I was discussing my latest chapter with my Critique Group (+Sara Hearin +Les Weiler) when one of my old college friends +Laura Irrgang told me about this writer's conference in Fort Worth, TX hosted each year called DFWCON. I looked it up, got excited and paid the $350 (late registration - fail on my part) to attend the weekend conference. I attend professional conferences all the time, but was thrilled to learn about one for writers (as it turns out, these aren't all that uncommon, but I didn't know that).
My expectations going in where completely based off of my experiences with other professional conferences (remember I run a city for a living - which funds my obsession with story crafting at the moment ;) so I thought I could really benefit from going, as unlike many other authors I didn't get a literature degree, or English degree, or anything even remotely like that so I didn't really have a basis for improving my skills beyond what I have found on the internet and the comments from my patient critique group. It turns out that my expectations were right on, and I wasn't disappointed at all. Two things that differ with this conference verses a typical professional conference: you are allowed one private pitch session with an agent of your genre in order to hopefully get represented; and, if you are lucky, you could take one of the limited seats for a genre specific workshop where the beginning of your story will be critiqued by professionals.
Upon arrival Saturday morning I checked in, got my assignments (Even though I registered late, I got into the special workshop, and I also got my pitch session assignment) and headed off to my first ever writer workshop. This one was for Speculative Fiction and Fantasy (duh). In advance, I had to prepare a Query Letter, Plot Summary, and bring my first two pages to be read aloud by myself and critiqued by an agent and an editor in the genre. AND I had to do this the very first thing on the first day – NERVES!!!- lol. So sitting in a room with ten other nervous authors and two very patient professionals, the first of us began to read. After the entire submission packet was read aloud, the two professionals critiqued the (As I would learn ‘all-important’) Query Letter, and then cut into the meat of the first two pages offering a sharp editor's eye. This process continued through the rest of the authors in the room, but I was next to last to go, so when it got to me, I was only able to read my Query and my first page of writing which greatly frustrated me. I wanted the same opportunity the others had, but in the end it went ok.
The Query fell flat, which I expected, because I hadn’t really figured out how to write a query yet and did so just to meet the requirements for the workshop. The story, on the other hand, was different. I had worked on that and had poured a lot into the opening. The agent wasn’t overly excited feeling that starting out with a drowning scene, while action oriented, caused her to say in her head, “He’s in armor – he’s already dead, why do I need to read about him drowning?” which I guess I can see, but I still think it’s the right beginning. The Editor, Lou Anders with Pyr Press didn’t feel the same way. He liked it, and didn’t offer any “cuts” like all the others before me had gotten. His comment was to add in more whit since I start my opening with whit. Good advice.
As the conference continued I moved onto breakout groups and other classes leaving any that didn’t live up to their billing, or wound up not talking to me within the first 15 minutes. I made sure that my schedule was full – no breaks for this guy (I had to earn back my late registration fee after all=) so I hit every course I could, often leaving one in the middle to go to another that was starting. By the end of the day (8:00 PM) I was exhausted but had uncovered several gems during the day.
Sunday started out just as busy as Saturday, but by lunch Sunday I was done. I didn’t see any after courses that I felt I just had to go to, so I left early. I was somewhat distraught because I would miss the fun of the “Gong Show” where anonymous Query letters were selected from the audience to be read aloud and the panel of agents would each hit their gong when they would have stopped reading. That sounded like a lot of fun, but with a 5 hour drive back to Austin, and my wife’s birthday in the mix, I decided for domestic tranquility over a late afternoon treat. I brought back several tools that will make my writing sharper, and more focused. I am eager to get started.
In summary, if you have the opportunity to go to a writers conference in your area – go. It was worth the registration, and I feel like I am in a much better position to write a manuscript that is full of a story worth retelling. Thanks to the DFW Writers Workshop for hosting this event. Check it out for yourself at www.dfwcon.com
