Last night I returned from the Backspace Writers’ Conference in New York. 

•  The conference seemed to be designed to break you down (Agents reviewed our queries and first two pages on the first day) and then build you back up again (Workshops and time to hang out with fellow writers were on days 2 and 3).
• Next time I will save up money and just stay in the hotel.  My New York friends are fantastic but without the commute I could have gotten an extra hour of sleep every night.  Also it isn’t fun trying to find your way back to the subway at 2 in the morning after hanging with fellow writers in a bar for five hours.    
• Unlike most creative writing classes, there was little of, “You must write like this” and more, “There are many ways to write.  This is how I do it.”  
• Nothing makes an aspiring writer feel like a normal human being like being in a room with seventy other aspiring writers.  
• I am not the only person in the world who thinks that “write what you know” leads boring material. 
• Agents are intimidating but really do want to see you succeed. 
• Our keynote speaker Lauren Baratz-Logsted did an excellent job of pumping us up.  She truly is a lovely person. 
• My query letter and writing have improved since the last Backspace conference.