Re:Write Conference Take Aways

I can’t believe it has been 4 months since I attended the inaugural Re:Write Conference. I had never been to a writer’s conference so I wasn’t sure what to expect. The truth is, I paid the money for the conference just so I could have a chance to meet Mark Batterson. I had heard of a couple of the other speakers, but wasn’t familiar with any of them. I had only one goal in mind by attending: meet Mark. That being said, I was totally unprepared for what would happen at the conference and in turn, I was blown away.

What was supposed to be a trip to meet one person and pick up a few skills to better my writing turned out to be a spiritual journey beyond my imagination as well. The speakers who attended the conference didn’t get up and give us formulas for success. They poured out their hearts into our lives. They shared their heartbeat of why they write, their insights into having a relationship with God and how to be satisfied at every level where God uses you. Where I expected clinics, I got wisdom. Where I expected reclusive authors, I got to sit by them and have personal conversations.

What conference can you go to that has people like Paul Young author of The Shack (20,000,000 copies sold), George Barna the authority on church statistics, Ken Blanchard who wrote the book on business leadership, Peter Strople who is the most connected man in the world and so many more authors who won’t go hide in a green room after they speak, but will sit at a table with you while you learn? These authors were the opposite of reclusive. They sat at our tables during the conference and at breakfast. When I was at the airport leaving, I ran into Jim Henderson. He initiated a conversation with me. Later I walked past Paul Young. He called out to me, came over, gave me a hug and said goodbye.

This conference instilled in me the importance of relationships in the writing community. None of us have all the answers or the market cornered. It is through relationships that we build our platforms. We are not competitors against each other fighting for readers. We are co-workers in the Kingdom trying to spread His message, not ours. From that lesson learned, I began to meet other bloggers, published authors, speakers and other incredible people from all walks of life and levels of writing at this conference. I still stay in touch with several.

Another big take away was that I needed to focus my attention on one thing. If I want to write better, I need to ask better questions and narrow down my target. I need to give practical advice, not pie in the sky stuff. I need to keep my audience in mind at all times and I shouldn’t have just a vague picture of who they are. Lisa TerKeurst said at the conference that our readers don’t need another preacher. They need a friend who has struggled or is struggling with them. I have changed how I write thanks to speakers like her.

The relationships, the information and the spiritual growth that I came away with from that conference are invaluable. This year, the conference is going to be in Austin, Texas. My wife wants to go with me this time. She is not a writer, but saw what a change this conference made in my life aside from my writing. She wants to experience what I and so many others did in San Diego. If you do too, check out their website for information. It’s a small investment compared to the eternal changes you will experience.