6 Takeaways from the AWP Writing Conference

Including awards for best writing tip, best writer transparency, and best hotel perk

Today’s post is part of my “Writing Resources and Tips” section. Friendly reminder that if you are not interested in writing topics you can adjust your subscription preferences by visiting this link and unselecting any sections that don’t interest you.

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A few weeks ago I went to the AWP conference in LA, which if you don’t already know is a big conference for writing programs and writers held in a different city every year. It is a huge conference (sometimes getting 10,000 attendees) and the size of it is honestly not ideal for this introverted writer as it can be overwhelming.

However, my teaching job often has some funding to send me and I always get useful things from attending.

So today I am bringing you some highlights from the trip in the form of awards I made up.

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Best airport

I have typically flown into LAX when going to the LA area; however, I do not love how huge it is. Last year I read a novel in which one of the characters mentioned they prefer to fly out of Burbank, so this time around that’s where I went in and out of and I can say I preferred it too. It had smaller/classic airport vibes (We got on and off outside! They let us board/deplane from both the front and back of the plane! There was no taxi line!).

In the future, I will probably try Burbank or one of the many other Southern California airports in the area (shout one out if you recommend one).

But the main takeaway is you should take travel advice from novels.

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Writing tip that resonated

Several panels I attended talked about the benefits of constraints in your writing (things like word count, writing to a prompt, or in a certain format). This idea spoke to me as I’ve realized that I am often drawn to constraints but sometimes hesitant about using them for some reason.

But I think operating with constraints in things like formats for humor writing can be helpful. So I am going to embrace constraint.

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Best writer transparency in a panel

I was impressed by the transparency on income numbers in the panel “The Bottom Line: Comparing Book Sales to Overall Earnings” hosted by Jane Friedman which featured Laura Portwood-Stacer, Allison K. Williams, and Russell Nohelty.

They were very transparent in sharing numbers of their book sales vs. other income streams and there were a lot of great takeaways, but two included the fact that book sales are a small portion of their income and that newsletters have been an important component of their careers.

The event outline also included a pdf with their numbers, which is worth looking at.

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Best hotel perk

I stayed at the Residence Inn near the convention center, thus allowing me to make jokes about being a Writer in Residence.

One unexpected perk was that they provided a free breakfast buffet every day. Was it the best breakfast buffet ever? No. But did it give me a solid breakfast in a pleasant environment without me having to wait in line and/or make a decision about where to go? Yes.

I also have a special affinity for breakfast buffets while traveling which I will perhaps write more about one day so maybe the real perk of the Residence Inn is writing inspiration.

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Best thing about writing conferences

The highlight for me is always talking with other writers and this was no exception. I went to meetups for Substack writers and satire writers, which were great. As an introvert, I do get drained by the end of a conference but it is worth it to talk to other writers IRL.

However, it seems that there are always people I miss seeing despite them being nearby, so that is why I came up with the app idea (which as you can see from the number of people who liked this post, is a wildly popular idea):

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And finally, the award for best street graffiti

I spotted this outside the hotel and it wins this category for obvious reasons.

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Thanks for reading Humor Me, a newsletter featuring funny stuff and writing tips. In case you’re new here — I’m a humor writer and freelancer whose work has appeared in New Yorker Shouts, McSweeney’s, Real Simple, and more. Find out more about me at julievick.com.

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