Mark Andrew Edwards

I hesitate calling this a ‘post mortem’ considering how bloody sick I got but, let’s tempt fate a little more.

This might be one of the best Norwescon’s I’ve been to, and that’s even with missing half of it.  It was great seeing people I knew this time, including a good crop of fellow Wordslingers and new friends I met at the Rainforest Writers Retreat.  There was a good mix of writing workshops that were…relevant to my interests (I miss cat macros).  And my Fairwood Writers Workshop went much better than last year.

There are a lot of good reasons to go to a fantasy and science fiction convention.  Hot girls in tight/skimpy clothes.  Cool T-shirts and other gamer gear (my ‘damn right, I shot first’ Han Solo shirt to be appearing in public soon).  Art by the original artist, often stuff I can’t afford (damn you, Todd Lockwood) but love to look at.  But the best reason are the people.*

Norwescon attracts a large number of professional authors, many of whom are local to the great Northwest. Many of them do readings of their work, most of them appear on panels, there’s even a good chance you’ll run into them at the bar or at a party.  It is a great opportunity to meet these folks, to listen to them and learn from their experiences and points of view.

In addition to the established authors, there are the new writers, just breaking out. I met Richelle Mead at a Norwescon, and got to talk about the new YA Vampire School novel she and her agent had been talking about.  This year, I got to meet (and get critiqued by, for better or for worse) by Rhiannon Held. I suspect we’ll all be talking about her in the same way we talk about Richelle Mead, soon.

And more than this, are the writers like myself. Just getting published or just about there.  It is a great way to meet and support fellow aspiring authors, to form friendships and critique groups.  Very, very cool.

Ok, on to the nitty gritty. 

Panels:

Thursday is sort of a light day, the first day of the con. I attended a panel on small press vs. large press vs. self-publishing.  That was interesting and very encouraging for those authors thinking about going Indie and publishing themselves on Amazon/Barnes and Noble.  The pros for going large press is the money, no question about it.  The cons are pretty much lack of control over anything apart from your writing.  Even the editing from large houses is going downhill, according to the panelists.  The pros of small press is more involvement, if not control. Close attention (your editor in a small press is actually the person who edits you) and a higher likelihood to take a risk on a newbie.  The cons are less cash, smaller print runs, somewhat smaller prestige. Self-publishing pros: the barriers to entry are lower, costs are low, for a good-quality product, it is easy to make your investment back and then some. The cons, lower prestige (thought I detected a lot less self-publishing sneering at Norwescon compared to, say, Potlatch), no support, the only editing and cover help is what you pay for.

Whew. Let me start summarizing or we’ll be both be here all day. :)

Friday had one of the best panels, Synopsis writing for novels. I think…I THINK I might have a handle on how to write a short synopsis now. I’ll try it out and see how it goes.

 I also attended DAWs ‘coming attractions panel’ and I learned a few things.  One is that DAW is not owned by one of the mega corps. That’s pretty cool, they make all their editorial decisions in-house. Two, they seem to be looking for cocky/funny protagonists and author’s who’s ‘day job’ experiences lend credibility to what they’re writing.  Tough news, maybe, for software test monkeys like myself.

The panel on Residential Writing Workshops was interesting, I wish I’d had time to ask Rhiannon more about Oddyssey.  They also mentioned Viable Paradise, which is a shorter workshop and might bear looking into.  I think my question about whether it was ‘worth it’** to go to Clarion West as opposed to just writing a novel in six weeks ticked off KC Ball. He said some sharp things about my Wordslingers and I had to bite back an equally sharp reply.  I think we’ve got a damn good critique group.  KC seemed to consider us vastly inferior to what Clarion West offered. I don’t know where that came from, it’s one of the first instances of snobbism I’ve seen from a Clarion grad. Or maybe I was still downcast about missing the cut this year as well.

There were also two panels on superheroes I attended with the lovely and talented Minerva Zimmerman. (seriously, check out her work at http://minervazimmerman.com/)  I was pleased to see that the panel and attendees are tired of the trend of deconstructing superheroes and wanted a return to ‘good guys’ again.

Saturday’s Novel Outline panel was a perfect bookend to the Synopsis panel.  Again, very useful.  Much thanks to Irene Radford for her thoughts and words.  J.A. Pitt’s two hour panel (with guest appearance by Jay Lake) on Saturday afternoon was amazing and useful. He basically spent two hours answering our writing questions and sharing how he broke through.  Can’t praise that session enough.

One thing I noticed this year that stuck me odd. There was a LOT of ‘alternative lifestyle’ programming during the daytime hours.  Most, though not all, of the sex panels (and there are a lot of them at Norwescon) were at night.  But there was a lot of polyamory, transgender, etc panels.  I’m pretty sex positive for a straight, vanilla guy but for others not used to Seattle’s….kinks, be aware.

The majority of the rest of the weekend was spent in author readings. I’ve come to enjoy these as much, if not more, than most of the panels.  Thursday I go to hear Jay Lake and then Ben Lake/Joshua Palmeteri. Then Karen Gussoff and Jennifer Brozek (it takes an editor to really do horror).  Friday I got to listen to Jak Koke and Janine Young.  Then I had a rock block of rockers: Lizzy Shannon, Mary Robinette Kowal and the mighty Randy Henderson.  Good, good stuff.

Finally there came the Fairwood Writers Workshop. This is getting a bit (a bit?) long so I’ll talk in generalities today and get specific tomorrow.  I will say that submitting your work to the Fairwood Writers Workshop (or any workshop where professional, published writers will critique it) is incredibly valuable. Even if it hurts. Even if you disagree with them.  They are going to be kinder and more detailed in their feedback than an editor or agent will be.  It doesn’t cost anything extra. Do you want to be a professional writer?  Then sign up. You’ll be glad you did, seriously.

Then…I got sick. NotLeigonaire’s Diseases but this is the worst bout of influenza I’ve had in….jeez, maybe a decade.  And this was despite me washing my hands frequently and popping cold-ease and Airborne constantly. It may have been something I picked up prior to the con. If so, I sincerely hope I left before I got anyone else sick.

That’s it. Despite missing half of Saturday and all of Sunday and almost ALL the parties, I had a great time.  I highly recommend it to any sci-fi/fantasy fan and especially to aspiring writers.

*and not just the aforementioned hot girls

** My question was: “Is there sufficient extra value from the instructors at, say, Clarion West. Or is the value in the disclipline of just writing a lot?  Would I be just as well served to take 6 weeks off, stay home and write for 6 hours a day and share my work with my critique group?”

I’m Ho! for Norwescon* today…after work, that is.  Yep, it’s finally that time of year again.  Norwescon, for you folks not in the area or who have just never gone, is the biggest Sci-fi/Fantasy convention in the Northwest.  Huge numbers of professional authors attend, give lectures and sit on panels.  Publishers and agents come as well, meeting with clients and (very quietly) trying to drum up business.  And then there are the fans.

Norwescon is very heavily attended, thousands and (I think) tens of thousands of fans attend.  It’s a mix of media con and professional con. There is a writing workshop run by the Fairwood writers**, numerous panels on writing and on being a writer. But there are also panels on costuming (there is a lot of cosplay at Norwescon) and ‘why series X is better than series Y’. And don’t get me started on the kinky and alternative sex panels. Yes they’re real. No they are not*** a good place to hook up at.

My goals for this year are more relaxed. In previous year, I was burning to learn as much as I could at the writer’s panels.  Then I was burning to meet editors and agents…not that I knew how to do that. This year is different for me.  I will be attending some writing panels but I’m not sure how much new stuff I’ll learn. The ‘secret’ to writing is just to…write. Write a lot. Think about stories, read stories, write stories. Then share them with people who also read and write stories.  Improvement comes from writing and looking at your own work and seeing how to improve it. It rarely comes from sitting in on a panel.

No, I’m just going to see if I can bump into a few friends I’ve made in the past year or two. I’m going to attend more readings.  That lets me show support for writers I like and, to be honest, I’ll learn more about story telling listening to a story than I will listening to a panel.  Panels that do pique my interest, I’ll queue up for (there’s always a line, at least until 10pm or so) but I’ll also make time to go to the art show, visit the dealer’s room and spend some money in both places.  I’ll go to dinner with friends and just chat and be social.

Conventions are a LOT easier on you if you don’t go in with an agenda.  My writing career is going to advance by writing and sending my work out. Not by going to conventions. So why not relax, enjoy the sights (though not the smells, sadly that stereotype is accurate enough) and have fun?

This Norwescon is going to be fun. Not work. :)

*http://www.norwescon.org/

** This will be my second time submitting work here

***unless they are.  

This week I’m going to be pretty heads-down on editing the first few chapters of The Mageborn Mechanic.  The reason?  The Fairwood Writer’s workshop at Norwescon 35 (http://www.norwescon.org/things-to-do/program/writers-workshop/)

For those of you living in the Pacific Northwest, or willing and able to make a trip to Seattle in April, this is one of the best writer’s workshops for the money.  It’s not for the faint of heart or this of skin, I’ll be frank there.  The critiques are all done by professional writers and there are things to be learned if you are willing to put yourself out there.

So, that’s what I’m doing these next three days, editing the first few chapters of The Mageborn Mechanic for submission.  But if you don’t have a novel written and ready for submission, you can also submit short stories for critiquing, up to three, I think.

This is a good gut check for anyone serious about writing. If you can find it in yourself to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous critiquing, get back up again, digest the suggestions and incorporate the ones you agree with…then you’re going to make it.

The submissions guidelines go on about how you need to submit polished work, the best you can do.  I don’t know about you but that always hits me in my self-confidential region.  But, we all have to believe in our work. If we don’t, no one else will.  So, find something you can believe in and submit it by the 30th.

Good luck to us all.