Happy Mother's Day all you mothers out there!
This last weekend, I spent my time with the most wonderful people on earth. WRITERS! Yep, those elusive folks who sit at their computers all day and all night and never come out except to teach their exciting classes! The Storymaker's conference was fantastic and I learned so much. Actually, what I learned was how much I still don't know, when I thought I knew a lot.
I had two favorite classes. Elana Johnson's, on query letter writing, and let me just say, I thought my query was pretty good until I went to her class. I've totally revamped it now. Dave Wolverton's class taught me that we need to figure out our biorhythms.
That means, figure out when you write best and when you critique best. I found that my biorythms are very similar to his. I write best early in the day until about noon or one in the afternoon. Then my right brain shuts down and doesn't want to work anymore. I can still write later in the day, but it feels more like a push than an easy slide. It's in the afternoon that my left brain picks up and I do well critiquing and fixing. I'll have to play with it a bit, but I think that is how it works for me.
I can't write in the evenings at all. If I do, my work appears to have come from a blathering idiot. And neither side of my brain works after ten pm. I know people who think my brain doesn't work at any time of day. =) (that would be my husband and kids)
All the classes were wonderful, but those two stand out in my mind. And it's Mother's Day, so I'm gonna go now and get pampered!
19 comments:
Sounds like you had a great time! Have a fab day!
Lx
Glad you enjoyed it and took away worthwhile things. Enjoy your Mother's Day!
What interesting classes - esp about writerly biorythms! Wow!! Have a wonderful Mother's Day!!! Take care
x
I always like to hear about stuff people pick up from workshops. How do you go about figuring when your left-right brain shuts down?
regards
mood
Chapter One Analysis: The Hunger Games
The class was more about what great writers do during their day that makes them great.
The biorhythms part was especially interesting to me. I think to figure yours out, you really have to take a few days to experiment. If you wake up early, get up and see how easy it is for you to write. Try it in the afternoon, try it at night. Find what works and stick to it as much as possible.
He also talked about exercise. We can't sit at a computer all day an expect to stay physically fit. He's in his sixties and has a really bad back, but he takes a walk every morning and works out with weights and stuff in the evening, so he works out twice a day, every day.
Biorhythms sounds really interesting! I know I write better at certain times of day, but since my schedule is so crazy, I haven't figure out when yet :)
I thought the biorhythms sounded interesting too. I tend to write sometimes in the mornings, sometimes in the afternoons, depending on how caught up I am or whether I'm pushing a deadline. I haven't tried to find out which time suits me best, but now I'm interested to test that out.
Sure would like to know more about those query letter changes. I'm working on queries now. :-)
Happy Mother's Day!
I love to write in the morning, but my muse prefers to work at night. :( We're currently in negotiations.
Those classes sound marvelous. Happy Mother's Day to you!
I took Elana's class last year and loved it. Sounds like she did another wonderful session. Maybe this year I can put some of her good ideas to work and get more response from agents.
Those classes sound fantastic! The biorhythm class sounds really cool. I can't write in the evening at all either :)
Hope your mothers day was as great as my BW's.
Happy Mothers' Day. Hope your biorhythms helped you have a great day.
Thanks for dropping by the Bears' Den. Please come again when you can.
It was great seeing you this weekend! It was an awesome conference. And those are my favorite people to hang out with too.
Oh my gosh! I was there, too. I was even in Elana's query class. I wish I would have known. I would have stalked, er, hunted you down, I mean, introduced myself. Glad it was great for you too.
It was an awesome conference, wasn't it! My favorite yet. I'm already gearing up for next year.
I'm glad you had a great time. I saw the music video online where you break your pencil and tear the page up! Hilarious!
Hope your Mother's Day was great! I think my brain works the same way as yours. I hear about all these wonderful writers writing after their kids are in bed and I just can't bring myself to do it. It has to be morning.
Sounds like an awesome conference! I've just started figuring out my biorhythms. I didn't know there was a word for it. I'll have to do a little research.
There's an award for you on the my blog ;)
Www.karimariewhite.blogspot.com
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