We Should Be in New York

Please withstand my complaining for a moment.

I'm tired of being sick and I'm tired of not being able to breath and I'm tired of tissues being my constant companion and I'm tired of not being able to taste anything and I'm tired of not sleeping well and I'm tired of school and I'm tired of memorizing my stupid lines and I'm tired of Playweek (and it's only been one day!) and I'm tired of not having any energy and I'm tired of the Second Book and I'm tired of having a cluttered desk and I'm tired of not having all the ingredients I need for baking and I'm tired of the cold without any snow and I'm tired of being bugged all day and...

I want to be in New York right now.

Yes, I think we should be in the freaking Big Apple.

(1) Your characters, even the most resilient ones, should whine once or twice, simply so that they don't seem divine. My mother recently told me one of my characters- his name is Aryan- seems positively inhuman because he always handles problems with the same stone face. Thus, I need to add in something to flare his emotions. Life has been doing that to me, so... yeah. Another plot twist caught me unprepared. )

2) ( or 1, if you're particular) Why should we be in New York?

Easy.

The Writers Digest Annual Conference is going on right now!!!!

And I'm not there. And you're (probably) not there. And it is really sad.

I was planning on posting about outlining and various methods of preplanning, but this only happens once a year, so here's my rant.

If you ever have the chance to go to a writing conference, GO. I'm serious, because there, you can meet agents, editors, pitch your manuscript in person, and in other words, get a jump start on your writing career. There are seminars and real live, published authors, and you can learn so much!!! And the Writers Digest Conf. is the biggest in the Western Hemisphere (or something like that) and it only happens once a year. Here's the link to the Writer's Digest site- I blow free time (and some more) reading their articles, because these people seriously know what they're talking about: http://www.writersdigest.com/GeneralMenu/

I've only heard about them, so I don't have much to say. But Randy Ingermanson, who is kind enough to help young authors with tips, etc., begs us to go to as many as we can drag our feet too. (You should sign up for his fiction writing e-zine- go here http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/ )

I had really been wanting to go this year, but because of my school's play (grumbles) I can't. I like being the student administrator, but not being in the cast. I didn't want a big part, and what did I get? Okay, enough of my complaining. And the other problem would have been finances, as in, flying myself and a parent there and back plus food and lodging, but I still wish I could have gone.

Imagine this:
You have a completed manuscript, query, and proposal.
And now you don't know what to do with them.

Hence, writing conferences. It's where you 'pitch' your novel (or whatever you write) to people who can put it in print!!!

Thus, we should all be in New York, where hundreds of writing people are doing business right now. Right now!!!

Next year in New York, eh? ;)

P.S.- I mentioned things like queries, proposals, pitching, and agents (I had no idea writers had agents until recently), even though I haven't talked about them yet. So, if you want to jump the gun, fire away in the comments section!

The next post- hopefully sometime during the week, rather than next Saturday- is going to be on NOPS and OPS and all the rest of the people who don't fit in either category. :)