Sharing More Wisdom from the Erma Bombeck Humor Writers' Conference

"Who are you not to be fabulous."  Erma Bombeck

Some tips and other information from the conference:

The author of "The Help," Kathryn Stockett, received 61 rejections before a publisher decided to take a chance and publish her work.

"What other people think about me is none of my business."  Ashley Judd

I attended a panel session entitled "The Craft of Column Writing" and these columnists were a part of the panel: W. Bruce Cameron, Mary McCarty, Connie Schultz, and Craig Wilson and this presentation was moderated by Laura Pulfer.  Connie Schultz was honored in the recent past with a pulitzer prize for some of her column work. 
During the panel, many of the attendees were able to ask the panelists questions and here are some of the questions and responses:
What kind of books were inspiring to you?  Stephen King's book on writing; "Bird by Bird"; "Operating Instructions"; and "The Artist's Way."
The panelists gave the writers information about what it is like to be a columnists such as you are working 24/7's - you are always thinking about what your next column is going to be a about.  Craig mentioned a column about finding a single shoe on the side of the road.  He received a lot of feedback from that column.  Craig received a lot of theories about why the one shoe was on the side of the road. They need to see the extraordinary from the ordinary. 

I attended a workshop entitled "Finding the Authority to Write."  Believe it or not we don't always gain permission or receive support from those who are suppose to care about us such as our family,  our friends and other people in our lives.  I belong to a writers' and artists' group and one of the members of that group views my writing as a way of getting rich and famous because I mentioned blogs, twitter, facebook, etc. Writing can be a lonely job and keeping in touch with others is important and what is wrong with getting your name out there and becoming known. 

Some other useful information provided during the aforementioned workshop on finding the authority to write included:

-Put the act of writing before thinking...
-Real writers write.
-Writing is a serving profession.
-It's an honorable and important thing to write for your community.
-Honor your calling.
-Go forth and serve.
-Show up when there is an audience of zero.
-Delight the audience you already have.
-Gate Keepers tell you there's no hope.
-Put armour on when you go up against the gatekeepers.
-Writing involves creativity and process.

I love the written word, really love it.  I love to write it, read it, listen to it, etc.  I want all writers or those inspiring to write to put forth and write.  Realize you dreams.