Please note: These were the workshops for the 2011 conference. Those for 2012 will be posted when that list is complete.
2011 Workshop Descriptions
Fiction
Basic Screenwriting--Kimberly Miller
This is an introductory course for screenwriters. Students will learn about the unique medium of screenwriting, as well as some basic tips for successfully writing action, characters, and conflict for film. Other areas of discussion may include formatting your screenplay, resources for screenwriters, the business of screenwriting, and the importance of strong beginnings and endings.
How to be a Time Traveler: Improving Your Historical Research Skills--Karen Martin
Learn the do's and don'ts of historical research--what are the best sources for reliable information, and what to avoid. Both print and online research will be discussed.
Query Letters--Michele Huey
Often your first impression with an editor or agent, your query letter is an important part of your writing portfolio. Come learn what makes a query letter strong and eye-catching.
Fiction Critique--Gloria Clover
If only we could get all the words right the first time! Come to this workshop to discuss how to improve your own stories, as well as to help other writers improve theirs. Bring a few pages of your current work-in-progress to share.
Nonfiction
Hands-on Devotional—Roberta Brosius
A memorable daily devotional shares the writer's heart and God's word with the reader, but how does that happen? In this session you will learn:
- Three doors into the devotional: the heart door, the Word door, and the back door
- Important always do’s and never, never, never do’s
- How to "rightly divide the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:5)
- Formats and submission guidelines
With an easy guided exercise, you will begin writing a devotional in the session, and you will receive a free e-mail critique when you complete it.
Making the Personal Professional--Michele Huey
Yes, a certain experience may have had a strong effect on you, but can you make it speak to strangers as well? I'm going to talk about techniques for writing effective personal experience (Guideposts or Chicken Soup-type) stories and marketing them.
Legacy Letters: Preserve Your Past for Posterity and Profit--Carol Hamilton
"Remember when. . .?" Learn how to preserve your best memories for your loved ones. Classroom prompts will provide the tools. Then you can learn how to put a professional spin on those stories to turn them into articles, books, and presentations.
Letters to the Editor: An Audience of Thousands--Lora Zill
Submitting Letters to the Editor of your newspaper doesn’t sound glamorous. You get paid nothing. You could offend someone you know. But it’s a powerful way to reach a huge audience. Do you have a passion to write about current issues and the courage to face the public? Come and find out how you can change the world.
Poetry
To See a World--Jack Wonner
In "Auguries of Innocence," William Blake wrote "To see a world in a grain of sand,/And a heaven in a wild flower,/Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,/And eternity in an hour." In this two-session course with some writing exercises, we will be working on short forms of poetry that can make a large statement. Those forms will include triolets, cinquains, quatrains, and--just for fun--limericks.
Participating in the Poem—Shirley Stevens
In this workshop we will examine the poet's responsibility to his/her craft and audience. Because a poem melds sound and sense to reach the reader, you will learn how to be meticulous in revision of images, diction, and form.
Craft
Train of Thought Writing Method--Kathi Macias
This class will offer practical, user-friendly help for beginning writers. It will advise you on how to get your ideas from your mind to the paper in a practical, easy, concise, and publishable manner.
Publishing Options--Kathi Macias
We will explore the differences between traditional publishing, e-publishing, and self/print-on-demand publishing. Then we will discuss the advantages and pitfalls of each.
Publishing and Promoting with a Small-Press Author--Barbara Mountjoy
An advantage of publishing with one of the Big Five is the publicity machine. But even midlist authors are finding themselves on their own these days, using whatever tools they can to create innovative publicity for their books. We'll discuss the tried and true--booksignings, press releases and book reviews--and the creative--when's the last time you won a book when a glass slipper fit? My readers have.
Open Forum--Kathi Macias
Bring your writing/publishing/marketing questions and get answers from someone who’s been in the business for more than a quarter of a century!
Writer’s Life
Learning to Celebrate the Writer's Journey--Laura Hervey
Although we may wish our journeys as writers were as smooth and pleasant as Sunday afternoon drives in the country, they are intricately and deeply connected to every other aspect of our lives. We are all faced with speed bumps, obstacles, and detours that interrupt our writing. Learning to find peace, joy, and confidence at every stage of the writer’s journey is the goal of this class.
The Writer as Artist: Strengthening your Work through Reflective Practices--Marjie Stewart
"Where do you get your ideas?" That’s probably the question writers hear the most – and dread the most. Too often we feel that if we examine our creative processes, they will melt under the spotlight; that our Muse will desert us if we look her in the eye. This workshop will introduce you to reflective practices developed by visual artists and offer in-class exercises to help you understand and build on your best writing processes. We regret that Marjie has had to cancel her appearance at the conference.
The Ten Commandments for Dealing with Editors--Lora Zill
You are ready to send out your manuscript and you wonder how to approach an editor. Or perhaps you’ve been submitting but haven’t gotten anywhere. This class will offer tips on how to deal with editors in a professional manner, to give yourself a better chance at publication. Come and learn the "Thou shalts" to advance your writing career.
Waiting on God's Timing--Frances Pratt
As Christian writers, we need to use our talents to glorify God, and spread the good news in a way with which others can identify. This takes hard work, but it’s worth it. Why not come and learn together in this class? Life, hand in hand with Jesus, is exciting. The rewards are found both here and, later, in Heaven. Missing this eternal life is man’s greatest tragedy. You can help others find the way through your writing.
Yes, You Can--Florence Biros
For many, writing is a difficult business and the dream of being published gets tarnished along the way. If you have a writing dream, but need some encouragement to keep going, come to this workshop to hear personal testimony of what you can achieve it if you pursue that ambition long and hard. Don't give up.