I have never felt so warmly towards pink flamingoes before!
(Or any flamingo, really.)
Over the past weekend I attended Sleuthfest 2021, also known as “SleuthFest in Your PJs” because the normally in-person conference went all-virtual this year. Hosted by the Mystery Writers of America Florida Chapter, it’s full of good advice, flamingo themes, and humor. When I signed up it was my first writing conference, but I’d been to many professional and academic conferences in the past, so I figured I knew what to expect. There were all the usual modern conference things: chatboxes, sessions on technical aspects of writing, and jokes about tech savvy (or lack thereof). And yet it was also more than I expected.
A lot of the drive at writing webinars and events, I’ve noticed, is encouraging attendees to “sit down and write.” Stop making excuses, use creative ways to get past your fears, find inspiration together, etc. And that’s all awesome — don’t get me wrong! But for me, at this point in my life, I’ve got my writing habit mostly developed and several books done; I don’t always need to be told to go write. (Sometimes I need to be told to go do other things, like take a walk or make that dinner I’d said would be ready half an hour ago!)
But at SleuthFest, a major theme wasn’t simply go write — it was keep writing. “What’s the difference between an author and a writer?” they asked at the beginning of the conference. “The author kept trying.”
As I listened to sessions about launching your book and treating writing seriously, that statement really hit home. I realized that instead of thinking “if maybe, some day, pigs fly in the light of a blue moon and a magical godmother swoops in and picks me, I might be a published author — but let’s not jinx it,” what I ought to be thinking is “I am moving forward to the time when I will be a published author.” Because even though publishing is very hard and very competitive and does involve a lot of luck, it’s not a fairy tale dream. It’s work, and the most important thing to do to succeed is persevere.
That’s a major shift in mindset, and for that I will always be thankful to SleuthFest! 🙂
