Writer's Conferences

Getting involved in the book blog and reviewing world was a piece to my puzzle that encouraged me to go after my lifelong dream of writing a novel. I read a statistic somewhere that 8 out of 10 Americans want to write a book. I wonder what is stopping them from trying. I know what my reasons were, and I know now that those reasons were not good enough to take time to do something I love.

When you read lots of good books, develop relationships with authors, agents and publishers, you are going to naturally want to write well if you are going to write at all. My suggestion would be to attend a Writer's Conference.

I was lucky enough to attend a writer's conference at a local university about a month and a half ago. I was nervous and excited to share my work in progress with other aspiring authors, but other than that I didn't really know what to expect. What I found was a community of amazing people who want each and every person who has the desire to write, to write their best -- whether that leads to publishing or not. It was one of the singular most wonderful experiences of my life.

I met amazing people, authors, agents, editors who work in the buisness and take time out of their busy lives to attend these conferences to teach and encourage others to join in the ranks. I have since teamed up with the amazing women in my class (my class happened to be all women. I think it had something to do with it being the chic-lit/romance class) and joined a writer's group, so I can continue to hone my craft.

I could go on and on about specific people that I met, classes that inspired me, and how excited I am to attend next year -- but that would make this post VERY long. What I can say is, if you have ever wanted to write START! And if you want to hone your craft, find a conference near you! You will love it.