No Excuses

Well, here it is as promised: my take-aways from the Kansas Authors’ Club 2009 Convention.

• No excuses. If you are a writer, write. There is no excuse good enough for not writing. If you have a day (or night, or evening) job, get up early or go to bed late. If you have young children, elderly parents or difficult dogs, find somewhere to write for some time each day. One woman locked herself in her bathroom to get her writing time in.
• It isn’t easy. Writing is hard work. Then revising is hard work. Then selling what you wrote is hard work. Be prepared for it to be hard work.
• Take yourself seriously as a writer. Do what works for your writing. You’re working hard. You’re putting the words down. It matters.
• Take care of yourself. A tired body leads to a tired mind. Get out of the house. Take a walk. Talk to other people. Laugh every day.
• There are no short-cuts. Do your research. Be willing to dig into the pain you feel. Show your characters as fully three-dimensional. Tell the truth in language that is easily understood.

Every speaker was extremely generous in sharing their time and experience with us. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to each of them. It’s up to me to put the learning into practice.

No excuses.

Convention Inspiration

I’m back from the Kansas Authors’ Club 2009 Convention. The convention took place in Topeka this year and District 1 did a terrific job organizing everything. Although this was my first writing conference, it was everything I had been told to expect and more. The Capitol Plaza Hotel provided beautiful surroundings and good food. The meeting rooms were easily accessible and the schedule allowed time between workshops to greet old friends and make new ones. The speakers shared their knowledge and experience in discussions that were both informative and inspirational. I had done my research on writing conferences and expected no less.

What I didn’t expect was the experience of being with a group of people, most of whom I had not met before, and feeling instantly comfortable. Every person I met was, without exception,  ready with a smile and a friendly greeting. In a pursuit that is considered by many to be selfish and solitary, these writers were interesting…and they were interested. I met writers of poetry and science fiction; of humor and mystery. I met writers who had published their work and those who were still aspiring to publication. I met writers who were willing to share what they knew of writing and who were humble enough to admit they didn’t know everything. Let me introduce some of these wonderful people to you:

Carol Martin - a self-confessed worrier and a straight-forward writer who tells it like it is. Finding the time and space to write may not be easy but it is possible! Check out her blog at www.fim-carol.blogspot.com.

Deborah Dalton – a distant relative of the infamous Dalton brothers, she is also an aspiring writer of science fiction and fantasy. She was the first person I met at the conference. She generously shared the antics of her two dogs with me while we enjoyed the Saturday workshops.

Nancy Pistorius – the winner of the 2009 Langston Hughes Creative Writing Award (fiction) and a bubbling font of optimism and energy. She shared her endless enthusiasm with me during lunch Sunday and had befriended me on Facebook before Monday morning!

Sylvia Colombo – generously shared her experiences in self-publishing with the rest of us at dinner Saturday night. She is a lovely friend with an adventurous spirit.You can have the pleasure of speaking with her at the Spirit, Mind & Body Fair at the Topeka Expocenter the first weekend in November. You can also order her book, I Danced With Crazy Horse, at any Hastings.

Check back tomorrow for take-aways from the workshops!