In the past I'd maybe go to a few local conferences a year and call it even. None were so expensive that they'd break the bank.
But this year is a little different. I planned to take a class (it's going on right now) and I planned on 3 local conferences (Children's and Young Adults Literature Conference, 4th Street Fantasy and the MN SCBWI conference in the fall). So there you go. A couple hundred dollars here and there and I'm set for the year.
But then I really enjoyed my class. And I found an Advanced Children's Writing Workshop.
And I also learned that Donald Maass will be here in the fall for a Story Masters workshop (the people I heard about this from said they attended this conference last year and that it was amazing)
So if I were to throw these two into the mix (and these are way more expensive than the others. The Story Masters conference is like $500) and suddenly I find myself spending more money than I planned...
Which made me realize that I think I've reached a point in my writerly life where I need to budget better. I think this year is a wash. I've applied for the advanced class (though you have to actually supply a writing sample, so I may not get in) and depending on how that goes will make my decision on the Donald Maass conference. But I think, starting next year, I'm going to have to actually sit down, figure out how much I'm willing to spend that year on writing related expenses and budget accordingly.
This will be especially important if I apply to Hamline's MFA program for next year (very likely).
So how about you? Do you budget your writing expenses?
But this year is a little different. I planned to take a class (it's going on right now) and I planned on 3 local conferences (Children's and Young Adults Literature Conference, 4th Street Fantasy and the MN SCBWI conference in the fall). So there you go. A couple hundred dollars here and there and I'm set for the year.
But then I really enjoyed my class. And I found an Advanced Children's Writing Workshop.
And I also learned that Donald Maass will be here in the fall for a Story Masters workshop (the people I heard about this from said they attended this conference last year and that it was amazing)
So if I were to throw these two into the mix (and these are way more expensive than the others. The Story Masters conference is like $500) and suddenly I find myself spending more money than I planned...
Which made me realize that I think I've reached a point in my writerly life where I need to budget better. I think this year is a wash. I've applied for the advanced class (though you have to actually supply a writing sample, so I may not get in) and depending on how that goes will make my decision on the Donald Maass conference. But I think, starting next year, I'm going to have to actually sit down, figure out how much I'm willing to spend that year on writing related expenses and budget accordingly.
This will be especially important if I apply to Hamline's MFA program for next year (very likely).
So how about you? Do you budget your writing expenses?
9 comments:
Five hundred dollars is a lot. I can see why you'd need to budget them out - you could spend a lot of money real quick.
Oh, you betcha. I budget for everything. It makes me all the more aware of what's the most important to me.
Budgeting is not my one of my stronger qualities. I'm more of a willy-nilly kind of non-planning, throw caution to the wind kind of gal.
That said, $500 is a lot of beans, so that would give me pause. Have you gone through his workbook?
Happy Monday, love. :)
I've still only been to one conference, so the only thing I really spend money on is books, for which I SHOULD budget. I go to so many book events in a year, and I am always like, SUPPORT ALL THE AUTHORS! But that's just not realistic if I want to continue, yannow, eating.
We always budget. Good luck!
Just imagine hotel and airfare.
I budget for everything, writing included. It only makes sense when money doesn't grow on trees.
I never budget well. Of course, there aren't as many opportunities where I am, so there aren't that many expenses.
I have definitely come into new expenses with my writing that I did not budget for. I have to learn to budget. Good luck with yours!
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