retreat and attack!

after the lackluster experience of the scbwi conference, taking the four hour sunny drive up into the mountains of vermont for the vermont college of fine arts weekend novel writing retreat was possibly the most welcome thing i've experienced in the past several months.  just driving up there i knew i was going someplace stress free and just incredibly warm.  this is my third time at this program, and every time i feel like i'm amongst friends.

and this time it was more literal than usual!  about a third of the people I knew through NE SCWBI events or online or helping with GLOW and IGNITE (wow that's all a lot of acronyms). i walked in and instantly the conversations started and they didn't stop until i left.  the people i met!  the craft we reviewed! i just feel so invigorated, refreshed, and totally supported.  which is just…amazing.

things that i really took away from the weekend: the importance and approachability of outlining.  claudia gabel gave a great talk on how valuable it can be, but it was disguised as a talk on the importance of plot in a novel.  and i've always been a plot girl!  i think a great story can overwrite any gaffe or mistake.  i think a great story holds your heart and your memory more than anything else.  and what she said made so much sense–outlining is all about supporting and structuring a great story.

i also took this away from the weekend: http://twitter.com/#!/MitaliPerkins/s...

And I just got some great time to sit down and work on this new project i've been getting into.  it's funny because this book may well be the riskiest thing i've ever written; it's dragging up a lot of the emotion of my parents divorce and a lot of the difficulties of being a teen–that stuff is kind of intense to tap into.  Aside from which, it's also about art and graffiti, which as a private school (mostly) girl from the suburbs of Boston, i don't feel like i have a very authentic point of knowledge, despite trying my damnedest to do my research.  i just feel like the research is pretentious, and academic, and missing the point.  which is risky, to say the least.

but after the conference, to be honest, i feel empowered.  i feel like taking risks will make me a better writer, even if i come under fire for it.  and taking risks with my personal emotions is worth it as well.

right?

right.

xx