I’ve been to a lot of writing conferences and workshops this year. I’ve been to seven so far: Grub Street’s Muse and the Marketplace Writer’s League of Texas 4th St Fantasy Highlights Foundation Futurescapes SCBWI Las Vegas Las Vegas Writer’s Conference
I say thank you for this post because it's honest. There are some severe disconnects between what conferences are advertising (not talking about the sleazy ones, some of the best conferences also do this) and what writers receive. Everyone is a business, I get it. I love how writers pay for 10 minutes of an agent's time for a hundred bucks. I think it can be deceiving. One of the very best things I ever received from a conference is friendship with other writers I had never met before. I think all writers need this community regardless of whether or not the conference organizers are looking to profit. Stay in love with the story, the sentence. Stay in love with creation of scene, character. Because the allure of money shouldn't sully that. Anyway, thanks for the honesty.
Thank you for this post, in particular. I haven't attended a conference in a long time, but this post gives some insight into some of what I experienced (it was one of the good, non-predatory conferences.)
I say thank you for this post because it's honest. There are some severe disconnects between what conferences are advertising (not talking about the sleazy ones, some of the best conferences also do this) and what writers receive. Everyone is a business, I get it. I love how writers pay for 10 minutes of an agent's time for a hundred bucks. I think it can be deceiving. One of the very best things I ever received from a conference is friendship with other writers I had never met before. I think all writers need this community regardless of whether or not the conference organizers are looking to profit. Stay in love with the story, the sentence. Stay in love with creation of scene, character. Because the allure of money shouldn't sully that. Anyway, thanks for the honesty.
Thank you for this post, in particular. I haven't attended a conference in a long time, but this post gives some insight into some of what I experienced (it was one of the good, non-predatory conferences.)