RWNZ conference Part Two

Having spent the previous weekend at Melbourne RWAus conference I was getting the hang of Bob Mayer's Warrior Workshop - aka Write it Forward. If any of you don't know Bob or haven't attended his lectures he's a must-see guy! Have a peek at his website here:http://www.bobmayer.org/
He has invaluable information about self publishing, the digital world and writing in general. Once again, I reiterate, the most important thing I learnt from him was that I am responsible for my writing career, no-one else.
Armed with these thoughts I attacked the rest of the conference with me and my weaknesses in mind. I have a blank when it comes to conflict. Conflict between my characters, that is. So I tried to counter this blind spot by attending as many talks as I could on this subject, and on craft in general. Superromance author Molly O'Keefe had some wonderful informative points on hooking and plotting and putting conflict on every page; crime thriller writer Tess Gerritsen gave us her tips on how she begins a story - looking for the emotional jumping off points. Editor Lucy Gilmour and the very lovely Medical Romance author Sue Mackay gave us some invaluable insights into what M&B are looking for in a Medical Romance. (I concentrated very hard in this one!).
All in all it was a very informative and interesting conference with lots of food for thought. Hopefully my writing will be stronger for it!!
I can't reiterate enough how important it is to attend events such as these to help develop a writing career. Not only is it a great chance to mix and mingle, but there is a sense of kinship, of renewal and commitment to our goals. Take every opportunity, make your writing better, focus on your dream.
Until next time,
Ciao,Louisa xx