7 Reasons You Should Attend a Writing Conference

My favorite conference to date

I'm gonna start this week with a fun post. Writing conferences may not directly relate to the nuts and bolts of your writing practice, although frankly they should!

If you've been toying with the idea but you've never actually made the leap to attend a writing conference, I want to give you seven reasons why you should seriously stop stalling and attend a writing conference.

Seven reasons you should attend a writing conference

1. The People
   Seriously. The people are the best thing about a writing conference. We writers can tend to get isolated. Writing is a solitary practice and it can leave you feeling cut off from the rest of the world. A good writing conference will reconnect you with all the other wonderful, weird people like you! Trust me on this.
2. The Confidence Boost
   Part of connecting with other writers at conferences is that you'll recognize that there are plenty of other people who are struggling with the same problems that you are. Others have actually found a way to beat those problems! And they're there to cheer you on and help you get the most out of your writing. You'll leave feeling much better about yourself.
3. The Ideas!
   Oh, the ideas! What happens when you put a bunch of creative people in a room together? The creative sparks do fly. Just five minutes brainstorming with other writers and you'll come away with more story or post ideas than you could ever have time to write.
4. The People
   Did I mention the people? Because... connections! You'll expand your platform and your professional network like crazy if you take the time to talk to people, develop relationships with them, and geek out over the same things. Totally worth it.
5. The Experience
   Depending on the type of conference you attend, the panels and/or critique sessions will really boost your knowledge and experience in the publishing world. And let's face it, that plus your professional network are the two most important and valuable things you'll get out of attending a writing conference.
6. The Motivation
   Not to mention the amount of ass kicking you'll get when it comes to completing, submitting, and publishing your writing. If you have confidence issues (no one will like my writing) or procrastination issues (I'll finish that WIP later) you're bound to find a group of writing friends at a conference who are willing to push you to get your writing out into the world.
7. The People
   Seriously, the people you meet at writing conferences are amazing. If you take the time to research the events and find your perfect conference you will most certainly find your tribe, those particularly weird and unique writers who geek out over the same awesome stuff you love and who will be your cheerleaders for life

All of these reasons add up to why your writing practice can only benefit from attending a writing conference.

We'll talk about the types of writing conferences in another post (Utopia Con is my favorite), but just know that there are plenty of options out there, so you're bound to find one that fits your particular personality, writing needs, and genre preference.

Sign up for my email list to keep up with the conferences I'll be attending next year! Maybe we'll meet face to face at one of them!