Storymaker's Conference

Where shall I start? Wow!! Those who organized and presented the conference did a remarkable job. The classes were well presented. The food was great. And though there was construction going on, and we had to walk around it, it seemed to part of the adventure . . . and a way of walking off all that good food.

The Keynote speaker was Kevin J. Anderson. He is an author of more than a hundred novels, 47 of which have appeared on national or international bestseller lists. He has over 20 million books in print in 30 languages. He has won or been nominated for numerous prestigious awards, including the Nebula Award, Bram Stoker Award, the SFX Reader's Choice Award, the American Physics Society's Forum Award, and New York Times Notable Book.

This man writes 6-10 books a year. In addition to his own fiction, he has written numerous bestselling comics and graphic novels and several collaborative projects, including novels in the Dune Universe with Frank Herbert's son and a bestseller with Dean Koontz. He writes 7 days a week, 6-8 hours a day. That thought makes my head spin, but that's why he is so successful.

One important point he made  is that writing is like a full-time job. You have to put in the hours to become successful.  Oh, I think these words made an impression on everyone there. We can't all write 7 days a week or even 6-8 hours a day, but we can organize our time just as if we were going to a job every morning and putting in the time necessary to be a success.

Other commitments have taken up a lot of my time this past year. I think, however, all should be back to normal, now, and I can devote much of my time to writing and painting, again. Oh, how I'm looking forward to settling back into my routine. I certainly won't be writing 6-8 books a year because I have other commitments like spending 6 hours a week on Genealogy. 4 hours a week on Indexing. 6 hours a week working in the temple, etc., but I think I'll type up a schedule that will keep me on task so that I can spend the time I need to be a good writer . . . no, not just a good writer, but an excellent writer as well as an accomplished artist. I only have to prove it to myself . . . and that's the plan.

Have a great day.