Post by Jason Whittle on May 31, 2011 8:57:58 GMT 1
Write Fantastic Convention 2011
Influential writer’s movement The Write Fantastic hosted their second annual convention in Oxford on May 28th, but I met the first other author before we even got there. I was on the same bus as Marion Pitman and we managed to co-navigate our way to St Hilda’s college, albeit distracted by the very impressive cricket pitch en route.
After being warmly welcomed with tea and biscuits, things got underway with a panel on the relevance of science fiction and fantasy awards. Two-time BSFA award-winner Jon Courtenay Grimwood admitted that his life was “not even remotely changed” by his wins, although it may have led to more reviews in the national press, if not directly led to greater sales. The consensus was that the shortlists are a better guide to the genres than just the winners, especially because of Stan Nicholls’ assertion that the BFS awards always go to horror authors. After that the debate (like many others I’ve seen) lapsed into attempting to define where one genre ends and another begins, but we’re no closer to knowing the answers. I was particularly disconcerted by the unchallenged view that once you’ve been published in one genre you can never write in any other, especially as I have mystery, sports, political and erotic works in progress. It was suggested that these could be written under pseudonyms, but readers of my short stories will know I struggle to even find names for my characters, without having to find a handful of nom de plumes for myself!
Next up was a panel on short stories, both as self-contained projects and as preparation for a longer work. The most important tip was on tight editing; if you’re working to a specific word count, every word should count. It was the banter and transgressions that really entertained, though. Pat Cadigan had a host of amusing anecdotes, but she was transformed into a one woman super-injunction by her inability to remember names.
The lunch break gave me a chance to get my copy of Sixty-one Nails signed by Mike Shevdon, before we were entertained with a selection of readings as a tribute to Diana Wynne Jones, who passed away in March. Her novels provided the blueprint for J.K. Rowling to make millions out of Harry Potter, and earned the first of several suggestions that some of the best work in speculative fiction is to be found in the children’s section.
The first panel of the afternoon was on the rise of the paranormal in fantasy fiction. Kari Sperring took centre stage with some perceptive observations about the inherent anti-feminism of modern genre fiction, blaming paranormal romance for giving us formulaic heroines who have to have been mistreated or abused, and general popular culture for “the infantalisation of adult women”. A less political observation came from Mike Shevdon, who pointed out that people in London never look around themselves and notice anything, so it would be easy for any supernatural community to live undetected amongst them.
The last panel dealt with the dominance of young male characters in genre fiction. This struck a chord with me, as the first draft of The Dead Shall Feed only had two female characters, both of whom were prostitutes! Appalled by my own unconscious chauvinism, I rewrote the genius scientist as a woman and ended up with a much better, more balanced novel as a result. Although the panel found a few examples of middle-aged or elderly women as lead characters, they were generally isolated exceptions, and I will echo the panel’s opinion in suggesting you don’t make the mistake I initially did, or if so you amend it accordingly. Not just in the name of quality, but more so simply in the name of good writing.
Overall it was an enjoyable, if low-key convention, and one I would certainly consider going back to. Special thanks have to go to Juliet McKenna, who was the main organiser and held the event together, without ever looking to hog the limelight for herself.
Influential writer’s movement The Write Fantastic hosted their second annual convention in Oxford on May 28th, but I met the first other author before we even got there. I was on the same bus as Marion Pitman and we managed to co-navigate our way to St Hilda’s college, albeit distracted by the very impressive cricket pitch en route.
After being warmly welcomed with tea and biscuits, things got underway with a panel on the relevance of science fiction and fantasy awards. Two-time BSFA award-winner Jon Courtenay Grimwood admitted that his life was “not even remotely changed” by his wins, although it may have led to more reviews in the national press, if not directly led to greater sales. The consensus was that the shortlists are a better guide to the genres than just the winners, especially because of Stan Nicholls’ assertion that the BFS awards always go to horror authors. After that the debate (like many others I’ve seen) lapsed into attempting to define where one genre ends and another begins, but we’re no closer to knowing the answers. I was particularly disconcerted by the unchallenged view that once you’ve been published in one genre you can never write in any other, especially as I have mystery, sports, political and erotic works in progress. It was suggested that these could be written under pseudonyms, but readers of my short stories will know I struggle to even find names for my characters, without having to find a handful of nom de plumes for myself!
Next up was a panel on short stories, both as self-contained projects and as preparation for a longer work. The most important tip was on tight editing; if you’re working to a specific word count, every word should count. It was the banter and transgressions that really entertained, though. Pat Cadigan had a host of amusing anecdotes, but she was transformed into a one woman super-injunction by her inability to remember names.
The lunch break gave me a chance to get my copy of Sixty-one Nails signed by Mike Shevdon, before we were entertained with a selection of readings as a tribute to Diana Wynne Jones, who passed away in March. Her novels provided the blueprint for J.K. Rowling to make millions out of Harry Potter, and earned the first of several suggestions that some of the best work in speculative fiction is to be found in the children’s section.
The first panel of the afternoon was on the rise of the paranormal in fantasy fiction. Kari Sperring took centre stage with some perceptive observations about the inherent anti-feminism of modern genre fiction, blaming paranormal romance for giving us formulaic heroines who have to have been mistreated or abused, and general popular culture for “the infantalisation of adult women”. A less political observation came from Mike Shevdon, who pointed out that people in London never look around themselves and notice anything, so it would be easy for any supernatural community to live undetected amongst them.
The last panel dealt with the dominance of young male characters in genre fiction. This struck a chord with me, as the first draft of The Dead Shall Feed only had two female characters, both of whom were prostitutes! Appalled by my own unconscious chauvinism, I rewrote the genius scientist as a woman and ended up with a much better, more balanced novel as a result. Although the panel found a few examples of middle-aged or elderly women as lead characters, they were generally isolated exceptions, and I will echo the panel’s opinion in suggesting you don’t make the mistake I initially did, or if so you amend it accordingly. Not just in the name of quality, but more so simply in the name of good writing.
Overall it was an enjoyable, if low-key convention, and one I would certainly consider going back to. Special thanks have to go to Juliet McKenna, who was the main organiser and held the event together, without ever looking to hog the limelight for herself.