I am spending my weekend at a writing conference.
What is a writing conference you may ask?
Excellent question.
A writing conference is . . .
Chocolate cookies with white chocolate chips. (They served these at 3:00 p.m. today).
A place where you get to meet hundreds of other people who aren’t afraid to say, “Hey! I write YA paranormal fiction or sci-fi suspense thrillers or graphic novels. What do you write?”
A place where you get to say “I don’t know anything about how to get published, and I’m dying to learn!”
A place where you can meet incredible authors like Tamora Pierce and Sherwood Smith and Kristin Cashore.
Where you can learn to write a YA romance or a psychological thriller or a dystopian fantasy.
And where you can find out whether your character is slightly, or moderately, or totally insane.
A writing conference is . . .
A place where can you ask those extremely pressing questions like: “Do I need a capital letter at the beginning of a sentence that starts with ellipses? Or can I put swear words in a middle-grade novel? Or what the heck is a middle-grade novel?”
A place where you can meet editors and agents and sell your book.
Where you can have authors and editors read your stuff and give you real feedback, one on one.
Where you can walk around the waterfalls in an Oregon State Park or spend the morning chatting at a fireside on Whidbey Island or have a massage at a resort in Vail, Colorado.
Where you can meet tons of other people who read and love and write books. What could be better?
And did I mention the chocolate cookies with white chocolate chips?
For any aspiring authors out there who might be interested in attending a writing conference, I just wanted to follow up this post with a little practical information.
ReplyDeleteSCBWI (The Society for Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) is the major organization that puts on writing conferences geared for people who write YA or young adult books. You can google SCBWI to find their site & information about conferences in any state in the U.S.
There are also TONS of conferences offered by other organizations. Some of my personal favorites include:
Sirens: Women in Fantasy Literature Conference
The Willamette Writers Conference
The Whidbey Island Writers Conference
If you google any of these sites, you can find information on the details.
Or try googling "Writers Conference" along with the place where you live.
Wow. Thanks for the information! I've always wondered about writing conferences but have never really gone out of my way to look up the information. Now I will since it seems as if it could be a learning experience (not to mention pretty fun as well).
ReplyDeleteKILL ME NOW! I'm gonna be getting some of this stuff soon, cause I would DIE if I met Tamora Pierce or Kristin Cashore....in a good way, of course! I mean, if I died, I wouldn't be able to talk to them!
ReplyDeleteAnyways. They don't hold any writer's conferences ANYWHERE near Charlotte (except for one this fall that I MIGHT be able to go to...except that I might not because it would be DURING school and I don't think my parents would agree with my willingness to sacrifice school for two days to go to a writer's conference.) But once I get out of college and make money, I'm gonna hit those conferences like a STORM!
Boo-yah!
*cough*
Great post. :) Even if I'm not a fan of chocolate cookies with white chips. Don't look at me like that, I know I'm weird! XD