Pennwriters Conference Takeaways

As promised, here are my takeaway points from the conference.

• Writing is not the solitary, highly competitive existence that keeps so many writers from getting started. At least it doesn’t have to be. It’s competitive in that it takes a lot of hard work to get published these days, but it’s not competitive in the sense that someone is going to take your perfect idea for a story and steal it. That’s not the way the professionals work.
• Most importantly, it doesn’t have to be solitary. Jonathan Maberry sang the praises of writers organization in general and Pennwriters in particular. He said PW is a “shining example” of what a writers organization should be and do.
• Read and support your genre! You’ll learn what’s going on in your genre, and you’ll support fellow authors. When the time comes, they’ll support you, too.
• I think the two best things you can do to further your career as a writer are to join a writers organization and go to writers conferences. PW is my first writers organization, and this was only the second conference I’ve been to. The last was some ten years ago and was a purely commercial conference, without the backing of a writers organization. I learned a good bit, but I felt like I missed out on the camaraderie and networking that I had heard so much about. PW was nothing like that. There were plenty of well-published writers who were happy to answer your questions. It felt like everyone there really understood PW’s mission that the group should “provide members with opportunities to improve crafting, promote their work and interact with industry professionals.”

Here’s a non-exhaustive list of links to lists of writers organizations. Even if you can’t find a local organization, you should be able to find a ‘Net-based group that’s good. And Pennwriters has Area 7, for members who live outside the state. There’s even a member in Alaska!

• http://www.forwriters.com/groups.html#orgs
• http://www.ebookcrossroads.com/writers-associations.html
• http://www.authorlink.com/conferences/writersorgs.php
• http://www.squidoo.com/localwritersassociationsbystate
• http://www.writerswrite.net/orgsrch.cfm?search=general
• http://www.google.com/search?q=writers+organizations