A Winter Conference Can Work Wonders

I spent this past weekend at NOLA Stars Conference—and came home more than ready to get back to writing my new proposal. There is something about a conference that can get a writers imagination going even in the midst of winter, after two back to back moves. I am so glad I was able to make it.  

I was able to hear our very own Elnora speak on those Seven Deadly Sins. She was one of the speakers on Friday and her workshop gave me lots of conflict ideas for my proposal. And all day the next day there were workshops that helped me see where I was going with it.  It was such a joy to have those ideas firming up over the weekend.

If you have a chance to go to a conference mid-winter, I'd say go.  It always helps to be able to spend time with other authors, and writing professionals.  And I've never been to a conference yet where I didn't learn a lot—either a reminder of what I'd forgotten I used to do, or something I just hadn't thought about. They are always worth going to.

The NOLA conference is just the right size for a weekend conference. Not to little, not too big.  And lots of fun! So the next time you have a chance to go to a conference this time of year think about going. You might find it will energize your writing in ways you'd never thought of.  Many thanks to the NOLA Stars for putting on a great conference!

Ask Elnora--About Those Seven Deadly Sins?--Lenora Worth

Hello, my name is Elnora and I'm a sinner. There, I said it. But thankfully, I write books where I can analyze and tweak sin and put it in it's proper place. My characters go through all kinds of feelings and emotions, and gasp, sometimes they don't always act in a proper Christian manner. But we want our characters to be human and we hope that by the end of the book, they are human. :)

Today, I'll be teaching a workshop at my home chapter of RWA--the NOLA STARS! My workshop is all about The Seven Deadly Sins and how they can be pitted against The Seven Heavenly Virtues. Then we throw in The Seven Corporate Virtues and seven deadly habits verses seven caring habits. But it doesn't end there. Oh, no. I also throw in seven original plots and ... we're off and running. This is a fun workshop because it's like connecting the dots or playing hang-man. It's like tic-tac-toe and solving a cross-word puzzle. Do I match Pride with Prudence? Do I throw in feeding the hungry? Oh, wow, I just came up with a great inner-city contemporary story! Maybe I can match Lust with Love and throw in a quest or a rebirth. That would add a lot of conflict! Do I write a tragedy or a comedy and if I do, how will I have a happy ending? I'll throw in some courage and pit that against a bit of anger.

As you can see, my little workshop is a good way to tell a story with lessons from the Bible. Because the Bible had just about everything I've mentioned above. I'll let y'all know how my workshop goes, but in the meantime, we can discuss the "virtues" of this plotting device. Do you like it? Do you hate it? Do you even understand it? At least we can discuss plots and how they are so important to a story. We can talk about how to come up with a good plot and some of the devices the way-smart Craftie Ladies use to create their stories. (And it's not even Third Friday Writing Day!))