About the Author:
Andrea Gadson is a freelance writer from Swedesboro, NJ, where she resides with her husband, Derik and their cat, Ming. She is a member of the Logan Library Writers' Group and owns a small business dedicated to communications for small businesses and non-profit organizations.

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Down From the Mountain
6 After-Conference Strategies That Work
by Andrea Gadson

A mountaintop experience is euphoric. We meet the Spirit of God on the mountain. At the peak, everything appears doable. Actions that seemed too big are now manageable. We can't wait to come down so we can get started. But the mountain is our perfect world. It's where we envision doing what we want, when we want. At the mountain's bottom, realities of life kick in. We have a job, a family, ministry, and a to-do list that squeezes the euphoria out of us.

Going to a writer's conference is like being on the mountaintop. We learn techniques we can't wait to implement. We get ideas we can't wait to start planning. An editor asked us to send our article and we believe it's the first thing we'll do when we get home. Back at home, our world meets our conference plans. We don't get a chance to write as often as vowed. Fear prevents us from sending our work to the inquiring editor. Almost instantly, we're back to the life we had before we whisked away to the conference.

Mountaintop experiences don't last because of the all or nothing principle. We believe we have to do everything we planned, right now, or we won't do anything. The greatest accomplishments in life are usually done one step at a time. Jesus didn't come down from heaven to implement his salvation plan immediately. He did it step by step. Each event from childhood to adult life was a step toward dying on the cross.

If the salvation plan was executed systematically, our writing life, small in comparison, also must be done step by step. Here are a few steps we can take to extend the mountaintop plans into our writing life.

1. Email someone we met at the conference. Writer's conferences are great places to network. We meet everyone from who's who to who wants to be who. In most conferences, people are nourishing. They want to connect and help. We can avoid becoming business card collectors by emailing one or more of the people we meet. This extends dialogue we began at the conference. It's okay if we haven't accomplished anything yet. The email can be as simple as "nice to have met you" and "praying for you."
    
2. Create a daily time to write. Consistent conference advice is to set up a daily writing time. We've heard it so often we have to believe they're not kidding; it does work. Look at the day. Is there a time, at work or at home, where we could set aside a half hour or hour to write? If there is, then set an alarm clock to ring at that time. In today's "anything you want, you can do" technology, the alarm clock doesn't have to be bedside. Cell phones act as alarms. When the alarm rings, it's time to write.
    
3. Join or start a critique group. The easier and less work part of this suggestion is join a group. Look for groups in your area or online. Research the group to see if it meets your needs. People you met at the conference may know about local or online groups. Here's another reason to email them.
    
4. Write the first paragraph to your article, book, play, tract, or poem. Whatever your writing craze, write the first paragraph. We learn various writing techniques at conferences. One repeated technique is to keep writing and editing separate. Write the first paragraph without a care about the grammar, tightness, or tense. Get the first paragraph down with freedom. The idea is that we really won't stop at that first paragraph, but that we'll go on to the second paragraph, then a page, then the end of our piece.
    
5. If an editor asked for your work, send it. Fear is a writer's primary enemy. Fear stops us from going forward. If an editor gave an open door, we must walk pass fear and through the door. The opportunity is the chance to get some feedback. The editor who invited us to present our work is a professional ear. They may be willing to tell u what we may need to sharpen our manuscript.
    
6. Pray. Although we can take any of these steps and start them at anytime, prayer should be our first one. As we come down from the mountain, the one individual who will keep encouraging us without fail is God. Pray about the plans found at the mountain's peak. Pray about your desire and skills as a writer. Pray about next steps. Prayer is a conscious decision to walk with God between mountaintops instead of only on the mountaintop.

When I came down from the mountain, I immediately implemented a daily time to write, I prayed, and I emailed a couple of people I met at the conference. These few steps set my writing in a different direction. If I had not done these, the goals and ideas set at the top of the mountain wouldn't have come to life.

We can take steps one at a time. We start with prayer. We then email someone. Next, we write the first paragraph. We take the steps in our own timing. It's important to take at least two of these before the next mountaintop experience.

Mountaintop experiences are essential for every writer's conference. These are what we need to inspire our writing. We waste them if we don't take steps to fulfill the plans laid on the mountain. We don't have to do everything. We don't have to do it all at once. The idea is to do something so we're ready for the next mountaintop experience.