I recently joined my local RWA (Romance Writers of America) chapter, because after waving good-bye to my critique group of multiple years, I felt this was a necessary move to help grow my writing skills.
It was a good decision. I enjoy the people, the monthly meeting where information of all kinds is shared, and the people (did I mention them?). I joined to soak up the wisdom of those who’ve been waging the Word Wars much longer than little ol’ me.
So imagine my surprise when I found myself somehow roped by a magical lasso I never saw coming, into doing a table talk. For those that don’t know what those are, it’s where a topic is presented by an individual for the rest of those gathered at the table, and this topic should be able to interest writers from newbie to advanced.
Ummm, okay…
My topic choice as my brain scrambled to follow along: Post-apocolytpic world building.
Yeah, say that three times fast. Why, you ask, would you choose such a topic? My answer: because I was in the midst of world-building a new series and it came out of my mouth before my brain clicked in.
So now I must prepare an interesting presentation on the world ending for discussion. Right then.
Once the shock wore off, and the nerves set in, I pushed up my sleeves and jumped in. Who knows how it will go over, but I broadened the topic to include alternative world building. Let’s be honest, that is a key element for any writer who wants to dive into any genre that includes the words: fantasy, paranormal, or heck, most of the fiction genres. Isn’t that what we do when we write? Create worlds that aren’t quite ours.
Here’s to hoping I don’t bore my table.