My first conference in the writing industry
I’ve been a little quiet lately, apologies. I’d like to say it’s all attributed to the second draft of my manuscript, but that would be a lie. I can however say that it has all been in the pursuit of my writing, attending my first Romance Writers of Australia Conference (online).
Now don’t go making assumptions that I am writing a romance, because that isn’t the case. However the program looked fantastic and it came recommended as a great place to start. That recommendation paid off because it was fantastic! Not only did I build my knowledge and skills but I also met (via text) some lovely authors and emerging authors to share the experience with. It was a little tricky balancing the workshop with the need to read some of these fantastic people’s work, and I still have some workshops I am going to need to catch up on but on the whole all I can say is WOW!
Learning about plot structures, the different types of editing (who would have thought there were so many), traditional and self publication routes, writing blurbs and query letters (this one may have been my favourite), having a go a writing a sex scene, learning how to shoot a gun (yep that’s right) and analyse a crime scene, I saw my brain’s storage drive flash up the image, ‘You are almost full. Please purchase more space.’ Lucky for me the conference gives me access to all the workshops for 3 months, so the ones I missed the first time I will pursue slowly over the next few months.
One of the tips I accumulated was how to write a brief review of a book from a publisher. So I thought why not put it to practice now on the conference. So here goes….
Romance Writers of Australia 2020 Conference
The RWA 2020 conference ran online workshops across a broad range of genres across writing skills and tools, publishing, broader topics of interest and the business of publishing. It’s appeal to writers beyond the romance genre was evident by the inclusion of crime, horror and fantasy related workshops.
You wouldn’t have noticed it was the first time the conference was run in an online format only, and I am grateful for the flexibility that has allowed for my attendance. The presenters were engaging, interactive and highly informative. I can’t believe how open, sharing and encouraging the industry is.
Next year I am looking forward to meeting some of the presenters and participants in person, being at a different stage of my writing journey so I can focus more on the publication journey with any luck, and of course not breaking to do the dishes or tend to the never ending needs of family. Of course I fully expect that these needs will bank up while I’m gone and the avalanche will descend upon my return home.
In the mean time I going to create some more space in that brain of mine and get back to …..writing.