April Events

I am presenting at quite a few events this month. Below are two of them. Come on out and join me! I'd love to see you. 

Registration is now open for the Idaho Writers Conference (April 25-27) at https://bit.ly/2Fj4HlH. The conference features 15 workshop presenters and 12 main stage presenters.

I'll be teaching:

Revising with an Eye for YA - "The revision process is one of the most important steps in perfecting your overall story. Learn how to examine your manuscript from different angles, exploring and developing the intrinsic qualities that will captivate your audience from beginning to end."

Storymakers Conference 2017

Whew! Two writers' conferences in two weekends! What was I thinking? Well, honestly, I was thinking it would be AWESOME!! And it was. But my brain is tired. So many ideas bouncing around in there. ;)

This was my first time attending the Storymakers Conference in Provo, Utah, and it was AH-MAZING!

Nearly ten different class choices were offered every hour on every topic imaginable - for TWO days! How is a person supposed to choose? It was hard. But it was worth it.

Some of my favorites included:
Frank Cole talking about being a writing juggernaut
Rosalyn Eves teaching about rhetorical devices
Michelle Frey explaining her perspective as an acquisitions editor
Jennifer A. Nielsen exploring the psychology of characterization
Camille Andros showing how to write picture books
Rosalyn Eves explaining the Objective Correlative

Yes, Rosalyn Eves was such a fabulous teacher, I attended two of her classes!



I also had the pleasure of sharing my presentation "Infuse Tension into Your Writing" with attendees.

 

I signed books with people like James Dashner, Brandon Sanderson, Ally Condie and more. ;) I even got James Dashner to write encouraging words to my critique partner Melissa.

The surprise benefit of attending was meeting great people like LJ, Karen, and Shane.

Plus, Ally Condie gave a keynote address. Jennifer A. Nielson gave a lunch-time talk that was so inspiring, 750 attendees rose to their feet, giving a standing ovation. And James Dashner was a hoot throughout the entire conference.

If you've never attended this conference, I would encourage you to add it to your calendar for next year: May 3-5, 2018.

CRAFT: Infusing Tension into Your Writing

This weekend I will be teaching a class about "tension" at the Storymakers Conference in Utah, and I wanted to share with you some of my favorite quotes on the topic.

Of course, story conflict begins with your overarching idea, but to keep readers turning pages, you must infuse tension into every scene. This does not mean inserting fist fights; it means embedding opposing goals, emotions, and ideals. When you steep a scene with contrasting elements, the crafted tension keeps the reader engaged in the story. 

You might think, “I don’t write thrillers. Therefore, I don’t need to worry about tension in every scene.” Wrong! This concept applies to all great writing – both fiction and narrative non-fiction.

"It’s your writing craft that empowers your storytelling to sink its fingers into readers’ imaginations and compel them to want to know what happens next." -- Ray Rhamey, Mastering the Craft of Compelling Storytelling

"Tension is achieved when you have a goal, emotion, or ideal working in conflict." -- Margo Kelly

"The more intensely characters want something, and the more intense the resistance, the greater the conflict. And conflict is the most important ingredient for getting your audience to dream the fictive dream. At all times, you should have a motivated character overcoming obstacles in pursuit of a goal." -- James Frey, How to Write a Damn Good Thriller

"Micro-tension is that sense that, on every page of the novel, there’s conflict in the air, or that characters are slightly off-balance. It needn’t be a flat-out argument or a gun battle or a huge confrontation. …But small and continuous doses of tension keep the story moving and keep the pages turning." -- Tess Gerritsen


If you'd like me to speak with your group on this topic, send me an email at margokelly1 @ outlook . com (without the spaces).

Happy writing!

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. 

C is for Conferences

 

So … you want to be a writer? Where do you start? How do you get there? No worries. This month I’ll be sharing my A to Z list of writer’s resources: books, blogs, and beyond! Check back each day to find helpful resources for improving your writing and navigating your way through the publishing industry.


C is for Conferences

Writers' conferences are a huge resource for information, networking, and pitching. Agents, editors, publishers, and fellow writers attend these conferences to teach and learn from each other. The first conference you attend is likely to be quite overwhelming (it was for me), but I also learned a lot, got my hopes up a lot, and made friends a lot. Chances are, there's a great local conference near you.

Simply go to Google, type in your state, writer conference, and see what pops up on your screen.

You can also visit:
Writers Digest List of Conferences
SCBWI Annual Conferences
Poets & Writers Conferences
2014 Writers Conferences

And if you think you're too much of an introvert to ever attend such a public event, then WriteOnCon is for you!! This is an awesome writers' online conference: WriteOnCon

Have you ever attended a conference - - or want to attend a conference? Which one?

Writer's Conference: Queries & First Two Pages

[Reposted from 2010 - but the tips are still great!]

Friday, I attended two of Suzie Townsend's (from Fine Print Literary) classes, and I gained insight and ideas from each of them. Loved them.

First, she offered a Workshop Class on how to make your first two pages really stand out from the slush. Here are my notes:

As soon as possible:
1. Establish your character and voice
2. Establish the conflict and move the story forward
3. Establish the tone
4. Establish an indication of setting
5. Catch the reader off guard - to grab them and keep them reading

Goals of first two pages:
1. Create interest in the character and the plot
2. Create intrigue
3. Create investment

Anticipate the pauses when someone is reading and make these your paragraph breaks.

Then she read many pages from participant and critiqued them. Imagine American Idol. (But Suzie is SUPER NICE, unlike Simon.) That was very productive.

Her second class featured strategies for writing a great query letter.

1. Main character
2. What happens to her
3. What choices does she make
4. What terrible thing will happen because of choices

The mc must decide whether to ________. If she does then ___________. If she does not then __________.

Sound stark not verbose. Make your point and then stop talking.

Every three lines, skip a line. This makes it easier to read in an email.

At the end of the class, Suzie went through each of our queries and offered significant feedback.

I was really impressed with Suzie, her skills, and her knowledge. If you're looking for a fabulous agent, I would highly recommend her. Check her out here: http://fineprintlit.com/about-the-agents/suzie-townsend/  [updated link for Suzie: Suzie's Blog]

Break the Rules Intentionally, Not Accidentally

Another worthwhile class I attended at the SCWW was taught by agent Roseanne Wells, titled "Play by the (Grammar) Rules - and When Not to."

Roseanne was wonderful. I really enjoyed her no-nonsense approach to grammar rules. Of course, as writers, we *should* know the rules. eh... right... ??

If you're not confident with your base knowledge (wow, that sounded kinda smart), Roseanne suggests these books:

* ELEMENTS OF STYLE by Strunk and White
* The Situation and the Story: The Art of Personal Narrative by Vivian Gornick

Roseanne commented that there is no shame in not knowing, but it is your responsibility to find out! :)

Here are the grammar rules that always confuse ME, that she spoke about and I took notes on...

1. Whom is an objective pronoun - the receiver of an action
2. Who is a subjective pronoun - the subject of the sentence
3. Use a dash if a person interrupts their own dialogue
4. Use less elipses (did I spell that right?) you know... those three little dots...
5. A semicolon connects two complete sentences that are so very related, they should remain connected and not separated by a period
6. Don't start sentences with BUT
7. At least four words at the beginning of a sentence in a dependant clause before you use a comma
8. Break the rules intentionally, not accidentally

Mmm. Hmm.

What is your least favorite grammar rule? Pet peeves? Share...

And... I'm off!

YAY! Heading out tomorrow for South Carolina for my first writer's conference. PLUS, I will get to meet one of my fabulous critique partners in person, Melissa. Double YAY!

Finished a significant revision of THE EDUCATION OF THIA. It felt like a massive group effort, but I'm really pleased with the current version. Hopefully, agents will be as well.

Took my mom to the doctor for the results of her bone marrow biopsy and the doctor basically said she was miraculously (sp? - I'm too tired to get that one!) healed. Her red blood count is back to normal and there is no cancer in her bone marrow (there was the last time it was checked, fourteen years ago!). So, the doctor has ordered more tests to see if all of her cancer is gone. Weird! She's had stage four lymphoma for fourteen years, but she has eaten very organically and even eats raw garlic daily. So, I'm still doing a head-shake on that one. It certainly wasn't the news my brother and I were prepared for.

So, now I'm off to get an agent and maybe even learn how to become a better writer. :)

See you when I get back next week!

While I'm gone, feel free to discuss writing topics amongst yourselves in the comments area!! HA.

Write On Con - - Amazing!

WriteOnCon (link on the lower right of this blog) is an amazing resource for writers. A.MAZ.ING! Check them out, and while you're there - (go today) - sign up for all the super cool prizes they're giving away, everything from critiques to books. YAY. Prizes = Good.

Also, check out the separate prizes on:
Elana Johnson's website
Shannon Messenger
Jamie Harrington
Casey McCormick
Lisa & Laura

Writer's Conference

Since starting this adventure called writing, I've considered attending a conference. But... there are so many to choose from. And... are they really worth the massive amounts of cash involved?

Well, my pal, Melissa, did all the research for me (thanks) and picked a great one that features a lot of agent one-on-one-face-time. So... I took the plunge and registered! YAY!

Here's the link for the South Carolina Writers Workshop: http://myscww.org/conference/index.php

Seems crazy to travel from Idaho to South Carolina for my first conference, but Melissa will be there (YAY!) and I was able to get my airline ticket for only $60 (WOW!).

So, let me know if you plan to attend the conference as well... and we'll say "hey" to each other! :)