I recently attended The Chuckanut Writers Conference in Bellingham, WA; my first writing conference ever. I have been following the debate surrounding these kinds of conferences and whether they are worth the time and money spent, and so I was unsure, initially, about what I would get from this experience. Now that I’ve attended this event, I’d like to add what I can to this discussion by detailing my experience with this particular conference, and then offering my overall opinion.
The Chuckanut Writers Conference Offered:
A Nice Variety of Workshops
The conference I went to was very organized and well thought out. We were given itineraries which detailed the schedule, where everything was located and descriptions of the faculty and workshops. The events were broken up by announcements, speeches/group activities, and a series of workshops each hour, where individuals could decide which workshop they were most interested in attending. The workshops were a very great aspect of the event, as there were a wide variety of topics offered, from marketing to outlining, writing and simply getting in the right mental state to beginwriting, there was something for everyone at every stage of their writing journey. I particularly loved Garth Stein’s character development class, Blanks discussion of imagery in writing, and Blanks political essay workshop. I also got a lot of practical information from blanks workshop on book marketing (which encouraged me finally put this blog together). I will be honest by admitting that a lot of what I learned in these workshops were things that I more or less was already aware of, and I was often offered more polished strategies of practices I already undertake. However, I did walk away from the workshops with a lot of new concepts, ideas, and helpful tips, and even the reiteration of what I was already aware of was helpful to hear from successful authors, as it eased my anxieties and allowed me to feel as though I am doing something right.
Diverse Faculty…But…
Ok. So I’ll start off by saying that I loved the faculty. The faculty came from a wide range of background and practices and they all had very intriguing viewpoints and advice, and this added a lot to my conference experience. It was nice to hear writing and advice from LGBQT authors and African American poets. However, being a black (mixed race) writer who likes to discuss themes regarding race in my own stories, I was hoping to make some connections with other emerging writers of color at the conference. Out of the whole event there were probably only four other writers of color. I found this interesting, as it seemed to speak to an ongoing theory I have, and one that I’ve heard a lot of discussion surrounding. Essentially, writers of color have, as of late, been pushed to the forefront (ie: appearing on the covers of popular literary magazines and emphasized in writing programs) in a desperate attempt to cover up the lack of diversity in the field. On a large scale, I imagine there is a lot of truth to this, though in my particular circumstance, its also true that Bellingham, WA isn’t exactly a super diverse area to begin with, so in a lot of ways the lack of diversity at the conference is simply a reflection of geographical demographics. Not to mention, the conference has absolutely no control over who registers for the event, so its nothing that I hold against anyone. However, if you’re the kind of person who is interested in making connections with other POC in the writing industry, I would suggest researching some writing conferences/workshops that are specifically geared toward writers of color.
Inspirational.
I’ll say the biggest thing I took away from the conference was inspiration. Regardless of anything else they may have taught over the weekend, the most important thing the faculty did was inspire me to write more. I’ll make a particular note of Sonora Jha’s opening speech, which moved everyone to tears and a standing ovation, and from that moment on the faculty demonstrated a great amount of enthusiasm and encouragement to the attendees, and even more passion for what they do. Not only that, but all of the faculty was very real and down to earth, fighting the notions that you have to “write every day” to be a writer. Showing that its ok to feel stuck, to get caught up in life, to take time with your writing. I am very grateful for the work everyone put into the event.
Final Thoughts:
Though I have only been to one conference, my immediate takeaway when I left was that I would definitely attend another. Though its true that a lot of what was discussed in the workshops were simply reiterations of things that I, more than not, already knew, I was still able to gain a lot from the experience. I got to meet other writers, people whose books were finished and others who were still in the beginning stages like myself, and I did pick up a lot of useful tips from the very knowledgeable faculty. And, honestly, sometimes it’s not even about learning something new, but simply devoting some time to yourself and your passion can do wonders for your self esteem and mental health. For me, the writing conference came at the right moment: it gave me hope and vision, making clear to me that other people struggle in the same ways that I do, getting half way through a project just to find that its terrible, getting lost and frustrated in the outlining process, and having absolutely no idea how your book is going to end. And, more so, it was helpful to hear these things from established authors, and seeing that it is possible to be successful in this career field, even if it does take some time. The writing conference allowed me to come up for air.
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