DFW Con

10:02 PM Marcellino DAmbrosio 1 Comments

• Wear bowties more often. Nuff said.

Nothing says "read my book" like a frikkin studdly bowtie

• From a class on detail, I just strait up do too much of that. I need to stop trying to amaze everyone with my epic turn of phrase and poetics and actually say tell you guys whats happening. No one cares how deep a crimson the sunset is or how it blends with the fiery hue's of a forest in autumn unless some dude just took a sword to his gut.

  And/or is consumed by a gigantic spongebob inflatable

  
  
• I naively attended the session labled how to write a good love scene. What it actually should have been called was: “how to write a steamy sex scene.” Needless to say, it was quite... ehem... informational. In fact, so much so that I'm going to need sub bullet points for this guy.
  
  

  - When writing a sex scene, one writes until the change in the character occurs. The classic “fade to a random sunset after they kiss” bit only works if the drama of the occasion has already taken place. So. A really good example of this is Daenerys and Khal Drogo's wedding night in the game of thrones. You really get to see the tender side of Khal Drogo when he touches her. In that scene, things start to change for Daenerys, the scared girl starts to accept her crown here. You could never have seen the drama if it had faded to horses on the Dothraki plains right after the wedding.

  
  

  "No... no, Dave! Not that o..... shit."

  
  
  

  - There were two whole power point pages on how to get over “My mother is going to read this” syndrome. The central counter to this particular issue seemed to be the following argument: Your mother has had sex. Probably with your dad. The end.

  
  

  - Loves scenes must have lots and lots of tension or else they aren't compelling. There must be at least one serious obstacle—you're a vampire and could possibly eat me if we get it on—or else it sucks. Apparently its the same as in real life. Who knew?

  
  
  
• The unexamined life is worthless to a writer. David Corbett, the keynote speaker, spoke at the evening cocktail party on the importance of self examination. The writer's entire purpose is the peal back the veil on the human condition. We write to reveal the truth. “What does it mean to be human?” every writer eats, sleeps, and breaths this question. The key, he said, to real, solid characters is to know that the cheerleaders greatest moment of shame was when she threw up all over her shoes. That her greatest moment of guilt was when she almost had the abortion. That the time she was the most free and alive was when she saw her little sister win the dance contest. The moments where one is most helpless or unable to understand are the moments that define us as people. The journey to good authorship, then, is to first accept and understand your own. This insight was so profound. As a youth minister, I'm constantly trying to get kids to open up and “share their shit.” I do this, because when you go there, when you return to those times of deep hurt or extreme joy, two things happen. Firstly, the question “what does it mean to be human?” cannot help but be asked. Secondly, two people who would have otherwise been completely indifferent towards one another, suddenly share a deep bond as a result. The discovery “you are human too,” comes like an echo.
  I wrote a whole post about this here if you're interested.
  
  
• I really want to finish Guardians. The story just demands to be written. It's coming my friends. It's coming.