Right About Time - Creative Opportunities

I reached for a writing opportunity today – I sent out a registration for the SCBWI Winter Conference in NYC. I have attended the Mid-Hudson conferences for the past five years, and have always wanted to go to the NY conference, but I’ve felt it was beyond my grasp.

I feel pretty comfortable at the local conference – it’s held every June, and has been at the Best Western in Poughkeepsie for the past few years. It’s convenient – only about ten minutes away from home. It’s a comfortable size – usually a few hundred writers and illustrators, and about a dozen renowned professional authors, illustrators, editors and agents on the faculty. I go every year with my close friend and fellow writer, Michelle, and we always see several members of our local SCBWI Shop Talk group. It’s an all-day event, and though I usually feel a little tired at the end of the day, I also feel very inspired and motivated to keep on writing.

To me, the NYC conference seems like the “Big-time” in comparison. It’s a 2-day event, at the Grand Hyatt, near Grand Central Terminal, and I’ve heard that there can be about 800 writers and illustrators in attendance. And on the faculty, there are about twice the number of top-names in writing, illustrating and publishing as there are at the Mid-Hudson conference. It’s also more costly, given that it’s almost twice as long, and since it’s further away, transportation expenses need to be figured in. So although I’ve always been interested in going, I always put it off for sometime in the future, when I might feel more creatively and financially ready.

But I’ve decided that it’s right about time to give the conference a try, whether I feel “ready” or not. I’ve looked at the brochure over and over and it looks too good to pass up. I’m looking forward to hearing many of the speakers, especially Jay Asher, whose first YA novel, Thirteen Reasons Why, has won several honors and was one of the best books I read last year. There is also an opportunity to attend a session presented by an editor who made an impact on me when she was on the faculty of the local conference a couple of years ago. So I hope this conference will be just the thing I need to help me take my writing to a higher, more professional level.

I probably wouldn’t even be considering this if it wasn’t for my fellow YA writer friend and SCBWI member, Kim. She has been encouraging me to attend ever since the brochures came out some months ago. She went last year, and gave a great account of it, complete with pictures, at the following Shop Talk meeting. She has been working diligently at a YA paranormal fantasy novel and has a completed draft ready to start making the agent/editor rounds. I’ve read an earlier version, and I think it’s wonderful – very imaginative and inspiring. Her enthusiasm and optimism are infectious, and she’s fearlessly outgoing and sociable – much more of an extrovert than I am. So it will be great to tag along with her! She has also asked me to be her roommate at the hotel; I really appreciate that offer. So thanks, Kim – I’m sure it will be a fun, inspiring, productive and memorable weekend!

Ian also helped me decide to go to the conference. And I encouraged him to sign up for a regional photography portfolio review event, in February, at the Center for Photography in Woodstock. He will be able to meet one-on-one with at least five professionals in the local arts community – gallery owners, curators, magazine editors, and agents – to get feedback of his work. I think this is just the opportunity he needs to help bring his photography to the next professional level.

We talked about it over the weekend, and we both agreed that each New Year’s we make resolutions to take the steps to further our career goals in our creative work. We always take small steps – I have a sample manuscript critiqued at the local SCBWI conference each year, and Ian has participated in group shows at some of the local galleries. But each year, we still consider ourselves to be “aspiring” to attain our creative goals, and each year, those goals still seem just above our reach. I think that these two events will be big steps for us, and hopefully, they will bring us both closer to becoming professionals in our creative fields. And even though we have to re-appropriate some of our money to fund these events, I think it will be worth it. We can think of them as long-term investments.

I know Ian has been motivated to look over all of his recent photo projects, to pick the series that can best represent where he’s at in his photography right now. And I’ve been inspired to go back to my YA book, What Luck – I did some work on it this morning, before I had to work at the store. And now I feel motivated to write and re-write even more, and to see the book to its end. Hopefully, the NYC conference will be just the thing I need to help me get there.