When the post-conference energy is not there

It does happen.

I was reading over the enthusiastic posts regarding the Emerald City Conference, and I have to say I was nodding my head as I was reading them--yep, I was feeling an increased urge to write, and my mind was filled with the different ways I could write the story--stories, even--that I have in mind. I do love that conference, I truly do, and highly recommend it to anyone interested in writing and publishing.

However, there have been days when I've not felt that uptick in energy, and felt overwhelmed or discouraged instead. This is normal, this is okay, and in fact it does not mean the conference was a waste, and it does not mean you're some freak of writerly nature if you feel this way. And boy, does that make a writer feel somehow outcast, somehow alone. Why everyone else, and not me?

The truth is, there are many legitimate reasons why a writer might not feel that great during or after a conference. I don't think it's a lack of friendly people at all. I'm one of the shyest people in the world, but I've not felt that people weren't supportive of my efforts and my hopes when I've gone to a conference, even when I was a complete unknown newbie.

If you do feel let down after a conference, overwhelmed, etc., consider the following:

1. You aren't physically well
   
   
2. You don't know anyone at the conference, everyone talks in writer jargon that you aren't familiar with, and you think if you open your mouth, you'll sound really stupid, and everyone will scorn you and heap spite on your head. You think everyone else is so much more knowledgeable than you, and therefore it sucks to be you.
   
   
3. You think your stuff can't possibly be publishable, because every editor/agent/industry professional says they want something other than what you write, therefore your manuscript sucks dead canaries.

 My answers:

1. You aren't physically well. I want you to seriously consider this. There is nothing like a lot of people congregated in a small, intense, and very friendly environment (hugs galore!) to pass on one virus or another. There is such a thing known as "conference crud" that happens every single year to people who go to either a large local conference or the national one. Or maybe you're just tired from the trip. Whatever it is, trust me, physical ailments or simple lack of sleep will kill that conference energy sooner than a fly on a frying pan. Get some rest, get better, and then go over your conference notes again. If that doesn't help, go see a doctor. I've been through some difficult physical ailments, including surgery, and there is nothing like being physically drained to cause one's creative energy and enthusiasm to write to disappear entirely. No amount of conference goodness will fix that. Your health and well-being comes before anything else.
   
   
2. You don't know anyone at the conference, everyone is smarter than you, you don't know the jargon, yadda, yadda. STOP THAT! This is your fear talking, not your creativity, not your true worth as a writer. There are many, many first-timers and brand new writers at every conference. Both the Romance Writers of America national conference and the Emerald City Conference have a special welcoming session for first-timers and newbies. And even if you miss out on that session, keep in mind that every one of us have been newbies at conferences, we know exactly how it feels, and can sympathize.
   
   As for jargon, don't be afraid to ask. Nobody is going to look down at you if you don't know what POV means, and if they do, then they're not worth knowing. If you ask, then there will be people who are more than happy to tell you, because it means you're willing to learn. There is nothing more delightful to the person steeped in writer-geekdom than a discussion of craft and technique. You ask about POV (point of view) at a lunch table or hotel café filled with writers getting their caffeine hit and you will get all sorts of friendly people jumping into the discussion of limited third versus first person, depth of POV, keeping to one POV per scene, and on and on. You will learn more about POV than you ever dreamed, and everyone will consider you "one of us" for just bringing it up and taking notes. Try it out the next time you're at a conference and don't know anyone at a table. Ask, "Why do some people think you should keep point of view to one per scene, and others don't?" You will get precisely the response I just mentioned. I'm serious.
   
   
3. You think your stuff can't possibly be publishable. Okay, this is a problem that strikes both seasoned and newbie writers alike, regardless of whether one, five, ten, or no books have been published. The newbie--after a few editor/agent panels--thinks that the road to publication is steep, rocky, and fraught with traps for the unwary. The seasoned author thinks that nobody wants her, everyone hates her, and she should go eat some worms because the muse just isn't hip to that profitable vampire romance trend (or other). And vice versa.
   
   
   
   
   I am telling you that this way of thinking is poison, pure poison to creative output. If you are going down this road, back away, put it out of your mind, and avoid going to editor/agent panels or anything that talks about market trends unless I'm the one who is talking about it. :-D You cannot create with the market in mind. Well, some people can, but there are not many of them. You must write to your true sense of story, from the heart. Though some people have honed their craft to the point where they can still create a good story, trust me when I say the sensation is rather like building a house with toothpicks--painstaking, time-consuming, and with little joy, unless you're sort who likes building houses with toothpicks, and I mean people-sized, not miniature. Write first, complete the story, then think about selling it.
   
   
   
   I have said more than a few times at conferences and at workshops that we writers and readers (and the vast majority of genre writers start as readers) are the ones who make the trends. Not the publishers, although they'd love to have that kind of control. We are the ones who know what we want to read, and we are legion. As a result, when we can't find what we want to read, we often write it. This is where genre trends--and I will say all fiction trends--come from: from the readers who are also writers. It is a grass-roots movement, and though publishers may try to control that movement, their control is brief and the wisest editors and agents know this. Write what you love, and write from the heart. If you do this, you are the ones who create the trends, and will ride that wave to success.
   
   
   
   If it's because you think your craft and technique aren't up to snuff, welcome to the club. The nature of writing stories is that you are forever learning, forever finding new techniques to help perfect your art. Every person at a conference is at different levels in their writing expertise. If you are new to writing fiction, go to some craft and technique workshops. You may find to your surprise that you are sitting next to an established author who wants to revisit and think more deeply about that particular workshop's writing technique. You Are Not Alone.
   
   
   

And one more reason for conference non-energy:

• You are an introvert and have gone to too many conferences, or over-scheduled yourself. Most writers I know are introverts, and by that I don't necessarily mean shy, I mean we (yes, I'm one) need quiet time to recharge our batteries. Unlike extroverts, we become drained when we're around a lot of people. We need time alone, time without any people around; time with quiet, soothing music; and maybe a massage by a masseuse who does not talk except to say "relax" in soft, hypnotic tones. I recommend not filling every hour of your schedule with workshops, seminars, meet-and-greets, and on and on. Make sure to take a mid-morning as well as a mid-afternoon quiet break in your hotel room when you're pretty sure nobody will be in there (if you have a roommate). Or find a friend who will let you be alone in the room for a while. If you must, go into the bathroom, pour a bath, shut the door, and relax in the bath for a good half hour. Do not underestimate the curative effects of quiet time in a quiet room if you are an introvert.

So, don't worry if you feel you didn't get what you wanted out of a conference. You probably did or would have, but the truth is, you needed to take care of yourself, and you didn't. To get the most out of a conference, you need to make sure you're up to it physically, emotionally, and creatively. Take care of yourself, and the conference muse will take care of you.

Emerald City Conference at the Bellevue Hilton, WA - Fini

As usual, the Greater Seattle RWA chapter's Emerald City Conference was very fun, very informative, and very full of creative energy.  I believe we had more attendees this time than last; I understand that it's the largest chapter conference on the west coast of the U.S.  There has not been one time I have departed from that conference with anything less than renewed enthusiasm for writing and full of ideas.

Quite a few authors were there of course: Cherry Adair, with her marvelous "Write the Damn Book" challenge; Deborah Cook (a.k.a., Claire Deveraux); Lisa Jackson; Alexis Morgan; Pat White; Stella Cameron; Jane Porter; Gerri Russell; Christine Warren; Yasmine Galenorn; Katie McAllister; Susan Mallery; Megan Chance; Terry McLaughlin; Bob Mayer; Eileen Cook; Robert Dugoni; and many more.  Oh, and me.  :-)

The workshops were set to appeal to writers of many levels, from brand new to multi-published and everything in between.  Is a critique group right for you?  There was a workshop to help you decide.  What about the editor/author relationship?  How does that work?  Assistant Editor Peter Senftleben of Kensington Publishing and two of his authors, Gina Robinson and Shelli Stevens gave their expertise with that.  Are you an author who needs to think about career planning?  Katie MacAlister gave a workshop on that.  Interested in writing for the Young Adult market?  Authors Heather Davis, Serena Robar, and Dona Sarkar talked with expertise about what's allowed, how far you can go, and the current market trends.  And research!  If you wanted to know about Medieval castles, dragons, the Old West, and urban fantasy, there were workshops for those topics, too.

I want to give a special shout-out to Serena Robar for her workshop on the "Long Tail of Sales."  This was a workshop I gladly moderated, as I feel it's a marketing model that will shortly become the dominant one.  It favors smaller niche markets, and as romance is so very much about niches, it should adapt extremely well to this model and make a good deal of money doing it.  It also favors the quick, mobile companies; mom-and-pop shops; and other small, flexible companies and individuals that are good at acting on the spot.  I will do my best to suggest this workshop for the RWA National Conference, as I believe it's a very important one in our current economy if individuals--and companies--are to survive.

As for the market news...well, I heard a bit, not much.  For now it seems to be steady as it goes:  paranormals and historicals are doing fine, as I expected. First person novels seem to be popular, and I have to say, for a writer, it's great practice in keeping to one point of view. Young Adult novels are doing very, very well, and are definitely on the up-cycle (I remember a time when the Romance Writers of America dropped the Young Adult category from their contests, as there were too few entries--not any more!).  Urban fantasy romances are still doing well, and steampunk is making inroads.  Yes, vampires are still in, but the fantasy/paranormal romances are expanding in scope, thank God.

Romantic comedies--trust me when I say that their day is soon to come.  I don't know why publishers are not publishing more of these.  If they don't start coming into their own in the next year, I guarantee you'll see demand for them by 2012--only 3 years from now.  If you're a writer of "romcom" get your stories written now.  By the time the publishers get on board, you'll have a raft of manuscripts ready to submit.  The reason I say this is that I do not think that our economy is going to recover quickly at all, and will still see some dips along the way.  People buy entertainment when economies are down, and they go in droves for comedies (think of the popular movies of the Great Depression, and you'll see what I mean).

Westerns don't seem to be in, my gut instinct says they may not see much publishing light that soon, even though I do think there's a large market for it.  Our economic cycle is hugely focused on urban tastes right now, and even though the more small-town areas are probably dying to read a good solid western, since the major publishing companies exist in huge urban centers, they probably have no idea that there is this huge untapped market.  It's really too bad, in that some good solid, steady sales could be had in this "long tail" market.  Certainly, a smaller, more flexible publishing company could take advantage of this niche.

Well, that's it for now.  Next year...well, I doubt I'll be going to this lovely conference, as I'll be out of the country in Europe, if all goes as planned.  It'll be quite expensive to fly out to Seattle, even to the East Coast.  So unless our fortunes change, that'll be it for writing conferences.

Emerald City Conference at the Bellevue Hilton, WA

I'm attending the Emerald City conference this weekend, which I always attend if I can.  I'm having a blast connecting with friends and fellow writers again, talking about writing and the writing process.  I also do tarot readings for them as well, just for fun, and it's a great brainstorming tool.  :-)

I'm one of the workshop speakers, and I'll be talking about themes in stories.  I frankly didn't get the whole thing written until last week, but just being around other writers--I don't know, the energy, whatever--has brought fresh realizations about the topic, so that I'm going to have to deviate a bit from my outline.  But that's okay, as I don't think it'll deviate much from the Powerpoint presentation I've set up. Weird, because I didn't talk about themes with anyone tonight (actually, last night, as it's now in the wee hours of the morning.  I'm going to be very tired tomorrow).

And, come to think of it, I think I left my conference bag at the hotel room of one of my friends, dang it.

But I think there's something in the air in writers conferences that just energizes the thought processes so that one's thoughts on story and writing and the rest gain a special clarity and focus, somewhat like the effect of getting a huge hit of pure oxygen to the brain.  So now I have all this really clear way of expressing and illustrating the idea of themes in stories in my brain that I hope will last until after my workshop.  :-D

After I'm done with the workshop, I'll see about posting my notes here and/or on my web site.  But, they're just the notes, not the full workshop, so if I ever give this workshop again, you'll just have to attend.  Anyway, I'm just so freakin' excited about what I'm going to talk about, I had to blog about it right away, even though it's freakin' 1:38 A.M.

Goodnight!  Morning!  Whatever!