Realm Makers 2020 Recap: Different, Yet the Same

A year ago, I hopped a plane with my brother and flew from Manitoba to Missouri for a writer’s conference called Realm Makers.

This year, I walked onto my front porch and opened my laptop for a virtual writer’s conference called Realm Makers.

A year ago, I screamed my friends’ names and we group hugged in the hotel lobby.

This year, I chatted with pals on Discord in between classes.

A year ago, I mingled with elves and wizards and superheroes at the awards banquet, myself in the guise of Tris Prior for a whole evening.

This year, I schlepped together a steampunk costume and wore it only long enough for my sister to snap a few pictures to share.

A year ago, I was flying high on the unique atmosphere of creativity and camaraderie that comes from being under the same roof as hundreds of fellow Christian writers.

And this year?

This year was different, to be sure. Very different.

Yet despite the fact that we “Realmies” were miles apart, that same camaraderie traveled between our computer screens. Did I miss seeing everyone in person, attending classes in person, meeting new people in person? Of course I did. Fiercely.

But from the moment familiar names began popping up in the chat during my first class, I began to hope that a little bit of Realm Makers magic would find its way through this virtual landscape.

And it did.

When the first keynote speech was delayed by nearly an hour thanks to technical difficulties, I knew I was at Realm Makers. Because rather than complain, the Realmies turned the chat into a flurry of friendly conversation—prayers, encouragement, and BUCKET loads of nerdiness. (Where else do you hear people avidly discussing the digestive system of centaurs?)

When that keynote speech finally got up and running, and author N.D. Wilson’s words of wonder poured like water into my parched soul, I knew I was at Realm Makers.

When I filled half a notebook with advice on writing and publishing, I knew I was at Realm Makers.

When I stayed late to video chat with friends and share what we were all writing these days, I knew I was at Realm Makers.

When at last I tuned in to the final keynote, eyes gritty from three days of staring at my laptop screen, C.J. Redwine’s speech brought on the sting of tears and a flame of re-awakened passion for the written word.

My fourth time at Realm Makers was different from my first three experiences, yes, but it was also the same. I’m so grateful for the team behind the scenes who pulled together to make this conference happen in the midst of uncertain times.

And I can’t wait for RM 2021. Not just because THE Frank Peretti will be keynoting (!!!), but also because I can’t wait to see my Realmies face to face and celebrate this wild, wonderful, hard, heartening work of writing with them again.

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Some words of wisdom…

Before we wrap this up, I wanted to share just a few nuggets of wisdom I walked away with this year!

For the Christian, fantasy is realism—because our very faith is based on the belief in the supernatural, immaterial, and divine. —N.D. Wilson

People read for three reasons: entertainment, education, and escape. Your book needs to be a 10/10 in at least one of those categories. —Thomas Umstattd Jr.

Don’t approach your fantasy with an escapist lens. Don’t wish to be somewhere else or resent the place you’re in. Use fantasy to equip you and your readers to better live in our own fantasy world. —N.D. Wilson

In marketing, you will drop balls. Just know the difference between glass balls and rubber balls. —C.J. Redwine

What you’re writing down in the valley may reach the mountaintop. —Thomas Locke

No agent is better than a bad agent. You’re not desperate. You’re a smart businesswoman. —C.J. Redwine

There’s a difference between clean fiction and safe fiction. —Sara Ella

There are no perfect conditions. There’s only what you choose to do and what you choose not to do. —C.J. Redwine

Know your characters’ injuries as if they’re characters themselves—their reason for being in the story, their consequences, their healing time, what kind of aftercare is available in your story’s era, etc. —Carla Hoch

Sometimes rejection is good. God knows what He’s doing. Maybe He’s making room for something better. —Sara Ella? (I can’t remember; it was at a panel with multiple authors)

God has commissioned me to write and tell stories… with empathy for their wounds, healing for their hearts, and light for their paths. —C.J. Redwine

If you’re not scared, you’re not brave. —Carla Hoch

And to personalize the passionate closing words of C.J., “My name is Tracey Dyck, and I am a real writer.”

Did any of these quotes resonate with you? Have you attended any virtual events lately?