Until you’ve written a first effort, who knows what your sticking points will be. You may have an innate grasp of character growth. But if you read other writer’s “rules” about mapping a character’s growth before you’re secure in your skills, you’ll start to second-guess yourself, fixing problems that don’t exist. Or you may be reading dozens of books and websites about plotting when your real struggle is with dialogue.

Once you have something on the page, you’ll start to see your personal weak spots and can approach craft books and workshops with those issues in mind. You’ll also be able to notice other problems as you become more educated, but by having completed a first book of your own, you’ll be able to apply what you learn to your own work.

Your mileage may vary, of course. Put two dozen writers in a room and you’ll hear two dozen stories about how they wrote their first novel or how they approach the writing process. So what’s your story? Did you study first or write first, study later?

What do you do to stay sane when life is exploding all around you? I’ve tried medication but can’t shut my brain down enough to relax. Yoga and I are rivals, with yoga insisting I can hold a downward dog cobra tree whatever pose and me saying it’s never going to happen. Nope, my stress relief is of the cerebral variety — virtual jigsaws, Sudoku, and other logic puzzles. Let me get lost in a good puzzle and all the stress fades away. Of course, so do hours of time unless I stay on top of it!

What are your best stress relievers?

I tend to go to every conference expecting it to be life-changing. And in some ways, this is always the case. Maybe not earth-shattering, but I certainly gain a new understanding of my voice as a writer, my place in the sisterhood of my fellow writers, and how important it is to feed the Muse and beat back the demons in my head. That same expectation, however, also adds a lot of pressure. Am I going to get enough out of the conference to satisfy my expectations? Am I going to miss an opportunity to pitch my work, or even worse, bungle it up? Not to mention the usual paranoia about clothing, hair, or forgetting to pack conditioner (and believe me, this frizz needs a lot of conditioner!).

Of course, by the time I get to Salem tomorrow, most of these worries will be forgotten as I get caught up in the excitement of being with my fellow writers. But today is all about expectations…

How about you? Have you ever been to a conference? What do you hope to get out of it?