I popped in and out of the Presbyterian Writers Conference the past few days at Columbia Seminary. I still have a few weeks of class left, so I didn’t get to take in as much of the conference as I would have liked were I not having to write term papers and final projects. Even so, I’m very glad to have gleaned what I did.

I love communication of all sorts, writing especially. It was helpful to see what sort of folks show up for a Presby Writers Conference — over 80, in fact! — and what sorts of questions they were asking. From what I could tell, the group seemed a good mix of pastors, teacher types, retirees, and folks considering writing as a profession.

A few things that struck me and you might care to read:

• writing is a tough, usually solitary, business
• it takes a good amount of time, and a bit of luck to make it big
• write what you like
• what you like may not sell
• what you have written is probably not marketable as is
• academic writing and more popular writing are two totally different animals
• it sure helps to have a PhD, connections connections, and a nice title after your name

I’ll stop there, but I will also say that I hadn’t realized how fortunate I’ve been to have a few things published and have something else in the pipeline. Sure, this work isn’t anything too fancy, but it turns out that an article here and an essay there ain’t nothing for a 26 year-old.  Oh, and presenters kept telling folks to get a blog audience and all that.  Well, you’re mine already   Now off to decide whether I should pay the $25 and become a member of the Presbyterian Writers Guild — like I have the money, or the time…

image by typofi