I recently attended the DFW Writers’ Conference 2011 in Fort Worth. It was an opportunity to gather and visit with writers from across the country. I found it interesting, this being my first time to attend such a conference, that I no longer feel as if I am quite such a peculiar sort.
I have always felt myself to be unique, or at least different from the rest of the world. I tend to quietly stand back and observe the crowds rush past in their attempt to obtain perfection or whatever. Not that I haven’t done much the same at times, working at a regular and often stressful and boring job.
At the conference, I spoke to dozens of fledgling writers who share many of the same traits. We huddled to the side in groups of three or four observing the many attendees. There were the boisterous souls who had attended many conferences and felt they knew everything and everyone who mattered. There were also the lost individuals who were looking for a familiar face to pull them from their deep well of isolation.
I must say that I particularly enjoyed the contest where a group of lady attendees had prearranged to vie for the most impressive footwear. High heels, leather boots and attention getting shoes were modeled by the group. I tried to get pictures but settled for my memory to supply me with entertainment and ideas at a later time. Perhaps some of the more interesting footwear and/or models will appear in one of my next books.
The most interesting conversation, aside from the workshop classes and pitching my book to a well-known editor, had to do with writers listening to their characters talk as they write. This is something that I still wonder about. Do normal people hear voices when they write?
Yes, voices of lonely women pining for love or running away in fear. For instance, the southern belles with their charms and syrupy way of speaking, the breathy voice of a beauty whispering in her lover’s ear, or the handsome man fighting for her honor and cursing out in anger as he slays the dragons threatening her.
We all agreed that most of the time, once we have introduced our characters and given them their personalities, they take over and dictate their story. There comes a point when we lose control of the character and the stories belong to them, not us; the writer becomes the pawn to the storyteller.
The highlight of the conference was best selling author Sandra Brown’s keynote address. Her early background in television was evident as she delivered her anecdotes and advice to her audience. Everyone left with a desire to emulate her achievements as well as one can. Her string of seventy books on the New York Bestseller List would be hard for any author to attain, but even one would be a worthy aspiration. I’d settle for that.
Enough reminiscing, it’s time to get to work. I hear my characters calling.
