On the Benefits of Writers' Conferences

Some writers go to writers' conferences, come back and complain. Writers conferences have personalities and you should choose one that meets your goal. There is an entire chapter in The Frugal Book Promoter  (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/193299310X/ )on how to decide on what you want from a conference and how to choose one that fits your needs. It also tells you how to organize yourself for one and utilize what is offered. That is not what this article is about. No need to reinvent the wheel. This is about the unexpected benefits one might find at a conference. Because unexpected benefits are, well . . . unexpected, this tell you about one in particular that came about when I was speaking at the Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop this spring (2008).

It is an example of how presenters -- often people of influence in the publishing industry --  are accessible to  attendees and vice versa, and how we can learn from one another. I met Anne Louise Reinhard there. The excerpt (below) from my weekly newsletter, "Sharing with Writers,"  explains how that happened and how that resulted in a benefit to us both. Below that you will find her first column for my newsletters.  Our connecting is truly a win-win situation that would never have happened if I had not spoken there and if she had not put her little bod -- warmed by California's sun -- on an airplane and traveled to Dayton, Ohio, (chilly in April) where the nation's premier conference for humorists was being held. AND if both of us had not kept our idea bonnets on and been open to opportunities. 

Here's the editorial section form "Sharing with Writers."

New in Sharing with Writers

Tidbits on Writing Humor is a new mini feature that will appear in your "Sharing with Writers" newsletter. I met Anne Louise Reinard ( www.annelouise.net ) only a couple of weeks ago. Hers was one of those faces enraptured by the goings on at Dayton University's Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop (.http://www.humorwriters.org/  ) Our meeting and eventual collaboration happened in two steps. She introduced herself to me not only as a one of the attendees at my seminar on self-editing but as a neighbor in a community near mine in the Los Angeles area.

The second contact came in an unexpected way. I forgot to retrieve the sign-up sheet I had sent around at that seminar for both this newsletter and,  because the room was so packed,  I didn't have enough of my handout for everyone. So I send a blanket apology to every single Erma Bombeck attendee that I could glean from the business cards I had collected and those from another attendee,  Mindy Hoffbauer (www.writeangle.biz) had collected. I guess that makes two great networking contacts.  Anyway, the response was huge and Anne Louise was among them. We started e-mailing and now I have a creative new columnist to fill a niche in my newsletter heretofore unfilled. Even subscribers who aren't humorists can learn something from Anne Louise. Humor can spark an otherwise very dull book proposal, as an example. So listen up! Here is Anne Louise with her first "Tidbits on Writing Humor"  straight from her first appearance in "Sharing with Writers."

Tidbits on Writing Humor

In order to be humorous, writing needs to have a twist that’s unexpected – an element of surprise.  Here is a perfect example of an unexpected conclusion from Erma Bombeck:  "When my kids become wild and unruly, I use a nice, safe playpen. When they're finished, I climb out."

I must say that my ideas aren’t always this good, so I have devised this “unexpectation” test for my writing: I read the story aloud to someone, but I pause before the punch line and ask them what they think is coming.

If they start their answer with “Duh”, then I know I need to rework, or at least reword, the story.  Sometimes, one of them will come up with something way better than what I had, which is why I always call this a collaborative process.  ;-)  

May your keyboard never falter! 

Anne Louise