Those of you in the Washington, DC area won’t be surprised to see Michael Hauge’s name in the title of my blog post today. Any WRW member who had a chance to spend time with him this weekend at his fabulous workshop, presented by WRW, appreciates my adoration. The man rocks hard with the identity and the essence and the stages of conflict that bring emotions to life. You know what I’m saying.

But why Six Sentence Sunday? Besides the sense of community it fosters and the promotional ops, why am I mentioning the two in the same blog?

A few weeks ago, I pulled out one of my old WIPs and decided to use it for Six Sentence Sunday. Then after a few weeks of consistently searching for, finding and posting a ‘good’ six, my old WIP felt brand new. Positive feedback fueled me, prompting me to shove the WIP to the number one spot on my must-finish list. (And oh, it’s about a vampire FBI agent struggling to keep a promise to a witch.)

So with that WIP in my head, I spent the weekend with Michael Hauge. Now in short, Hauge is a Hollywood script (screenplay) doctor. This was my third Hauge encounter in four years. And this weekend, I also signed up for a 30-minute one-on-one meeting (which he allowed me to record!).

A quick aside…I’m a visual person, and whether or not you buy this next statement–so are all writers. At least fiction writers are visual artists – they take the vision in their heads called a story and write it into words that make so much sense the reader ‘sees’ the characters in action as they read about the character’s conflict, emotions, fears and longings…played out in a plot.

So Mr. Hollywood screenplay script-doctor Hauge is perfect for me. Combined with other workshops, craft books, brainstorming sessions, online think tanks, and all the activities writers use to make better sense of their craft, he brings a fresh terminology and a passion for emotional story telling that captivates me. He also isn’t shy about showing his impatience with writers, which made me smile. But more importantly, that impatience reinforced a key component of his message for me—simplify, simplify, simplify.

Some writers, like me, we do too much. We put too many obstacles–situations–in front of the character to replace the difficulty of understanding and writing conflict. Our world building is so complicated it takes over the characters—which can never happen in a good book. You can tell I could go on and on…but let me recap the highlights of what I learned this weekend.  Here goes:

• There is a difference between conflict and obstacles. Don’t laugh. That realization was a big deal for me…
• Internal vs. external or emotion vs. situation. Without conflict, without emotion, a situation is a plot point without a heart.
• Less is more.
• Don’t give away too much about character in the opening of your story–drive to the finish line (don’t sprint). In my one-on-one private session with Hauge, which I highly recommend, we talked about my opening scene and the black moment and the ending scene, all driven by conflict and set-up in the opening scene (yep, in 30 minutes:).

If you were there this weekend, I’d like to know what hit home for you. If you weren’t, what craft book or workshop instructor, or author, comes to mind when you need inspiration or just a reminder of what matters on the page…and how you can get there. So share, and let’s celebrate good workshops, good RWA chapters (hoorah WRWDC!), and insightful instructors.

(And oh, I have nothing to say about NaNoWriMo – I put it in my blog title because, well, my brain is ready to explode…12k and counting…and we must never forget November is National Writing Month–damn it!:)

I’ve been on a quest to find the perfect tagline. That elusive phrase that summarizes all that there is to know about moi the writer and aspiring author. Why is it important since I don’t have an agent (yet), or a book sold (yet)? Well, it’s all about marketing in the new era of author as business owner (can I get an AMEN).

In this new age, you can’t just sit back and rest on your laurels. You must create the foundation for success by getting on board the marketing train and tooting your own horn. You would think I could do this with my eyes closed. After all, I am a professional marketer. Have been for 25 years. But nope…and you ask why?

I’ve hit a brick wall.

I just can’t come up with that clever catch phrase, and “I’m smart. I know things.” (Think Godfather II, and you’ll get the reference:)…But clearly I don’t know as much as I thought about creating a brand for me (versus clients or even offering advice and creative to other authors and writers).

So, I’ve been doing my research, searching the Internet and visiting at least a 100 author sites, and here’s what I’ve deduced.

1)  Once you hit the NYTimes Bestseller list -you don’t need a tag line:)

2) If you write Urban Fantasies – you don’t need a tag line:)

3) If you are a male author – you don’t need a tag line (okay, this doesn’t help me much, but it’s what I got)

4) And with all of this said – I still want my freaking tagline…

What’s your tagline and how did you come up with it?

And if you’ve got something left and can spare – toss it my way!

RWA Nationals 2011 had loads of inspiration gushing from every workshop, meal function and hallway conversation. You name it. I loved it. But I usually do. The annual RWA conference is a drug that fills you up with the kind of joy and excitement that can keep you motivated through New Year’s Eve.

But that’s what Nationals is all about. The people. The connections. The camaraderie. The inspiration.

But like in other years, there’s always one topic that haunts me. No matter where I went or what the workshop was supposed to be all about – this subject found a way to worm itself into the moment…yep, I’m talking about self-publishing.

At my RWA 11, there wasn’t one workshop, luncheon or publisher’s spotlight that didn’t feature a comment (or more than one) about self-publishing. And those comments varied dramatically in tone and flare.

Some agents and editors delivered narrow-eyed statements about vanity publishers. Others gave straight-forward, finger wagging warnings about how much hard work was required and how little time a writer would have left to write if they seriously intended to make a go of it via publishing their own works. And then there were the digs about how all of this effort would earn you only a few pennies – if that.

On the other hand, there were a few supporters. Those industry professionals who made it clear that for some authors — for example those who owned their own back lists — self-publishing could well be a good option with the right team (and some solid research). There were even a few self-publishing houses mentioned as worth their weight in gold (sorry I didn’t take notes on these comments so I don’t have examples).

Now where do I fall in all of this?

To some extent, I had the same knee jerk reaction that a lot of writers have about self-publishing: vanity publishing with a new coat of paint.

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I Am Number Four…

And I’m not talking about the bad movie (based on the NYT Times Bestseller by Pittacus Lore – aka James Frey and Jobie Hughes) that hit the theaters less than a month ago, and is already available on Blue Ray. No, I’m referring to this blog. This is the fourth time in the last hour I’ve started my first Waterworld Mermaids blog, and I have drawn my line in the sand: this one will be the one…

So, prepare yourself. The number four has been my lucky number for more than three decades. Who knows what awe-inspiring blogging will happen in the paragraphs below. What key learnings (God, I hate that phrase…so corporate and annoyingly smug) will you walk away with in the five minutes it will take you to read my first Mermaid blog? (And being the optimist that I am, I assume you’re still reading).

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