Chickasaw citizen Meg Gardiner, author of 17 novels and keynote speaker for this year’s Imanoli Writers Conference, stressed persistence as a key step to getting published.
More than 70 aspiring and seasoned writers listened to Gardiner and other speakers as a way of honing their skills at the Nov. 14 event conducted at the Chickasaw Cultural Center in Sulphur, Oklahoma.
“Writing a book takes years of practice, trial and error, and false starts,” Gardiner said. “Everyone has to start somewhere. If you want to write a novel, don’t be afraid to take the leap.”
Gardiner said she had to study the craft of fiction.
“I had to learn how to understand character, dramatic arts, point of view, pacing, plot twists and how to propel a story to a dramatic conclusion,” she said. “I had to learn how to embrace conflict, to nurture it, to fan the flames on the page.”
Gardiner enjoyed a successful legal career before eventually getting her first novel published. It turned out there was a world of difference between writing convincing legal briefs designed to persuade judges and writing fiction for a general audience.
“Practicing law taught me storytelling,” she said. “Every court case is a narrative. It’s a story of how something somehow went wrong between the parties in the case. It’s the lawyer’s duty to tell that story in the most compelling way possible. You are ethically required to zealously advocate for (your) client. We must tell our client’s story persuasively. I became adept at that.”
Gardiner admits the experience gave her unwarranted confidence before realizing legalese did not translate well to a nonlegal audience.
“That’s when I discovered what my writing experience to date had not taught me: that expertise in writing legal memos and briefs was insufficient to craft a 100,000-word novel. I had to change gears from writing for work to creating a story with tension, suspense, surprise, thrills and emotional power.
“I had to stop trying to cram all my legal experience into a novel,” she said. “I needed to get the law right but not bog the story down with legal minutia. When you write fiction, you’re not citing statutes, you’re taking readers on an adventure.”
Gardiner was only 7 when she decided she wanted to one day earn her living by writing books. Success at the craft took many more years and failed attempts for her youthful ambition to be realized.
“It only took that decision 35 years and three other careers before I managed to write full time and earn a living at it,” Gardiner said. “It took a lot of false starts.”
Her second career was teaching legal research and writing at the University of California at Santa Barbara. She said her third occupation was raising three kids.
After reading a particularly brutal rejection letter, she almost decided she had enough.
“I put it down, walked away from it and kept walking out my front door miles across town, thinking I had spent years of my life on a futile quest, and maybe I should quit,” she said. “I didn’t.”
Her husband’s career took them to England where she wrote a murder mystery novel and secured a literary agent.
“Because I listened to him, I vastly improved the book,” she said. This eventually led to “China Lake,” her first published novel.
Gardiner said finally getting published was a heady experience.
“Being published was like skydiving from a fighter jet that was launched into orbit on the back of a Saturn rocket,” she said.
It was published in England, but American publishers passed on it until horror novelist Stephen King read her book and urged others to do the same via his website.
“To my everlasting joy and gratitude, he wrote a column in Entertainment Weekly saying I deserve to be published in the U.S.,” Gardiner said. “Two weeks later I had a contract with Penguin (Books).”
“China Lake” was published in the U.S. in 2008. In 2009, it won the Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original. In 2010, it was a finalist for NPR’s 100 Best Thrillers Ever.
“Success is never guaranteed,” Gardiner said. “Cherish it.”
Other Imanoli Writers Conference presenters included G.M. DiDesidero speaking on “Helpful Strategies for Building a Critique Group”; Kate Hart, on “Paths to Publication”; Stanley Nelson, on “What Tarzan Taught Me About Reading”; Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer, on “Digging Deep, Writing True: Researching for Historical and Cultural Books”; and Dr. Rebecca Nicholson Weir, on “One True Sentence: Creative Advice & Invention Strategies from a Century of American Writers.”
Imanoli derives from the verb “to tell to (someone)” in the Chickasaw language.
The Imanoli Writers Conference offers both emerging and experienced writers the opportunity to strengthen their craft and expand their creative horizons. The conference features a diverse lineup of renowned authors and field experts who bring a wealth of experience across multiple genres and disciplines.
The conference takes place annually, and this year’s was conducted at the Chickasaw Cultural Center Anoli' Theater in Sulphur, Oklahoma. It is open to the public at no cost. Individuals of all ages and writing stages are invited to attend. Registration is required.
This year, attendees enjoyed engaging breakout sessions that explored topics such as the journey to becoming an author, effective strategies for building and sustaining a critique group, navigating the many paths to publication, and practical insights into the creative process from established writers.
The event concluded with an author meet and greet, and book signing, giving participants a chance to connect personally with featured writers and celebrate a shared passion for storytelling.
Visit Chickasaw.net/Imanoli for more information.