The nice thing about spring is that we will soon be putting away the snow shovels and getting out our suitcases for--conferences!
I love conferences.
In high school English class all I cared about was creative writing. I never liked learning grammar, but now I’ll take furious notes in a workshop on how to use the comma. There are such a variety of topics to choose from it’s hard to know which to attend. I’ve taken workshops on everything from writing fight scenes, to improving time management, to dealing with the middle-of-the-story- slump, to self-promotion.
I also enjoy attending agent and editor panels. Publishing has changed and is changing so quickly that the variety of challenging questions asked of the audience can prompt some interesting discussions about the industry.
But mostly I love absorbing the energy generated by having so many writers in one place. Sharing a couch in the hotel lobby, or having a drink in the bar with other writers grounds me in who I am. Suddenly I am part of something. I’m not just sitting on my computer in a corner of the back porch, typing away, lost behind piles of books and research notes.
I am an author. We may have just met, but I can talk about writing with people who also hear voices in their heads, people who don’t think it’s weird to discuss ways to poison someone, or if a corset can be removed with one hand.
It’s like three days of spring at the end of a long gray winter. My writer battery has been recharged. My brain is already plotting out my next story and I go home revitalized and a bit more confident that I can do this.
Do you attend any conferences? What is your favorite part?
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He made her fall in love with him, then he took it all away.
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