As you all know I attended with my fabulous writing group, (Left to right: Me, Natalie Bahm, Megan Rebekah, and Marie Devers.) Megan and I had met once before (since we're both from FL) but this was the first time the rest of us had met in person. We all shared a hotel room and made a girls weekend of it. We had a blast. Ever since I attended the Pikes Peak Writers conference last April, I have been a firm believer in conferences. I am also a firm believer in finding a really GREAT and supportive writing group. I had the best of both worlds over the weekend.I'm not going to post about what the keynote speakers or workshop leaders discussed because SCBWI has a whole blog dedicated to the conference and you can easily go there to find MANY informative posts about anything and everything that went on during the conference. Click here to go to their blog.
I only had a cell phone camera so my photos are blurry but Natalie took some great ones, so once she sends them over I will be sure to post one or two. (We all will.) In the meantime, here are a few poor quality ones...
Agent panel. (George Nicholson- Sterling and Lord Literistic, Rosemary Stimola- Stimola Literary Studio, and Tina Wexler- ICM)
Jim Benton (creator of MANY amazing animated characters including Happy Bunny)
Libba Bray (author) on Writing as an Extreme Sport.
Jane Yolen (author) discussing 20 great rules of writing.I learned a lot over the two lightning-fast days of speakers and workshops, but here's what I think it all boils down to:
1.) WRITE. -That's the big secret. Write a damn good story. Start with that or there's no point in learning the rest of it. Write because you love it. (If you hate it, stop doing it.) Write so that your craft improves. Write to expand your imagination. Write. Period.
2.) A GREAT WRITING GROUP. -I don't know what the secret is to finding a great one. Maybe I just got really lucky. But finding/having a group of people you connect with, trust, share with, and learn from, is VITAL. (Becoming great friends is an added bonus.)
That's it.
I think those are the two most important factors in this crazy, wonderful, seemingly impossible, lovely, frustrating, heart-wrenching, roller coast ride, of a writer's life. Just make sure to do #1 and have #2, and I'm pretty sure the rest will follow.
Welcome back. Sounds like you guys had fun. I'l love to hit up a conference that's worthwhile here soon. Glad to hear you all got along well.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear you had such a great time. I can't wait until I have the opportunity to attend a conference. Who knows? Maybe, I'll do it with an awesome writing group like you did.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you had an awesome time! I so want to go to one of the big SCBWI conferences. But for now I'll live vicariously through the blog posts. So keep them coming. :)
ReplyDeleteWRITE - sometimes you forget that really that's what we need to do. We read, plan and ponder, but what we really need to do is WRITE. Sounds like you guys had fun.
ReplyDeleteOh, my heck! I love the pictures! Sometimes you think of these people who's names you know as like, not real, you know?? So glad you had fun!
ReplyDeleteSounds like you had so much fun! Wow, wish I could have gone. Thanks for the tips!
ReplyDeleteIt's good to put real people to the names I see on Query Tracker! I'm glad you had a good time. My writing drastically improved after I had a critique group.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing some of your fun with us, Karen. I'm dying to get to a conference one of these days.
ReplyDeleteThanks for proving that it's OK for a FL gal to fly out of state for a conference...I'm researching my next option now :) Sounds like you had a great time!
ReplyDeleteGreat tips - as a tentatively aspiring writer, I shall certainly take note!
ReplyDeleteI'm so jealous! Wish I could have gone, but hope you had a great time.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad ya'll had a great time! And how exciting to finally meet your crit group in person! I'm looking forward to seeing more pics from the conference.
ReplyDeleteSo glad that you've had a great time at the conference, Karen. Lots of insights and inspiration! Hope you are magically well. x
ReplyDeleteI'm really glad you had fun, Karen. It sounds like a brilliant experience. Thanks for the advice! xx
ReplyDeleteGreat advice as usual Karen! Your experience motivates me!
ReplyDeleteI was wondering how is The Kindrily coming along?
ohhhhhhhhhhhh you went too.. I have been reading of other folks who were there.. fabulous. enjoyed reading this.. cheers!
ReplyDeleteI'm soooooo jealous in a positive and supportive way. It's been ages since I've been to a writing conference, and I LOVE New York. Thanks for sharing all the inside info, I gobble up post-conference blog posts like this; so motivating :)
ReplyDeleteHow fun. I went to a conference alone last fall, in Kansas...not nearly as exciting.
ReplyDeleteGlad you had a great time! If I ever decided to start writing seriously I think I have a great writing group already in place. And yes, you'd be in it! :D
ReplyDeleteSimple and to the point - I love it! I can work with that :o)
ReplyDeleteGlad you had a great time! Sounds like you all did ;o)
Great points Karen! I totally agree.
ReplyDeleteYour pic of you guys is SO cute. I'm glad you all had an awesome time. ;-)
Thanks for sharing that with us! I agree with the two big points you bring up -- write and find a great writing group.
ReplyDeleteAlways hard to decompress from such a great experience, isn't it?
What fun! That's some great advice. Your words are always so inspiring. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteLove your blog and I'm totally jealous you went to the NY SCBWI! Lucky girl! I was at the Miami one (I'm from FL too!) Are you planning on going to the Orlando one? Thanks for sharing your experience!
ReplyDeleteNice wrap up, Karen! Thanks for pointing people to Team Blog's conference coverage. How cool that you got to go (and stay!) with your critique group. Girls weekend and a conference, a perfect pairing.
ReplyDeleteHey hun! There's an award for you on my blog =)
ReplyDeleteIam crazy jealous of you. Yes, I am. I wanted to go to this conference! Will you be going to the SCBWI in LA in July? My CPs and I will be there (hopefully)!! Thanks for sharing your photoand infos. How cool. It makes me want to go to one right now!
ReplyDeleteGlad you had such a good time at the conference.
ReplyDeleteBtw, you have a little gift over at my blog today. :)