hils
in
writerconuk
WriterConUK: A Write Up
X-posted from my own LJ
The thing I love about writerconuk is that it's a perfect blend of socialising and actual learning. Every year I come away having spent the weekend with a bunch of people I consider my friends even though I only see a lot of them once a year, but I also come away feeling energised and educated from a writerly perspective
Got myself in the right frame of mind by reading a couple of fics on the train. Have I mentioned I love my eReader? ;)
When I got there I was made to feel welcome. Nothing is a better pick me up than walking into a bar and everyone cheering. It was amazing!
We sat around and drank and chatted and caught up for a while, I helped bogwitch fill the goodie bags and then it was time for the quiz.
Let me tell you, folks, being a multi-fandom person comes in VERY useful when doing a fandom quiz. LOL! We still came last though, but I am sure that was just a miscalculation ;)
After that we went for a lovely Thai meal and I found myself ideally situated at the anti-Glee end of the table to that worked out well. We spent a lot of time laughing at the ridiculousness of the Buffy comics.
We drew the night (or morning more accurately) to a close with a bunch of us sitting in the breakout area (with the now famous comfy chairs) playing on the internet and drinking and chatting. kitty_poker1 and I polished two bottles of wine off between us and eventually staggered off to bed at 4am. I don't actually recall much of the latter part of the night/morning but I know it was fun.
Morning (well, later in the morning) came all too soon and I stumbled down to breakfast feeling a little worse for wear but it was fine. I had tea and that soon perked me up.
First panel of the day was by speakr2customrs was on creating original characters that people like. I tend to shy away from fics containing OCs but it was a really interesting panel with lots of things to consider should I ever feel the urge to write one
kazzy_cee did a fantastic talk on art composition. Now I am not an artist in any way, shape or means, but I still found it absolutely fascinating. If you're interested the talk has been posted . And I especially liked that Karen picked out some nice Castiel wallpapers and Misha pics for me to look at. I will now pass on her rec of uglybusiness who has made some absolutely stunning graphics
My panel was next and it was more of a discussion than a talk as I like to get people involved. It was about planning vs flying by the seat of your pants and I think it went down quite well. I hope it did anyway. It got people talking at least
After lunch ningloreth did a fascinating talk on things to think about when writing. I really hope she posts her presentation because it was excellent and I can't remember a lot of it now. I do remember words to be avoided such as 'manhood' (or elfhood or even hobbithood) and ministrations but there was lots of other great stuff too. I'll come back and add to this post as more presentations get posted.
sueworld2003 talked about making manips, which is again really not my area at all but seeing how they are made was really interesting.
wildcate did a brilliant talk on overcoming writer's block and procrastination. I even had a slide especially for me. LOL!
Yeah, I am the infamous Misha fan. LOL!
We ended the day with arts and crafts (guided by mirasol) and I made this adorable little keyring
We then had another break/nap/internet/horse game break time and then it was dinner. DELICIOUS buffet. The food was amazing.
The wine was a-flowing and it was a good thing too because afterwards we did our own version of Once More With Feeling. We scared away many guests with our singing and our wonderful Emo!Spike (courtesy of speakr2customrs
And then we just sat around and chatted and played on the internet until it was 2am.
Sunday was a lot more relaxed. I was slightly less tired and hungover this time and curiouswombat did a lovely presentation of inspirational photos to demonstrate how a picture can mean different things to different people.
We had the AGM and then the raffle. I came away with S5 of AtS on DVD which I am very happy with.
And then I spent the afternoon just hanging out and relaxing before catching my train home
It really was a fantastic weekend and I strongly urge people to come next year.
The thing I love about writerconuk is that it's a perfect blend of socialising and actual learning. Every year I come away having spent the weekend with a bunch of people I consider my friends even though I only see a lot of them once a year, but I also come away feeling energised and educated from a writerly perspective
Got myself in the right frame of mind by reading a couple of fics on the train. Have I mentioned I love my eReader? ;)
When I got there I was made to feel welcome. Nothing is a better pick me up than walking into a bar and everyone cheering. It was amazing!
We sat around and drank and chatted and caught up for a while, I helped bogwitch fill the goodie bags and then it was time for the quiz.
Let me tell you, folks, being a multi-fandom person comes in VERY useful when doing a fandom quiz. LOL! We still came last though, but I am sure that was just a miscalculation ;)
After that we went for a lovely Thai meal and I found myself ideally situated at the anti-Glee end of the table to that worked out well. We spent a lot of time laughing at the ridiculousness of the Buffy comics.
We drew the night (or morning more accurately) to a close with a bunch of us sitting in the breakout area (with the now famous comfy chairs) playing on the internet and drinking and chatting. kitty_poker1 and I polished two bottles of wine off between us and eventually staggered off to bed at 4am. I don't actually recall much of the latter part of the night/morning but I know it was fun.
Morning (well, later in the morning) came all too soon and I stumbled down to breakfast feeling a little worse for wear but it was fine. I had tea and that soon perked me up.
First panel of the day was by speakr2customrs was on creating original characters that people like. I tend to shy away from fics containing OCs but it was a really interesting panel with lots of things to consider should I ever feel the urge to write one
kazzy_cee did a fantastic talk on art composition. Now I am not an artist in any way, shape or means, but I still found it absolutely fascinating. If you're interested the talk has been posted . And I especially liked that Karen picked out some nice Castiel wallpapers and Misha pics for me to look at. I will now pass on her rec of uglybusiness who has made some absolutely stunning graphics
My panel was next and it was more of a discussion than a talk as I like to get people involved. It was about planning vs flying by the seat of your pants and I think it went down quite well. I hope it did anyway. It got people talking at least
After lunch ningloreth did a fascinating talk on things to think about when writing. I really hope she posts her presentation because it was excellent and I can't remember a lot of it now. I do remember words to be avoided such as 'manhood' (or elfhood or even hobbithood) and ministrations but there was lots of other great stuff too. I'll come back and add to this post as more presentations get posted.
sueworld2003 talked about making manips, which is again really not my area at all but seeing how they are made was really interesting.
wildcate did a brilliant talk on overcoming writer's block and procrastination. I even had a slide especially for me. LOL!
Yeah, I am the infamous Misha fan. LOL!
We ended the day with arts and crafts (guided by mirasol) and I made this adorable little keyring
We then had another break/nap/internet/horse game break time and then it was dinner. DELICIOUS buffet. The food was amazing.
The wine was a-flowing and it was a good thing too because afterwards we did our own version of Once More With Feeling. We scared away many guests with our singing and our wonderful Emo!Spike (courtesy of speakr2customrs
And then we just sat around and chatted and played on the internet until it was 2am.
Sunday was a lot more relaxed. I was slightly less tired and hungover this time and curiouswombat did a lovely presentation of inspirational photos to demonstrate how a picture can mean different things to different people.
We had the AGM and then the raffle. I came away with S5 of AtS on DVD which I am very happy with.
And then I spent the afternoon just hanging out and relaxing before catching my train home
It really was a fantastic weekend and I strongly urge people to come next year.