Sunday, May 3, 2015

A bunch of writers walk into a room…


By the time this blog goes live, I will be headed back from the Oklahoma Writers’ Federation Inc. Conference in Oklahoma City. I’m on the faculty for the conference and speaking in three sessions—on self-editing, dialogue and creating atmosphere (they had way cooler titles than this, just sayin’).

Obviously, as I write this, I have no idea how it went—if my PowerPoint worked, if I ended up with an impossible question, if I passed out in front of a room full of people.

You know, the usual.

Like most writers, I prefer to hide behind the printed word, not actually say anything out loud. 

Especially to a bunch of my peers. But, I’m getting better. And mostly, I want to brave my nerves just for the fact that if any of the information I have to share helps another writer, it will be worth it.

What’s the most useful piece of information you’ve picked up at a conference, workshop or writers’ meeting?

5 comments:

  1. Sarah -- I hope it went well.

    I have received much wonderful advice, but the one that is more important than the others is to persevere.

    ~ Jim

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  2. Read and follow submission rules.

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  3. I hope your presentations went well, Sarah!

    One piece of advice that has stayed with me is to write the story you most want to read.

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  4. Great advice, folks! It did go well. People seemed interested in what I had to say and I didn't publicly vomit, so it was most definitely a win:)

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  5. I hope the conference went well. I was at Malice Domestic this last weekend. Even though I wasn't at the conference you helped organize, thank you on behalf of all writers (and readers) Without the selfless efforts of all the volunteers, these events would not happen. And they are so meaningful to writers, who by the very nature of our work, are solitary creatures.

    The piece of advice that comes to mind is that, when things seem to be going poorly, keep on writing. You can always revise & improve poor writing, but you can't do that with a blank piece of paper. Or screen.

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