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On writing

Genrecon – we’re here in body, at least

Life has been somewhat hectic lately. We weren’t sure if we’d get up to Brisbane for this weekend, but in the end we decided to come—admittedly, later than we planned—but here we are at GenreCon.

We chose a different hotel this time, as we didn’t plan on doing anything except go to the conference.  This one is as close as we can get to State Library of Queensland without camping out at the library itself.

It’s an older hotel, a cheaper one, and it has this vibe that makes it feel like a motel in a country town.  Part of that is because the road (bridge, actually) outside is so busy. Part of it is the old High Surf motel sign across the way. It isn’t actually a motel, it’s a sculpture for Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA), but it took a while to work that out.

Nevertheless, all combined, it feels like one of those old towns, back before the freeways bypassed them, where there was a motel on either side of the highway.

With the continual traffic, it feels like one too.

GenreCon highlights, day one?

Claire Coleman, in the plenary session, “The Art and Business of Genre”, talking about editing.

“No one ever finishes editing, they just take it off you.”

Nalini Singh, same session, talking about squirrels as a way to stay engaged and enjoying writing, even when you’re writing to a deadline.

“Give yourself time after your writing day to write the squirrels.  Don’t focus only on what you have to do … you have to keep them secret.”

All in all, an enjoyable day of panels.