Best (of the 3 I've attended) Arkansas Writers' Conference ever

On Friday and Saturday I attended this year's Arkansas Writers' Conference. I was planning on skipping this year to save my time, energy and resources for the New York trip. And then the brochure came, showing Jane Friedman as the featured speaker. Based on that, I rallied at the last minute, cobbled together 4 conference entries (because if I'm going, I'm going to have a horse in the race. It's kind of a thing with me, a strange compulsion that is paired with a need to win leading to a good chance of gloom thanks to only so-so skills in so many areas). April was terrible, my heart wasn't in the contest, and so I had some concerns about how this might turn out.

I'm so glad I changed my  mind. I really enjoyed nearly every minute, and the sessions where Jane Friedman covered the necessities of a query and the future of the book were so valuable. I learned. I loved it. The other sessions I enjoyed because I like to listen to people who are passionate talk about writing, even if it is about crossword puzzles or editing a section of the newspaper or crafting editorials. I like a funny story. I am an easy audience. Some people weren't. And there was a little tension over the future of the book. More on that tomorrow.

10 Reasons this was the best Arkansas Writers' Conference (of the three I have attended):
10. There was cake. I like cake.
9. And also good air conditioning. As it is currently the same temperature as the face of the sun in Little Rock before you add the heat index, good AC matters.
8. Lunch discussion where I explained how I ended up at Leisure Arts seemed to really interest people. I try to avoid being the center of attention, but I find it interesting that people find my job interesting.
7. Knowing the ropes. I ended up sitting next to a couple of fresh faces, people who are just beginning. It is so much easier to pretend you have it all together when you sit next to a beginner.
6. First Honorable Mention for the "breaking through the dog door" date story that I revised to enter into a humorous prose contest. It's good to see that memorable experience pay off in some manner.

5. Third Place in the Humane Society contest for my Darcy story. It started out as the "Devastated" post here. I wanted this award and would have been heartbroken all over again if I didn't get it. Once I did and my sanity was assured, it was all good.

4. Second Place in the "Proud to be an American" contest for an essay about a virtue or blessing we don't want to forget. I picked kindness with a "Golden Rule" twist.

3. Second Place in the Grand Conference contest which wanted a humorous look at how usage of a word had changed through history. I went "tweet" although I toyed with "winning" for a bit. As the Charlie Sheen boat seems to have already sailed, I think I made the right choice.

2. Jane Friedman. Honestly, she made the difference. I've enjoyed the previous speakers but as far as nuts and bolts how-to information, she's the best we've had.

1. Being encouraged. I ran into plenty of people willing to give an encouraging word. I get discouraged too easily. This is the value of a writer's conference.

That time again, need some inspiration

Since I made the resolution to "write" (I really mean air quotes there as though to say my writing isn't really "writing" in the literary sense but more like fits and starts of beginnery flailing. I hope that gets better some day soon.) more, I've been attending writing conferences. Yes, they make such a thing. I'm coming to understand that few fabulous writers spring up all alone. They are made with trial and failure, painstaking revision, and good editors.

If you've been around a while, you probably remember the first time I won a contest. It's amazing to me every time it happens, even though I am determined to give up forever if I don't win. That's a pretty rocky place to be.

This was the conference where I won awards that convinced me that maybe there might be some day a little bit of tiny hope that I might be a writer (no air quotes). That year the guest was poet Layne Longfellow. Then last year it was a professor/comic book editor/newspaper editor. This year, it's Jane Friedman. She was the editor for Writer's Digest, one of the magazines for writers I peruse often. Yes, they make such a thing. (My family appears a little stumped when I mention things like conferences and magazines for writers...they exist. I enjoy them. I am weird again. It's okay. I asked for a knitting magazine once and got the same reaction so I'm really not alone.)

I visited her site to find out more about her. She started at F+W as a crafty editor. She links to her first project here. The title: Quaint Birdhouses You Can Paint and Decorate

For some reason, I find that encouraging.
I thought I might skip this conference this year, since it's the same month as the big one that I am currently registered for but will skitter out of given half a real reason. Now I'm going to the Arkansas Writers' Conference. So you know what that means? Gotta get some contest entries going...

Remember?

As I was goofing off last night instead of doing any one of the several things I really should have done (clean, knit, write, stop eating and watching YouTube videos), I ran across this video of poet Billy Collins reading his poem "The Lanyard" and I was reminded again how much I like poetry, particularly poetry like this. And I remembered working with a group of writers in college on the "literary" magazine and how much fun it was. If you think you don't like poetry, try this one.

And for everyone that I've tried to describe the effect of the delivery of the keynote speaker, this won't do it either because it was more powerful in person, but...just in case you wanted to hear a little. If you think you do like poetry and you like it old school, try this one.

And picture this guy, Dr. Layne Longfellow, reading.

Happy Friday!

My first Arkansas Writers Conference: the afternoon

You may not remember but this is the conference with all the contests...for one low, low entry fee. Out of the 36 possible, I entered 8. And at lunch the first day, there was an induction into the Arkansas Writer's Hall of Fame and some of these contest winners were announced. And I wanted to know. I really, really wanted to know whether anything I'd turned in won anything.

I was lucky enough to get to a very friendly table that included some poets from Fayetteville, a prose writer from Fayetteville, a mystery writer from North Little Rock, a history writer from Rogers, and a very nice lady from Malvern who thought I might be one of the actors at the Royal theater here in Benton. I have one of those faces.

And we talked a little about what we write, what we've published (I was quiet), and then the ceremony began to induct Phillip McMath into the Arkansas Writers Hall of Fame. To find out more about him, go here (but if you're from Arkansas, you might recognize the name McMath, maybe not as a writer, but as a governor or in this case a governor's son. I sat at the final award banquet with Mr. McMath, his wife, and a couple of people who clearly had not been to lunch the day before and had no idea. And that's a good thing, because I might have been a tad uncomfortable, but even Hall of Famers are just people and it was a great conversation in which I took very little part and that really makes me happiest because then I don't have to regret all the stupid things I say. You know?)

So, back to lunch. They started naming the awards...1008 entries from 18 states, and then for each individual award, the total number of entries was announced. And I wrote them down. I was being quietly dorky again, but just in case I ever do this again (I will), I wanted to know how good my odds were.

And then I started to win. And when you win, they say your name and city, so it was very cool to hear "Cheryl Johnson (pause) Benton."

First Honorable Mention.

First Place and then

First Place.

And then at the awards banquet I won Second Place in the Grand Conference award.

Oh, and I won a book raffle prize, but no door prizes. I just can't seem to overcome my door prize bad mojo. And then to be approached by other Benton writers with invitations for critique groups etc. I don't think I'm ready for that yet, but it was still cool.

So... now I know...I didn't do so hot with the fiction or the poetry. Essays I did fine, so maybe...I'm an essayist? Or maybe I just need to work more on fiction and poetry?

I was feeling pretty good after lunch. I went to the bathroom and thought that I had actually gotten better looking. And then I realized it was the dim lighting. Every bathroom should be lit like the Holiday Inn Presidential in Little Rock. Seriously.

My first Arkansas Writers' Conference: the morning

I got there almost 45 minutes early. I have this weird compulsion about getting to things that make me nervous early. I don't want to be late and lost (particularly downtown) and add to the nerves. (I've clearly conquered the nerves that work and church used to cause.) That, multiplied by the fact that I've been looking forward to this for some time now, led to an earlier-than-normal-even-for-me arrival. Plus, I can watch the people that go in and make sure I'm dressed properly. I'm not sure what it is with me, probably a lack of fashion sense, but I'm always very sure I'm not dressed properly.

The thing about artistic types is that clothes can run the gamut from creative to comfortable and in Arkansas, jeans are a given. I dressed carefully and comfortably and made my debut. And in my head, I felt conspicuous as I walked to the registration table, like the sign over my head said "not really a writer like you are probably a writer, like with published books and stuff."

There's something about walking into these things alone. Clearly, I would have had less nerves to have a compadre, someone to sit with and talk to and pretend that I'm amazingly popular and well-loved instead of one highly ineffective mingler. Instead, I walked in, found others who had never been to this conference, and totally dorked it up. Quietly. I'm OK with that. I only have one very strict dorkiness policy: I don't want to be the biggest dork in the room. (And really, if no one tells me that I am, in fact, the biggest dork in the room, I'll never know.)

And I've decided that going to a writer's conference isn't that different from the quilting classes I've been to. Except that the writers need to catch on to the need for chocolate. I mean, at 3:00 in the afternoon, there should be chocolate near. And Diet Coke.

I did determine something very important. No one knows you here at this conference unless you're in a writer's group. Or you win awards.

And I am in a writer's group...but not the writer's group. Clearly, I need to determine what I'm going to write and get connected. That appears to be an important first step!

And the awards...well, everything changes when you manage to win an award. I'm pretty sure it only changed in my head, but I think that counts.