Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Fall Conferences


L to R:  Debby Giusti, Missy Tippens, Michael Hauge,
and Janet Dean at ACFW

by Debby Giusti

Writing is a solitary business, but each fall two conferences – held only two weeks apart – pull me away from my computer and allow me to interact with others. On September 16, I flew to Indianapolis, Indiana, for the American Christian Fiction Writers Conference. The Friday to Monday event was packed with workshops on craft and technique and provided numerous opportunities to learn how experts create their stories.

Hollywood Screenwriting Guru Michael Hauge gave a two-day class on Plot Structure. Initially he worked with screenwriters to help them enhance their scripts. A few years ago, he began speaking to writers groups and soon realized the same techniques apply to full-length fiction. Using examples from movies, Hauge described the six stages that take a character from his or her ordinary world through a series of escalating complications, which result in changing the hero or heroine, to an exciting climax where the lead character faces his biggest obstacle. In the end, the character is a new and hopefully better person because of what he experienced.

Interestingly, Mr. Hauge is also presenting at the Georgia Romance Writers Moonlight and Magnolias Conference, which I will be attending this upcoming weekend. No doubt, he’ll provide even more information for me to absorb and apply to my own writing.



L to R: Seekers Cheryl Wyatt, Janet Dean, Missy Tippens, Audra
Harders, Steeple Hill Assistant Editor, Emily Rodmell, Debby Giusti,
Glynna Kaye and Myra Johnson at ACFW.

The highlight of both conferences is reconnecting with friends. Many of the Seekers – 15 of us began as a group of online friends all working toward publication…for the last three years we’ve blogged about our experiences (http://www.seekerville.blogspot.com/) and celebrated when doors opened and our books sold—were at the ACFW conference so it was especially wonderful to get together with them. The Georgia writers are a warm and welcoming group, and I’m excited about seeing many dear friends this weekend as well.

I’ll return home on Monday and head back to my computer. Hopefully, my writing will benefit from the workshops I’ve attended. I know I’ll have wonderful memories of the friends I cherish that will carry me through a winter of writing.

Wishing you abundant blessings!
Debby Giusti
http://www.debbygiusti.com/
http://www.crossmyheartprayerteam.blogspot.com/
Visit Seekerville (http://www.seekerville.blogspot.com/) for our October Birthday Bash. Great blog interviews, lots of fun and giveaways, including a Kindle loaded with Seeker books!

6 comments:

Project Journal said...

You ladies look great, Debby!!! SO glad you had fun : )

Someday I will meet you guys! That's a dream, for sure lol!

As "Loves 2 Read Romance" said, I can't WAIT for the Birthday Bash!! YAY! It's gonna be AWESOME!
Talk to you later,
Hannah

Debby Giusti said...

Hi Fantum!

Thanks for stopping by today! Be sure to hit Seekerville in OCT!

All the best!

Debby Giusti said...

Hi Hannah,
I'm sure you'll attend some of the conferences once you're finished with your schooling! You love writing and the written word. Plus, you're our friend right now. Of course, we'll meet in the not-too-distant future!

Debby Giusti said...

Hi Eva!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Anonymous said...

One of these days I hope to attend the ACFW conference. It falls at a bad time of year though with the kidlings and school. Looks like you had a blast though.

Martha Eskuchen said...

Oh how nice it is to get together with like minded people to support and encourage each other. I hope you enjoy the Georgia Conference too!