Monday, May 20, 2013

Storymakers!

It was my second year at the Storymakers conference and it was a blast!

In Hannah Bowman's master class, I was able to analyze the internal and external conflicts of my current project and pinpoint how to get them to work together (or against each other) to propel my plot forward. Great hands on class.

Editor Victoria Curran taught me to not be afraid to let my characters act on what they want to do, and that in a romance, it's the power of opposition that causes tension, not the attraction.

Some other highlights include learning all the ins and outs of writing a series, the importance of my YA characters having concrete goals, and how to write story turns to drive the pacing of my novel. I even took a sounds-so-boring but was oh-so-helpful tax class for writers.

Anne Perry was the keynote speaker and taught a two-hour class about fine-tuning your writing. She might be my new favorite author--I could listen to her speak for hours. Every word she says (in her cool accent) is poetic and profound. She made me want to be a more positive, hopeful, and inspiring writer. 

And of course the biggest reason I call this conference a great success was all the writer friends I got to see. Not only did my CP's fly in from out-of-state, but I met several writers from the online community. Here's a quick slideshow as proof of just a few of the people I met. I bet you'll recognize some of them. :)



Have you ever been to a writers conference or met bloggers in real life?

Don't forget to enter my $20 B&N giftcard giveaway to celebrate my recent book deal. I'll announce a winner later this week. 

20 comments:

Sheena-kay Graham said...

Kelley, Jenny, Leigh, Morgan, Jessie and more. Ahhh! I'm officially jealous. Jealous! Glad you had a great time and learned a lot Ilima. No matter how jealous I am.

Yup, still jealous.

Suzi said...

Storymakers is definitely on my list of conferences I need to attend. Hopefully someday.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

You took a lot of photos!
Sad to say I've never been to a writer's conference.

Madeline Mora-Summonte said...

Glad you had such a good time!

I've been to a few conferences but my most recent - and favorite! - was WRITING THE BREAKOUT NOVEL INTENSIVE 2.0 with agent Donald Maass.

jaybird said...

Amazing slide show! Looks like a ton of fun and I did recognize a lot of faces. I'm so happy you were able to go and connect with everyone.

Morgan said...

Eeeee!!!!! SO FUN!!!!! Ilima, I wish we could've spoken more... you're so cool. And I loved the slideshow. What a clever idea!

(I'm still bouncing over your book news!)

Robin said...

I LOVED Storymakers-thanks for all the pictures, I wish I'd taken more. It was great to be there with you-well worth the travel time. I hope I'll be able to be to attend many more.

Emily R. King said...

I had so much fun and learned a ton. So glad I got to see you, Ilima!

David P. King said...

What an awesome montage! It wouldn't have been storymakers without you Ilima. Glad you could make it! :)

Jennie Bennett said...

So many good memories! Thanks for slide show :)

ilima said...

Sheena-kay-I still can't believe I got to meet so many awesome writers!

Suzi-It's so worth it.

Alex-Yeah...I kind of stalked everybody until they took a picture with me. :)

Madeline-Wow. I bet a class with him would be amazing.

Jaybird-It was a blast. I hope we find a way to meet up some day too. :)

Morgan-I was so excited to meet you. You are just as sweet in person as you are online. :)

Robin-So glad you were able to get away for the weekend!

Emily-I learned a ton too, and it was great to see you again.

David-Aw. I had such a great time!

Jennie-You're welcome. It was so fun!

Jenilyn Collings said...

Storymakers was so fun! I love your slideshow. For some reason, I didn't take any pictures. I know, I know! I can't believe it either. But it's fun to see the ones others took. :-)

Kathryn Purdie said...

What is wrong with me? Your video almost made me cry! Sheesh. Pull it together, Katie! I guess I just miss you all already and wish it could have lasted longer...with a nice relaxing day smack in the middle. Is that too much to ask? I'm happy I'll at least get to see you tomorrow, Ilima!

Johanna Garth said...

I've been reading so much about this conference, how much fun you all had and what you learned that I just Googled it!

ilima said...

Jeni-I was upset I didn't get a pic with you then remembered I got you in the LaJolla picture. Crisis averted. :)

Katie-Oh dear. Don't cry. Haha. See you in a few!

Johanna-If you end up going, I think I should get some kind of commission, lol.

Tammy Theriault said...

so glad we got to see some awesome photos on facebook, too. i don't want to say jealous or i'll gain weight but i definitely could have used all the great tips myself!

Celesta said...

It was a great conference--so educational and so much fun. I definitely plan on going again next year. I enjoyed seeing you there and wish I took more pictures. I'm enjoying yours instead! =)

Tonja Drecker said...

Wow! That was quite the get together. So glad you guys all had a good time. I'm going to scroll back up and view those pics again ;)

Shallee said...

Ah, the awesome that was Storymakers! Agreed, Anne Perry was AMAZING. And it was great to hang out with you a bit. :)

ilima said...

Tammy-So many pics on FB, it was like being at the conference all over again. :)

Celesta-I went a little picture crazy. So great to see you.

Tonja-Totally epic.

Shallee-I'm glad you survived your mountain drive, lol.