It Happens to Everyone

One of the highlights of my trip to AWP was listening to Ursula Le Guin do a reading and interview.  She was paired with Molly Gloss, who I'd never heard of before, but I'm now very intrigued to read her work.

Of the many things Ursula talked about, one was the contribution to the genre of science fiction and fantasy.  The interviewer asked her if it had been her intention to bring feminism to the genre, and she replied it wasn't.  She just wanted to write, and the men in the field were doing it wrong.  It was hilarious and insightful.

I think one of the points she was trying to make was that she wasn't trying to change conventions or define what it meant to be a woman writer in the genre.  I think she was just trying to write the stories she wanted to write and the other things fell into place.  She writes because she enjoys writing.  It was very inspiring.

She also talked about how important it was to have a writer's group that was willing to give honest feedback for a work.  It was the only way to get better.  She had been with her group for a long time (I can't remember exactly how long, but I want to 20+ years), and they were very good at inspiring and pushing each other to be the very best.

I appreciated that advice.  It is incredibly important for a writer to have honest feedback about their work.  If the reader doesn't get what I'm trying to say, then I've failed.  Whenever I have beta readers read my stuff, I always ask them:  What is your favorite part and why?  What was your least favorite part and why?

But beta readers and a writers group are two totally different things.  Readers may not be writers.  They may not understand the mechanics of the work or the process that goes into creating it.  They may know what they like or don't like, what's working or not working, but they might necessarily know why.  It's really important to have input from both groups to whip your work into the best shape possible.

At the end of the reading, she read a from a piece that hasn't yet been published.  Apparently, it's been on submission, and one place had it for 10 weeks, but then rejected it.  She commented to the audience that rejection still happened to her.  That was both refreshing and depressing.  Ursula Le Guin has been writing for a long time and has made huge impacts in her genre, who wouldn't want her work?

In the end, I came out of the reading feeling inspired and proud to be part of such a wonderful community of writers.  It was awesome to listen to both women talk about their work and writing process and to see that it's important not to take yourself so seriously.  In the end, writing should be fun, and if it's not, it's not worth doing.

A Literary Community

One of the other things I learned at the AWP marketing panels was how important it is to have a literary community; other writers you can talk to about writing--frustrations, accomplishments, etc.  Over the years, it has become apparent just how important this is.

After getting my undergrad, I stopped writing fiction for several years.  I had multiple setbacks, including college professors who totally shook my confidence and made me believe I couldn't write.  I decided I was going to be an editor.  That way, I could still be involved with writing in some fashion.  My friend Tamara (you're going to hear about her a lot; she's been a huge influence on my career) actually tempted me back to the dark side and got me writing again.  She was so good, she even got me to submit my work.

I'll admit it:  when I came back to writing, I was very jealous.  I wanted things to be easy; for agents to grab my novels and make me a millionaire.  I would see others getting fat contracts, and that made me incredibly angry.  The worst were those who got contracts simply because of their names.  I grew bitter.  I believed that every other writer out there was my competition and that I had to do whatever it took to be better than them.

Then, one day, I decided to stop being so angry.  It became clear that writers weren't my enemy, they were my friends, my support group.  I took a job as a freelance editor.  I started hosting authors on my blog.  I connected with them through social media.  I discovered that the vast majority of them went through the same struggles I did, and decided it was dumb to hate them.  I needed to help them.  In return, they did the same for me.

One of my favorite things is to have authors that are featured on my blog email me.  Recently, I had an extensive conversation with one where we swapped marketing tips and the frustrations of promotion.  It was encouraging and resourceful.  But more importantly, it is a connection with someone who shares the same passion I share.

I no longer begrudge writers who get big fancy contracts.  I still want to be one of them one day, and if it happens, hooray.  At least I'll never regret not trying or putting myself out there, and I know I'll always have friends to encourage me along the way.

Marketing Panels and Forming a Plan

I attended several marketing panels while at AWP.  Marketing is such an important part of being a writer, but I don't ever feel like I'm doing it right.  I participate in blog tours and try to do readings at libraries and bookstores, but I'm always open for other ideas on how to get myself and my work out there.

One of the biggest things I learned from all of the panels was that it's not enough for me to promote my book, I have to offer myself.  Readers want to connect with the author.  They want to know there's a human being behind the writing.  One of the suggestions that came from all of the panels was to give something back.  They suggested offering to do workshops or presentations.

That thought got me excited.  What could I possibly have to offer to other people?  What would they be interested in hearing me talk about?  Then it hit me:  research.  For both my fiction and nonfiction I've done research, and for both types of writing, how that research is incorporated varies greatly.  I thought it would be fun to share with others what I've learned about research during my writing career.  Perhaps they could find something useful in my presentation.

Another thing that was suggested was to pool resources and share the stage with another author.  Again, I thought this idea was fabulous and instantly found my friend Tamara to convince her to share the stage with me.  It didn't take much.  We've been friends for a long time, so helping each other out with our writing and promotion is second nature.  Currently, we are working on a proposal about how research is necessary when writing either fiction or nonfiction and ways to incorporate it into your writing.

I'm sure if I thought about it, there are several other workshops/presentations about writing that could be given.  The only thing I really need to do them is time.  With a full-time job and a family, plus trying to find time to write, I don't have an abundance of it.  But I'll do what I can when I can.

The most important thing I learned from all these panels was that you have to put yourself out there.  It doesn't matter what kind of promotion you do, just as long as you do something.  Personally, I really enjoy talking to people about writing, so I have no qualms about presenting in front of a group.  I hope with the new ideas Tamara and I are putting together we'll get to do it often.

An Atmosphere of Support

I've been to another  literary conference before, but it wasn't nearly as big as AWP.  It was fun, but I felt like if you weren't already part of the club, you weren't going to be part of the club.  I still mingled and learned a lot, but I never really felt like I belonged.  I never got that sense at AWP.

There are literally thousands of writers that go to this conference.  It's easy to get lost in the crowd, but I never felt like I wasn't part of the crowd.  It was so easy to talk to people.  I was with my friend Tamara, who is really good about talking to everybody and anybody, so we would be engaged in conversations with others as we walked the three blocks to the convention center.

Once there, you could turn in any direction to talk to someone.  I handed out several business cards and got many back.  I didn't feel like I was in competition with anyone but was there for a common goal:  to make ourselves better.

It was inspiring to be at this conference.  The panels were incredibly awesome, the people were super nice, and the whole experience was just fantastic.  It felt good to be around like-minded people and to talk about writing.  I almost didn't go to the conference.  There was a sense of hesitation because of the cost and the distance, but with my friend there and my spouse basically shoving me out the door, I went.  And I'm so glad I did.  It was worth every moment.