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Physical Prepping for Conventions

Picture of an elaborately painted toe nail.
Not my usual style, but I like it nonetheless.
I’m off to ArmadilloCon tomorrow, and looking forward to it. Questions about going to conventions often come up in the F&SF class, so I thought I’d answer the main one and then talk about what I do to prep for one.

Here’s the question that keeps coming up: Is going to conventions vital for F&SF writers?

And the answer is no, of course not. Don’t go to conventions unless you are genuinely deriving pleasure of some sort from them. If you’re going to go and just sit in a corner and be miserable, then don’t waste your money.

I do like cons. I’d probably go to at least a few even if I wasn’t just writing. I find them a great place to see old friends and make new ones, hear interesting discussions, and even do a little networking. To make the most of them, I may set up meetings with folks I want to see in order to make sure there’s time for it. If I’m on panels, I make sure I’m ready to talk about whatever the topic is. If I’m reading, I rehearse the piece well beforehand and make sure I know how long it takes to read.

But part of my prep is also making sure I look professional as well. The only time I’ll go off to get my nails done is before a con (or some other work outing) and I always make sure my hair is recently cut, that I’ve got clean and reasonably matching outfits, suitable footwear, and all the rest. But that’s as much for internal as external factors – I know if I’m feeling well-assembled, I’ll be more confident overall.

I’d be curious to hear what other folks do to prepare for conventions, or if you’ve got tips for hotel existence. I’ve learned to make sure I’ve got a change of clothes in my carry-on if I check a bag, that ballet flats make great light-weight footwear for cons, and to make sure I’ve got all my charging cords. How about you?

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5 Responses

  1. Great post, Cat. Making sure I pack snack food I can keep with me in a bag so that I don’t succumb to expensive (and unhealthy) treats if my blood sugar drops is one thing I have started to do at cons. That and a good attitude – being in a foul mood at a con can be more harmful than not going.

    1. That’s a good one. I usually toss a box of granola bars in my suitcase for that reason. Because it is no fun feeling cranky and hungry!

  2. Along with snacks, making certain I stay hydrated (which, for me, means 2 gallons of water a day. . .not kidding).

    I make certain I bring an extra chage of comfortable clothes just in case.

    I also make certain I scope out quiet spots in case I’m overwhelmed.

  3. It is almost universal that – once they are at the convention itself – people do not get enough water. All the unaccustomed activity combined with dehumidified hotel air makes it all too likely. I once started mildly hallucinating because I was so dehydrated–so drink up, people!

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Class Notes From Writing Fantasy and Science Fiction

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Images speak differently than words. They speak in color and shapes, smells and movements that our writing can only hope to approximate.
We’re coming up on the end of the Writing Fantasy & Science Fiction class I teach at Bellevue College. Tonight’s the next to last session. In earlier sessions we’ve talked about the writing process, story parts and mechanics, delivering information, characters, description, and worldbuilding. A number of past blog posts have come out of those classes: 5 Things to Do in Your First 3 Paragraphs, Active Verbs, Foreshadowing and Establishing Conflict, Plotting and Re-plotting Stories, Three Strategies for Snaring the Senses, Three Things that End a Story Well, Using Random Tools Like Stumbleupon For Rewriting, and Why Titles Matter.

Here’s what we’re covering in this session and the next:

Tonight (Rewriting, Revising, and Polishing)

  • The difference between rewriting, revising, and polishing
  • Rewriting – ways to do it
  • Revising – things to look for
  • Polishing
  • Working at the sentence level
  • Placement of sentences
  • Breaking up paragraphs
  • Titles
  • Quoting song lyrics
  • Collaboration

Next Week (Publishing & Career Stuff)

  • Markets: researching them, submitting to them, querying them, foreign markets, reprints, audio.
  • Submissions: how to, tracking them, etiquette, types (flash to novel)
  • Agents: researching and querying them
  • Conventions: why go, what to do to make the most of them, top cons
  • Workshops: why do (or not), how to make the most of them, top ones
  • Blogging & websites: why, BRIEF discussion of mechanics
  • Publications to follow
  • Networking
  • SFWA and other professional organizations
  • Writing groups
  • Resources
  • Keeping yourself motivated

So here’s my question. I’ll be glancing back at this list when thinking about future blog posts and drawing from it as well as from what I’m experiencing in my own writing. What would -you- like to see?

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Class Notes from Writing Fantasy and Science Fiction Stories - Week One

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Keep an eye on the world around you and see what stories present themselves.
As I said in class, I’ll be posting notes after each Wednesday session, which all three classes can use to ask questions about or comment on what we covered. I encourage the students to hop into the discussion here, but it’s also open to the public.

We started by talking about what makes a story and the idea of character(s) involved in a conflict with rising tension that moves to a resolution at the end. It’s a pretty classic model and Vonnegut says some useful things about it here. Everyone brought a two line description of the story they’d like to write, and we listened to those and talked about which would work as is for stories and which need some narrowing down.

In discussing how we know when a story will be good, we looked at the first few paragraphs of stories by Carol Emshwiller, Joe Hill, and Kurt Vonnegut. I asked you to, in the coming week, look particularly at how people begin stories, and for Week 2, people will be bringing in a story beginning by someone else that knocks their socks. I mentioned that there’s plenty of online magazines to find speculative fiction in and here’s a brief starter list for you (feel free to add recommendations in the comments): Abyss & Apex, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Clarkesworld, Daily Science Fiction, Lightspeed, Strange Horizons, and Tor.com. One of the things I mentioned is that reading other people’s short fiction, particularly good stuff, is important: you’ll find more story ideas coming to you, you’ll learn new tricks from them, and you’ll become familiar with the markets you hope to sell to.

We also spent some time on writing process and the idea of timed writings, as taken from Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones and did some in class. Feel free to post yours here if you like it. I urged you to spend some time this week thinking about your writing process and perhaps trying to change it up a little: writing by hand instead of the keyboard, or in a place you don’t normally write.

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