At every writer’s conference I go to, my biggest fear is not of putting my foot in my mouth (which I’m sure I do regularly) and it’s not of being unable to find the ladies room (which I’m embarrassed to say I need as regularly as I do).

My biggest fear is boredom. Repetition. Been there, done that, made that mistake on my second manuscript and never again.

The Book Passage Mystery Writer’s Conference had its share of such moments. Show, don’t tell. Kill your darlings. Start in the middle of something happening.
All well and good, and fodder for the many attendees who hadn’t heard it before, who needed the basics.

But then, there were gems like the following:

Try not to leave your character alone too much.
Feed tiny bits in – don’t tell everything at once.
This from Kirk Russell, “If you have a strong story, subplots and secondary characters spin off with more velocity.
Sometimes the body doesn’t need to be on the first page or even in the first chapter (this from Rhys Bowen) Sometimes the bridging tension comes from introducing a dysfunctional group that gets the reader thinking, “My God, these people definitely shouldn’t be in one place together.”
From Denise Mina: Writing is a seduction, a reader seduction. Start a chapter with a question, answer it early while setting up another question, one that you leave them hanging with at the end of the chapter. They will read on.
Marshall Karp – on advertising, but transfers to writing – What is the emotional impact on the receiving end? Always keep in mind the emotional impact.
From Larry Kirschbaum, agent: Everything, every detail, in a scene should be there for a reason; it should all build toward the “flection point,” – If it’s snowing, it better be important that it’s snowing.

And then the ones that I’ve heard before, but bear repeating:
Don’t insult the reader, let them figure things out.
Some of the ticking clock can come from life-juggling; pressures from external sources don’t have to be a bomb.
Build suspense with restraint.
No clichés, no melodrama. Let the situation tell itself.
Read it out loud.
You don’t need to show everyone the detective talked to – a token scene can represent a whole day’s worth of witnesses.

And my favorite (from Cornelia Read on the Plot panel, during a diversion into building depth in character): “Not everyone should be alcoholic, with breakfast all over their tie, stumbling around Finland in a daze.”

And Diana, just for you – the food was fabulous. Penne, curried rice, mixed greens salads with tomatoes I could swear they stole from my own garden. Avocado, hummus and pesto sandwiches on ciabatta bread, with fresh fruit salads and oatmeal nut cookies so to-die-for that I won’t be surprised if someone writes a new mystery revolving around them.

Between those scrumptious tidbits and the ones the writers tossed out for us, all in all, one tasty conference.