One of the panels, "More Effective Wine Writing," coalesced something that I had noticed during the entire conference: there are certain writing principles that cut across genre and publishing platform. Meg Houston, writer and editor of Palate Press, gave a list of Twenty-four Theses for wine writing, but they could easily apply to fiction as well.
Following are the principles I distilled from her and others' talks. I'll call them my Five Reminders:
1. Find your voice. How? Write, and let others edit your writing. Good editors will help you clarify your voice, which will then allow it to mature.
2. Don't forget that you've got more than just sight to work with when it comes to description. Sensorial detail helps to draw people into your writing.
3. Atmosphere and setting affect experience. No one acts in a vacuum. One or two details can make or break a piece.
4. Revision. Gotta do it. If you think it's brilliant, you should probably sit on it for a day (or longer).
5. Writing can be lonely. Having a community, whether of other writers or bloggers, is important, but don't forget that they're not the audience you're writing for.
In the end, I'm glad to have a hobby that takes me to some of the most beautiful places on Earth. It's a bonus that it connects me with a supportive community and great resources for my fiction writing as well.
Great post, Cecilia... And what a cool conference for you to have gone to. Hey, someone has to do it, right? I used to cover the gaming industry and had to visit casinos from time to time and pretty much live it up... Ah, those were the days... How I miss the late 90s... early oo's.
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