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So, how do I get started? What should I read? Which conferences must I attend?

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As far as I can answer these questions:

You start by writing and reading. It takes a fair amount of practice to perfect the craft. We're pretty much all working on that here.

I don't think you're required to attend any conferences, although I understand some of them can be helpful.

Reading, well, for starters:

• OSC's Characters and Viewpoint
• Brown and King, Self-Editing for Fiction Writers
  

Other than that, just join in. Have some of your work critiqued, here. Critique the work of some other writers. That's a great way to learn. It's amazing sometimes, what you will see in another writer's work that you never notice in your own.

Where to start; wade into the shallow end or dive headlong into the deep end. Stand by the pool and watch for a while, get a sense for the flow, the decorum, the depth, direction, and purposes of the discussions. Take a wild splash on a whim. One caution, address the writing, not the writer.

I second Meredith's recommended reading. Card's MICE principles are a signal contribution to the craft of writing. They regularly come up in discussions hereabouts. I've got a longer list of recommended writing craft reading, but much of it is on advanced writing principles and impenetrably dense reading. Good first approach titles to read after Card's might be available for browsing at the library on their writing shelf. I don't remember the titles of the ones I first picked up. But they got me started on some of the cornerstones of storycraft.

The admonition given since grade school to writers to read, read, read widely and broadly doesn't change for any age of writer. Special emphasis on the topical areas you write in are a plus. Say John Grisham, for example. Legal and political intrigue. Thriller genre, perhaps. Maybe military genre, or regional genre. Local politics, goverment and big businesss intrigue seem like naturals for your topical areas.

I'm not much of a convention goer. Rubbing elbows with jostling mobs gives me the heebie-jebbies or I faint. Used to self-medicate for that issue, but I had to give it up. So no joy there from me.

I've read a number of your posts to other newbies, and appreciate the gentle encouragement you've offered us want-to-bes. Since I'm still clinging to lowest branches of the treehouse, perhaps you could show me the route to your writing on the site.

Thanks for confirming Meredith's counsel. I'm on it.

As for reading, I do love it. Like painting, it connects me to the creative force of the expanding universe. And you're right, it is basic.

You guessed correctly. I'm actually a shy person, and politics for me was a constant kabuki dance. It was the only way I could do it at that national level and, eventually, I discovered that I was becoming the character I played rather than myself, following a script rather than my heart. I had to escape, but I didn't get far enough away, at least not yet.

My attraction to conferences (versus conventions, which I hate as much as you apparently do) is that they are in essence about the spoken word and, thus, take me to origin of storytelling.

See you in the treehouse.

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Since I'm still clinging to lowest branches of the treehouse, perhaps you could show me the route to your writing on the site.

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I hang out mostly around the novel support group (NSG under Hatrack Groups). I've only attempted a couple of short stories since I've been here. And only one of those actually worked.

The latest version of the query I'm struggling with is in Fragments and Feedback for Novels. I'll always take any suggestions on that {expletive deleted*. The first thirteen lines of Dreamer's Rose (my current WIP), The Shaman's Curse, and Blood Will Tell are also in Fragments and Feedback. I don't think I've got the latest first thirteen of The Ignored Prophecy up anywhere. That's likely to change, anyway.

Just wanted to add to the book recommendations. For someone just entering the fray of storytelling I would recommend "Immediate Fiction" by Jerry Cleaver. It does a nice job of presenting a simple story model that is straightforward to apply and work with without being in any way limiting. For me it's niche comes step before something like Character and Viewpoint. The Brown and King book recommended above is one of my staples, and along the same lines you might check out "A Dash of Style" by Noah Lukeman. It's a nice little tutorial on grammer/style conventions used in fiction.

Besides that just start writing! Sounds trite, I know, but that's the way it works.

There are topical forums on this site, a couple of which are intended as places where we can share our stuff and get feedback from other members. I'm sure there is a FAQ or something somwhere, maybe under the very first forum topic, that would serve as an overview.

Merci beaucoup! The books are ordered and on their way. My 15-day road trip was exhausting, but Seattle and Rio de Janeiro are good places to expend one's energy.

I spent evenings in my hotel room reading and writing. Hopefully, a few fragments will be ready to post in a few months. My story is taking better shape simply by entering the treehouse situated in a bountiful orchard of nourishing fruits, delightful nuts and charming blossoms.

I'm beginning to see that the duty of all in the treehouse is to bring your own leafs.

Also try:

Strunk and White-The Elements of Style.
OSC-How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy.
Rust Hills-Writing in General and the Short Story in Particular.

I would also recommend critting stuff as best you can for a few weeks, then post an intro of your own. It's through the process of critting others and trying to write yourself that your work will improve.

Oh yes...avoid purpality.