5 Writing Conference Lessons

You guys!!! I have now been to my first ever writing conference! It was not huge, nor mind-blowing, and I did not get an agent, editor, publisher, or contract. However, it proved to be exactly what I wanted needed and I'm so grateful I went! Here's what I learned.

#1 ~ Networking is Hard

Oh my goodness. Have I ever mentioned that I'm not great at talking to people? Like the starting conversations sort of talking to people? Yeah. It was not the easiest experience ever to have to walk up to a total stranger, three times my age, and say "Hi, I'm Abigayle." I mean, can you even believe I did it? Guess what? I even did it multiple times. Isn't that awesome?!?! I am still very proud of myself. Did I make any connections that are going to make me world famous? Probably not. But I did hear some really cool stories, meet some really cool people, and get a better handle on how much I need to practice networking.

#2 ~ People are Supportive

Even in the middle of all the scary networking, though, I found that people are so supportive! It's not like I expected anyone to tell me my dream stinks at a writing conference, but you never know. I was from out of town, easily the youngest person in the room, by myself, and had to give my spiel multiple times. But it was because I was 17, not 57, and working on my first novel that people's jaws dropped and they gave me a hug. That was pretty cool (even though I am not a fan of hugs). People were so proud of me for being prepared and not going to college for doing what I love. Was I surprised by that? Yeah, a little bit.

#3 ~ Speakers are Human

This was not a huge conference by any means. Maybe 100 people there, including vendors and staff? There were four speakers who spoke on Character Development, Dialogue, World Building, and Conflict. (Great topics, right?!) I manage to speak to every single one of them by accident and I realized somewhere along the way that they were just as human as me. They had struggled with writing but had managed to become published along the journey. And that journey was still in the works for them. That was so encouraging to me. Good gracious, they even got hungry like I did, so I got to have lunch with one of them :)

#4 ~ Writing is Subjective

This is probably the biggest thing I realized from the sessions themselves (which were all excellent!). Because every time any of the speakers emphasized something that was not fundamental know-how, they would give a disclaimer. That golden standard of no adverbs? Subjective. Do what you want. Paragraphs? Yeah, you need those. But still. Do them however you want, really. I was surprised to realize that for little rule-following me, probably the best "rule" I could remember, is not to follow every rule! Writing is an art, and that means taking the basics and making them yours.

#5 ~ Goodies are Awesome

So we were given this awesome blue canvas bag stuffed with handouts, ads, business cards, coupons, chocolate, and a Writer's Digest magazine. On first glance I figured most of the bits of paper I wouldn't need to keep. Yet I haven't managed to throw away a single one yet. Whether it was an editor, a bookstore, an author, or restaurant that paper was advertising, I could pretty easily find a use for any of them! Free stuff is awesome, guys.

And speaking of free stuff, here's where I go off on a random tangent and give you the details you really want to know about my trip. Like my book haul at Barnes & Noble. 

Oh yes!! The little town of Tyler, Texas was actually much bigger than I thought. And I want to live there, but that's beside the point. I stayed with my pen pal of 5+ years, who I haven't really met that often. We caught up by staying up late talking and sleeping on air mattresses in their schoolroom. Ah, it was awesome!

Besides our B&N trip, we also went to DSW Shoes, because I remembered that I needed navy or brown shoes. Two pairs of shoes and five jewelry items later . . .

Yeah. It was bad. But what can I say? I got the books free, thanks to graduation gift cards and I wasn't having to pay for hotel, flight, or gas. So of course I went on a shopping spree with my long lost best friend! 

Who is this girl you ask? Our mothers have known each other longer than they've known our fathers and we took up writing letters to one another years ago. Let's suffice it to say that she has the best smile and writes the most awesome snail mail ever. :)

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Have you ever attended a writing conference? They're pretty great, aren't they? 

Do you have a pen pal that you send hand-written, mail-stamped letters to? I'm thinking snail mail deserves it's own post, how about you?