If you’re anything like me, chances are you might find conferences a bit draining. Don’t get me wrong—they’re super-inspiring and it’s so fun meeting kindred spirits—but for introspective writers who spend tons of time alone, the whole conference experience can sometimes just plain feel like A LOT.
In case you relate, here’s a couple of my go-to conference recovery strategies.
1 First, sit down and do a quick brain dump of all notes, marketing ideas, cool plot twists, and anything else you wanna make sure you remember.
2 Then set that “brain dump” aside and SLEEP. Seriously, let yourself make rest a priority for as long as you need to for your batteries to recharge. (Also, if you happen to be feeling a little amped-up and full of nervous energy, try taking a long walk or maybe hit the gym. It sounds counterintuitive, but breaking a sweat often helps me calm down and sleep after an unusual amount of socializing.)
3 When you’re feeling restored and creatively raring to go, take a look at your “brain dump”/conference notes and break ’em all down into priorities. (More on this in a sec.)
4 Give yourself permission to write really short “networking” emails to people you’ve met—don’t pressure yourself to write long, personalized emails if that’s not your jam. (Fun fact: the best post-conference email I ever got simply said, “You rock. I look forward to staying in touch throughout our writing careers.”)
5 Also, give yourself permission to take your time before making any agent/editor submissions. (From what I hear, submitting to someone 3-4 weeks after meeting is considered pretty fast–if this describes you, go on with your badass self! Otherwise, 3-ish months seems to be the norm for people who have some rewriting to do. Some folks take closer to 6 months or even a year if they happen to get a request for a full manuscript but then end up deciding they want to do a massive rewrite before submitting–it all depends on how much drafting/rewriting work you have ahead of you. Agents/editors will actually respect and appreciate you for taking the time to do thoughtful edits and send them a manuscript you’re truly proud of. Bottom line: set realistic deadlines for yourself, and don’t submit because you feel rushed–submit because you feel ready.)
6 If you came out of the conference with lots of action items and edits you want to make to your manuscript, tackle your priorities one teensy-tiny baby step at a time. I suggest breaking things down into the following categories:
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- Low-Hanging Fruit (No-brainer tasks you definitely want to do and already know how to implement quickly—do all these first to build momentum.)
- Must Dos (Things you absolutely want to do before making that big submission but that’ll take a little longer to implement/figure out—prioritize these in order of the time and brain power you think they’ll take. Do the most approachable stuff first!)
- Wish List (Notes you aren’t quite sure you like and/or don’t know how the heck to implement yet. If you never get to these, it’s not the end of the world.)
- Nope (Notes that just aren’t right for this project/your vision, or things that simply aren’t high-ROI enough to be worth the time. It is so dang satisfying to add things into this category, btw.)
I hope some of these tips are useful. If not, listen to your gut and ignore me–you know what’s right for you better than anyone else ever will. Just follow your intuition, and you’ve got this! xo
Image source: DepositPhotos.