getting really angry.” It’s a compelling story of a technology that perpetuates colonialism by giving people avatars with knowledge and behaviours that can mirror the dominant culture’s, with characters who begin to find ways to break free. One of my favorite short stories, “Immersion” is beautifully written, and given its accolades, the emotional heart also struck a chord with readers – perhaps bringing some of the clarity Goldberg spoke of.

Writing and your readers’ emotions

De Bodard and Goldberg have plenty of company; most writing has an emotional core with impact beyond the words, which features strongly in the most beloved works. In his Master Class on storytelling, Neil Gaiman states that when you write a story, you must decide or discover what the story is about. This goes beyond the basic plotline and into the domain of meaning: what appears on the surface to be an adventure story can, on a deeper level, be about homelessness and invisibility. Gaiman emphasizes the importance of emotional truth, of being more vulnerable and honest in your writing than you’re comfortable with. Only then, he proposes, will readers see themselves in your story because it seems real.

Once you’ve brought your honesty to the page, you might, in a second draft, consider the effectiveness of your writing’s emotional communication with readers. If you’re writing fiction, consider whether your characters’ emotions and motivations are clear on the page (rather than just in your head). Think about their relationships and interpersonal dynamics: Who gets along? Who dislikes each other? Why? If you’re writing poetry, do the rhythm and images support the feeling you want to get across? If you’re writing nonfiction, does the voice? Having a friend read and give feedback can also help with making the emotional tone is strong and clear.

Emotions are powerful, and sometimes painful. If you write, they are among your most powerful tools for creating work that leaves a lingering impact on your well-being and others’ reading experience.

February 4, 2019

Three Takes on Writing What You Love

“Write what you love” is widespread advice, yet it can be hard to reconcile with the realities of the market and the day-to-day challenges of the writing process. Still, I’m a believer in the wisdom of this advice. Here are three instances in which I find it helpful.

1. Writing something you would love to read.

Many writers write for themselves first. The reasons for this are myriad: writing to heal, to investigate a personal question, writing on a subject of interest or expertise… there are probably as many personal reasons for writing as there are writers. It’s useful and powerful to write things that appeal to you as a writer. Chances are, if you love it, there will be an audience out there for it. There is, however, a risk of writing becoming self-indulgent. You might, for instance, write something about your life that lacks interest for a wider public. Alternatively, you might infuse your words with layers of personal meaning, with a result that is confusing and leaves readers wondering what the point is. (Not that I’m guilty of this or anything!)

While writer appeal can be the thing that gets us putting one word in front of the other, if you’ve had any feedback to this effect, think about reader appeal. When you get stuck, ask yourself what would interest you at this juncture as a reader. Imagine that you’re the reader of your work in progress and write what would be important and compelling to that side of yourself. There’s no room left for writerly self-indulgence when you’re seeing through a reader’s eyes (or rather, any “indulgences” here will be sure to have appeal for other readers). Some of my favorite authors speak of writing the books they have always wanted to read, especially those that they haven’t been able to find. What has your reader self been longing for that hasn’t been available? Try writing that.

2. Staying motivated.

When you write, loving what you’re doing is the fire behind the keyboard. If you’re passionate about your premise, your characters, your plot, you’ll keep coming back to it. Even when the writing process gets rough, tapping into a love of the project itself can keep you motivated. When writing becomes your love affair, you’ll really want to get that book written. If you have certain pivotal scenes that you envision in your mind like a video clip on repeat, you’ll be excited to get the points in your project where you actually write them. For all these reasons, I’m an advocate for loving your writing. Many books wouldn’t exist without the passion driving their creation. The risk-taking, innovation, and investment that lead to art would often not exist if the writer didn’t love either the process, the anticipated end result, or both. After all, there are easier ways to make money.

3. Writing towards a result you care about.

But what if you’re writing for money, rather than for a passion project? First, congratulations on getting paid for your work! Second, that’s something to love, too, isn’t it? Write for the value that you’ll get from the project in that way. Or what if you’re writing something because you believe it’s important to say, even if you don’t like it very much? What if the writing is difficult, but you need to get the words out? Come back to the reason, the “why”, and the heart that drives it. Here’s another take on the “Write what you love” question: Write what matters to you.