I wanted so badly to come back from RWA and confirm for you that yes, it was all about the shoes.
But no. Incredibly, it was about far more than shoes. And if I show you some of the shoes I’m talking about, you will understand how awesome this conference truly must have been:
Pretty freaking awesome.
I am still reeling from sensory overload, so forgive me if I’m a bit incoherent. I learned so much that I’m still struggling to process it all. Two of the biggest takeaways: (1) Publishing is changing – radically, and rapidly. (2) Storytelling is not.
It’s a great time to be a writer. It’s not such a great time to be a publisher. Nobody wants publishers to die, but they are thrashing and gasping like fish in a basket. It’s gruesome to behold. Kinda tugs at the old heartstrings, too. They are still the best at what they do, and everybody loves what they do. But they are no longer essential. They are “extra.” They are the frosting on your career’s cake, but they are no longer the cake.
So while we are all chewing on that mouthful, let me tell you what else I learned.
Blogging: I’m doing it wrong. Very few people care what happened at the Romance Writers of America 2012 National Conference. Those who care, care intensely, but never mind that. I simply must stop jabbering on and on about writerly stuff. :gasp!: :sob!: This is going to be a hard habit to break, so only time will tell how far I get with this one-!
Facebook: I’m doing it wrong. Okay, this really hurts. I thought I knew Facebook. But my knowledge extends only to being a person, not being a page. I gotta tackle that page from a new angle. (In my spare time.) This could get ugly. I bet it takes me a while to hit my stride, because I have no clue how to accomplish this — but it sounds like a really good idea: “Make your page a fun place to hang out.” Ohhhh-kaaaay.
I learned a lot of other stuff too, but it’s all writerly stuff. So I can feel my workshop leaders tugging on my sleeve and whispering, “Wrap it up! Quick!”
I’d better take their advice. Wouldn’t want to spend all that time & money at RWA for nothing.
One last thought: Every time I plan to go to this conference, I fret about the expense. I think, “Do I really want to go?? How badly do I want to go? Is it really worth all that @#^%$!! money?”
So far, when I have decided to go, I have never regretted it. Never. It’s just SO much more than shoes.
the best by Farr 
Careful of these social networking instructors. Do you want to connect to quantity or quality. Writerly things may be OK. Not writer angst or compalints about the publishing industry, but tales of style and character and what makes a good story. Things that are not just writerly, but also readerly. And if they’re not readers or writers, do you care whether they follow?
Readerly. I like that.
I admit I’m unable, so far, to figure out how to blog about anything else. So I’d love an excuse to take that tip with a grain of salt! Thanks for the advice.
I don’t agree with the blogview of the powers on high at RWA. They have to offer something up for all that money. This blog comes across as an AUTHENTIC voice. It feels real. It breathes and at its best when breathless. It feels like the real Diane is writing it and that is, after all, why I am reading it. I can read massaged, “correct” and entertaining material elsewhere, indeed almost anywhere. We are always being “appealed” to by appealing people, appealing objects, appealing whatever….choke…being real isn’t always appealing but it sure is refreshing. Diane is inherently interesting and interesting enough for me. (Hear this. Hear this. Get to your battle stations…)
Gosh, Lois, thanks! I feel better now. LOL!
I do tend to natter on and on, and talk about myself way too much, and alternately gush and fret, which are all blogging no-nos. But –as you evidently guessed — that IS, in fact, the Real Diane. :blush:
The same workshop that warned me about boring people to tears with personal stories about writing and publishing also said that my blog should introduce potential readers to my natural voice. So, you know, I’m halfway there …
if you aren’t boring you don’t have to listen to boring people give you boring advice about how not to be boring
Ooh. Words to live by. Thank you, Lois!!!
(triple exclamation point – call the punctuation police)