BBF Review

My idea of what Boston Book Fest was going to be like was way off. There were no agents around so my one-sheet stayed anxiously inside my backpack. Several booths though. Grub Street was there, some boutique publishers, Dunkin Donuts had free pumpkin coffee and a line down the block, which included a few homeless people. There were bands playing music, and a whole triangle of indie authors placed an entire, demeaning, block away.

Even though the fest wasn't quite what I expected, I did enjoy myself. I attended Holly LeCraw's lecture entitled Revision and Instinct. She brought up a few good points that made me feel like I was headed in the right direction. Her advice involved trimming the fat from a manuscript, keeping only the "energy" scenes and cutting the rest. That's something I've tried to do and perhaps need to do even more of. She said writers, all humans in general, have trouble facing the truth, and being honest, which reminded me of acting class advice from college. Be true to yourself, she said, don't get in your way, and if you are bored reading a scene, "one-thousand percent" guaranteed the reader is bored too. She compared writing to sculpting, only far less efficient-- 2/3 of a manuscript will be shed. But not to worry, she said, the creativity is endless, you'll never run out.

The other lecture I attended was about writing historical fiction. There was a panel of four authors discussing their process, likes and dislikes about their genre. This program wasn't as interesting as LeCraw's but I did enjoy it. One of the authors said she worked 15 years on her manuscript before publication! Ugh. Lesson learned: never give up.

There are so many writers out there. In the two lectures I attended, older women were the majority. The average person was probably a 55 year old female. And the men who were there were even older. Except yours truly, clocking in at 35. That makes me a young pup, an underdog. Either that, or I have a long wait ahead of me. But I am more hopeful now than ever. Being surrounded by my fellow writers felt good. Every book is so different, so we are in this fight together. Can't wait to attend more industry events.

And here is a quick breakdown,
At the beginning of her lecture, LeCraw asked the audience (over 100 people),
Who has a degree?
Nearly every hand was raised
Grad degree?
one third of the hands
Who has taken a writing class?
two-thirds of hands
Short stories published?
one-third of hands
Any published authors here?
less than five hands