We’re baaack!
After lunch on Friday June 23rd at the KY Christian Writers Conference, I took Cara Putman’s class on “Writing and Editing Tool Kit” which was very informative. Cara, a lawyer who also writes, said, “When you have the tools, then you can decide what to use,” and told us to ask many questions such as “Whose story is it?” and “What character has the most to lose?” She also told us to make sure each character has some flaws to make them real.
Next, we had another keynote by the hilarious Twila Belk who shared more of her wisdom
with us. 1. Write for your reader, not just yourself. and 2. Pray for your words to speak just what that person need to hear. The rest of the talk was about getting rid of the things that can keep us from publication like Fear and “stinking thinking” or playing the “comparison game.” She reminded us to keep our eyes focused on God and believe what He says He will do because He has made us. “I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful.” (Psalm 139:14)
Then, I took another great Brandilyn Collins’ class on how to better write emotions called “Coloring Passions.” She told us how she came at writing from a theatre background, so reminded us to not just settle for the usual adjectives to describe emotions, but to dig deeper to find all the different components of their feelings. And to “Think of what the underlying emotion of the character’s anger is, then deal with it.”
That night we ate a wonderful supper while being entertained by “The Eric and Joe Show”
some local artists who grew up at that church and now have a radio ministry in the area. This was followed by an open mike session with participation from some of the talented attendees. A full day chock-full of fun and learning!
Hope you’ll come back next Friday for more of what we learned on Saturday.
Many great points here, Rose! Thank you for passing them along. I would like to get better at helping my readers feel my characters’ emotions with depth. I may have to check out Brandilyn’s book. :)
Hi Linda, I have the older version and Have read it two or three times. Now, I bought the new improved version, so I highly recommend it and taking any of BC’s classes if you have achance. Also check out her now old blog at http://www.forensicsandfaith.blogspot.com for much of her material!