The Lonely Writer’s Companion

Greetings from the Santa Barbara Writers’ Conference, where I’ve been teaching a workshop for the past week. If you’ve never attended a writers’ conference, you may wonder if doing so is right for you.

On the plus side, writers’ conferences are the best place for you to meet people doing what you are—trying to make the words on the page match the pictures in their heads. You’ll meet writers at all phases of their writing lives, from those who’ve just decided they want to write to award-winning professionals, like T. C. Boyle and Clive Cussler, both of whom spoke here this week. At the same time, because writers spend so much time alone, writers’ conferences can be overwhelming (especially the first time out), because there’s so much too choose from, so many people one doesn’t know, and so much great information to digest.

It’s hard for those who’ve met me at conferences to believe I’m a Myers-Briggs “I,” someone who must retreat to recharge. But because writers’ conferences are so valuable to me in terms of both collegial time and working with students, I’ve taught myself to be an extrovert for these times. That way, not only do I get the benefit of meeting hundreds of wonderful people doing the same thing as I, I know that when it’s all over, I’ll be able to head home, where it will once again be me, the dogs, and that wide, wide view to the mountains.

What about you? Have you attended a writer’s conference, or are you thinking of doing so? What do you think are the pluses and minuses? Join the conversation by clicking here for Doris Booth’s Facebook page. We’ll post our favorite answers here mid-month. Join us!