Attend a Writer's Conference

Writers wanting to improve their skills, try a new genre, meet other writers and editors, or find new inspiration can attend a writer's conference that offers a change of pace and scenery. Writers will find a variety of writer's conferences throughout the United States and in locales abroad that take place over a weekend or for upwards of two weeks. Make the most out of the writer's conference you choose by taking the following steps.

Steps

1. Register for a writer's conference that suits your needs based on location, tuition cost and genre. Check with universities and community colleges near home (if you are on a budget and need to stay close to home), or a college in an area you'd like to visit, for writing symposiums or conferences that cover a wide range of styles. Choose a writer's conference specifically meeting a niche such as a spiritual writing conference at a wellness resort, or one that takes you to an exotic locale abroad, a desert or an ocean destination in the United States. The key is to search for a locale that helps inspire your creative juices. When looking and registering for a conference, inquire about scholarship availability, as some do offer partial or full financial assistance. Examples of a few kinds of conferences include:
   • The University of Michigan hosts the Bear River Writer's Conference each summer on a lake, holding workshops on fiction, poetry and creative non-fiction. Attendees also have time to write, take nature walks and attend readings.
   • Big Sur Writing Workshops is a conference for writers who have either finished or partially finished a manuscript so attendees can take part in intense work on preparing their works for submission to publishers.
   • Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, NY, holds the National Black Writers Conference each spring focusing on writing, youth workshops, book signings and author readings.
   • Summer Literary Seminars International hosts writing workshops on poetry, play writing, fiction/non-fiction, children's books and screenwriting in three different countries. Conferences are held in Canada, Russia and Kenya in December, June and August.
2. Select conference sessions on topics in which you need to improve or need fresh ideas. All writer's conferences offer a variety of class sessions covering every imaginable topic within the scope of that particular writing conference including writing genre-specific pivotal scenes, character development or finding mystery publishing houses. Select sessions that could help you improve where a weakness such as organization of your work, formatting a manuscript, tracking the writing you've submitted or writing dialogue. Sign up for sessions being taught by an author you emulate or an esteemed editor who is well-respected in his or her field.
3. Enter contests sponsored by the conference. Some writer's conferences will hold writing contests to which you submit work ahead of time with winners announced during the conference. Enter any and all contests, even if they aren't in your regular genre or comfort zone. It never hurts to try something new and you find a new genre or style of writing you enjoy. You could also win a prize such as publication of your work, a monetary award or a scholarship to a future conference.
4. Network with writers, editors and publishers during the conference. While you are obviously attending a writing conference to hone your skills and learn more about your chosen genre, writer's conferences are also ideal places to meet other writers and more importantly, to rub elbows with agents and editors who can help get your work published. Take plenty of business cards and make the rounds of the expo area, mingle with other attendees during scheduled breaks and ask other writers about the publications that buy their work. Also at the end of any sessions taught by editors or agents, stop to introduce yourself and if it is someone whose brain you'd really like to pick, ask him or her to meet you for coffee or dessert at their earliest convenience.
5. Save receipts for all your expenses related to the conference including lodging, food, registration fees and even any tools you buy that pertain to writing such as software or books. If you aren't yet being paid as a writer when you attend a writer's conference, you'll want to talk to an accountant before you claim the expenses on your taxes; he'll know whether or not they're allowable by the IRS.

Related Articles

• Prevent a Writer's Bump Callus
• Be a Travel Writer
• Be a Decent Story Writer
• Be a Good Writer
• Network at a Conference
• Choose a Hotel for Your Conference

References

• http://www.writing-world.com/basics/conference.shtml
• http://writersconf.org/search_result.php?Location=All&Month=All&Type=Conference

See also

• Hire a Funny Motivational Speaker for Your Next Meeting
• Have a Successful Meeting with a College Advisor
• Stay Focused During a Long Meeting
• Speak Up in Meetings
• Promote a Conference
• Prepare for a Board Meeting
• Follow up Tasks After a Meeting
• Choose a Hotel for Your Conference
• Do Distributed Development Meetings
• Overcome Nerves As a First Time Chairperson

Read more ...