Over the years I have attended many workshops, panels, classes, and lectures with regard to writing. Some were genre specific. Some were about tropes. Some were about editing. Some were about publishing. Some were about technique and others were about process. All of them had at least one bit of information I could use.
Not everyone has the time or money to travel to conventions, take university courses, or do boot camps to improve their writing skills. This doesn't make them less talented, less dedicated, or less serious about craft. We all start somewhere and we all have our own natural advantages and disadvantages when we approach the written word. I'm more than happy to share my notes and what I have gleaned from my writing journey with others. If it helps someone - fantastic!
Right click (or cmd click) on the link to download the file. All of them are .pdf format and will require Adobe Reader. Where appropriate, links to websites of authors, editors, publishing companies, agents, and such are added to the content. I am not, however, responsible for the current activity at those websites since they may or may not still be in use. Every effort is made to ensure information distributed here does not infringe on copyright or trademarks.
If you have questions or comments about the documents or their content you may send me email at amberleewriter at yahoo dot com.
PUBLISHING AND EDITING
SmallPress.PDF: Notes from the 2008
World Science
Fiction Convention Panel "Small Press Publishing." David Rozansky, Heidi Lampietti, and Lee Martindale (m) in
attendance.
EditingFictionWithSue.PDF:
Notes from the GenCon 2005 seminar "Short Story/Fiction Editing" with editor Sue Cook. Focus on the process of editing
and the work and role of the copyeditor in the publication process.
WRITING CRAFT
SceneAndStructure.PDF:
Notes from the
GenCon Indy 2005 Seminar "Scene and Structure" with Brad Beaulieu.
CreatingRealisticMagicSystems.PDF:
Notes from the 2004 Gencon Panel with various shared worlds authors discussing the creation of realistic magic systems and
world building for fantasy and speculative fiction works.
StackpoleOnPlot.PDF:Notes from the
2006 Gencon workshop with Mike Stackpole covering how to plot stories.
CharacterizationWithMikeStackpole.PDF:Notes
from the 2006 Gencon workshop with Mike Stackpole covering how to approach characterization.
EdGreenwoodOnWriting.PDF:Notes from the
Ed Greenwood Q&A at Gencon 2003.
THE BUSINESS OF WRITING
WritingIsTaxing.PDF:
Notes from the 2005 GenCon Indy panel titled "Writing is Taxing" which covered tax issues as they pertain to the
author.
WritingForSharedWorlds.PDF:Notes from the 2002
Shared Worlds Panel at Gencon Indy. Discussion of the subgenre and how it operates.
TheWritingCareer.PDF:Notes
from the 2006 Gencon workshop with Mike Stackpole on writing as a full-time career.
PERSONAL PROCESS AND OBSERVATIONS
CharacterDevelopmentVsPlot.PDF:Personal
observations and thoughts regarding writing "character driven" versus "plot driven" stories.
CanYouTeachSomeoneToWrite.PDF:A 2004
response to online discussions about teaching someone to be a writer. Motivated by an article by Edward Hoagland in the
Chronicle of Higher Education.
VisualStorytelling.PDF:A 2008
essay expressing my ideas of how to explain "show don't tell" to writers of fiction.
TheWoundedWarrior.PDF:Notes on the
popular genre archetype of Wounded Warrior.