A Peek At My Library

I thought I’d take a little time today to list a few of the books that have influenced me and my writing. Keep in mind that this list is neither comprehensive nor definitive. Think of it as a glance at some of the works that have helped to make my stories what they are. 

20,000 Leagues Under The Sea by Jules Verne

My love of great books began when I was very young. My mother has always been a collector of a wide variety of books, and she would read to me every night from her expansive library. This book was one of my favorites, as it not only fed my love for the fanciful and exotic, but sparked a passion for biology and the ocean that I still have today. In fact, I've always thought that if I hadn't chosen a career in the arts, I would have been a marine biologist.  

The Art & Craft of Playwriting by Jeffrey Hatcher

Most of my early writing consisted of short stories and stage plays, and this title was the first book on the craft of writing that I ever read. This is where I first learned about writing in scenes, dialogue, character arcs, plot structure, handling back-story and a variety of other lessons that I still try to apply to each of my stories.

Treasure by Clive Cussler

While the adventures of Dirk Pitt didn't fit with my usual diet of fantasy and sci-fi when I was growing up, Cussler’s melding of archaeology, the ocean and formulaic pulp adventures all captured my imagination. Treasure was my first and favorite Dirk Pitt novel, and I still have a soft spot for this James Bond of the Sea.

Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings

David Eddings’ Belgariad is a great example of a fantasy author creating characters that are even more interesting than the fanciful world that they inhabit. While Eddings’ work eventually became monotonous and bland, this first series and the following Malloreon are some of my favorite fantasy reads.

Shadow of a Dark Queen by Raymond E. Feist

This was the first epic fantasy I’d ever read where the author managed to juggle multiple worlds, characters, and plot lines so skillfully that I couldn't help coming away with a sense of grand scale and almost overwhelming scope. While I've found Feist’s other works to be hit or miss, this novel is still one of my favorites in the genre.

Dave Barry Does Japan by Dave Barry

Humor writing is deceptively hard, but Barry always make it look so easy. I've read and loved his books for years and will readily admit that the most reread books in my library are his nonfiction works. I love his comedic memoir of traveling to Japan in particular because Barry manages to be hilarious while giving me a sense of place, setting, and mood in a way that other, more serious books cannot. I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of this man’s brilliantly slanted musings.

So there’s a small sampling of some of the books that I loved growing up and that I still reread today. I really enjoyed thinking back over these titles, and would recommend that all writers do the same as an exercise to examine what books have influenced who they are and what they choose to write.

Reflecting on the PNWA 2014 Conference

Last week I had the opportunity to attend the

Pacific Northwest Writers Association’s 59th Summer Writing Conference. While it would be impossible for me to describe everything that happened over the course of the intensive, four-day event, I did want to take a little time to describe some of my personal highlights from the experience.

Thursday began with several workshops on the craft of writing and reconnecting with old writing friends. Since I've been coming to this conference for several years now, I find that I have so many friends to catch up with that sometimes I don’t get the chance to meet very many new people. One writer I was happy to meet was a young man named Derek who was attending the conference for the first time with his mother Susan. Susan had attended one of my workshops last fall, and along with my good friend Bob Manion we enjoyed a pleasant dinner together before returning to the conference to hear keynote speaker and thriller author James Rollins. If you've never heard Rollins speak before, I’ll just say that he managed to be equal parts hilarious and inspirational, and a good time was had by all.

Friday was filled with panels and workshops, including one on being a hybrid author presented by Gordon Warnock. This workshop was of particular interest to me, as I have decided to pursue both a traditional publishing route as well as independently publishing some of my fantasy and steampunk series. Speaking of which, Friday night was the PNWA autograph party, and I was honored to participate along with more than 60 other award-winning and New York Times best-selling authors. It was a heady experience to sign copies of my books and connect with some of the fans of my stories directly. (Big thanks to good friend and fellow fantasy author Connie J. Jasperson for sending me a picture of the event!)

Saturday was probably the most exhausting day of the conference. 

After attending a terrific workshop on character development given by my friend Terry Persun, I then gave my own workshop on unlocking character motivation to a nearly packed room. (Thanks to Lynn Bahrych for her covert photography of the workshop.) I had a ton of fun presenting, and was gratified to hear that I had helped a lot of my fellow writers to solve problems that they had been struggling with. I then went to a pitch session where I had several great conversations with agents about the possibility of representing a future steampunk project that I currently have in the works. That night I attended the Literary Contest dinner, helped hand out prizes, and went to an after-dinner party with all the attending agents, editors, and contest winners.

Sunday was much more subdued, with a casual morning of listening to contest winners and finalists reading their stories, followed by an awesome presentation given by best-selling author Robert Dugoni. After the conference, several writer friends and I went to a nearby restaurant and relaxed together while chatting about all that we had experienced and learned. It was a pleasant, comfortable way to end the conference, and I look forward to keeping in touch with all my writing buddies until we do it all over again in 2015.

Creature Profiles: A New Feature Coming In August

Next August I’m going to introduce a new feature to my blog. Called Creature Profiles, each installment will feature a monster/fictitious animal from one of my stories and will include details like its physical features, behavior, and where I got the idea for it.

As an added feature to each Creature File, all my fans and readers are invited to send in an original picture of what they imagine the creature might look like. I’ll select my favorites and include them with its profile, so give it your best shot!

With that in mind, the first creature to get a profile will be the sleevak, a monstrous critter from The Beast Hunter that the Heteracks use to do their beast hunting for them. The deadline to get the artwork to me will be August 11, and the profile will be posted the following Monday. To submit your picture, send it to lindsay@lindsayschopfer.com and put “sleevak picture” in the subject line.

I look forward to seeing all of your artwork and starting up this fun new feature. Have fun! 

Building Confidence as a Writer

Recently, I was considering possible exercises for workshops that I may want to teach. One of my ideas was to start off by asking the participants to raise their hands if they’d ever been told that they were a good writer. Then I’d ask everyone that had raised their hands to put them down if someone had ever told them that they weren't a good writer. The purpose of the exercise would be to illustrate the biggest problem with relying on the opinions of others about your writing.

There will be people who will praise your work no matter what you do. There will also be people that will never be satisfied, no matter what you do. The key is to focus on your most important reader… yourself. If you aren't already your own biggest fan, then you need to be. Write the kind of story that you want to write, not the kind of story you feel you should write. You need to be laughing at your own jokes, crying over the tragedies you've written, and desperate to find out what will happen next in your stories.

Remember also that confidence comes from knowledge, not belief. ‘I think I’m a good writer’ isn't nearly as strong as ‘I know I’m a good writer.’ Knowing that your work is good does come in part from the praise of others that you respect and trust, but it should start with yourself and your opinion. However, be careful that confidence doesn't become arrogance. Think of all the successful, imaginative writers that have an amazing story and then follow it up with something depressingly lackluster. What happened? I think one problem could be that so many people told these writers that they were geniuses that they started to believe it and that they didn't have to work so hard anymore. Confidence means that you know you are capable of greatness, not that it comes easily. Consistently effective storytellers work hard at their craft. Very hard.

The best way to build your confidence as a writer is to work hard by constantly improving your craft while writing the kind of stories that you enjoy. Do that, and you’ll begin to gain the kind of fans you want to keep. You’ll gain fans like you.