Just being surrounded by other people who are dedicated, at different levels and in different ways, to the same craft that you are practicing is a great feeling, and can give you the drive you need to stay focused and determined. 

How do you defy a reader’s expectations while still fulfilling them? — C.S. Pacat on the challenges of writing genre fiction.

This was just one of the many nuggets of wisdom I picked up over the course of a day at the Emerging Writers’ Festival in Melbourne last June. For those who weren’t there, I thought I’d share some of the highlights and insights from each talk.