Think flash essays, but in person!
In this panel made up of mini-sessions, a group of presenters grace the stage and share their passion and knowledge in brief, 10-minute talks. This fast-paced event is sure to inspire you, give you ideas, and leave you with a few golden nuggets to take home!
From writing a query letter to dissecting a sentence, this even has something for everyone.
Here’s what you’ll learn:
We’ll take a few sentences from writers with distinctive styles and voices, and look at them through three lenses:
—A sentence is a story with an actor, an action, and someone/something acted upon;
—A sentence’s syntax is like DNA fingerprinting, it reveals all;
—Tree diagrams are your friend. We’ll use them to show how sentence structure implies meaning.
The audience will be encouraged to play along at home with sentences of their own.
Children’s nonfiction is in high demand by teachers, librarians, and parents. In this session, we’ll discuss examples of narrative nonfiction and expository nonfiction at the elementary level, and how true stories from history, science, and more can appeal to kids. We’ll talk about where to start with research, fact-gathering, and reference photos to help bring authenticity to your work.
This flash session will give you the Do’s and Don’ts for getting the best possible agent to represent you and your work. Based on personal experience and interviews with other writers I will bring you practical tips that you can actually use.
Writing in first person, especially a memoir, may seem straight forward – the writer writes what the narrator thought, felt, and did. This simple assessment can lead to problems, though, often signified by too many sentences that begin with “I.” Ineffective first-person sentences can usually be fixed by removing filtering, showing feelings rather than stating them, putting the narrator fully in scene, and by concentrating on the intended subject and verb. This session will show how a writer can craft their first-person sentences to be more intentional and effective.
Pronouns? Passing? Procedures? Plain old everyday life? With over 1.4 million transgender adults in the United States alone, as well as over 150,000 transgender youths, we all have met (or will meet) someone who no longer identifies with the gender they were assigned at birth. This session will provide attendees with the language and techniques needed to respectfully and accurately write about the transgender and gender non-conforming people in their lives—inside and outside of the traditional transition narrative.