Writers Conference Recovery

There are plenty of articles online about writers conference preparation—what to pack, what to wear, how to behave, and how to get the most out of your experience. But what about after the conference is over?

I usually go home from a writers conference tired and peopled out. Sometimes I feel rejuvenated—and sometimes I wonder why I ever wanted to write in the first place.

Don’t despair. Some sleep will help. You are a writer! Growing always hurts a little.

How I feel after a writers conference ends.

Writers conferences pack so much education, networking, social mingling, and inspiration that it’s hard not to be overwhelmed after they’re over. They often feel like a fire hose of information rather than that life-saving gulp of clear water we really need. But there are a few specific things you can do once a writers conference is over that will help you stay organized and keep the insights you gained fresh in your mind.

Binders are Your Friend

I have a couple of binders that I break out after conference season. One is for business cards. There’s probably an app for this—even taking pictures would be better than throwing them away after a month in the bottom of my purse—but I like to simply write on the business card itself where I met the person and what I remember about them. Then I file it in a plastic pocket protector made for business cards. This helps me when someone reaches out and I can’t remember how I know them, or when I’m trying to remember who that nice person was I ate lunch with at a conference. They also remind me to friend or follow anyone I hit it off with soon after the conference.

The other binder holds conference handouts. I throw out most of them, but if something was really useful to me, I file it in a plastic sheet protector for future reference. I categorize these by topic. Then, when I’m struggling to build a character or plot an ending or remember which crutch words are most common, I can flip to that section of my binder to find resources that have already proven useful.

What About All My Writers conference Notes?

I am a big note-taker. I don’t copy down everything a teacher says, only what I find interesting. (Okay, sometimes I take notes to stay awake, but I’m more likely to duck out of a class if it’s not meeting my needs and slip into another one that engages my interest.) And for a long time, I never looked at those notebooks again. And that’s okay! I still sat through the classes, and I have a firm belief that any really crucial insights will stick with me.

But. I’ve learned to go through my notebooks with a highlighter, looking for four things.

First, I highlight the email address or webpage of any instructor who offered to share slides with the class, since I love to visual reminders. (Just a note: many instructors don’t share their presentations, because they teach at multiple conferences and need to control their content. So I don’t ever reach out to someone unless they offer to share certain materials.) Sometimes I print out their resources for my binder, and sometimes I slot them in an email folder called ‘Writing Resources.’

Next, I highlight any insights that came to me about my own book. I’ve usually set these off with an asterisk or written them in the margins so they don’t get lost. I recently attended a class on the hero’s journey, and I made this note in the margin: *** MC must be willing to sacrifice for satisfying conclusion. Julia ending—embrace curse? Sometimes it takes me a while to decipher what I meant! I open the document they pertain to and type the orders to myself at the beginning of the file. I might not be ready to dive into revisions yet, but this way I’ve reminded myself about my flashes of insight once I am.

The third thing I look for is further resources. I write down book recommendations, whether they’re for craft books or as examples of a technique, and helpful websites. I like to request those books from the library right away.

The last thing I look for is … magic. What, when skimming my notes, jumps out at me? What are insights that I want to chew on? What are really interesting ways of looking at craft? What are marketing principles that I need to apply right away? Putting some pink highlighter on my pages makes a notebook full of notes feel far more manageable.

One Last Thing…

Writers conferences can really help us blossom. They’re an outpouring of craft, friendship, learning, and growing. It’s okay to wilt a little bit after such aggressive gardening! But think about taking these easy steps next time you come home from a writers conference instead of shoving your tote in the closet and forgetting all about it.

And then have a piece of chocolate. If Harry needed it after the dementors, you deserve it after navigating a writers conference.