Friendship—One of the Best Benefits of Attending a Writing Conference

by Cindy K. Sproles @CindyDevoted
Friendship can be the most unlikely thing. Don't you think? To me, friendship is a place, not a person. It's a gift—a tiny box filled with personalities that, once opened, warms my heart, makes me feel special, and teaches us about faithfulness. Not just faithfulness to one another but to the God who created us.
As a writer, my somewhat reclusive life leads me to times and places that only my mind can conjure. It's easy to become best friends with the characters I invent—after all, they are my characters. They're everything I would imagine my best friends to be (or not). I've assigned them the perfect set of attributes.
I travel to numerous conferences in the spring and summer, sometimes logging 15,000 plus miles in a season. Though the travel itself wears at me, the excitement of visiting with my writer friends far exceeds the dread of another flight.
My writer friends fill me. They're like giant extension cords that plug into me and recharge me. We laugh, cry, and rejoice in one another. We celebrate our wins and losses and pick one another up when we fail. We are friends. You may ask, those are all traits of people, not places, but I differ. At this conference, I met with a publisher friend who has been more of an acquaintance until we met at the coffee shop. We began to laugh, talk, and find out we were both kicked out of Bible Study Fellowship. Since we've emailed, I believe a new relationship has begun. A lasting friendship. One where we can help one another.
The writers I call my friends meet me in a place where the regular world cannot enter. They meet me in my heart, join me in a soulful relationship, and understand me when all others can't. Here in this "place," I find others who "get" me. They come to play in my imaginary world and bounce off the " what if's" that could happen in my stories. These friends are unique and special.
And when the day comes that the conference ends and I have to say goodbye, I mourn them. 
When you travel to a writer's conference, you'll meet people, develop friendships, and network. The obvious result of a conference is the learning, but when you walk away—short of that learning—you get out of it what you put into it. If you've secluded yourself away, then you've missed the primary point of the conference—the friends and peers. 
When you forge friendships at a conference, you develop a network of peers who can help you grow in your writing. They will be your support system and connect you to others—they will rejoice with you when you sign that first agent. Those people will help you market when that first book releases, not because they feel obligated, but because they have invested in YOU. 
Of course, you learn writing skills from the professionals. You'll get the trends and the newest tricks of the trade. Learn. Study. Find your way in the writing world. Talk to friends and professionals and further your career but do not leave a conference without a handful of business cards—those cards hold the email addresses of your new friendships. Develop those. Meet them in the places where the average folks cannot go, and while you are there, rejoice in them. These are Christian friends; when we meet, pray, and worship together, we quickly see that God is with us through these friendships. You'll see God is for us, and He is in us. All of that is well worth your invested money, and the payout is amazing. I look forward to seeing you again very soon.
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Cindy K. Sproles is an author, speaker, and conference teacher. Having served for a number of years as a managing editor for Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas and Ironstream Media, Cindy now works as a mentor, coach, and freelance editor. She is the co-founder of Writing Right Author Mentoring Services with Lori Marett and she is the director of the Asheville Christian Writers Conference. Cindy is also the co-founder of Christian Devotions Ministries and WWW.CHRISTIANDEVOTIONS.US, as well as WWW.INSPIREAFIRE.COM. Her devotions are in newspapers and magazines nationwide, and her novels have become award-winning best-selling works. She is a popular speaker at conferences and a natural encourager. Cindy is a mountain girl, born and raised in the Appalachian mountains, where she and her husband still reside. She has raised four sons and now resorts to raising chickens where the pecking order is easier to manage. You can visit Cindy at WWW.CINDYSPROLES.COM or www.wramsforwriters.com.
Featured Image: Photo by Alexis Brown on Unsplash