ACFW 2018 Conclusion-Lessons Learned

Happy Monday and welcome back for our last ACFW 2018 series post.  If you are new to sandykayslawsonWriter.blogspot.com, then I am so glad you came! You may enjoy going back to read Part 1 and Part 2 of this series or catch up from the beginning of my blog, back in February '18. 

Today I would like to talk about the top 5 things I learned at the ACFW 2018 Conference.  Some of the things, I had heard before, but they were emphasized so much in my classes, I thought them important enough to include, since some of you may not have heard it before.  At the end, I plan to update you on some of the things, I have been working on since the conference.

“We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.”

—Ernest Hemingway

Lesson 1.

Learn how to take rejection.  Encouraging, huh?  I was surprised how much this...advice...forewarning...was talked about.  Evidently, rejection by Literary Agents, Publishers and even Editors is more the norm than not.  The encouraging part is that, many well known Authors (Debbie Macomber, for instance) today, spent years being rejected, before one day someone gave them a chance.  Did they keep submitting the same thing over and over?  No, if they received feedback, they used that to make their work better or they started over, using what they had learned.  I hope to send my Proposals out in the next month or so and I am bracing myself, just in case.

Lesson 2.

Show, don't tell.  I heard this phrase over and over again, while at the conference.  I had learned this early on in my writing journey, so hopefully, my writing will reflect that.  What does this mean?  When writing fiction, we want the reader to be able to see with their minds eye, the story playing out in their head.  If I show you the story, it's easier for you to picture the story as if it is happening at that moment.  If I tell you the story, you will feel more separated from it, and be less likely to "see" the story as it is being read.  For, example: I did not enjoy my History classes, when I was in school.  It was so boring to me, just a bunch of lifeless facts, I had trouble relating to.  When I discovered Historical Fiction, history became my favorite subject.  I understand all the characters are not historical figures, but there is enough history in them, that I was finally able to understand and learn those lessons that I never could learn, when being told instead of shown, all those years in school.

Lesson 3.

POV or point of view matters.  As a reader, I rarely think about how the POV is written, but if I see something written with an awkward or inconsistent POV is can be confusing or disruptive to the flow of the story.  The common POV's for a story are 1st Person and 3rd Person with narration.  First person POV would read more like a diary.  The story would be told from the point of view, of the person telling their story.  Third person point of view with narration, is told from the point of view of one or more of the characters, with a narrator, adding in an outside perspective.  The point of view character's thoughts, can be heard, also.  In this POV only one POV should be used in a scene.  This is a difficult lesson to learn and even seasoned Authors can make mistakes here.  It is so easy to jump into another characters mind, when you aren't supposed to.  Point of view is like reading minds.  I should only be able to read one mind per scene.  

Lesson 4.

Weasel Words are not your friend, when writing. What are these pesky words that need to be used as little as possible?  Weasel Words: was, were, adverbs, just, very, suddenly, that, it (if vague).  The first thing I did, when I got back home, was to do a search in my novel for the word was.  AHHHH!  Almost every page had at least one was, on it!  Yikes!  So, I start rewriting every sentence that has that word.  If I find another Weasel Word while I am writing, I go ahead and change that, too.  But guess what, I will need to go through each Weasel Word and correct my rookie mistakes. It is not easy to write without using those words.  Next time you write something, look back to see how many times you use them. 😲

Lesson 5.

Know my main characters, inside and out.  Know myself inside and out.  I have to be able to know how we think, act, respond, react, etc. and why we think, act, respond, react, etc. the way we do.  The  teacher suggested using the Myers-Briggs personality test to create my characters.  I personally thought this was GENIUS!  I wrote a post about this personality test several months ago.  Here is a link. 

Even if you aren't a Writer or Fiction Writer, taking the test can really help you understand yourself better.  I know it helped me.

Trying to condense what I learned at the conference into these five short paragraphs, was pretty daunting, but if you are able to use any of these five lessons to help you in your own writing, or maybe just to help you understand why a Writer may write the way they do, then I guess I succeeded.       As I looked back at my notes, I realized what a horrible note taker I am! 😕 Trying to read my chicken scratch and make sense of it, was not easy.  I did my best though, to take that mess, and make it understandable for you. (And not bore you to death...😅)

Updates: I have been busy since I got home from the conference.  Beside writing my Monday blog posts, I have been trying to correct my Weasel Words on my manuscript.  It is time consuming, but I am feeling pleased with the results so far.  I am really glad I learned some of these lessons, before I got too far along in my second book, so hopefully, I won't need to make so many corrections on it.  Also, I have been researching website builders.  As I mentioned in a previous post, having a website where I can send out a newsletter, connect with Readers and keep you updated on my books, my life, my journey, is a necessary part of building my Platform.  The number of emails and followers I have, could make or break a deal with a Publisher.  In addition, I have been asked to speak at a newly formed Writer's group this month.  I am excited and nervous, because I am still pretty new to the #WritersLife, but maybe I'll have something to offer worthwhile.  Lastly, I am preparing my interview with Author Jodie Wolfe.  I plan to post that interview here soon, so be sure not to miss that.

Well, that's all I have this week.  I hope you will join me again next week (Lord Willing).  Comments and questions are welcome as always.  May God bless you and your family.

In Christ,

Sandy

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