Guest Post by Jasmine June Cabanaw
Being a writer in the digital age certainly has both pros and cons. Anyone who used to work in print can attest to the longing for seeing words on the page instead of the screen. As a writer, is there really anything better than seeing your words published in print? And yet writing for digital comes with its own set of perks.
One of the biggest perks of writing digitally is access to learning experiences. Gone are the days of waiting for writing courses to become available. With new platforms, improving your writing practice has never been easier. Webinars, especially, offer amazing benefits for writers, just check out the five main benefits below and you’ll see why writers everywhere are becoming webinar savvy.
Webinars Are Convenient
Convenience is a quality that’s gold for many writers. When you have deadlines to meet, kids to take care of, travel plans to follow, or a job to work in order to support your writing career, being able to attend a class from home in your pajamas is akin to heaven. That’s the beauty of webinars— they’re one of the most convenient ways to learn. Ideally, you can attend the webinar in real time, but many webinars are available as a recording if you miss the date. Webinars also typically only run for an hour or less, so they’re easy to squeeze into a busy schedule.
Another convenience is easy registration. Usually, signing up is as simple as entering your name and email address. You don’t even need to put the webinar into your calendar, because the host will send you helpful reminder emails straight to your inbox. It doesn’t get much easier than that!
An Inexpensive Way to Learn
The term “starving artist” unfortunately often applies to writers. But that’s okay; even best selling authors started their careers from the bottom. But it does mean that many writers are on a budget. Being a writer itself can be expensive once you factor in the cost of degrees, workshops, retreats, writing supplies, and events. These things are well worth their costs, but attending webinars, which are typically free, is a nice change.
Webinars are also an extremely good bargain. All that content with an informed writing professional is valuable, and with webinars, you’re getting it for less than a dime.
Webinars Unlock Discounts
People who host webinars have more to offer than just a one hour learning session. Webinar hosts want to connect with students, and part of that is through discounts to events, books, writing workshops, online writing courses, and more. Often these things are offered at a fraction of their regular price. That free webinar you attended could end up saving you hundreds of dollars (yes, hundreds) on online writing courses and writing events. Writers tend to purchase tickets and access to events, workshops, and online writing courses anyway, so you may as well play your cards right and score yourself a good deal. Here’s a pro tip: discounts are typically offered towards the end of webinars, so try not to duck out early.
Every Writing Topic You Can Think Of
When you have one hour to teach something, you have to narrow down your topic. This means that webinars for writers are highly specialized and targeted to specific writing topics.
“I want to take a generalized writing course even though I’ve completed an MFA,” said no writer ever. Any writer who already has a writing career is looking for specific skills that will compliment their writing practice. Writing itself is also specialized, with writers penning everything from children’s books to memoirs to poetry. There are webinars on every writing topic you can think of. This is good news for newbie writers, too. Think of it like shopping for clothes; you can try on several different sizes before you find the one that fits right. So if you’re a new writer or just starting your writing practice, you might as well attend a variety webinars to see which genres and areas of writing fits you best.
Making Valuable Writing Connections
Webinars aren’t taught by some random Joe Schmoe; usually the hosts are experts or experienced in a certain genre or field of writing. Many are teaching webinars because they’ve had unique writing careers and want to share what they’ve learned with other writers. Connecting with other writers is a big part of being a writer, after all. Before, during, and after a webinar, you’ll have the opportunity to connect one-on-one with the instructor, even if it is just through email. You get to connect with webinar attendees, too, all of whom are writers like yourself. In fact, attending a webinar for writers is one of the best ways to finding a literary agent, since the webinar host and the attendees often have connections to literary agents. A simple ask is sometimes all it takes!
The other valuable connection you can make at a webinar for writers is with yourself. Webinars are designed to teach you something valuable and unlock creative ideas. Maybe you’re stuck on a book title, or sentence, or chapter, or maybe you have the dreaded writer’s block. Attending a webinar for writers can provide insights that will help you overcome these obstacles.
Interested in attending a webinar for writers? (Hopefully you are by now!) A simple search on Google or other search engines will pull up more webinars than you can dream of. If you want to become a successful writer or are looking for marketing ideas, search for topics such as “10 Habits of Highly Successful Writers” or “How to Writer a Book in 30 Days”. If you’re looking to improve your writing craft, search for topics like, “Creating Fictional Characters” or “Writing a Best Selling Memoir”. The choices are virtually endless.
Interested in attending a webinar for writers? Check out this upcoming webinar that will teach you the 10 habits practiced by best selling authors. Click here for details.
For more writing tips and tricks check out my YouTube channel —> https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDUXkLV0Hmp3VZ0rDNE6aig
My upcoming events can be found here—> https://albertflynndesilver.com/classes
