Worldcon Wrap-Up: Part 2
Now that I've gotten the blow-by-blow out of the way, I want to reflect a bit (as long as I can stay awake, anyway) on what I got out of Worldcon. Forthwith, and in no particular order, some thoughts on lessons learned, connections made, and epiphanies experienced.
The best thing that came out of Worldcon was the (re)experiencing of the writerly "tribe" feeling, especially with fellow VP'ers, who on the whole seem like some of the most open, supportive, helpful, creative and interesting people I know. More than once there was the out-loud acknowledgement that we felt like we were the new generation of writers coming up, and that we were different in our fandom than the Old Guard. I know there's been a whole discussion over on tor.com and in LJ lately about the generation gap in fandom and in particular in the written SFF canon, and I don't want to rehash it. But I will say that although being at Worldcon made me feel close and connected to my new gen writer peeps (and that was AWESOME), I still came away feeling ignorant overall of the genre and peripheral to what felt like the Grand Old Tradition(s) of "fandom" (whatever that really means) and Worldcon itself. And not in a "oh goody look at all the fun stuff I get to learn about, bring it on" kind of way, but more of a despairing "how am I ever going to learn all this/read all this/fit in/be a knowledgeable geek (a term I prefer to 'fan')?" I actually had the same fits of insecurity around my "geek cred" before VP, where I kept wondering if I was going to be geeky *enough* to fit in with the rest of the crowd. (Turns out to have not been any sort of an issue, and those of you who actually know me can quit laughing now.)
I also, once again, had it driven home quite forcefully (by circumstance and surroundings, not by individual conversations or comments) that I need to keep (re)prioritizing the writing in my life or I will never actually achieve any of the dreams I have of being a published writer. In order to publish anything, I must write. In order to write, I must have regular, sacred time set aside for writing. Shocking, I know. So simple, and SO DAMN HARD for me to keep up a regular writing practice in this whirlwind period of my life. But I must. I must. Or the dreams will die. And really, did I survive the first 39 years of my life (not to mention cancer, hel-LO) only to settle for mundanity? I did not.
I do see the end of the first novel in sight now (thanks in no small part to the late night brainstorming talents of Kim and Heather--thanks gals!) and I *think* I am mostly mentally fortified enough to face the inevitable next phases of the process (revision, query, and submission), but I'll admit I also have a niggly little critic voice in my head now that says "why is this novel taking so damn long? You're way behind your peers! You haven't ever published a damn thing in the genre! Get on it or they'll leave you behind!" And that's leading me to consider also perhaps writing (and submitting) a few short stories, just to see what that process is like. Of course, that'll likely just be good practice in gathering rejections, but might as well get that particular practice going sooner rather than later so that when it *does* come time to submit the novel, I'll have tougher skin.
I certainly learned/had reinforced some good practical lessons about the submitting process as well--how to deal with query letters, agents, and publishers' slush piles, why you should aim high when you first submit--all sorts of nuts and bolts stuff that I mostly already knew but it was good to hear again. And I am almost at a point now where this stuff is going to be less and less theoretical knowledge and more and more practical applied knowledge. I just need to keep slogging.
I realized that I need to recommit to reading. It used to be my favorite activity in the world, reading. But with all the other demands on my time, I have mostly lost that comforting bookworm behavior. And even when I do read, I'm not reading genre mostly. That needs to change. I love reading SFF and I feel wildly ignorant about the current state of the genre because I haven't read much within it for the last 20 years or so. So: more reading time, and more SFF in my reading.
I also learned (again) that just like in my "mundane" business world, it's crucial to keep networking (the good kind, not the scary schmoozing used-car-salesman kind) and building up relationships with other writerly people. Relationships are important to me anyway--I'm a diehard people collector, mostly because I find people as individuals and groups just so damn *interesting*--but the practical epiphany I experienced here (again) is that, within reason, keeping up on LJ and blogs and Twitter is not just self-indulgent cat waxing (ok sometimes it is, but not all the time), it's actually the best way for me to keep relationships alive in this time of my life. Hence the once again staying up too late, playing with Live Journal.
And speaking of staying up too late (again!), let me sum up: VP peeps are made of shiny fabulosity, I need to reinstate a regular writing practice, I am going to consider writing some short stories, I need to start submitting stuff ASAP, I am recommitting to reading and specifically to SFF reading, and I want to be more involved on LJ and other online communities. Whew. Sounds like a lot. But it's good to have it all written down so I'll remember later when I need the touchstone again.
The best thing that came out of Worldcon was the (re)experiencing of the writerly "tribe" feeling, especially with fellow VP'ers, who on the whole seem like some of the most open, supportive, helpful, creative and interesting people I know. More than once there was the out-loud acknowledgement that we felt like we were the new generation of writers coming up, and that we were different in our fandom than the Old Guard. I know there's been a whole discussion over on tor.com and in LJ lately about the generation gap in fandom and in particular in the written SFF canon, and I don't want to rehash it. But I will say that although being at Worldcon made me feel close and connected to my new gen writer peeps (and that was AWESOME), I still came away feeling ignorant overall of the genre and peripheral to what felt like the Grand Old Tradition(s) of "fandom" (whatever that really means) and Worldcon itself. And not in a "oh goody look at all the fun stuff I get to learn about, bring it on" kind of way, but more of a despairing "how am I ever going to learn all this/read all this/fit in/be a knowledgeable geek (a term I prefer to 'fan')?" I actually had the same fits of insecurity around my "geek cred" before VP, where I kept wondering if I was going to be geeky *enough* to fit in with the rest of the crowd. (Turns out to have not been any sort of an issue, and those of you who actually know me can quit laughing now.)
I also, once again, had it driven home quite forcefully (by circumstance and surroundings, not by individual conversations or comments) that I need to keep (re)prioritizing the writing in my life or I will never actually achieve any of the dreams I have of being a published writer. In order to publish anything, I must write. In order to write, I must have regular, sacred time set aside for writing. Shocking, I know. So simple, and SO DAMN HARD for me to keep up a regular writing practice in this whirlwind period of my life. But I must. I must. Or the dreams will die. And really, did I survive the first 39 years of my life (not to mention cancer, hel-LO) only to settle for mundanity? I did not.
I do see the end of the first novel in sight now (thanks in no small part to the late night brainstorming talents of Kim and Heather--thanks gals!) and I *think* I am mostly mentally fortified enough to face the inevitable next phases of the process (revision, query, and submission), but I'll admit I also have a niggly little critic voice in my head now that says "why is this novel taking so damn long? You're way behind your peers! You haven't ever published a damn thing in the genre! Get on it or they'll leave you behind!" And that's leading me to consider also perhaps writing (and submitting) a few short stories, just to see what that process is like. Of course, that'll likely just be good practice in gathering rejections, but might as well get that particular practice going sooner rather than later so that when it *does* come time to submit the novel, I'll have tougher skin.
I certainly learned/had reinforced some good practical lessons about the submitting process as well--how to deal with query letters, agents, and publishers' slush piles, why you should aim high when you first submit--all sorts of nuts and bolts stuff that I mostly already knew but it was good to hear again. And I am almost at a point now where this stuff is going to be less and less theoretical knowledge and more and more practical applied knowledge. I just need to keep slogging.
I realized that I need to recommit to reading. It used to be my favorite activity in the world, reading. But with all the other demands on my time, I have mostly lost that comforting bookworm behavior. And even when I do read, I'm not reading genre mostly. That needs to change. I love reading SFF and I feel wildly ignorant about the current state of the genre because I haven't read much within it for the last 20 years or so. So: more reading time, and more SFF in my reading.
I also learned (again) that just like in my "mundane" business world, it's crucial to keep networking (the good kind, not the scary schmoozing used-car-salesman kind) and building up relationships with other writerly people. Relationships are important to me anyway--I'm a diehard people collector, mostly because I find people as individuals and groups just so damn *interesting*--but the practical epiphany I experienced here (again) is that, within reason, keeping up on LJ and blogs and Twitter is not just self-indulgent cat waxing (ok sometimes it is, but not all the time), it's actually the best way for me to keep relationships alive in this time of my life. Hence the once again staying up too late, playing with Live Journal.
And speaking of staying up too late (again!), let me sum up: VP peeps are made of shiny fabulosity, I need to reinstate a regular writing practice, I am going to consider writing some short stories, I need to start submitting stuff ASAP, I am recommitting to reading and specifically to SFF reading, and I want to be more involved on LJ and other online communities. Whew. Sounds like a lot. But it's good to have it all written down so I'll remember later when I need the touchstone again.
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