Guest Post by Annette Lyon — #anwaconf16 @annettelyon

We are less than two week away people. Can you believe how quickly time has flown? I sure hope you're registered! This week we are excited to have a guest post by Annette Lyon. It is a fantastic piece. Be sure to read it and her spotlight.

Getting the Most out of a Writing Conference

By Annette Lyon

The ANWA Time out of Writers Conference is right around the corner, and I’m getting excited like a kid getting ready to enter Disneyland. 

I’ve been attending conferences for 20 years—literally. My first conference was back in 1996. I remember sitting in the crowd and making a goal to one day be the one speaking to attendees. It's still a bit mind-blowing to think that I’m on the other side now—that I’m published many times over, I’ve served on many conference committees (even chaired a conference), and I speak at conferences each year. 

And twenty years in, I still love the writing conference scene. 

More importantly, I've learned something new at every conference I've attended. While the types of things and the amount I learn vary, conferences are always valuable experiences.

Here are a few ways to make the most out of Time Out for Writers 2016:

1) Look over the schedule in advance.

This is especially important if the conference offers more than one workshop at a time. You'll want to know where you're going and what you want to learn. It's miserable being on the spot, having to decide NOW between two or three great choices.

A couple of other reasons:

—Some workshops have limited seating, and you may need to RSVP for them in advance. If you miss the window, you're out of luck.

—Seeing the schedule tells you who is teaching what, which gives you a chance to familiarize yourself with the presenters and their work. (And that can help you decide which class you’d get the most out of personally.)

2) Leave Your Comfort Zone at Home.

By nature of what we do, writers are solitary and often introverted, qualities that don't serve you well at a conference. One of the most valuable parts of any conference is networking with industry insiders, rubbing shoulders with other writers, and making friends.

Many critique groups form after the writers in them met at a conference, and deals go down thanks to contacts made there.

This is hard. I know it is. But force yourself to sit next to someone you don't know. Introduce yourself. Chat with other writers, both published and unpublished. It's not so hard once you break the ice, because after all, you do have one big thing in common: a love for writing. 

Break the ice with any attendee with a simple question: “What do you write?”

3) Be Open to Feedback.

This goes hand-in-hand with leaving your comfort zone at home. If you are part of a critique workshop, a pitch session, or are getting feedback in any form, put on that thick skin, open your arms, and let it all in.

Remember that no one is there to attack you personally. Any feedback you get is given to genuinely help you grow as a writer and to improve your work.

4) Bring Your Supplies.

In whatever form they may be. Absolutely bring a notebook and something to write with. Bring several pens in case one runs out of ink, another gets lost etc. You may get a syllabus for note-taking as well, and a laptop is great for taking notes too, but you can't guarantee you'll have enough writing space on a syllabus, and a battery can die. 

Along the same lines, be sure you pack any charging cords and adaptors you might need for your laptop, tablet, phone, etc. A water bottle is also a good idea, as is some ibuprofen (trust me on this one!), lip balm, shoes that won’t give you blisters, and clothing that’s both comfortable and professional looking. Layers are often a good idea; idea you never know when one workshop room will be freezing thanks to arctic A/C, and another will be too hot. 

5) Follow Conference Etiquette.

Read any information on the conference web site and that the conference sends to you. Some basic things to keep in mind:

Don't pitch to an agent or editor at any time except in a pre-paid pitch session. (They tell horror stories of being pitched to in the restroom, in the elevator, at lunch . . . don't do it.)

Don't hog Q&A time, and pay attention so you don't ask questions that have already been answered.

If you made a meal selection when you registered, be sure to claim the meal you picked (you can't change your mind now, or someone else won't get the meal they paid for).

Turn your cell phone to vibrate. Don't talk on the phone during workshops. Feel free to post about the conference to social media, but keep your texting to that. And definitely use hashtags so those interested can find your posts about the conference! 

Arrive to each session on time. Be respectful during classes; don't talk to a friend in the middle of a lecture. If you have a pitch session or other appointment, get there early.

If you have suggestions for a future conference, feel free to leave feedback, often on a feedback form or web site. But be kind; realize that hundreds of man hours and months of work have gone into preparing for the event. Yes, people make mistakes, but there may be a reason for something you aren't aware of.

6) Most of all, HAVE FUN.

As far as craft goes, I learn much less at a conference today than I did back in 1996, simply because I've been working at it for so long, but I still find nuggets at every conference, new ways of approaching a concept, a cool new lens to see the craft through. 

But even if I learned nothing new, I'd still go, for one big reason: conferences charge my creative batteries in ways nothing else can. There is no other place I can hang out where everyone there, literally hundreds of people, really get the writer part of me.

No one looks at me funny when I talk about characters having conversations in my head, or the latest cool fact I learned in my research, or how a plot twist just showed up. 

My people really are found at writing conference, which makes them, in many ways, a special kind of Writer Disneyland.