The Romance Writers of New Zealand annual conference started today, and I’ve spent the day at workshops with Jennie Crusie, Anne Stuart, and agent, Kristin Nelson. It’s been a fantastic day, and I’ve arrived home with my head stuffed full of information. The food was delicious, the company great (I sat next to Nalini Singh and pumped her a little about her upcoming books. Unfortunately, I didn’t get her to spill any secrets but her new series sounds wonderful) and also caught up with lots of other members I haven’t seen for a while. There was lots of book talk and the onsite bookshop did a brisk trade!
I’m not attending the full conference since my budget had to give somewhere and the lure of sand, sun and Hawaii beckoned rather loudly, but I have the weekend to put the things I’ve learned into practice.
Jenny Crusie suggests a writer let loose on their first draft and write what they want. If that includes thirty pages on china painting then so be it. It’s during the edits when a writer does all the work and prunes away all the dead wood. Prologues, epilogues and flashbacks are all the kiss of death. Don’t do them. Anne Stuart says under some circumstances they’re okay, but Jenny was busy doing throat-cutting motions in the background.
I’m off to have dinner and relax with a glass of wine now. I think all Fridays should be like this!
Question: If you could have a group of writers to spend the day with, who would you choose?
