Ozark Creative Writers Annual Conference: Jodi Thomas
Last weekend, I attended the 39th Annual Conference of Ozark Creative Writers, Inc., in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. It was the second time I attended and I have to say, it's one of the best conferences I have ever been to. There is nothing stuffy about it, and I come away from nearly every session with something solid that I can use. I thought it might be helpful to share with you a little of what I learned.
The keynote speaker was Jodi Thomas. I hadn't heard of her, but my roommate (a fellow member of my writing group) got one of her books, The Widows of Wichita County, before we left home. I picked the book up Thursday evening and started reading - and I guarantee I'm going to start buying her books! She instantly created characters that I cared about, so I was very excited to hear her speak on Friday.
As Jodi began her talk, she shared that her goal was for each one of us to walk away with one sentence that felt as though she was speaking to that person one-on-one. Through much of her talk, I felt as though she had been spying on me and was giving me, personally, a pep talk. The first lesson I walked away with was that you should finish what you start. She was working as a checker at the little hometown grocery store, and a pop bottle broke, fell and cut her ankle. Blood was gushing. She ran for the meat room to get a towel, then her boss came back and used duct tape to secure the towel over the cut. She looked at her boss and said, "I guess I'm heading for the emergency room." His answer? "No, I guess you're heading back up there to finish your shift." (By the way, Jodi, I think I've worked for this guy's relatives . . . what a jerk!!) So, Jodi said with a smile, write like your shoe is filling with blood. You CAN do whatever you have to. This really touched me. It made me think about the job that I hate some days, and I know in my heart that is not what I am meant to do. She was not meant to be a checker, so she followed her heart, worked her tail off, and became a writer. A damned good one. It is time for me to follow my heart, and take my writing seriously.
Another part of her talk really stuck with me. She said that most writers die at the timberline. We are each climbing towards the summit, striving to achieve our goal. Each writer takes his or her own path, which starts off easy. The path is clear, and there are trees and branches that we can use to pull ourselves along - which represent our mentors, our reference books, our classes, everything we do to learn the craft. But as we get farther along our path - and closer to our goal - the path grows less clear, and the branches are fewer and farther between. Then we reach the timberline, where we must travel on by ourselves, to reach the summit on our own. Jodi said that the timberline is littered with the bodies of writers who died at the timberline, unable or unwilling to continue towards their goal. I feel like I am almost to that timberline. Like I am so close to success, I can see it. But the air is thinner up here, there are no trees to grab hold of, and the footing is unsteady. So, I am going to take Jodi's advice and I am going to keep going. I will not allow myself to fail this time.
The third story she told that struck a chord with me was the story of "burning the boats." I won't go into detail here, but look the story up if you haven't heard it. The gist of it is that you have to believe in yourself enough to forge ahead. After Jodi told the story, Jodi said that you have to do something every single day to reach your goal. Triumph comes through perseverence. And, she said with a smile, what have you got to lose?
Jodi talked about the toolbox that we writers have: Read - Write - Study the Market - Learn the Rules (then break them!) - Become a Storyteller.
I'll share more in my next post about Jodi's talk. She talked about making your characters believable, the "train" method of plotting, and falling. More on that later. Digest what I've shared with you so far about her talk, and go buy one of her books!
Elle
The keynote speaker was Jodi Thomas. I hadn't heard of her, but my roommate (a fellow member of my writing group) got one of her books, The Widows of Wichita County, before we left home. I picked the book up Thursday evening and started reading - and I guarantee I'm going to start buying her books! She instantly created characters that I cared about, so I was very excited to hear her speak on Friday.
As Jodi began her talk, she shared that her goal was for each one of us to walk away with one sentence that felt as though she was speaking to that person one-on-one. Through much of her talk, I felt as though she had been spying on me and was giving me, personally, a pep talk. The first lesson I walked away with was that you should finish what you start. She was working as a checker at the little hometown grocery store, and a pop bottle broke, fell and cut her ankle. Blood was gushing. She ran for the meat room to get a towel, then her boss came back and used duct tape to secure the towel over the cut. She looked at her boss and said, "I guess I'm heading for the emergency room." His answer? "No, I guess you're heading back up there to finish your shift." (By the way, Jodi, I think I've worked for this guy's relatives . . . what a jerk!!) So, Jodi said with a smile, write like your shoe is filling with blood. You CAN do whatever you have to. This really touched me. It made me think about the job that I hate some days, and I know in my heart that is not what I am meant to do. She was not meant to be a checker, so she followed her heart, worked her tail off, and became a writer. A damned good one. It is time for me to follow my heart, and take my writing seriously.
Another part of her talk really stuck with me. She said that most writers die at the timberline. We are each climbing towards the summit, striving to achieve our goal. Each writer takes his or her own path, which starts off easy. The path is clear, and there are trees and branches that we can use to pull ourselves along - which represent our mentors, our reference books, our classes, everything we do to learn the craft. But as we get farther along our path - and closer to our goal - the path grows less clear, and the branches are fewer and farther between. Then we reach the timberline, where we must travel on by ourselves, to reach the summit on our own. Jodi said that the timberline is littered with the bodies of writers who died at the timberline, unable or unwilling to continue towards their goal. I feel like I am almost to that timberline. Like I am so close to success, I can see it. But the air is thinner up here, there are no trees to grab hold of, and the footing is unsteady. So, I am going to take Jodi's advice and I am going to keep going. I will not allow myself to fail this time.
The third story she told that struck a chord with me was the story of "burning the boats." I won't go into detail here, but look the story up if you haven't heard it. The gist of it is that you have to believe in yourself enough to forge ahead. After Jodi told the story, Jodi said that you have to do something every single day to reach your goal. Triumph comes through perseverence. And, she said with a smile, what have you got to lose?
Jodi talked about the toolbox that we writers have: Read - Write - Study the Market - Learn the Rules (then break them!) - Become a Storyteller.
I'll share more in my next post about Jodi's talk. She talked about making your characters believable, the "train" method of plotting, and falling. More on that later. Digest what I've shared with you so far about her talk, and go buy one of her books!
Elle
I'm so excited to see you blogging with renewed energy! Can't wait to see what comes out of NaNo this year!!!
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Just updating my email addy for your blog.
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