How do you defy a reader’s expectations while still fulfilling them? — C.S. Pacat on the challenges of writing genre fiction.

This was just one of the many nuggets of wisdom I picked up over the course of a day at the Emerging Writers’ Festival in Melbourne last June. I went to the National Writer’s Conference (held on the middle weekend of the festival) on the Sunday, where I had the privilege of listening to some amazing speakers over four different talks throughout the day. For those who weren’t there, I thought I’d share some of the highlights and insights from each talk.

I Have An Idea — with Damon Young and Roselina Press

This was an informal chat between Damon Young (a non-fiction author, children’s author, and philosopher) and Roselina Press (editor of Right Now, and Australian human rights media organisation). It was fascinating to hear from both sides (editor and author) at the same time, and to break the myth about ‘editors holding writers in contempt’ (not true!). Some great quotes from Roselina on this:

Editors are as excited about the written word as you are.

We all want to tell great stories.

Damon shared some wisdom on writing non-fiction for the general public, suggesting writers ask themselves:

What in this is valuable to my audience?

They also shared some advice on pitching, which apply to both shorter or longer pieces of work:

• Be enthusiastic, as enthusiastic as you are about the work itself.

• Don’t be overly formal, but professional in tone; ‘smart casual’ works best.

• Be clear and succinct, as editors are often on time constraints.

• Be authentic.

• Outline what makes your idea different/unique.

I enjoyed the casual way they spoke, and allowed questions from the audience as they went; Damon also threw in some humour which was great and unexpected from a philosopher.

The Long And The Short Of It — with Robert Watkins, Sally Abbott, Jane Harper, Sarah Vincent and Kate Mildenhall

This panel was hosted by Robert Watkins, Hachette publisher, and all four writers were in different stages of publishing their first book. A range of topics was covered, from pitching and finding a publisher to the editing process to whether or not they had an agent. It was especially interesting to hear the different routes they had taken to getting published; two had won prizes, one was from an in-person pitch, and one had undertaken a writing course that had the opportunity to pitch to agents at the end. It just goes to show there is no single road to being published, but multiple, and every opportunity should be taken as it may lead somewhere. Sarah Vincent worded it best when she spoke of taking risks: 

Your hard drive isn’t going to publish your work.

Sally Abbott offered her insight on the editing process: 

Making the structure of a novel work is, I think, the hardest part.

And she also spoke of the benefits of committing to a writing course (she studied at the Faber Writing Academy): 

Every week you show up and you work.

 Each had their own view on agents: Kate was happy working directly with her publisher, Jane and Sarah swore by their agents being able to get them better deals and exposure, while Sally was happy working directly with her publisher though she said she would consider an agent for the future. Listening to them talk of their experience, I think it would definitely be possible to go through the publishing process without an agent (as long as you had legal advice on the contract), but I would probably prefer to have one myself.

Brave New World — with Lynette Noni, C.S. Pacat, Jane Harper, Jay Kristoff, Kate Cuthbert

This panel on genre fiction was my favourite for the day, not just because I love to read genre fiction (fantasy in particular), but because it pinpointed a gap in the Australian emerging writers scene. Most awards and writing courses are focused on literary fiction, with an underlying assumption that genre fiction is not as deep, or the characters aren’t as developed. This topic was only hit upon in the last ten minutes or so of the talk which did run over time, but I would have loved a much longer discussion. It has made me realise that if I decide I want to be a commercial genre writer, I’ll have to do my research and find the best possible path to get published.

They did a great job of defining the challenge of genre fiction: how to fulfil the reader’s expectations while still surprising them. Jay Kristoff spoke of how knowing a genre’s different tropes and limitations can actually aid in challenging them and creating something unique, while still being true to the genre.

They had some great tips between them, which I’ve collated into the list below:

• Know what you hate reading and don’t do that in your story; same with knowing what you love and doing that in your story.

• Be familiar with your genre, but also read widely.

• Get recommendations from your bookseller.

• When world building, pick one key difference between our world and the fantasy world, and build on that.

• Don’t underestimate the time it takes to construct the world, plot and characters.

• Practise exposition and do it well (See this article on C.S. Pacat’s website for advice)

• Make sure you have a plot/sub-plots.

And some reading recommendations:

• The Lymond Chronicles by Dorothy Dunnett

• Neuromancer by William Gibson

• Obernewtyn Series by Isobelle Carmody

• Welcome To Orphancorp by Marlee Jane Ward

Literary Entrepreneurs — with Emilie Zoey Baker, Sophie Allan, Bri Lee, A.H. Cayley, Clementine Ford

This panel was hosted by Emilie Zoey Baker, a poet and spoken-word performer, who fired questions at the four panellists who had achieved what seems almost impossible — they had made the leap to full-time freelancing.

Unfortunately I didn’t note down any quotes from this talk — not because nothing worthy was said, but because everything they spoke about was relevant to anyone considering freelancing, and one piece of advice didn’t stand out over another (…another factor may have been it was the last talk of the day, and I just wanted to sit back and relax). I did, however, collate a list of some of their useful tips for aspiring freelancers (these are paraphrased):

• Build a profile; this will help you get work.

• Remember to take tax out of what you earn!

• Work hard, seize opportunities, volunteer.

• Plan and budget in advance. Unexpected things happen — a client might cancel, work might go through a dry spell, invoices may be late — you need to be prepared.

• Take care of yourself. There’s no use working too hard and then burning out, and not being able to work at all. Prioritise the important projects.

• Find a gap in the market/industry and fill it.

Just after 5pm that day I staggered out of the State Library conference centre into fresh air, exhausted but inspired. The day was definitely worth the ticket, and I look forward to the next festival.