5 Reasons to Attend a Writers Conference
Thinking about attending a writers conference but not sure if it’s right for you? Will it be helpful? Will you feel comfortable around more experienced writers?
At the Midwest Writers Workshop in Muncie, IN, we’re celebrating our 50th anniversary this year, and we’ve answered these questions many times. To help you decide about attending a conference, here are five reasons for saying yes.
Commitment
While these reasons aren’t ranked in any particular order, let’s start with this one because it might be the most significant of the bunch. Attending a conference provides physical evidence of your commitment to writing—whether that means commitment to a particular project or to seeing your creative work in a more meaningful way.
(Yes, Virginia, You Are a Writer.)
Going to a conference requires you to spend time and money on your writing. You’re making it a priority in your life. So many writers have told us that when they arrived at our conference, they felt like they “weren’t really a writer.” Jaclyn Youhana Garver was one of them when she attended her first MWW conference in 2018.
“Imposter syndrome is real,” she says, “and it’s tough to not think, ‘Who the heck do I think I am, even trying to do this ridiculously impossible thing?’” Since that conference, she has published a book of poetry and landed an agent for her fiction. By attending a conference, you prove to yourself that you’re serious about your work.
Community
Writing can be a lonely endeavor. And many people lack a strong support group of other writers who understand the challenges—the doubts, the rollercoaster emotions we experience while grappling with a project, the difficulties in staying motivated and optimistic. Conferences provide an ideal way to meet other writers who share all of the above.
Brent Bill, one of this year’s MWW faculty members and the author of more than 20 books, believes connecting with other writers is a key part of a conference experience. “Even if you’re an introvert like me, meet people,” he says. “You’re going to have a great opportunity to meet fellow writers, editors, agents, and other folks. I met two of my editors and my agent at a writing conference. Some of these contacts will become friends and you’ll learn a lot from them, even in informal settings like over meals and on break.”
Through our 50 years, we’ve seen numerous friendships—and writers groups—form at the conference. Meeting like-minded people can be a lasting source of inspiration.
Knowledge
Attending craft sessions is a vital part of the conference experience for writers at any stage of development. You gain a deeper understanding of the process and learn new ways of approaching your work. Often you experience a lightbulb moment—an insight into a project you’ve been working on, maybe one that had stalled out. Suddenly you see a solution.
Bill offers some advice about the craft sessions you attend: “Take a workshop that may be outside your comfort zone or area of interest. At one of my first Midwest Writers Workshops, I, as a writer of nonfiction back then, took a poetry course. I didn’t have any intention of ever writing poetry (and I still don’t!) but I learned so much about the use of language and imagery in that workshop. It alone was worth the price of admission.”
Inspiration
At MWW, we hear so many stories of attendees who used the conferences as a catalyst for igniting (or re-igniting) a project. Some have told us they rode the momentum from the conference all the way to the finish line.
“Writers benefit from being with other writers. We just do,” says Chadwick Gillenwater children’s book author and a faculty member at this year’s MWW. “Conferences, workshops and critique groups have kept me motivated throughout the years.”
Networking
Building a community of fellow writers is one thing. Meeting someone who can nudge along your career is another. Every year, we hear stories of how a writer met an agent who agreed to represent a project and later sold it to a publisher. We hear that an attendee connected with a faculty member, who agreed to help make further connections that can ease the journey toward publication.
(How I Landed My Literary Agent.)
Writers also connect with each other and share their networks of contacts and resources. While she’s now a successful author and teacher, Lara Ehrlich was a novice when she attended her first MWW conference in 2009. “I clicked with two other Chicago writers who were working on their first novels, and we formed a critique group,” she says. “We continued to meet for years, supporting one another through drafting and revising our work, querying agents, and eventual publication.”
Final Advice
If you decide to attend a conference this year, keep in mind some advice from Jess Lourey, award-winning author of crime fiction, nonfiction, children’s books, YA adventure, and magical realism. “My experience has been that we get out of writing workshops exactly what we’re looking for, and so I recommend going with a short list of priorities,” she says. “Know what you’re looking for when you sign up, and then be intentional about getting it.”