Flourish Writers Conference

A free conference!

"I think I'll pass on that," said no one ever.

That includes me, too! Therefore, I jumped at the chance to watch the Flourish Writers Conference, a  six-day virtual conference, from right here in my house, on my laptop. I delighted in wearing my jammies and eating a pint of ice cream. While chillin' out (for a lack of better words) and feeding my sweet tooth, I got fed spiritually and mentally.

And I learned so much!

Below are the names of the featured authors and a little bit of what I learned from them. The lines in italics are the ones that are more personal to me

Joanna Weaver

• Include outtakes of works in progress. They just might be used for future work.
• Do it simple; get fancy later.
• Do not fall in love with your words.

Havilah Cunnington

• Everyone relates to pain.
• What about the pain do you want people to know?
• You don't need to be profound.
• It's okay to be in a process.

Lucretia Berry

• There is much freedom in self-publishing. Lucretia, you are my self-publishing soulmate.
• Do not despise small beginnings.

Andi Cumbo-Floyd

• Write for the joy of writing.

Renee Fisher

This is an example of brainstorming a story with sticky notes. The pictures below show the brainstorming I did for Kill the Locust, my next work in progress.

Need I say more?

Arabah Joy

• Micro-writing is small chunks of writing, done in one sitting (eg. social media posts, journal entries, blog posts).
• People have short attention spans.
• I need to improve on this style of writing.

Tiara Cloud

• Discover your "why".
• In her book, Cracked Mirrors, people have been able to identify with the fiction parts of this book. I now feel more motivated to, as the voiceover for the introduction to these videos says, write the story inside of me.

Bonnie Gray

• No matter what you write, point to hope.
• Writing can be healing just as much for you as for your readers.
• Nurture your soul. Exercise, listen to music.
• Do artistic things that inspire you.
• Spend time with people who encourage you.
• Don't clean up your story.

Tisha Martin

• "Insignificant dialogue" can kill the story sometimes. However, it is good for when the character is nervous.
• Get rid of "overdressed dialogue," taking out adverbs and inserting character action. This is one of the things I am working on right now for Writing Soulmates.

Patrice Gopo

• Essay (verb): to try to make sense of a personal experience
• Journal (verb): a raw verbal dump on paper
• Journaling is a pathway, a stepping stone, to an essay.
• Since I have written in tons of journals, I think there may be an essayist in me. This avenue of writing has piqued my curiosity.

Katherine Reay

• There are stories of victories and defeats behind every successful author.
• Bleed on the page.

Mindy Kiker

• Devotionals should be less than or equal to 1000 words.
• Let the Scripture shine.
• Make it a message of hope.
• This is a form of micro-writing I'm now longing even more to start doing.

Kate Montaung

• When making a writing platform, elevate God, not me.
• Interact online and be a blessing to others.

Kaitlyn Bouchillon

• I can't always hide behind writing.
• What social media actions are draining me?
• What form of social media do my readers frequent?
• I should take a picture of some part of my book from time to time.

Lindsey Hartz

• What kinds of readers am I trying to help?
• Where do my readers hang out?
• If I want to know them, they will find my passion.
• Think of marketing while working on a book.

Shauna Letellier

• No one cares about your book the way you do.
• I plan to make more live videos.
• I'd like to include a discussion guide at the end of my books.
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