Monday, September 28, 2009

Viva la Difference

By Ali Cross

Last week I attended the one-day Book Academy writers’ conference at Utah Valley University. There were many wonderful moments at the conference, but today I’d like to share with you the first and best little nugget I gleaned.

We are all different.

I know you’ve heard that before. But you need to hear it again.

As writers, we are all different. And that’s a very good thing.

Brandon Sanderson delivered the event’s keynote address. He spoke on the ten things he needed to know before he got published, and one of those ten things was to remember that everyone is different.

Some writers carefully outline their story, building character sheets and crafting the arc for each scene before ever beginning to write. Others throw caution to the wind and write to their heart’s content, only going back to address character development and plot after they’ve exhausted their muse. Many writers are a combination of both.

But no two writers are the same.

Embrace what works for you. Don’t hesitate to try the methods of others, but in the end, viva la difference!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Amen and amen. God loves wonderous variety and so do I!

Nichole Giles said...

Yahoo for that statement! It's a good thing we're different, too, or else we'd all be writing the same stuff over and over and over again until no one had anything left to write ever again and...

Well, you know.