Have you ever looked down at your dashboard to find that your air conditioner and your heater are both going full blast? I got that feeling of competing priorities when I attended When Words College conference for writers and readers in Calgary last month. Adamant that I could make better sense of the conference’s busy schedule if I only signed up for sessions that fit the writing path I was already on, I closed the door on workshops that came to really benefit me.
Isn’t that what time away at a conference is supposed to do, my writing and conference companion reminded me, to open your mind to new things? Well, fine then, I veered off into a couple of sessions that presented concepts that I hadn’t even bothered exploring before. Like, who knew I really like writing Flash Fiction?! It always sounded like something in the fantasy or science fiction genre, which isn’t something I write. But an unexpected inspiration came via Finnian Burnett, an accomplished and unassuming doctor in English Pedagogy who had us all thinking and laughing and writing! Finnian’s level of skill resulted in spontaneous and high-spirited writing, and I came away from that 50 minute session with a fully developed Flash Fiction story and a whole new attitude about not closing doors on my own creativity.
Funny for me to say that, given I write this column to try and capture the themes of keeping an open mind as we age and enjoying the small pleasures in life. Spending time at this huge event (over 900 attendees – it’s a movement!) reignited my joy to be around books and stories and people who tend them. The world of writing and reading is a big, pleasant community of people who simply love the written word.
I saw lots of familiar Central Alberta faces there and I chatted with readers and bartenders and agents (!), and came away feeling full of gratitude to be working with words. It can be a lonely grind at times, but when you lift your head and open the door, there’s a beautiful world out there! Try something new – the quest might not take you too far from where you are right now.
(Photo: me and Amanda Mason, who brought her BookTok Bus to the conference!)