I’m extremely excited about all of my upcoming writing events. I have two writers conferences and a retreat in the next couple of months. As a natural introvert, it took me a long time to work up the courage to attend such events. I eased into things, and now I wish I had more time and money to attend all of the great events that present themselves.
I spend the vast majority of my free time writing. When I say free time, I mean time that I’m not working for a living at my day job or taking care of my myriad of other responsibilities outside my day job. On average, I probably spend about 35 hours a week writing.
Right now I’m preparing to attend the Ozark Creative Writers Conference in gorgeous Eureka Springs, Arkansas. I attended this conference last year for the first time. I walked into a room with several hundred people and saw two people that I had met once each. I was out of my comfort zone introducing myself to tons of strangers, but I had a great time and made some new friends. Most importantly, I learned a great deal of useful information while I was in attendance.
Last year, I didn’t decide to go until a few weeks before the conference. That translated into spending much more money than necessary on my hotel room and flying by the seat of my pants. I prefer to plan my trips thoroughly, and I simply didn’t have the time to properly plan last year.
I planned much better this time. I made my hotel reservations several months ago and secured an excellent room rate. I’ve been planning which sessions to attend and putting feelers out to ascertain who else will be attending. I’m happy to say that several of my writer friends will be there. I will be in excellent company.
You may remember that I love entering writing competitions. This particular conference offered 26 contest opportunities. Of those 26 categories, I entered 13. I may not place in any of them, but I had a great time polishing older pieces and writing new ones for the occasion.
Competition will be really tough this year. I know this because I know a few of the writers I’m up against. I will be happy for any victories my friends achieve even if it means they bested me. We are a supportive bunch.
Regardless of how I may or may not place in competition, I plan to have a marvelous time at the OCW Conference and learn new things that I will employ to improve the quality of my work. Being around all of that creativity always gets my imagination racing, and I produce my best work in the following days.
I will be sure to tell you all about it next week. Until then, be yourself and love the things that make you unique. Thank you for reading Ozarks Maven! If you’ve enjoyed my little seeds of wisdom and joy, please subscribe to Ozarks Maven, Like Ozarks Maven on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter @OzarksMaven.
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