Breathe. It’s one of my very favorite words. I like how it looks, I like how it sounds, and I like the feeling it evokes. I like it so much that a few years ago I had a necklace made that was simply inscribed “breathe…” Life gets busy and we get frazzled and sometimes we need that reminder to “just breathe.” When a friend told me about Breathe Christian Writers Conference, I knew I had to be a part of it and this past weekend, I was.
Writing is something that grabbed hold of my heart at a very early age. I started writing stories at age five and I’ve never stopped. If I leave the house without my pen and notebook in my purse, I feel just as lost as if I’d left my cell phone behind. When I attended Breathe I was in similar company. It was the first time in a long time that I’d been around fellow writers, excited and eager to learn more about our craft. Everyone at the conference had common threads; we love God, we love writing and we all have a story to tell. I became fast friends with a few aspiring authors which made the experience even more priceless.
I was in the presence of greatness, surrounded by brilliant already-published authors and aspiring yet-to-be-published writers. One would think this could be an intimidating environment when you realize that some attendees are already published or writing professionally, but it was the opposite. I was encouraged and inspired by others’ successes. There was a clear nurturing atmosphere. Everyone there wanted to succeed in the writing world, but we also wanted our new friends to succeed as well.
This was a unique opportunity to pick the brains of the experts. I had a one-on-one with a fabulously talented author who’s working on her 13th book and a second one-on-one with a sought-after agent. The plenary sessions and breakout sessions alike offered such rich information, as proven by my copious notes. Some of the most valuable points I came home with were that we’re writers. Being there, having this passion, it already makes us writers, regardless of what phase we’re in in this process. “Call yourself a writer,” we were told. Say it out loud and often until we believe it. Perhaps the best piece of advice I personally took to heart was from our powerful keynote speaker, Julie Cantrell. “Write like you’re writing between you and God,” she said. That’s what it really boils down to because God will choose when and with whom to share our message and guide our writing path and He’s composing a dazzling proposal with a tantalizing hook to promote us, all in His perfect timing.
