Countdown to the Conference!

It's exactly one month until the Romance Writers of Australia's 18th National Conference. For members who aren't attending the Brisbane conference, that's four weeks until the Clayton's 'online' conference (Sandie will probably post some more info about this as it gets closer).

As you may already know, the Brissie conference sold out. So, for those of us attending, it's a matter of getting ourselves organised. That includes deciding what to wear (come on, it should be a priority!) and what to pack.

Well, the picture above is an idea of what to wear at the Friday night cocktail party (Arabian-inspired costume a must). During the day sessions, something professional or semi-professional should suffice (nice jeans and a coat would be fine, I gather?). The Awards dinner would be a semi-formal affair (I'm guessing) so an elegant outfit would do. I think I've covered everything in the clothing department?

Now, technology wise, I'll be lugging my laptop to Brissie, as well as my IntelliPen to take notes. The digital camera will be in my pocket (to catch all the inappropriate moments, so watch out!) and my mobile phone will be handy to text through all the news and gossip to the Clayton's team.

I hope I've thought of everything. I'm not kidding when I say I'll start packing in the next week or so. I like to be organised when I travel. I don't like leaving things behind, and it stresses me when I forget. I must also pack the headache tablets because I have a feeling I'll be a little worse for wear by the end of it all!

So what so you plan on bringing to the conference? Any essential items to help you make it through the weekend?

:-) Mon

Sounds of Silence

After a recent discussion with fellow Bootcamper Jenn, I've been mulling over the use of sound in our writing.

It's important to remember to include mention of the senses in your writing: the smells, sounds, tastes, sights and tactile images need to be shown to the reader.

Characters going about their lives with no influence from sound will stand out to a reader. It's not natural.

But the inclusion of sound can be difficult. How do you describe some sounds? And how do you avoid the use of the same descriptive word, particularly when attributed to speech (eg grunt, snigger, sigh)?

Although sometimes I think the use of silence can be just as powerful as sound.

I thought it might be useful to point you to one site I have found helpful: The Bookshelf Muse (thebookshelfmuse.blogspot.com) which regularly composes thesaurus entries, and one of the subheadings for each topic is sound (although a fantastic site when writing any descriptive passage).