Idaho Writers Conference 2017

On May 5 and 6, 2017, I had the pleasure of attending the Idaho Writers Conference in Boise, Idaho, where I presented two classes (one about characters and one about voice). But I not only taught, I also learned. 

Here are a few of the notes I took from the conference:

Recommended books from the attending agents:
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
Underground Railroad by  Colson Whitehead
Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Jen Mann (NYT Bestselling Humor Writer) suggested:
* Use the Urban Dictionary as a thesaurus
* Maximize your blog archive
* If you think you're funny, you're funny!

Joanne Pence (USA Today Bestselling Mystery Writer) suggested:
* As authors, we should hide clues in the middle of a sentence and in the middle of a scene.
* In our stories, villains are often proud of the way they've gotten away with their crime and brag about it near the end of the story.

Elisabeth Sharp McKetta (writer, teacher, and editor) recommended the following books:
Seven Basic Plots by Christopher Booker
The Virgin's Promise by Kim Hudson
The Writer's Journey by Christopher Vogler

The conference was wonderful. I highly suggest you mark your calendar to attend the next one. For more details, visit the Idaho Writers Guild online.