A Discussion on Virtual Cons

I want to start by making something very clear: I support not just virtual cons but adding virtual components to cons. I attended a few of these in 2020 and found them a great experience.

I do think there are some things we need to talk about.

I’ll start by saying that most of this is from the perspective of a writer doing a reading / Q&A, seminars, or a panel. But there should be crossover with other con activities as well.

I was on a panel at a con a few years ago and it was recorded for a podcast, posted a few weeks afterwards. I found out it was going to be recorded for a podcast when someone who had listened to it messaged me about something I had said.

No one had asked us if this was ok. No one had told us we were being recorded. No one mentioned it was posted directly to us.

(For the record I was not upset, I thought it was cool, but I did have a bit of worry about what I said…)

Which brings me to the first thing we need to talk about, and that’s consent. It needs to be clear to the attendees which part of the show will also be virtual, AND give an opportunity to op out.

Because all the advantages you get for being a virtual attendee, it is the opposite for the presenter.

I’ve been doing theatre since I was little. I’ve done hundreds of shows in all kinds of locations. Been on the stage with nearly 700 people watching me.

When you turn on a video camera the feeling changes. It isn’t this ethereal performance anymore, it is something more permanent.

And a lot of my fellow writers already have nervousness and anxiety about reading to a group. The virtual part can only compound that. The recording part can only compound it.

I know I will be much more reserved, much more carful with my words, especially answers to questions since instead of living in the moment as a part of a discussion, those words are now being recorded.

And someone who doesn’t want to be recorded for any reason should be able to opt out.

Let’s talk about those recordings. What are you doing with them? Are you making money off of them? Are you posting them for a limited time? Forever? If I wanted it taken down, what is the process?

Are you charging for replays? I understand that the virtual infrastructure needs to be paid for, but there is a difference between me doing a reading at a con for free, and me recording a video that you are profiting off of for free.

Which gets to the murky part that I don’t have answers for: what rights are we giving up as writers?

If I read a story aloud and it is posted on YouTube, have I just used the audio rights?

If the video gets a transcription, something we should be doing as good citizens, that is effectively publishing my story, which has implications if it was as of yet unpublished, and, if I have signed a exclusive contract, may be something not allowed.

Do you have a code of conduct? Not just “don’t be a dick” I mean guidance on how I am presenting myself. Can I talk politics? Can I cuss? (I’m going to cuss, sorry about that, I say fuck a lot) do you want a “rating” or content warnings announced?

That’s too much to thing about, too complicated, we should just forget the virtual stuff.

No it isn’t. No you shouldn’t. If my 70 year old aunt can organize a virtual wedding with the characters in my family, cons can provide this.

It means some of your guests are going to turn you down, and that’s ok. It means some things are going to go wrong, and that’s ok. It means you’ll need to plan for these things ahead of time, and that’s ok.

I’m going to end as I began, and say that virtual cons and virtual components to in person conventions are a great thing and I hope we don’t just keep them, but improve them, and expect them.

They allow for attendance above the hotel capacity, they allow for attendance by those who may not otherwise be able to for financial, personal or any other kind of reasons.

They allow guests to attend from distance! You can do a virtual reading from anywhere, so you can participate even if you aren’t able to travel.

We just need to make sure we are all on the same page about some things, lest we find ourselves into a new situation where people are being taken advantage of.

January Reads

I’ve not been reading much lately (as I mentioned in my end of the year post) and I decided to change that.

And here at the end of January, I’ve already beaten my 2020 numbers, and hope to do so every month of 2021.

In addition, I got a new Kindle to replace my broken Nook. I’ve got entirely too many ebooks and this is helping me read them.

So, what did I read in January 2021?

The Writing Life – Anne Dillard

A book length essay about being a writer. Short, and wandering the way a writer’s life and mind are. There were pieces of wisdom and asides I could relate to all throughout. Short, but enjoyable.

The Rib From Which I’ll Remake the World – Ed Kurtz

I had missed this the first time around, so when it was rereleased I made sure to grab it.

Noir, horror, a traveling movie show comes to a small town and everything changes. Recommended.

The Poetry Handbook – Mary Oliver

This is a tech lit type book, meaning that it is about definitions and structure, rather than a writing book that works to inspire or teaches you how to practice. A pleasant refresher for me, and a great starter for anyone looking.

High King’s Tomb – Kristin Britain

I started the Green Rider series a very long time ago, having gotten the second book when it came out. This is the third, and despite the time away, it was so easy to drift back into this world and remember why I loved these characters.

I’ve got more on my shelf, and look forward to reading the rest.

Collected Poems – Rita Dove (1/7)

This is a large collection of 7 books of poetry by Rita Dove. I don’t like to rush through a book of poems, especially one written by someone as masterful as Dove. So I am taking my 1/7th credit for the first book.

And Dove, like Clifton and Tracy K. Smith, should be on your bookshelf.

Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte

This was the first book I read in my new Kindle. I wanted to read something gothic, and well, I got something gothic.

I’d read Wild Sargasso Sea forever ago, not knowing it was a prequel to Jane Eyre, making me a biased. (I may have said “BURN IT DOWN” a few times during the read)

I got the copy from Standard Ebooks a great site for well formatted public domain books.

The Parable of the Sower – Octavia Butler

I’ve owned this one entirely too long for it to have been unread. Set in the near future (nearer now in more than just time), about a dystopian US and the formation of Earthseed.

A difficult, beautiful read.

The Path of Ice & Salt – Jose Luis Zurate

Translated from Spanish, this novella is about the boat ride from Europe to England in Dracula by a boat named Demeter.

A dark tale full of thick prose, a quick but strong read.

Thunder and Lightning – Natalie Goldberg

I’ve read this once, at least once, before. It was a common one I’d pick up and read during moments at stores or breaks at work. Goldberg’s writing makes it easy to do so. A follow-on to Writing Down the Bones, a book I recommend so much, I keep giving away my copies.

It’s essays about writing, but about introspection into writing, writers. Even a second or third time through it was a great read.

Ten Thousand Doors of January – Alix E.Harrow

Believe it or not I was about 30% into this book before realized the significance of the title. And January was the last book I read in January.

And it was a great book! A family with secrets, an archeological society with secrets, books with secrets, door, so many doors!

Unfinished

Proensa – George Economou

A collection of Troubadour poetry translated into a more modern style than you’d expect. It is a fun, dense at times, reading with history and commentary as well.

I got on a Troubadour kick this summer, and this was one of the titles I grabbed. A few more to read, or finish (like Songs of the Women Troubadours which I started in, uh, June?), this year. (And maybe two more purchased…)

Poetry and Poets – TS Eliot (1/2)

I’ve only read the first half of this book, the Poetry part, but I’m going to claim it here. This is not, as I had hoped, a book on poetics written by TS Eliot. It is, rather, a collection of professional lectures that Elliott had given over his life… and they read as such.

They are interesting, once I understood they weren’t what I was looking for. But a bit on the dry side…

I’ll probably read the second half later, but this is a thick book.

Am I A “Real Writer”?

The question is asked, internally at first, then externally, usually in response to some advice or anecdote about writing. One of the most common is “write every day” which gets responses about how that isn’t possible for everyone and the discussion moves away from the purpose of “write everyday” to something about “am I a real writer”—

People seeking validation, but in the form of pushing against gatekeeping. But the gatekeeper here is, of course, ourselves.

I’ve been writing since I was very young, telling stories longer. Writing poetry since I was 16, first published at 19. I started writing horror short stories when I was 22 and was first published (on horrorfind.com) at 23. I started my first novel when I was 17. I wanted to write epic multi-volume fantasy.

Am I a real writer? I’ve not completed a story in over a year, and have only composed a handful of poems worth reading in the same time. I’ve got over a dozen half finished novel drafts on my computer archive, none of which are finished.

I certainly don’t feel like a real writer no matter how I stack the statistics, the metrics, nothing I put together gets past the gatekeeper—me.

I do write everyday, most every day, journal entries, sometimes little poems or scenes from stories. Writing everyday is about practice, it’s about using a skill so you get better at it.

It is not about “real writer”–you can practice a sport everyday and not be a player. Writing everyday is just one of the things suggested because, statistically, you will get better the more you write. But, to push the sport metaphor, you still have to play the game.

In this moment the game, for me, is finishing a thing, a collection of poems, a novel, a short story collection. The “game” itself isn’t so much publication, as it would be more commonly referred to, but instead bring to fruition a work of art.

“Real writer” is a bad term. There is a difference between a published writer and an unpublished writer, but both are still writers. There is no marker or metric that defines ‘real.’

Then how do we, how do I, find validation? And for me the answer has always come to being read, which to do I would have to finish something.

Are you a “real writer” if you write everyday? You tell me. What is it you are seeking?

Because this is a journey, and no two people take the same path.