Day 2 started early. I was very good and brought my weights so I could work out. Considering how much I was eating (I eat to stuff emotions I don't want or don't know how to handle). I helped in the hospitality suite, which gave me an opportunity to meet new people on a much smaller scale. I'm much more comfortable one on one or two or even three or four, but a crowd scares me silly.
That's a lie.
Crowds don't scare me. They overwhelm me. I'm hypersensitive so pick up on all the tension going on around me. I don' t know how to turn it off, or even if I want to, because being aware is also a blessing.
Breakfast was pancakes and bacon. Yummy. It comes with the room. Nice. By the way, the Chaparral Suites, in Scottsdale, are lovely. I felt pampered simply being there.
Workshops started early, 8:30 am. I took a little time to rest and regroup, then dove in at 9:45 am with Linda Styles' Make 'Em Laugh, Make 'Em Cry -- No Don't. As she discussed the importance of not being cliche in your word choices, I immediately thought of Kris Tualla. She uses some amazing descriptions. I'd reread sentences so I could enjoy her unique choice of words all over again.
Maggie Shayne's Sanity 101 offered different ideas for enjoying life more. We supposedly start writing because we love it. It's a pity to lose that joy in the grind to complete the task.
Jennifer Schober's Staying Sane and Optimizing Creativity in the Digital Age of Publishing could have been paired with Maggie Shayne's workshop, not that it needed to be paired. It followed a similar theme of staying in the present.
I had the privilege of moderating for Laurie Schnebly-Campbell's class Double Ds: Description and Dialogue. She likes to be interactive, giving short writing assignments and then having a few of the participants share their work. Wow. I was impressed. She also suggested using different colors for each character's dialogue so you could compare and see if it all sounds the same or different. I've taken a class from Laurie and enjoyed her presentations in our Desert Rose meetings. She was both helpful and encouraging when I was preparing my manuscript for submission. I don't think I could have done it without her.
My last workshop on Saturday was Unlock, Unblock! with Jess Macallan and Amber Scott. It was the most revealing workshop for me. I've been discovering I'm more plotter than pantster (writing by the seat of your pants), but I now understand why. More importantly, they had a little demonstration, and I discovered how tactile/kinesthetic I am. When I'm feeling like the writing simply won't come I make bread or cookies. I love the doing. I love the feel of bread when I knead it, and it ripens from sticky to smooth. It feels different from when it isn't ready to when it is. I also enjoy the pop and snap of the dough as I work it. Again, making cookies is a consistent process. Both are orderly, and at the same time sort of brainless, only enough brain power to know what comes next when. I'd definitely attend this workshop again.
I bailed on the evening activity when my back spasmed. Fortunately, it didn't turn into anything serious.
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