Image Credit: Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos. Some directly from Pixabay. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books.
By the time this post goes out, I will have returned from the Association of Christian Writers’ AGM and Writers’ Day held on 9th October 2021 at Mary Sumner House in London, which is the home of the Mothers Union incidentally. It will be ACW’s first in-person event since before lockdown.
What ACW did for events and groups was switch everything to Zoom and this worked well. The plan is to combine a mixture of live and Zoom events and group meetings in future.
How did I feel about going back to live events like this? I was fine with it, especially having been to the Swanwick Writers’ Summer School in August. But what are the advantages of one-day events such as the ACW one?
My post will look at this and give tips on how to make the most of your writers’ day event, whether you go to it in person or attend on Zoom. (I cannot sing the praises of this app highly enough. It made such a difference to so many last year).
Writers’ Days – The Point of Them
A good day like the ACW one will help writers develop their craft and open their eyes to possibilities in the writing world they may not have considered (or even heard of before). A good day like the ACW one will also encourage networking in a friendly environment so even the shyest person will get something useful from this (and hopefully go home having made contacts they can keep going long after the event).
A single day event can be a great way for someone new to writing to try different things out without committing to too much in terms of money spent and time. That’s useful when you’re not sure what you really want to be doing, writing wise. Going to single day events can also help boost confidence for going to longer events such as Swanwick.
I know I was nervous about going to conferences when I first started out as the thought about talking about what I do made my brain freeze. Now you can’t keep me away from such events (!) but it is the getting together with like-minded people who understand your drive to write that made all the difference here.
It was thanks to an ACW day many years ago that I learned to set up a website (my first one was on Weebly) and to start producing material for it. That in turn led me to blogging and to getting my head around the idea of having a “spot” where I could market what I do and let people know about my stories and books. Later, I needed more from a website than Weebly could do for me so I am now on WordPress, as indeed is Chandler’s Ford Today.
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I’ve met many friends thanks to these events and discovered some wonderful books so events like this are very much win-win as far as I’m concerned.
Live -v- Zoom
I don’t think there’s a contest. Both have their advantages. The huge advantage Zoom has it cuts out all need for travelling and makes events far more accessible.
I was able to take part in the Share Your Story Writing summit (an internationally based one) thanks to it being held online. I’ve also given a couple of talks since then to Scottish writing groups and to a WI-affiliated group thanks to Zoom. It has helped events to still go ahead at all. And funnily enough it has made me rediscover PowerPoint for presentations, something I had used years ago but which I had dropped out of using. It is a great way to demonstrate things online.
You do, however, get a real buzz from being with other writers in person though and you can get to have a book stall. (It is always very popular at ACW events and yes both my flash collections put in an appearance at Saturday’s event). Also not everyone is comfortable with online meeting. Nor do you have to have a 45 minute cut-off point which you do have if you use the free version of Zoom.
Nor do you have to worry about your internet connection holding up if you get together in person. But you do have the travelling. I must admit I have loved getting out and about on the train again (and yes I’ve got back to my old habit of doing plenty of writing using Evernote on my phone while travelling).
Tips for Making the Most of a Single Day Event
Sounds obvious but do take a decent notebook and several pens. I find I can handwrite notes quicker than I can type them and I know never to rely on only having one pen at these things. Also it means not having to worry about internet connections holding up or your battery running out on your phone. There is still a place for pen and paper in creative writing!
Take business cards if you have them. You usually get an opportunity to swap with other writers. And they’re one of the best ways to remember people and stay in contact with them after the event. If you don’t have these, have you got bookmarks or something like that with details of your website on so people can check your site out later?
Check how many books of your own you can take with you for selling at the book stall. Different events have different rules here and you won’t be Mr/Ms Popular if you bring in too many. (It is usually fine to bring extra copies with you to re-stock the book stall with if you’re lucky enough to have sold out of the initial copies put out for people to buy. Just in bear in mind you will have to lug these about which is a major consideration if you’re going to an event by public transport).
Give yourself time when you get back home again to “process” what you’ve taken in. I always come back from these events “buzzing” with ideas (which is always good) but then need a week or so to then work out which ones are the real “goers” and which should be put on the back burner, at least for the time being, because they’re not of as much direct relevance to me as the “goers” are.
Focus on learning what you can but also enjoying being in the company of other writers who understand your need to create with words. Most of the time we’re at our desks alone. Getting together with like-minded people is a morale boost for you and for them.
The other thing I’ve found is, over time, I can share snippets of advice I’ve picked up to newbie writers. What goes around comes around in the writing world and most writers are generous with hints and tips they’ve found useful. It also pays to talk to other writers as they may well be more aware of the latest scams and things like that. Sadly every industry has their charlatans.
Zoom Events
Again have a notebook and pen to hand.
Follow the host’s wishes when it comes to asking questions. I’ve been to such events where people are encouraged to ask questions using the Chat function (basically you type into a box) as the meeting is going on. Other events have asked for questions to be asked direct “to camera” at the end of the writing talk.
If you’re the one talking at the event, I found having a dry run by setting up a meeting with myself on Zoom, doing my talk and recording it to be incredibly useful. Zoom converts your file to mp4 when you end the meeting. You can then play it back. I found with my first talk when I did this, I was talking too fast. I’ve learned to slow myself down but I had to see and hear myself doing this to realise I needed to hold back on the tempo a bit.
Usually these events do have time for a Q&A session with the host/speaker. It is useful, prior to the event, to check out the speaker’s writing record as that may well trigger questions. And there is always a sense of relief when questions are asked because they are a great way to get a conversation going. Just keep the questions short and sensible.
If the talk covers them then fine but that doesn’t always happen so being prepared with something here is handy. (I prepare answers to questions I think may come up and if I don’t need them fine. If my session runs a bit short, I can bring these questions in myself and answer them, if nobody else wants to quiz me).
Conclusion
The biggest thing from a day event (whether online or in-person) is it can help you feel more like a “proper” writer. We all need some sense of validation for what we do and you do get that from being with other writers.
And going to events is a great way of building up your confidence, writing skills, and discovering more of the wonderful world of writing out there. Getting used to networking is always useful and events can help you practice that if you are on the shy side. (I found this aspect incredibly useful earlier on in my writing career).
A well run event on an interesting topic is fun. So whether you go online or to an in-person event, enjoy it. Make friends. There is nothing like another writer to sympathise with when things are not going so well.
And how do you meet other writers? Often at day events.
Related Posts:-
Read interviews with Chandler’s Ford writer Allison Symes: Part 1 and Part 2.
Read blog posts by Allison Symes published on Chandler’s Ford Today.
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