Regurgitating my favorite speakers

We all have been there, workshop, conference or online class. We pick which presenter for various reasons, recommendations, their fiction books or their reputation. Here’s how I pick author’s: I read their fiction books! Various “how to books” on my bookshelves are from author’s I’ve read and loved. Then when they were presenting around me, I jumped at the chance to see them, not for the fame aspect, but for the knowledge aspect. They went through the publishing marathon and have amazing product in the end.

Most of what I regurgitate, I’ve learned from various people, some just from my own mistakes. But mostly from those whom I respect. We each need to find a way to write… A Writing Toolkit so to speak that is our individual plan of attacking the creativity that flows. We must understand the craft in order to write the craft.

Picasso didn’t start his artistic career with Cubism, he first started with realism, what was in front of him until he learned his style of shattering the image to create an image. That is what author’s do every day. We create the world as we see, but first we have to understand what we are doing to make our work individual and unique for readers.

So I’ll tell you, my all star list of favorite presenters, I’ll probably add more as time goes by as I learn new aspects to my writing.

• Bob Mayer I love his fiction books, and had the chance to do an in-depth workshop with him a year ago, learning more about plotting than any pantser could image.
• Anna Destefano Great fiction author. Ijust took a workshop by her. She plans/plots through her character’s emotional development. Something I can relate to. She runs a weekly blog on How We Write and Publishing isn’t for Sissies… worth every minute of the read.
• Deb Dixon The name dropped by millions of authors cross genres for her Goal, Motivation and Conflict. I’m excited because she’s coming near me in a few months and I’ve already reserved my spot in the room.
• Jenni Talty-Holbrook Loved the plotting of her books, dark and romantic. Wonderful twist. From her classes I’ve taken, I found fundamentals on plotting and introductions to great new authors.
• Gayle Callen Absolutely lovely person, with amazing fiction novels. She’s in my RWA chapter and her experience is tremendous. She plots with index cards and various other techniques from Deb Dixon and others. One of her techniques is to write a bio of each character in first person to solidify the character in your head. This blew my mind and brought life to my characters.
• Jessica Andersen Love her books, and her world building workshop was inspiring.

My list maybe short, but I know it will grow with knowledge. What does your list look like? I’m always interested in new information. Something regurgitated along the way may inspire someone to push through that last word, that last block to find their story. Fingers to the keyboard, brain on full blast…Happy typing.