I am excited to share that I attended my first writers conference yesterday. I think it’s important to be involved, and a goal of mine lately has been to join the writing community of Tallahassee. There is so much I can learn from the other writers, whether or not they are published, or somewhere in between.

I learned about the 2013 Tallahassee Writers Association Conference at a separate event earlier last week. The event, a Q&A session with a panel of authors, including moderator Adrian Fogelin, was held at my local library. (Check out my recent interview with Fogelin.)

When I approached two of the authors after the Q&A, both recommended attending a writers conference – and, lucky me, a conference was scheduled for the upcoming weekend! I quickly registered.

The conference was absolutely fabulous, and I took lots of notes, met some really cool people, and was given a tote bag. (I felt really professional, although I was the youngest attendee present. Everyone thought I was in college, which was pretty cool.)

Because my dad told me to “make the most of the day,” I decided to attend the pre-breakfast prompt-writing hour at 7:00 in the morning, which was not mandatory. In a follow-up post, I’d love to share the techniques I learned to get my creative juices flowing.
The conference didn’t end until 4:15, after I’d attended three sessions. I chose to attend “How to Write Killer Fiction!” presented by Vic DiGenti, “The Plot Clock,” presented by Jamie Morris, and “Backstory: A Fine Balance” presented by Jamie Morris and Julie Compton.

Throughout the day, I met an editor and a book coach, as well as a literary agent (okay, fine, I only stood next to her in the lunch line – and we talked about Zumba).

Needless to say, it was a fabulous experience and I look forward to interviewing several of the people I had the privilege to meet. In the following two weeks, I plan to write three posts detailing what I learned at each of the sessions I attended yesterday. So I encourage you to check back soon. 🙂

Prompt-Writing Hour

Session #1 – How to Write Killer Fiction

Session #2 – The Plot Clock