You just spent many hours, even days, at a writers conference. You go home to a pressing question: “Now what?”
What do you do when you return from a writers conference? Tell us in the comments below. Meanwhile, I’ll share some thoughts.
Re-entry Blues
Coming down from the high of a retreat or a conference can be a jolt. Especially when the daily routines kick in. Make sure to avoid resenting the routine. Work, family, marriage, and other responsibilities have their priority.
Reread Your Notes
A week or so after the conference, pull out all the notes you took during the presentations. Consider recopying them into another notebook so that you can decipher your hieroglyphics while they still might be translatable.
Please don’t toss the material in the drawer to be forgotten. Even if your experience was disappointing in some way, there is gold in those notes.
The Advantage of Audio
If you spend time alone in the car or exercising, consider using some of that time to listen again to the classes you took. Or listen to the audio of the classes you missed.
Set Your Expectations
This one is key. If you got a “hit” at the conference with an editor or an agent, make sure you truly grasp how much of a “hit” it was. If they said, “Send it to me,” don’t run home and press the send button on your email. Make sure what you send is ready! You might have learned a few tricks that can make your manuscript that much better.
Just because an editor or an agent says “send it,” doesn’t mean they are sitting at their desk in rapt anticipation of its arrival. Instead, see their comment as an open door to approach them with your best work.
I had one writer beg me to become her agent because she knew she was going to be getting a contract right after the conference. She was wrong. A distracted editor, in a hallway, said, “Send it to me” … nothing more. The writer thought she heard, “I love it, I’m sending you a contract next week.” Don’t make that mistake.
But, if they said, “Send it,” send it. You’d be amazed how many people never follow up on the opportunity I give them. It doesn’t mean a guarantee of success if I do see it, but at least I see it. If it is never sent, you can guarantee I’ll never see it. (!!!)
Your Turn
What are the things you do when you get home from a conference–besides the laundry?
At last to home you have returned
after that last conference day.
Now give to God that which He’s earned,
and get down on your knees and pray,
first gratitude, that you are back
safe and sound and maybe sane,
and that you’re on the upward track
with what you’ve gained in heart and brain.
Pray for those whom you have met,
writers, agents, editors,
all of whom careers have bet
on dreams that do resemble yours,
that through their work and through God’s grace
the world becomes a better place.
AMEN, Andrew!
Thanks, Pam!
Yeah, post conference re-entry syndrome is a thing. There’s no sliding back into the real world for most of us. We get slammed back into it. If at all possible, build in a decompression day after the conference where you stay an extra day at a hotel.
If you can’t do that, be aware life is going to happen. Pause and take a breath before reacting to stuff.
Read Andrew’s sonnet above. It’s excellent advice for post conference life!
When I get a “hit,” the first thing I do is pray for wisdom. Then I tell my writers group. My family & friends. My church family. I get everyone in on praying and praising God for the opportunity! I always say, “They can’t buy it if they aren’t reading it.” So, I do praise God for the opportunity, even if I get a no thank you. Which is often.
After you send off a requested proposal, turn your attention back to writing. Continue a WIP, start a new story, maybe write a daily devotion and send it off. And wait with anticipation of what God may do through it.
I often take a week to not do writing things after a conference. It’s like when you get a critique. You read all the notes then set it aside for at least overnight before reading again with fresh eyes. It always amazes me how things are clearer when I do that. It’s the same for after a conference. At least for me.
If I can get a day down the shore, that’s the best. Sitting on the beach watching the ocean waves is the perfect thing for my body and brain. I’m fortunate to live less then 2 hours from the Atlantic Ocean, and I thank God for that often!
Most of all, be kind to yourself. Conferences are hard work!
I make it a priority to go through all the author business cards and contacts I picked up to follow up on whatever I may have promised to do or to note how we connected. For those with whom I made a deeper connection, such as fellow published authors in my genre, I’ll email them within a week or so of the conference.
Finding ways to keep in touch with other authors can be essential to building those bridges that lead to promo and fellowship opportunities.
It’s been almost 3 months since I returned home from the reNEW Christian Writers Conference in the Adirondacks. Today I am following the advice I got from a presentation by Bob Hostetler about getting permission before quoting any song lyrics in your own work. I will be searching the internet to learn how to acquire that permission.
So,I would say the thing to do after a conference is to put into use at least one thing you learned. Thank you, Bob