#SIWC2024

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2024 SiWC Panel with Diana Gabaldon

Greetings Outlander fans! My, I have missed you all… 🤗

This weekend I find myself in beautiful Surrey, British Columbia,  Canada, attending the Surrey International Writers’ Conference, more commonly known as SiWC!

I drove from Oregon to Canada lastThursday. It was a beautiful day but the  normally 5.5 hr drive turned into nearly 7 hours due to two collisions in Washington state.  Yes, it was an inconvenience for those on the freeway, but I was grateful to arrive safely and I hope those involved in the crashes are OK.

Thus far, I have attended several events featuring Diana – she is one busy lass! All were delightful and I will share them with you, but not in chronological order mostly due to the technical issues of posting via  iPad. 😉

Today’s event was titled “Compelling Expositions,” a panel featuring Diana Gabaldon, Michael Slade, Robyn Harding, and Darren Groth (not shown).  K. C. Dyer moderated (also not shown).

Diana looked stunning, layered with in a deep red shawl because the room was freezing! 🥶

Many fruitful topics were covered by the panel. Here are some highlights including Diana’s responses:

Question:  Which is your fav scene from your writings? Diana chose the scene from “Outlander” book wherein Jamie rescues Claire from Black Jack Randall’s clutches. They shelter at a tavern –  Jamie tells Claire he is not ready for bed and proceeds to whip her with his sword belt. This set up a major clash between the two characters because each POV was justified from their perspective. Claire was trying to find a way back to Frank but Jamie knew her actions put all of their lives  in danger. I must confess, this choice surprised me. I suppose because Diana has written so many splendid scenes. How would one even choose? 🤔

This is wee bit of the excerpt from the scene (pp. 249-250 “Outlander” Kindle version) that is Diana’s fav!

“Come to bed, Jamie. What are you waiting for?”

He came to stand by the bed, swinging the belt gently back and forth.

“Well, lass, I’m afraid we’ve a matter still to settle between us before we sleep tonight.” I felt a sudden stab of apprehension.

“What is it?” He didn’t answer at once. Deliberately not sitting down on the bed by me, he pulled up a stool and sat facing me instead.… 😯

Question: How do you deal with pacing? Diana responded that pacing depends on context. For example, if there is an emergency then the writer wants to keep sentences short and terse. Pacing allows the author to create tension between two elements. A question is raised and then answered to move the story forward. (Psst…. She didn’t mention that sometimes the answers to questions she raises don’t get resolved until two books and ten years later!) 😂

Question: How do you deal with slang or dialect? Diana feels dialogue is the most important way to define a character.  An author using another language (e.g. Gaelic) needs to educate themself in the language. She watched films with Scottish characters to hear their spoken English. At conferences, if she heard anyone speaking with a Scottish accent, she invited them for coffee and listened to them speak. Diana also recommended reading books written by someone who speaks the language. She read several Scottish authors to help her get a feel for syntax, cadence, etc. Frankly, her devotion to her craft is a splendid example to all aspiring authors. 🥰

Question: Do you plan out a chapter or scene ahead of time? Diana does not. We already know she doesn’t write in a straight line. She also does not tell her characters what to say or do. She waits patiently for them to speak to her.  This being my fourth SiWC, I can tell you hers is a unique approach. Most writers I encounter plan out scenes, many even work from  a classic outline. She also doesn’t know ahead of time how a book will end. I guess the one exception here is that she seems to know how the “Outlander” books will end. Sob! 😢

Question: Who is your favorite author. James Clavell, she answered without a moment’s hesitation.  Clavell authored the marvelous, “Shogun,” for those who might not know. Although it has been some time since I read it, it is well worth doing so. 👍🏻

These were highlights of the panel for me.

The full panel discussion can be accessed on the blog.

I hope you enjoyed the panel. Need I say, my fav author for “Compelling Exposition” is none other than Diana Gabaldon? 🤩 🥇 🏆

The deeply grateful,

Outlander Anatomist

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2024 SiWC – Diana Gabaldon “Endings”

Hallo the house!!! 😉

Greetings Diana fans! 🤗

Friday, October 26, was the first day of 2024 Surrey International Writers’ Conference (SiWC) in British Columbia. This is a wonderful gathering of seasoned writers and budding authors.

This is my fourth SiWC over the years. I attend to report on the events and see Diana. I do not plan on becoming a professional writer.

This post is about Diana’s SiWC workshop on Oct. 25, titled “Endings.”

Now, no need to panic. Diana’s presentation was not about the end of the Outlander book series –  not yet, anyway!!! 😱  

It was about how to write endings to all aspects of story telling including those of sentences, paragraphs, conversations, chapters, books, etc.

I found it extremely informative and I wager most in the room felt the same. Diana remains a fountain of imagination and information. 🤩

Diana entered the room with her favorite beverage in hand! 😄

Understand, these workshops are 1.5 hours long wherein she is the only speaker.  I suspect this wee “pick-me-up” helps her stand (mostly) still, essentially immobile and focussed while being pummeled with attendees’ queries! 😎

Unfortunately, I had some technical difficulties with this video recording so it is divided into three segments. 🙄

The first video is the introduction. She tells attendees that she is not going to teach the mechanics of how to write their stories but rather how to write about what happens in a way that keeps readers turning the page. 📖

She began by telling us she recently reread James Clavell’s 1975 book, Shogun. She selected this book because Clavell is a highly regarded author.

Upon opening the book, she immediately read both the first and the last sentences! She didn’t do this to spoil the book but for a scholarly reason: she is now writing what she expects will be the final Outlander book and she is putting serious thought into that last sentence of her epic book series. She is researching good examples. Hankies out! 😥

In the next segment, she talks more about Shogun. She considers its last sentence to be an excellent ending to this classic novel so listen to her read it.

In this third and final video segment, she talks about Shakespeare’s tragedy, “Romeo and Juliette.” Starting to weep, she explains that this story was not about crime or political power but about ��Juliette and her Romeo. It is about love.” 🥰

She points out and explains that there are four types of book and chapter endings:

Resolution of conflict

Food for thought

Cliff hangers

Echos (e.g. epilogues)

She encourages writers to include pauses in their sentences, to use short sharp sentences in conversations, and try not to shake people out of the story with anything that might distract from the tale.

If your work presents a question, answer it rather quickly to keep readers engaged. (Now, I could make an issue here because upon occasion, Outlander readers have to wait 10 years and two or more books to get answers, but I won’t!) 😂

Question: Are your characters ever influenced by the show’s characters or do you keep them separate? Do you like the show’s characters better? No, she never confuses the two sets of characters and she likes hers best because she writes better dialogue. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Question: How do you decide what your characters will say? Her answer is she never tells her characters anything – they tell her what they will say, think, and do.

Question: Are you conscious of alliteration when you write? She said she was when first writing but incorporates it automatically now. Sometimes she goes back and grooms the alliteration if needed (alliteration is the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words – e.g. the sweet birds sang softly).

This video segment stops when she begins reading an excerpt from book 10. It is an intimate exchange between Jamie and William! ❣️

She asked me specifically to remove this part before posting, so I have. I am very sorry that I cannot share it because it is tender, moving and poignant.😢

I feel sure she will share this as daily lines when she is ready. 💙

I hope you enjoyed Diana’s one person workshop. These are always worthwhile and I considerate it a privilege to attend them. 

The deeply grateful,

Outlander Anatomist

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2024 SiWC Michael Slade’s SHOCK Theater!

Greetings Outlander fans!🤗

Last Friday evening at SiWC, we were treated to Michael Slade’s Shock Theater! This slap-stick event, written by Michael, has been an ongoing feature of the conference for the past 17 years. Being a great sport, Diana has participated every year since its inception! 🤩

Shock Theater  is a spooky and spectacular take on a radio play, “complete with show-stopping twists, unexpected turns, and delightfully devious foley sound effects.” This year’s production was “The Fly!!!” 🪰

Michael is the only one who sees the the script ahead of time; no one else will have seen their parts. Thus, they perform more or less “on the fly.!” 😜

For those too young, the original “The Fly” was a 1958 black and white film starring Vincent Price and a host of other actors you probably have never heard of. 😉

This year’s presentation was as silly as ever. It portrays the story of Frank Randall who engineers  a time transport machine and Diana as Claire Randall, devoted wife. Frank accidentally transports himself with a fly in the machine! Molecules intermix so Frank emerges from the device with a fly hand and head and the fly ends up with a human head and hand. 🪰

Follow this meandering and entertaining story if you dare! 👹

Warning! A volunteer screams loudly about four times in the video, so be prepared! 👂

The deeply grateful,

Outlander Anatomist

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Video and Photo credits: Outlander Anatomy, https://www.digitaltrends.com/movies/the-fly-remake/