All aspiring writers need to expand their network. The best way to do is by attending global writing conferences. Writing conferences are good platforms where you get to meet fellow writers, newbies and well-established. You also get an opportunity to attend writing workshops and chat with famous speakers and build numerous connections. You also receive valuable suggestions and advice that you can perhaps incorporate in your writing. Writing conferences should eventually become one of your platform-building strategies. Multiple writing conferences are conducted every year globally. Here are five of the top writing conferences which happen in the United States:
Santa Barbara Writers Conference
Santa Barbara Writers Conference is now in its forty-second year and is a six-day event conducted annually. It plays host to a whole lot of informative workshops like Finding Your Voice in Memoir and The Way of Story, both of which explore the craft of writing. The Pirates Workshop starts late night and goes on till early morning. Authors share in-depth critiques. The conference has played host to numerous writers like Ray Bradbury, Jane Smiley, William Styron, Eudora Welty, James Michener, Sue Grafton, Charles M.Schulz, etc. The next conference will be held from June 7 to June 12, 2015.
AWP Conference
More than 12,000 writers participate in the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP), one among the popular conferences in the writing arena. Each year, AWP holds its conference in a different city in North America to nurture the art of writing; AWP aims to foster the purpose of education and help authors, teachers and other creative folks. AWP considers writers who teach as an important community and has professional standards in place for the teaching of creative writing courses.
San Francisco Writers Conference
Why should you choose to attend San Francisco Writers Conference? There are many reasons: kick start your writing career, get your queries answered by experts in Ask-a-Pro session, present your ideas to literary agents, take part in pitch contests, socialize with fellow writers and many more. Now do you still want to keep away from this conference?
Yale Writers Conference
Yale Writers Conference is for the dedicated writer and is conducted in New Haven, Connecticut. There are two sessions. The first session is an intensive nine-day conference that focuses on the craft of writing in depth. The second session targets writers who want to focus on a specific writing genre. Every year more than 140 writers participate in both the sessions.
Women Writers Conference
Launched by the University of Kentucky in 1979, Women Writers Conference is a tribute to writing by women. The conference plays host to beginning writers and seasoned ones by offering literary companionship, practical advice about publishing and manuscript writing help. The conference features workshops on poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction by experts in the respective fields. Poets like Tina Chang, Asha Bandele, Ellen Hagan have graced the occasion. This conference is supposedly the longest running conference of women.
Why should you attend such writing conferences? You have got nothing to lose. Instead you gain a lot. What do you gain? You get to network with fellow writers, you get a good opportunity to improve your writing skills, and you get some valuable inspiration from other writers. What are you waiting for?
Image credit: Christian Scholz on flickr and reproduced under Creative Commons 2.0
I’m Smitha Abraham. I love traveling in my flights of imagination and use these flights to craft short stories and poetry. I am a budding writer from India. My passions are reading, creative writing, listening to music, learning new languages, meeting new people, getting acquainted with different cultures and traveling. Authors like Isabel Allende, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Carlos Ruiz Zafón, genres like magic realism, historical romance, and writing styles that are imaginative and flow effortlessly fascinate me. I love to unwind with a book curled up on a sofa or by gazing at the stars by the sea shore. I am a nature lover and spending time admiring the sunset and sunrise is relaxing for me.