“Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand.”    —George Orwell

Okay.  So – maybe I didn’t find the process of writing a novel to be horrible but it was exhausting and yet, exhilarating – kinda like how I imagine a mountain climber would feel when they reached the summit Mt. Everest.   Seriously, I was on the top of the world!

While I love writing, it requires solitude – a lot of it – and that can lead to a creative drain. When we don’t recharge our batteries, our writing will suffer.

One way to avoid this is to periodically surround ourselves with like-minded individuals. A writers conference is the perfect event to make these connections.  Not only do we get the benefit of learning from the experts, we have the opportunity to forge relationships with other writers – people who get us and our struggles.

For many people, attending a week long conference is out of the question due to work, family, and monetary considerations.  However, smaller conferences are often presented by local writers groups.  These are typically one or two days long and very affordable.  If you’re in the North Carolina area, you might be interested in attending the following:

February 27, 2016:  Book’em North Carolina Book Fair and Writers Conference  This conference is held at Robeson Community College in Lumberton, N.C.  FEE:  FREE

March 18-19, 2016:  Pamlico Writers Conference is held in Washington, N.C.  at the Turnage Theater.  FEE:  $49.00 non-members $39.00 members

April 16, 2016:  Carolinas Writers Conference is held at the Lockhart-Taylor Center in
Wadesboro, N.C.  FEE:  $30.00 and includes a catered lunch.

Both the Book’em NC and Carolinas Writers Conferences are short drives from northern South Carolina.  And for those writers in south eastern Virginia, the Pamlico conference is only a two hour drive.

Thanks for stopping by and if you know of a budget friendly conference, please feel free to add it in the comments.