As always, the Storymakers conference was A-MA-ZING. And as always, I managed to leave my camera in my bag almost the entire time. I did get a few pics with Shelly Brown and Melanie Fowler, though I hung out with lots of other awesome peeps.
The classes were incredible, and my pitch session went really well. Conferences always recharge my writer batteries, and give wonderful opportunities to expand my writing circle and knowledge.
At the keynote speech from prolific writer Kevin J. Anderson, he said one of the most important things as a writer is to be open to the opportunities presented to you-- and to use your imagination to create more opportunities. He would know; he's had the opportunity to work on his own books, as well as other projects like Star Wars and X-files. He's had over 50 novels on best-seller lists!
Opportunities to expand your writing-- and yourself--can happen anywhere. Seize opportunities to attend conferences, take classes online, or simply read new writing books. Seize opportunities to meet new people, published and unpublished, and help each other out. Seize opportunities to travel, or to take a walk somewhere new, or to go to a place in your own town you've never been, or learn a new skill. Let your writer side grow, and let the other parts of you grow too. The more you grow, the more opportunities you'll find that will open the future to you.
So, my friends, what opportunities have you seized lately? How have you grown as writer, and as a person?
19 comments:
It was a great conference! Always is. I was so impressed with Kevin J. Anderson. I loved his popcorn analogy. Glad your pitch went well!
I agree the opportunities were amazing! It was great to see you there :)
Blogging, meeting others (writers too), and being a member of a writers workshop are ways to seize writing opportunities.
It was definitely the best conference of the year! My heads still crammed full, but I'm jazzed to implement a lot of what I learned.
I'm going to have to get out to storytellers one of these years - always sounds so amazing! Glad you had a great time!
I've been quilting lately. It's stretching me to tell a story in a different way, and I love it!
It was a pretty amazing event. I really enjoyed Kevin J. Anderson's comments about being open to opportunity. And it was nice to meet you as well.
I loved that talk by Kevin J. Anderson (especially how he has a 7,000 square foot home!!!). I am so pumped to take advantage of the opportunities presented to me at the conference. I just gotta do it!!!
Thanks for sharing what you learned. Every port in the storm makes for a more productive journey.
How did I miss seeing you? Ah!
I'm glad you had a great time. :)
At the writing conference I attended this spring, I used the services of a professional editor for the first chapter of my WIP. Nothing has been more helpful than that! Now I can feel confident that the opening of my novel is professional-grade slick and a strong cornerstone for the rest of my novel.
The second most useful thing to my WIP has been consuming art--good books by admired authors, music, visual art exhibits, films, etc. Inspiration is food for the muse.
Sounds like an amazing opportunity. I hope to attend one soon.
It was great to see you, Shallee!
I loved seeing you in the flesh. You are just a sweet in person :) I didn't ask you about your pitch. Congrats :)
Looks like you had a great time, Shallee. Glad that your pitch session went well. You are glowing. Hugs.
This may sound silly, but one of my to-dos on my ever-growing bucket list is to attend a writing conference. I have never been to one before and I think it would be such a motivational experience, and I'd learn so much! Glad you had fun at yours. :) Have a great day.
~Wendy Lu
The Red Angel Blog
It was easily the best conference of the year! It was great to get thank you in person for writing such a motivational writing blog. Keep up the good work! ;)
I'm in the middle of taking a class on writing fiction. What a fun time! And a challenge!
It is true that we need to make opportunities for ourselves to get out there and grow. Even meeting new people can spark that growth. I'm glad to be able to meet you!
Shallee, I'm so glad I got to see you at LDS. I meant to tell you thanks for stopping and talking to me. I was so busy running around that it seems like I didn''t get to chat much with anyone. I really appreciate it!
It really was a great conference. There was so much to learn and take in and so many people to meet that I was a little overwhelmed at times, but grateful to be there.
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