Click here for Day 1 and Day 2.
The final day of the conference was on a Saturday and since we had been taking the train in, we had to miss the first panel because the times were different. Thankfully, it had stop snowing sometime during the night, so the sidewalks were mostly clean.The train ride was uneventful, considering Thursday and Friday's journey into the city.
The first panel we went to was "If These Walls Could Talk...Oh Wait, They Do!" and it was all about how setting can be a character in a story. Setting is one of those elements in a story where it's only given credit and thought about when it becomes crucial to the story. But I think setting can add a layer that strengthens the reader's emotional attachment to the characters and it shouldn't be overlooked. That being said, this panel felt like a into lesson to setting and as a writer, I'm passed into levels.
SAM and I decided to leave this panel and explore the sales room again. But this time we were on a mission to get business cards for promising looking lit journals and small presses. There is a system to working show rooms. You have to talk to the booth workers, smile constantly, and make yourself stand out in a crowd of thousands. More often than not, you have to loop around the showroom multiple times. That's not necessarily a bad thing; the second or third time around you can find something easily overlooked. Case in point, I got a free hair cut!
hahahaha. Yes, I let a stranger, whose career path is literature based, cut my hair. But that's one of the fun things about cons, doing something kinda crazy. Conventions should be fun and memorable while being educational.
After the hair cut we went to the Video Games, Fan Fiction & Comics: Alternative Genres as Legitimate Literature panel. The three panelist had done exceptional research on their topic and gave an in-depth look at how these types of media is often overlooked by lit snobs. All three have distinct, rich histories and it was really refreshing to see these genres being taken seriously as a form of literature. The only thing I was kind of disappointed with, was that it seemed like most of the audience members were people who already accept video games, comics and fanfic as a serious form.
The last panel we went to was Hating Your Writing: A Love Story. And this one was actually really helpful because I think it's a writer default to hate their writing or to second guess if something is ready to be called finished. Some helpful tips were: remember that one point it's less editing and more just changing, criticize constructively, and it's okay to write shit - sometimes you just gotta write.
I loved going to AWP and I hope to attend it again next time it's in Boston.
Love Always,
Joe
The final day of the conference was on a Saturday and since we had been taking the train in, we had to miss the first panel because the times were different. Thankfully, it had stop snowing sometime during the night, so the sidewalks were mostly clean.The train ride was uneventful, considering Thursday and Friday's journey into the city.
The first panel we went to was "If These Walls Could Talk...Oh Wait, They Do!" and it was all about how setting can be a character in a story. Setting is one of those elements in a story where it's only given credit and thought about when it becomes crucial to the story. But I think setting can add a layer that strengthens the reader's emotional attachment to the characters and it shouldn't be overlooked. That being said, this panel felt like a into lesson to setting and as a writer, I'm passed into levels.
SAM and I decided to leave this panel and explore the sales room again. But this time we were on a mission to get business cards for promising looking lit journals and small presses. There is a system to working show rooms. You have to talk to the booth workers, smile constantly, and make yourself stand out in a crowd of thousands. More often than not, you have to loop around the showroom multiple times. That's not necessarily a bad thing; the second or third time around you can find something easily overlooked. Case in point, I got a free hair cut!
hahahaha. Yes, I let a stranger, whose career path is literature based, cut my hair. But that's one of the fun things about cons, doing something kinda crazy. Conventions should be fun and memorable while being educational.
After the hair cut we went to the Video Games, Fan Fiction & Comics: Alternative Genres as Legitimate Literature panel. The three panelist had done exceptional research on their topic and gave an in-depth look at how these types of media is often overlooked by lit snobs. All three have distinct, rich histories and it was really refreshing to see these genres being taken seriously as a form of literature. The only thing I was kind of disappointed with, was that it seemed like most of the audience members were people who already accept video games, comics and fanfic as a serious form.
The last panel we went to was Hating Your Writing: A Love Story. And this one was actually really helpful because I think it's a writer default to hate their writing or to second guess if something is ready to be called finished. Some helpful tips were: remember that one point it's less editing and more just changing, criticize constructively, and it's okay to write shit - sometimes you just gotta write.
I loved going to AWP and I hope to attend it again next time it's in Boston.
Love Always,
Joe
No comments:
Post a Comment