What I learned at the freelance journalism conference...

I’m back.

After spending the last couple of days surrounded by successful and potentially successful writers and broadcasters, I am exhausted.

But it was worth it.

I learned a great deal about how freelance writers think, act, and behave. I learned that all freelance writers seem to be living from assignment to assignment, that their credit cards are highly active, and that no one really talks about how much they earn. I also learned that all freelance writers, from newbies to expert, are in the same boat.

Woody Allen said ‘Eighty percent of success is showing up’. So I did. Show up, that is. And I consider that it will bring me success. Maybe not right now. Maybe not even in the immediate future. But going to writer’s conferences will bring you success because it is one more way of announcing to yourself and the world that you write. It is a way of meeting and talking with others like yourself. It is a way of learning how some become successful by simply being in the right place at the right time, while others plug at it day after day until it works.

I meet writers, editors, and broadcasters. Did I feel out of place at times? Yes. Did I feel like I was an imposter at times? Yes. But inside the conference rooms, we are all equal…

The highlight, however, was not the conference. It was being upgraded to Business Class on my flight from Christchurch to Sydney. For three hours, I was wined (champagne) and dined by what seemed like my personal attendent. And when I was tired of that, I pushed a few buttons on the lazy boy chair to stretch out and sleep. Go Emirates Airlines….unfortunately, the return flight as an economy class customer brought me back down to earth.

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