Why I Stopped Going to Writers' Conferences

I don't attend writer's conference any more because of a bad experience.

That is not to say that I no longer go because I didn't place in the writing competition that was part of the conference.

I won the first prize (in different categories) for three consecutive years. The first year, The Grand Galleria Award for my play, the second year for my novel, and the third year for the best one act play.

I have not attended one since that time (over 20 years ago) because of something that happened the year I won the First Prize Novel category.

So what do I know about them now?

Enough to know that they haven't changed all that much. My writing friends attend them, and their experiences are hauntingly familiar. Not enough valuable information for the price, hard to make contacts, the feeling that the editors and agents are really that interested in them, etc.

However, I'm not writing about their experiences, but what I experienced at one of them.

The year I attended a famous science fiction writer was one of the featured speakers.

I won't name him because he's still writing, and for what I'm about to say, I'm afraid he'll put me in one of his books and make me a mutant from Mars with three heads and no brain.

Just kidding----he wouldn't remember anything about that incident that I believed changed a woman's life.

At the speaker session, we were told to write our questions on a piece of paper, and when Mr. Famous Writer finished his talk, the papers would be given to him and he would answer as many questions as he had time for.

His talk was typical for the conference---- (full of his accomplishment and a plug for his upcoming book) and when Mr. Famous finished; he reached down and picked up a piece of paper.

He unfolded the paper, read it, and then asked the person who had written the question to identify herself by raising her hand.

A middle-aged woman in a rose-patterned dress held up her hand.

A humiliating experience

I don't remember exactly what the question was, but it had something to do with how she should portray a minor Jewish character in her novel? She wanted it to be believable and she didn't know any Jews. She couched the question in a humorous manner that had to do with the fact that there were no Jewish people living in her development.

He crumbled the paper, threw it on the floor, and then went off like an old time Baptist minister.

"You question disgusts me. It reflects anti-Semitism, thereby making you, my good woman, an anti-Semite. What is more, you disguise your hostility and ignorance toward Jews with your feeble attempt at humor."

He said she represented something he had been fighting against his entire life, and how she symbolized women who thought they were clever when in fact they were ignorant and so on.

Some people were now straining their necks to get a better look at her, while others, like me, were concentrating on trying not to look in her direction. .

All I can remember before I turned away was the shocked, horrified, and embarrassed expression on her face. She looked like she was about to cry.

Mr. Famous Writer went on to the next question----leaving the woman confused and humiliated and not understanding what (if anything) she had done wrong.

I would be willing to bet the farm that woman would never put pen to paper again.

She would probably never attend another writers' conference.

All because of the vicious comment of a famous writer whom she admired and trusted.

What I should have said

When I left the session, I went into the cafeteria for something to settle my upset stomach. As I sipped my soda, I regretted not standing up for her.

I regretted not having the guts to tell Mr. Famous Writer that he had an awesome responsibility to the people to whom he imparted his expertise; it was his duty to shape minds not destroy them.

He must inspire people to write, not crush their spirit by making them feel stupid and inept.

At the very least, Mr. Famous writer, you need to understand the question, and not jump to the conclusion that she was anti-semitic.

At the most the question was ill conceived (and even in bad taste) but I don't think it was meant to be an attack on being Jewish.

But I didn't stand up to him, nor did anyone else in the conference room. We all sat there like stunned sheep. You could almost hear the Thank God, it wasn't me collective thoughts in the room.

After I finished my soda, I went out to my car. There were more guest speakers but I no longer had any interest in what they had to say.

The prize money, and even the promise that my novel would go on to New York to be considered for publication, meant little to me.

My novel (my first) was not that good. First novels are seldom any good. I knew that I had to write a lot more words until my writing was worthy of publication. .

Who benefits from writing conferences?
I have no desire to attend any more writing conference. To my mind they financially benefit the feature speakers, agents, and editor far more than they enlighten the attendees.

This year (2010) if you have a hankering to attend the Pacific Northwest Writers Conference it'll cost you $595.00! (Exclamation mark, mine.)

In summation
Of this I'm sure: what I have to learn about writing (and it is a life-time effort) will not be picked up at a writer's conference.

Others may have more positive experiences when they attend a writers conference, and if this is the case, I'm happy for them.

But for me the things I've yet to learn about the craft of writing and publishing my work will not be gleaned from any writing conference.

When I hit a writer's block, or just get discouraged, I return to Ray Bradbury's Zen in the Art of Writing, and read it again.

Bradbury once had this advice to someone who wanted to write. I would like to think he said it to an attendee at a writers conference, "Love. Fall in love and stay in love. Write only what you love, and love what you write..."

As for that woman who was misunderstood, I believe that "love' took here there, and because of the insensitivity of one Mr. Famous Writer, (it's a good possibility) she will not stay in love.

I hope I'm wrong.

http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/1630.Ray_Bradbury?page=1