I Found My People! by Tandy Balson

I attended my first writers’ conference in 2014. After joining Inscribe, I connected with the online community and wanted more of what I experienced there.  A few short months later, I was on my way to Edmonton and Fall Conference.

As a newbie writer, I had much to learn and the workshops taught me skills I needed to become more proficient at my chosen craft. What I found there was much more than helpful teaching, though.  I found my people!

Face to face connections with writers who share my Christian faith and values was priceless.  The encouragement, support and acceptance filled a void I hadn’t fully identified.

Although I attended a local writers' group, as the only Christian I often felt like a misfit.  My outlook and style of writing were very different from the others. I often wondered where I could find anyone similar to me.

Attending Fall Conference felt like coming home to much-loved family. I was no longer alone.  Talking with others with thought processes like mine helped me to see I wasn’t crazy. There were others who prayed before writing, knew God guided their words and were amazed at the direction those words sometimes took. I was a Christian writer! This enabled me to fully embrace the calling that God had placed on my life.  

Connections made turned into friendships.  Nothing can come close to the relationships built when sitting beside a fellow writer and engaging in conversation. The mutual support is invaluable. 

Finding my people has helped me unearth the confidence needed to keep writing and sharing the words God has given me and I owe it all to attending a writers’ conference.

The Influence of a Writers’ Conference – Stepping Stones to Growth by Joylene M. Bailey

photo credit: oatsy40 <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68089229@N06/6818869372">Stepping Stones</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">(license)</a> 

The first writers’ conference I ever attended was one I helped organize, in a city that hadn’t seen a Christian writers’ conference in many years. I just wanted to be around other writers, other like-minded people.

I don’t know what I was expecting but I was really surprised to discover that the other writers there weren’t some famous high falutin’ authors. They didn’t look like Ernest Hemingway. They didn’t spout off long-winded, obtrusive commentaries.

They were ordinary people, just like me.

Nobody looked down his nose at me. Nobody whispered behind her hands, “What is she doing here?” When I said I was a writer they believed me, even when I didn’t believe it myself.

So, it was at a writers’ conference that I found the courage and the confidence to call myself a writer. Out loud.

It was at a writers’ conference that I found out that the way I write is OK.

The plenary speaker and author of many novels called himself an Intuitive Writer - someone who doesn’t know ahead of time what is going to come out of the end of his pen. He just writes whatever comes to him. He told us that partway through the writing of one of his novels, an important character decided to up and leave the story completely, and how he, the writer, was left wondering what to do. And I thought, “That’s how I write!  It must be ok.” It was a significant AHA! moment in my history.

Up to that point I had thought I was odd.

It was at a writers’ conference where I learned about and joined ICWF’s listserv, an email community of like-minded people who help and serve each other as we navigate the many facets of writing.

It was at a writers’ conference where I answered the call to write once a month for Inscribe Writers Online.

It was a writers’ conference where I entered my first writing contest, and won second place in my category.

It is at writers’ conferences that I get so inspired, so encouraged that I feel myself swelling from the inside out with confidence and absolute LOVE for putting words down on paper.

Over the years I have come to know and recognize other writers. From that day 9 years ago, when I walked into that first writers conference, to today, I find I am among friends there. I’m still not completely comfortable walking into a room full of other people, let alone writers – that’s probably the introvert in me - but it is so comforting to find friends there. People I’ve come to know over the years. Writers I admire – not just because of their writing, but also because of their character.

So have Writers’ Conferences influenced me? Absolutely! Each writing conference is another stepping stone in my growth as a writer. The impact on my confidence, my freedom to create, and on my sense of my calling has been invaluable. If you have never attended one I encourage you to take that first step, hop onto that first stepping-stone. You’ll never look back.

photo credit: Kristofer Williams <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/24710541@N08/5520512354">'Stepping Stones' - Talacre Lighthouse, Talacre Beach</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/">(license)</a> 

Joylene writes from her home in Edmonton where, currently, all the furniture is piled in the middle of the rooms so that the painters have room to paint.

5 Reasons to Attend a Writers' Conference

Although I wasn't able to make it to the InScribe conference, I regularly attend Write Canada. Here are five reasons I keep going back:

LEARN NEW SKILLS

Because I'm eclectically interested, I take a variety of classes. What about you? Are you interested in writing fiction or nonfiction, poetry or prose, books or blog posts? Whatever you write, you can acquire new skills by attending a conference. Even though I was only able to attend the Write Canada on Saturday this year, I still learned much from authors like Davis Bunn and Marcy Kennedy.

MEET INDUSTRY PROS

Not only have I met a number of authors over the years, including Janette Oke and Ted Dekker, I've met editors, agents, and publishers. A writers' conference provides a slightly more relaxed setting in which to approach these individuals, though you always want to remember that they are professionals and should be treated as such. Just a word to the wise ... being an extrovert, I haven't always remembered that last part.

CONNECT WITH OTHER WRITERS

I've found over the years that writers are typically a generous bunch. Although those who write in our genre or area of interest are technically our competition, more experienced writers seem only too happy to share the knowledge and skills they've acquired over the years. We extroverts drink in the opportunity to spend time with other writers. For the introvert, those who seem to be in the majority at a writers' conference, it is a safe place to spend time with others who understand the challenges and joys of putting words on paper (or the computer screen) and sharing them with readers.

GET INSPIRED

Writing is a very solitary endeavour. Although we may attend workshops, belong to a writers' group, and take courses, the process of writing is between us and our writing tool of choice. One of the advantages of attending a conference is soaking in the inspiration from the plenary sessions, the classes we attend, and the individuals we rub shoulders with. I go home from a conference fired up, ready to devote more time to writing. For those of us who can't do so full-time, we need a shot in the arm to include writing in our schedule.

SEEK NEW OPPORTUNITIES

And whether you're seeking them or not, new opportunities may come your way because you attend a writers' conference. I first met Ron Hughes at a Write Canada conference. Years later, he asked if I knew of anyone who might like to contribute to HopeStreamRadio (HSR). Podcasting is something I hadn't given much thought to, but now I upload devotionals to HSR regularly. This is only one opportunity that came my way. You just never know what can happen.

What other reasons would you include on this list?