Adventure #22: A Day Alone

I went to Indie Author Day today at the Boise Library. I only went to one panel discussion because it wasn't exactly what I hoped it would be, but it was a valuable experience. Haha um... I learned that I don't want to be a YA author, honestly. It's not for me... The authors seemed to assume that their books couldn't be too complex or deal with profound themes for fear of their younger audience wouldn't be able to understand. I thought that was closed minded and unfortunate. J.K. Rowling, whom one of the authors took offense to, dealt with themes of discrimination, violence, sexism, manipulation, bureaucracy, emotional abuse, and more. With the success of the Harry Potter franchise as my evidence, I think the authors were wrong to assume that complexity in their novels would deter young readers. So I'd rather write about themes that I think are important, and if that means what I write won't be advertised as being for younger readers, then okay. Maybe I will try to change that, too.

One author on the panel kind of had an attitude problem, in my mind... So I was a bit irked by him. Then he made a claim about how characters should never be indecisive. He said it doesn't move the plot forward, it's boring, and it doesn't let anything move or change. So I piped up and said, "Well. Except. Hamlet refused to act and remained indecisive for four acts of the play." To which he responded, "Ahhh yeah preaching Shakespeare! Awesome!" and kind of totally ignored my point, but okay. And then he criticized J.K. Rowling and I became more irked. Dare I say, miffed. 

On the more positive side, I gleaned some valuable information and suggestions about written dialogue, which I greatly appreciated. In my favorite piece of advice, it was suggested that authors could write their characters into different situations, not necessarily relating to their respective novels, and the author could get to know all the nuances of their characters through exploring their reactions and emotions in these contrived situations. I thought that was pretty brilliant. I also have been toying with how to write more short stories, and I like the idea of exploring a single character through disjointed and varied stories. I think I could do a lot with tying those stories together in subtle ways, and I could have a very well developed character for hire after-the-fact.

I was planning on spending most of my day in the library, but I was feeling so many things, and I had to move... I wandered the shelves for a while, breathing the iconic perfume of brilliance on paper, with slow and winding steps, deep breaths, and all silence inside. Then I walked around downtown Boise for 5 hours straight... This post is backdated, so two days later and my calves are still quite sore.

It was a really difficult day. I went and sat in a little triangle of grass on the edge of BSU by the bridge and just sat for another 2 hours... I had a lot to think about, I suppose... It was one of the only quiet places that I could find, too. People walked by, but most didn't notice me and of those that did, some smiled back. I cried often as old and new thoughts came to mind. I watched the sunset, people, and the rubber toes of my shoes.

All in all, it was just a day alone... A day to feel, to walk, and to breathe.