RWA Conference Overview

I was, not only a complete newbie at the RWA (RomanceWriter’s of America) Conference the week before last in San Antonio Texas, I am a complete newbie in the world of novel writing altogether.

Quickly – the conference blew me away. It exceeded my expectations completely. There were workshops on everything I could think of from How to Write Faster and Better (Cindi Myers) to topics I hadn’t thought of, like Homicide (M.A. Taylor). There were fun workshops like BDSM and How to Write Hot Sex @ShoshannaEvers. There were serious workshops… oh I didn’t go to those :) And in between it all there were speakers like Sylvia Day @SylDay, book giveaways, book signings, and schmoozing! Lots and lots of schmoozing!

More in Depth:

I don’t know how many overall workshops there were, I didn’t count but they went on from 8:30am until 5:30pm for three straight days. For each time slot there were 3 or 4 different workshops going on at the same time. There were also tracks you could choose from like the marketing track or the craft track and for the first time this year there was a self-publishing track. I was told to try and mix it up a bit by going to different workshops in different tracks, which is what I did. Since I could not make them all, I bought the audio because most of the workshops were recorded! Did I mention the handouts? The workshops had handouts too and we got a flash drive with the handouts plus they can be downloaded from the RWA website if you’re registered for the conference. --- a handy dandy app was available with all of the handouts and workshops plus the ability to set your own schedule.

Here were the available tracks:

• ·      Career Track
• ·      Chat Track
• ·      Craft Track
• ·      Industry Track
• ·      Marketing Track
• ·      Publisher Spotlights
• ·      Research Track
• ·      Self-Publishing Track
• ·      Special Topic Workshops
• ·      Training Track
• ·      Writer's Life Track

Another option is pitching. You are able to sign up to pitch an agent and a publisher/editor.  On the day of, you can pick up extra pitch slots as well. A lot of people were nervous about the pitching but this was one of my favorite parts of the entire conference. I love pitching! Disclaimer: I wrote and read my pitches, I did not have them memorized. It was exhilarating.

Now I have a 4 month deadline to finish and polish my novel and send out partials. The best part of the RWA conference is that it filled me up. I am re-committed, re-motivated and excited to put my plan into action. If nothing else, this is a reason to go… but there are so many reasons!

1.     EDUCATION – so much to learn!

2.     Free books and schwag

3.     Meeting your favorite authors and finding new favorites

4.     Pitching agents and editors

5.     Rekindling your motivation and passion for your craft

I cannot say enough about the awesomeness that is the RWAConference. Next year it’s in NYC and I will be there!!!

NaNoWriMo

Thanks to NaNoWriMo (National November Writer's Month) I wrote my novel in a month! And since I wrote, scrapped, rewrote and scrapped again I really did have to start from scratch.

I do realize NaNo did not write my novel for me but because of NaNo I did it! Finally, it's done - well it's not really done yet but the first draft is in the can. Do I look different? Not really. Do I feel different? Most definitely! I feel accomplished. I feel like I can do anything now, even bungie jump if I so choose.

In October I had never heard of NaNo but all of my complaining was finally heard and two women in particular told me of the challenge and I boldly accepted. Actually they pretty much made me promise I'd try and made me promise to stop complaining.

Locking myself in the house for the month - not at all - I hammered out 50,000 words. The truth of the matter is that I went on with my full life. I worked full time (overtime actually), I kept up with my insane exercise routine, I saw my friends, I walked my dog.... Where then did I eek out that extra 2 hours a day that I didn't have before NaNo? At night when I got home from my long, tired, busy days.

I am up at 6am (or 7am) and out of the house by 8:30am to return at 10 or 11pm - most days of the week. When I got home I sat down and cranked out 2,000 words. What did I used to do when I got home? Watch TV shows I love, read, play with the pets, cook. I gave my nights up for the month of November and all I did was write.

There was a fun writing group formed that met at the local coffee shop one night a week where a guy named Ken stood over me my first night in attendance (without my knowledge) and then I heard his voice "what are you doing?" I looked up from google, confused. "I'm researching." He shook his head, "you can do that later, after NaNo, after November. In November all you do is write. If you don't know how to describe something you write 'describe place here' and move on." Thank you Ken. I honestly don't think I would have finished the 50,000 words if you hadn't told me that and then looked over my shoulder occasionally to make sure I was "just writing".

Is it finished and ready to be published? Not yet. I have a critique partner or two, I have a massive support group, I've moved on to my next book and soon - the rewrites will begin. Rewriting and editing and more of the same. Call me crazy but I love that part!