LTUE is a symposium on science fiction and fantasy. It’s
geared towards writing, publishing, and illustrating. It started thirty years ago at BYU, and has been hosted there every year, until this year when the venue
shifted to Utah Valley University (UVU).
If you are interested in any aspect of writing LTUE is a
wealth of information at a very minor cost. The early bird fee was $30 for
three full days of sessions covering a wide variety of topics. Plus you get to
rub shoulders with tons of industry professionals: writers, editors, publishers
etc, in addition to hundreds of aspiring writers at different stages of their
careers.
This is the third LTUE I’ve attended, but the first time I
went to sessions on all three days. Thursday and Friday I attended sessions all
day from 9:00 am to after 6:00 pm. There were sessions later on both days but
my brain ran out of storage space so I ended early. On Saturday I wanted to go
in the morning but I had other obligations. I did manage to attend three
sessions in the afternoon though. I’m glad I took the time because some of the
sessions I thought might be good turned out to be just ho hum, while on the
other hand a couple I didn’t think would be any good turned out to be awesome. There
was such a rich variety of options it was hard to choose just one each hour. Here’s
a sampling of titles for some of the sessions I attended: Queries and Pitches, Story
Structure, Plots Subplots and
Forshadowing, Ecology and Evolution in Science Fiction, how to go From Idea to Story, The Good and the Bad (what to do, and what not to do in writing
speculative fiction) and Writing
Cross-Culturally. The speakers included seasoned veterans as well as up and
coming stars of the future. I hate to name names especially because I know I’ll
leave someone out. But at the same time there were quite a few that really
stood out. Here’s a short list of great speakers, many of them I was able to
hear in multiple sessions: James A. Owen, Jess Smart Smiley, Kirk Shaw, J.
Scott Savage, Howard Tayler, Dan and Rob Wells, Brandon Sanderson, Stacy
Whitman, Sandra Tayler, Ami Chopine, and Dr. Steven Peck. I know Sandra Tayler is
married to Howard Tayler, but I listed them separately because they spoke
separately. And even though Sandra’s session had a little to do with being married
to Howard I thought she was an excellent speaker in her own right. There are many
other fantastic speakers that gave sessions at LTUE and hopefully in the future
I’ll be lucky enough to hear them too.
A few of the sessions I attended deserve special attention.
The discussion in Can
Poetry Help Your Prose, or, Writing with Rhythm made me want to learn more
about poetry. “Poetry is meant to be heard,” isn’t an earth shattering thought but
it struck a chord with me. Understanding this level of detail can make my
writing more pleasurable for readers, even if they don’t recognize the meter.
The class on Feeling
Fake was so good they could have billed me for a therapy session. It was a
great discussion about how we, as writers, often don’t feel like we belong
unless we accomplish X, where X is something different for each person. For one
it's getting published, for another it's going national or making it on a
best-seller list. But it was interesting to find out that people at all different
levels suffer from a similar lack of self-confidence. That's something I can
totally relate to.
I wish there was a simple solution to this dilemma but there
isn't. However, just knowing that people who've done much greater things than
me still suffer from feeling fake helps me see I'm not alone. That’s
comforting. In the end the only real solution is to acknowledge where I'm at as
a writer, and then work hard to improve. Meanwhile the more I can muster the
guts to act like who I want to be the more likely I'll someday actually achieve
it. Recognizing milestones along the way is another healthy thing to do: I've
finished a manuscript or I had good feedback from my critique group, stuff like
that. With all that in mind the most important thing to do is to keep writing—never
give up. Thank you speakers, and thank you LTUE organizers for the Feeling Fake session—it was amazingly helpful, it
really hit home for me.
In Writing Humor
Howard Tayler had us laughing for the entire session. I want to include more
humor in my writing as a result, mainly because it's fun to laugh. Who doesn’t
like that?
The Keynote Address by James A Owen was incredibly inspirational. James talked about how easy it is
to draw a dragon; you start with 4 simple lines. And then he drew 4 lines on a
large pad, large enough for the entire audience to see. Instantly the shape of
the dragon was obvious, but it was abstract. Then he added 3 more lines giving
it some depth. He added a few more lines a couple more times and ended up with
a nice drawing of a dragon. Then he said I’m going to take about two more
minutes and when I step back there’s going to be a finished drawing of a
dragon. He turned his back on the audience and began drawing
furiously—obviously he’s drawn a few dragons before. He continued to talk while
he was drawing, which was surprising to me that he could draw and talk at the
same time, and do both so well. When he was finished he had produced a dragon
that closely resembled the dragon on the cover of his book Drawing out the Dragons, the subtitle is A Meditation on Art,
Destiny, and the Power of Choice. Drawing is simple he said. It’s about lines
and choices. The trick is making good choices on where to put the lines. If I
had to summarize James’ keynote I would use his words: Our lives are nothing
more than a series of choices and you always have a chance to choose.
After the keynote was over James was mobbed. I wanted to
greet him but the crowds were thick and I couldn’t think of anything important
to say to him. I did see his dragon drawing on the stage later in the day and
wished I could have it. Not just because it was cool art. It definitely is cool
art, but the fact that I watched him stand there and draw it would be a
reminder that something so complex and beautiful started with 4 simple
lines—and maybe I could even have recognized those 4 foundational lines. And
then maybe I could choose 4 solid foundational lines to build my own destiny
on.
James also said that when he writes he draws an image for
every chapter. And if he doesn’t have a good idea for what the image should
look like he considers that a flaw in the writing and he rewrites till an image
comes to mind. I want to start doing that, drawing an image for more of the
chapters I write. But I’m horrible at drawing. I do have a sketchbook and I’ve
drawn maps for my story so far. I’ve even attempted sketching a couple of
places I wanted to visualize better, and a couple of things I felt like I
needed something more concrete than an idea in my head. But I wish they were
better. But, even though I’m horrible
I’m going to try drawing images for more scenes in my book. I think the
intertwining of written word and visual images is a powerful way to convey a
story.
One of the great opportunities at LTUE is to meet new people
and to branch out. I eavesdropped more than I should have. And I really should
have tried harder to reach out. But I did end up chatting with many nice
people.
Before LTUE I’d never heard of James A Owen, sorry James.
But there was something about James that made me want to have a connection—he
was that impressive. There were several occasions after his keynote where I
might have had a chance if I were more persistent, and more courageous. I even
waited in line between sessions to talk with him, but alas I didn’t manage
to get the chance. I even practiced what I was going to say after thanking him
for such a great keynote. I was going to look him in the eye and say “You
inspired me and I am going to do what you did. And I am coming back here next
year as your peer.” Well, that’s what I hoped to be able to say. But I’m not
sure I could be that bold. Nevertheless I will continue to write, in part
because of his inspiration. And maybe someday I’ll be able to say that to Mr
Owen. One more thing I plan on doing soon is buying a copy of Here, There Be Dragons.
I also wanted to meet Stacy Whitman. I wanted to tell her
I’m writing my story for her. I heard her speak two years ago at my first LTUE
and I thought cultural diversity, this is interesting. Why not include
characters with different cultural backgrounds? But Stacy is a stickler, as she
should be. And to be honest I’m afraid that I won’t be as good as she needs me
to be. I’m working hard to incorporate as much as I can from her session, her
blog, her tweets and all the resources she cites. But still I worry. I hope
that if my first draft is wrong or bad that instead of someone telling me “you
shouldn't do that” someone will help me make it better.
I saw Howard Tayler a lot. I used to work with Howard years
ago. When he left Novell to pursue his career in comics I was surprised, and
probably a little doubtful. But over the years I’ve watched his career blossom and
my surprise has turned to admiration. It took a lot of guts for Howard to walk
away from a decent paying job into the unknown. But kudos to him for having the
courage to follow through on his dreams. He’s my poster boy for “It can be
done.” Now all I need to do is work up the courage to actually do it myself.
Besides being funny what I appreciate most about Howard is,
despite all of his success, he’s still approachable. I see him quite often now,
especially since I started reading comics again, and every time I see him I
come away with some tidbit of encouragement or a nugget of help as I take my
own tiny steps toward my dream of becoming a writer.
LTUE=Inspiration+Motivation+Tricks of the Trade+Rub shoulders
with industry professionals & all kinds of good writerly people.
I came away from LTUE with a reinvigorated enthusiasm for
writing. And a conviction that if I continue to work hard and simply keep
writing, that I can produce something worth reading by more than just my family
and friends. I’m already looking forward to LTUE 31 in 2013. By then I expect
to have the first draft of my novel done, and I should be working on revisions
and querying.
I included the last part mainly so that I’ll have some semblance of
accountability, not because I’m particularly confident I’ll actually achieve it.
