Many of us who write attend writers' conferences in order to get ideas, network with other writers, and often get feedback from editors and/or agents who might tell us how we can be more successful. We also enjoy listening to authors who are a little (or a lot) more successful than we are and try to determine if we're doing it right.
Saturday at our Rome Area Writers' Forum we heard four excellent authors who were accomplished and write in different genres: Mignon Franklin Ballard, mystery; Victoria Wilcox, historical fiction; Lauretta Hannon, memoir; and Terry Kay, mainstream fiction. They were all excellent presenters and gave us much to think about. Although they write in different genres, much of what they said applied to any good writing.
When I hear someone like Terry Kay, who has published numerous novels and short stories and received many awards, I look for ideas about how I might improve my own writing. And Terry always gives me plenty food for thought. One of the things which he said Saturday made me think that maybe I just need to start over--or quit. He was talking about how he always starts with character and then decides what to do with the character(s). I realized I don't really do that. I have heard other successful writers say they start with plot (what if someone did ...?), and I don't always do that either. Anyway, I thought back to the way I have written my own and decided that my method is a sort of blend of the two. When I hear a great writer like Terry speak of his methodology, I rethink my own, but in the end I think each writer just has to do it his/her way. So I guess I'll just "travel on" doing the best I can. I did get several good ideas, both from Terry Kay and the other three, which I'll use as I continue to write.
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