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How to Get the Most from a Writing Conference
Writing is, generally speaking, a solitary activity. Sure, working at a busy coffee shop or out of a co-working space gives you access to people, but if writing = work, then when you’re working, you’re very much in your own head.
It’s important for writers to find other people to interact with, of course. We all need friends and social contacts.
But if you write professionally, you must find the right people to engage with from a professional perspective. You might belong to a writing group that shares critiques of each other’s work, or one that is more about accountability and getting stuff done.
You might belong to a professional association that gives you a business network and maybe a place to look for gigs. Or a Facebook group that functions in the virtual networking space.
One opportunity you might be overlooking, though, is writing conferences.
Maintaining Consistency While You Evolve Your Content
Freelancers become what our jobs need us to be. We must be adaptable and flexible, but still maintain consistency in the quality of the work we produce.
I’ve learned a lot about consistency during my time as a content producer. Besides maturing as a person, I’ve also matured as a writer and entrepreneur. You have to when you’re producing the majority of several clients’ content.
I’ve also learned that entrepreneurs don’t always know what’s best for their company when it comes to content.
That’s not to talk poorly about any of the people I’ve worked for. I have great respect for people who can start a business from nothing and grow it into something sustainable.
The problem has to do with human nature and our aversion to long-term commitment.
AKA we tend to get bored of things after a while.
Bad Habits for Writers That Are Actually Good
January is the time of year for breaking old, bad habits and forming new, better ones. You may have decided that this year you want to write more or be more creative, and maybe even have gone so far as to identify habits that you think have been holding you back.
What if I told you that list of bad habits is about to get a whole lot shorter?
Take a Risk and Do the Project that Scares You
Doing the thing that scared me most career-wise — taking on a project that I wasn’t 100 percent sure about — led me to where I am today: writing, editing, and working with awesome people.
When you’re a professional writer, people assume that if words are involved with their project, you can handle it. I had previously done copywriting for two issues of a literary magazine and taught and tutored writing for over four years. Between all of my previous experience, I felt confident enough with the fundamentals of copywriting to start working full-time with clients.
My very first “gig” was revising copy for a company that needed help with editing customer-facing product descriptions to make them sound snappier, more alive. Easy-peasy. But that same day, the project manager handed me another project: I had to come up with a brilliant tagline for a business-to-business (B2B) advertisement, with a deadline of that same day. My first thought: What the hell is a B2B ad?
Well, that was something I had to learn — and fast.