In between living a life where my iPhone should probably be renamed to earPhone it's up there so much (sorry for the terrible joke, my brain is fried), I've been organizing my trip to the RWA 2011 conference which takes place in New York City. I'm leaving on Monday, flying to meet my lovely critique partner, Shelley, and then we will take the train into NYC.
Why?
Because I've never met Shelley in person. And I've never been to a writer's conference. And I haven't been to NYC since I was in college. Needless to say, I'm all sorts of excited right about now.
As a writer who doesn't quite have a finished product ready to query yet, I know I'll learn a lot from going to the conference. I've decided to make a short list of goals so that I will be able to keep things in perspective, because I'm sure the sheer amount of information will make my head want to explode.
So, first of all, my goal is to make friends. WHAT? Yeah, you heard right. Friends. You know, people with whom you share common interests...perhaps like writing? I'm going to be nice to everyone. Even if someone near me is very quiet, they're probably not snobby or stuck-up. They're likely just shy.
That brings me to another goal: I'm not going to over-do it.
Well, let me put it this way. If I don't have an afternoon nap or some downtime, I'll go crazy or fall asleep in a workshop and drool on an agent. I don't think agents like being drooled on, though that would make one hell of a conversation starter. Let me clarify. I'm an introvert. Let me clarify even further: an introvert, according to my psychology classes I took over six years ago, isn't someone who would rather hide in a corner or not interact with others, but someone who gets and takes most of their energy from INSIDE themselves. They simply process a lot of things internally, and being in big groups and around lots of people can be incredibly draining. It's not that I won't enjoy myself; I won't be anywhere near having a panic attack in the middle of a workshop, and as an author, I'm actually looking forward to a time when I get to do book signings or group discussions, but if I don't have that private time to recharge my batteries, I get grouchy and exhausted. And because I know you're curious, extroverts are people who get their energy from outside...as in, other people. They feed off of that energy, and thrive on it. However, I'd be hard-pressed to say that there are a ton of extrovert authors given the amount of time we spend dwelling in our own heads.
I also have a goal to learn something new about writing. At least one thing; maybe it will be about the business aspects, or characterization, or querying...I have no idea. But I'm excited to find out.
Ideally, I'd also like to meet an agent or editor, strike up a nice conversation and have them fall in love with my stories, but my expectations are realistic. I'd be happy just to meet one at this point.
Another goal: To give out a lot of business cards. I had some great ones made up for the conference, and I can't wait to give my first ones out. It's a great way to get your name out there to someone who's interested. If I get one from other people, I will write where I met them on it, like, "elevator," or something similar, so that I'll remember them. You never know who you might meet.
So, that's about it for now. Hopefully, I will get some of my sanity back when this whole move thing is said and done, but for now, I will enjoy putting my "badass writer" hat on for a week.
I will definitely fill you in how it went, that's for sure!
xoxo Sarah
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