I had such a great time at the writing conference in Ohio. I took a lot of notes and had a wonderful consultation on a writing sample I sent in. I won’t go into much detail here except to say that it was inspiring to spend a few days with a group of people who share this passion of mine.
To summarize the biggest takeaways (none of them are profound or even new information, but helpful to me all the same):
- Everyone feels like an imposter.
- Everyone gets rejected.
- Writing is work. Next time I find myself brooding over how difficult it is to get traction in the marketplace and then slipping into a panic about whether or not I have something original to say and/or the talent to say it, I should stop, shut up, and get back to work.
Cheryl Strayed gave a wonderful reading at the conference. I was lucky enough to get a minute to talk to her and get a book signed. (Swoon!)
A few days later I saw this post on her Facebook page (no I am not stalking her, why would you ask me that?). I thought “I can toss out my notes from the conference and just memorize this!”
Or maybe I’ll just print it and put it on my bathroom mirror. I’m thinking it’s a little too long to be a tattoo, but I haven’t ruled it out yet.
