Saturday, June 23, 2018

Attending Convention Classes...Realizing What I DON'T Know


The 2018 version of Fyrecon is over. It was another successful conference. For me, there were differences in last year's convention and this one. The biggest change this time was I hardly attended any of the classes or panels.

Except for one.

I went to the Screenwriting Essentials: Building a Cinematic Story class presented by Blake Casselman and David Howard. And it was excellent. It made me realize just how much I don't know. 

I know that statement makes me sound like I knew everything about the craft before I walked into the classroom. I didn't think about that consciously, but maybe on some level I thought about it unconsciously. I've been studying writing and screenwriting for over a decade--not intensively, but off and on. And I've attended several conferences and attended many classes talking about this specific thing--how to become a successful screenwriter. Throw in being a part of a screenwriting writing group and I thought I would have heard everything they were going to talk about before.

That's what surprised me. Even though I've heard much of the lecture before, being part of a discussion fires up the brain, makes me think of new things, and inspires me to the possibilities. Also, the presenters brought up things I hadn't considered, things I really need to know if I want to have success writing screenplays.

For most of the convention this year I manned the vendor table. There were literally dozens of classes spanning the past three days. Maning the table representing the publishing company is important, but I know I could have gotten a lot out of those panels, if I had only gone. 

Next year plans are already being made for Fyrecon 3. I hope I'm fortunate enough to be part of it and I hope also I can take advantage of the classes. There was a lot of excellent knowledge at this year's convention, as I expect there to be next year. And if I attend them, I'm sure I'll come out of those classes realizing yet again how much I don't know.

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