My DragonCon Wrap-up: A Genre Writer's Dream

I am finallytaking a breath after the long Labor Day weekend and work week to share somethoughts from this year’s DragonCon.  Forthe second year, I braved the crowds of avatars, wookies, Klingons and DeathEaters at one of the country’s largest sci-fi conventions to hear from some of thebest genre writers in young adult and fantasy. Here’s just a few of the folkswho made an impression this year.

Carrie Fisher

"I wasnever that great of an actor."

Carrie shared –with self-deprecating wit – what it was really like playing the iconic PrincessLeia (“it was cool being the only girl”), being engaged to Dan Akroyd and her at-times strained working relationship with director George Lucas, who she later collaborated with as aco-writer on “The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.”

In herbestselling memoir and one-woman show, Wishful Drinking, Fisher said, "George Lucas ruined my life." Her disgust with her StarWars costumes (including having to wrap her breasts) are well documented, withher least-favorite being the infamous metal bikini in Return of the Jedi."When I laid down, the metal bikini stayed up, so Boba Fett could see allthe way to Florida."

Fisher playedoff the energy of the standing-room only crowd of fans, who heard her talkcandidly about her struggle with bipolar disorder. Many fans thanked her forher openness, sharing that they, too, struggled with the condition.

Sherrilyn Kenyon
“I can’t writewhen it’s quiet – absolute silence makes me insane.”

So says theDark-Hunter series author, speaking on a New York Times bestselling author tell all panel,fresh from signing a movie and TV series deal earlier this summer (look out,True Blood fans). The prolific author has made the #1 spot on the New York Times bestseller list 16 times in the last three years. She told fans during the  panel that she writes about 100 pages a day.   

Kenyon says things were always chaoticgrowing up as a middle child with eight brothers. That’s not changed now that shehas three active sons. She told fans how her 16-year-old son has decided to start writing, telling her, "Mom, writing is hard." Her one guilty pleasure? Helping her boys find ways to kill off their Dungeon & Dragon characters. 

She says making the the New York Times Bestseller List doesn’t change your life overnight. She had to work all types of jobs on her way to literary fame and found herself homeless with an infant even after writing sixbestsellers.  

In chatting with the author as she signed my copy of her newest book, Retribution, I asked her about the cable TV deal for her Dark-Hunter Series. No news yet on the lucky network that will take on the book series; however, fans can rest easy knowing that Kenyon will have a say on the adaptation since she will be a producer.

Charlaine Harris

“The mostimportant message is tolerance.”

That’s what theauthor hopes readers get when they read her Sookie Stackhouse novels, which arethe inspiration for HBO’s True Blood series. She deliberately writes about characters with different sexualorientations for this reason. 

During the True Blood Q&A she said how gladshe is that fellow southerner Alan Ball got the job directing True Blood.  “It’s like they took my book and gave itsteroids,” she says of the HBO adaptation. 

Later, during the New York TimesBestselling author panel, Harris opened up about her addiction to Facebook(“it’s a terrible use of a writer’s time”) and her daily routine as a writer,saying she writes every day and doesn’t clean her house anymore but still doesher family’s laundry.  Her guiltypleasure? Watching Project Runway. 

She takes her writing deadlines seriously(“getting paid is a huge inspiration to me”) and recalls being late once –after her mother died. 

You can access the full video of DragonCon's first True Blood panel here. 

MichaelStackpole

“Think biggerthan one story.”

Aaron Alston and Michael Stackpole.

That wasStackpole’s advice to writers during one of the more popular sessions in hishourly Writer Workshop delivered over 14 hours with fellow New York Timesbestselling author Aaron Allston. (Stackpole has said in his post-DragonConblog post that he and Aaron are returning in 2012 – this is GREAT news to writers whowant to further their craft.

The session Iattended, “Writing Careers in the Post-paper Era,” gave attendees an update onthe growing E-book market for novelists, noting that the battle betweentraditional and digital publishers is not about sales, but about “control andaccess to audiences.” Stackpole urged people to write in packages that arefriendly to consumers – instead of a 120,000-word novel, think in terms ofthree smaller 50,000-word novels. Instead of focusing on a single story, thinkabout developing “a property” where you can tell more than one story in thatworld. “Series sell.  They breed loyalty– we always come back to them,” he says. I will write more about Stackpole’s presentation in a future blog post.

Aaron Allston

“Die adjective,die!”

Allston – notunlike Ernest Hemingway – sees little value in adjectives or adverbs forserious writers, calling them “insulating layers,” that do anything but givethe reader a sense of the experience being described. The phrase used todescribe this practice is “purple prose.” He urges writers on their firstediting pass to “look at every adjective and adverb and strike most of themout.”  

Allston shared other advice duringhis workshop session -- from the role of pacing to balancing exposition withdialogue to tell a story memorably. He advises writers to match the length ofdescription to what their character sees. 

He also says that you can fill in descriptive passages later after thefirst draft is crafted.  “Backfillmotivation, description and foreshadowing. Vastly limitadjectives and adverbs. Participles are not good. Use active verbs. Keep itsimple. Keep it short. I am for transparency – don’t be too stylized."