WOW! What a day! I am bushwhacked! But not enough that I’d skip this post! LTUE’s second day has passed, and once again, there were a whole array of fantastic panels to attend, question, and learn from. I already explained yesterday that LTUE is online this year, so rather than summarize that once more, I’m just going to dive right into my recap. So hit that jump and get a brief taste of what LTUE 2021 was like on day two!

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Underwear Through the Ages

This was a fun presentation all about underwear (as well as assorted overwear, such as corsets) through the ages, and why/how it happened. I learned a few things with this panel, such as that corsets were actually worn to be comfortable, not super tight, and that you wore underwear under them (so they don’t leave sores; Hollywoo got that wrong).

Did you know that poofy padding used to be all the rage for men and women? I was surprised at some of the cutaways that were shown off, and there were definitely a few things I made note of to use later.

Oh, and there was a resource offered for those that wanted to look at historically accurate clothing from older periods. Costumes.org. If you’re writing about 15th-19th century, why not use it so you don’t mistake a tailcoat for a tux?

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Love Language in Character Design

This was an interesting panel, all about using the science of the five love languages (such as touch or quality time) and exploring them inside your characters to see what love language they speak and how this can affect their interactions with other characters. The panel talked about how this isn’t just helpful to figuring out how your characters may interact with someone, but also how they may have conflicts with others or even with a culture (their own or another).

Definitely worth looking into if the topic interests you. Especially if, the panelists noted, you’re one type of language, but want to write a character that is another type.

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Living Where No Sun Shines

A panel about how people can live in sunless places. This was one of those panels that you go to for ideas and self-education, and it delivered. The panelist discusses the psychological/health costs (and difficulty) of maintaining a sleep schedule with no sunlight, as well as other problems that come hand in hand with such a problem, like energy generation or knowing what time it is. And they talked about submarines and Coober Pedy (Google it) quite a bit too, to back things up.

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Keynote – Kaitlund Zupanic

Artist Kaitlund Zupanic took over the position of Keynote speaker for day two, and shared some great advice about creating art of all kinds. She urged those at the conference to find what drove them, and remember that every artist is on their own journey. She also made a point out of how important it can be to have a positive support group, and the difficulty (but necessity) of keeping the negative from getting you down. Important lessons that are never out of place to learn anew or for the first time.

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Contracts and Contract Law

I would have loved to heard/seen more of this presentation. Unfortunately technical difficulties got in the way, but I did manage to take some notes. Mostly, on how an important part of any contract is who is enforcing it, as an unenforced contract has no teeth. Near the end things cleared up and the panelists began talking about how with writing about classic Fae, contract law will be your best friend.

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Editing for Senses, Emotion, Etc

This was an interesting panel. Rather than being about writing in most of these story elements, this panel was about going back and inserting them after the initial draft was complete. There were two things that I took away from this primarily to share here. First? Knowing your weaknesses will make knowing what to look for a lot easier. And second? There is no golden rule about how to do this or what is too much or too little. Just know your characters, keep notes, show emotion where you can.

Oh, and adverbs are evil. Don’t litter your work with them, but used carefully they can be quite effective.

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Motivation and Not Giving Up

A panel that everyone should attend at least once, because sometimes we need a lift. The topic was self-explanatory, but there were a few takeaways I noted that I’ll list here.

• Having a support group can be life-changing.
  • Or at least something to help you relax (one panelist suggested playing Call of Duty as his “unwind” from tough projects)
• Everyone is going to have different motivation. Learn yours.
• While writer’s block from “the story isn’t working” isn’t a thing (that can always be fixed) block from something psychological or health related (like an accident) can be.
• Go outside your comfort zone sometimes, in writing and relaxation, or even finding a support group.
• Learning can light the spark anew.
• If all else fails, listen to the Vampire Cow of Mootivation and push through the suck!

That last one kicked off over an hour of cow-themed puns that swept through several other rooms across the con, much to the a’moo’sement of many.

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Author Recommendations

My notes from this are sparse as it was exactly what it sounds like (some authors talking about what they’ve enjoyed reading). Two things: Everyone loves Howl’s Moving Castle and reading non-fiction to put yourself to sleep is surprisingly common.

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Miner Concerns: Mining through the Ages

“Rock and stone!” Sorry, couldn’t resist. Another fun informational panel about the history of mining, and the last panel of the evening I wasn’t on. I will note one interesting detail I wrote down: In times of plague or famine, mining was one of the first jobs to cease.

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And that’s it! Okay, I was on two panels (Mashing ideas together and Worldweaving), and both went great, but my brain is fried by now and I didn’t take notes. Check them out if you’re curious and have access to the replays.

As for me? I’m going to crash. There’s one more day to go! I hope you’re all enjoying it. I will catch you later!