My Thoughts on the Online Conference So Far

The Muse Online Writers Con is in full swing, even as I type. (Just waiting for everything to get caught up in between people typing.)

The real time chats have gotten better and better. The first one was verrrry sloooow, and I felt the questions asked were too basic. The three other chats (including the one I'm on now) have been informative, especially the one on Website Essentials and Internet Marketing For Authors. I asked a question at that one :-), asking about whether having a character "own" a blog or website is a good idea for marketing purposes. The presenter said that was a good question, but his guess would be that it would be hard to pull off on a long-term basis.

Then he gave an example - he talked about Miss Snark!

Of course, I had to chime in that I missed reading her, too.

The current one is on revisions to a novel or short story. I didn't offer a question, but one of the things the presenter said was to read the story aloud. I don't know, but I found that while this was a good thing to do, I just never could get myself to do it; I can barely stand the sound of my voice, lol.

But another presenter, on the forum, said something about Adobe Reader having a talk feature. Damned if I knew that! Sure enough, it does, under the View menu (Read It Aloud). I tried it with the first page of my WIP, and although it sounds a bit funky and funny, I think this might be a good thing for me to try.

The virtual workshops are really good, with only one that I feel is a dud. I feel that presenter, while humorous (I'm a humor whore, so that's certainly not a problem with me ;-), is focusing too much attention on her websites and her characters. I'd like to see more examples of other people's characters and whether they're substantial or cardboard cutouts.

So far, I feel like I've learned a few things.

~Nancy Beck