Monday, October 4, 2010

League of Utah Writers Conference

Writing
I'm going to post my notes, the ones I wrote in my little composition book, from the League of Utah Writers, henceforth called, LUW.
I went Friday and Saturday; heard good advice; remembered why I like writing; meet awesome people; renewed friendships; ate horseradish sauce and other good food. I believe it was worth my time and money.
I hope to post my notes every Monday so check back and see if you learn anything :)

LuAnn Staheli-Know your Genre

What is genre? It is literary technique, tone, content, length etc.

Fiction is the hardest genre to break into.
  • Realism-Plausible story about people and events that could really happen. Romance, thriller, historical, sports all fit under realism.
  • Fantasy-Fantastical elements in traditional or modern fantasy.
    • Traditional fantasy follows the quest. 
    • Modern fantasy has elements of magic in the human world. Horror and sci-fi are sub genres of modern fantasy.
Non-fiction SELLS THE MOST (by the end of the conference I was ready to change. I'm keeping ideas in the back of my mind and notebook).
  • Biography-needs more factual support.
  • Autobiography-Bigger piece of time
  • Memoirs-Small part of life
  • General non-fiction (Dewey decimal)-Different stories from life in one book
Poetry doesn't sell :)

Speciality books are manga (graphic novels), cookbooks etc


What are the target audiences?
Picture book: 1-3 pages
Chapter book: Max 100 pages
Middle grade: 100-200 pages
Young Adult: 150-300 pages
Adult: 150-several hundred pages, 70,000-90,000 words max

4 comments:

Christine Fonseca said...

Yea, my agent told me about the NF thing when we signed - she said that was why she specialized in NF, easier to sell right now.

Taffy said...

But what to right in NF?? Oh wait! For got a few coming out! Go Christine!

Chantele Sedgwick said...

Sounds like a great conference! I tend to steer clear of NF. I just can't get into reading it, let alone writing it. I'm glad people can though! I'm just a fantasy lover I guess. :)

Taffy said...

Ok! My reply did not make since LOL.
I have no ideas for NF because I also like fantasy. Christine has a couple of NF's coming out this year. I'm going to review one of her books in a couple of weeks!

Writer Website in A Weekend

Writer Website in A Weekend
Website