With the excellent and affordable White County Creative Writers Conference scheduled for June 6 in Searcy, Arkansas, here are some reminders why writing conferences are important to writers who desire to be successful.
Education: Writing conferences help you gain education about the craft of writing. Conferences teach many tips about the craft of writing, such as editing and how to plot. A conference also reinforces the importance of journaling, to read and study books about the craft written by successful authors, and that we need to join a critique group.
Finding Your Writing Tribe: Conferences are a great way to meet people who care about writing as much as you do. Being a writer can be lonely. Finding people who enjoy writing, want to talk about tips and tricks, and can evolve into your friends is worth the price of the conference. Writers need other writers. Although writing is a solitary business, you don’t have to seclude yourself from other writers. Hunt them down and befriend them. You’ll be glad you did.
Rubbing Elbows with the Gatekeepers: Publishers and agents can be found at writing conferences. Many conferences will allow you to schedule pitches to agents and publishers, some provide contests that are judged by publishers or agents. These things offer you an opportunity to meet influential people in person and impress them. Sometimes it’s “who you know” as much as “what you know.”
Attend Conferences that Sponsor Contests: When contests are sponsored by a conference, you can learn by identifying those writers burning up the carpet as they pick up their awards. After they deliver the awards, congratulate some winners. Ask them what they believe caused that story to excel. Listen to what they say. Was it humor? Editing over and over? Great plot line? They’ll tell you and you can learn. Enter the contests and be bold. Allow yourself to be energized by a contest description. Write in a genre you’ve never considered previously, something out of your comfort zone. You’ll stretch your skills and get more experience with the craft of writing.
Extend a Helping Hand: Always try to help a fellow writer to the best of your abilities. Your kindness will be a reward you’ll cherish. At conferences, writers always seem to talk about writing during breaks, at lunch or dinner, or after a presentation. This sharing of kind, but honest opinions and experiences, can be valuable to all writers if you’re smart enough to listen and apply helpful suggestions.
Make Writing a Priority: If you want to improve your writing skills, make it important to you. Attending conferences is one of the best ways to prioritize your writing. So many people say they wished they had time to write or that they would write, if they just had the time. Make the time. Explain to your family and those around you that you need to do this for your own happiness. Then carve out that time for you to be happy and write.
Note: This article was previously published in the March 2024 edition of Writers Monthly PDF, a digital magazine for writers, owned and edited by Del Garrett. I’m on the contributing staff of the magazine and write a monthly column, Writing for Contests. To subscribe or submit articles for consideration, contact Del Garrett at prowriter001@yahoo.com
Leave a Reply