Pennwriters

Pennwriters 2015, The Workshops

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From May 15th through the 17th, I attended the Pennwriters 2015 conference.  Throughout, the conference ran smoothly, at least from someone on the outside looking in. The A/V worked; the sessions ran on-time; and the rooms were at a comfortable temperature.

The workshops ran in four tracks, so at best, I could only attend a quarter of the talks. In actuality, I missed a couple of sessions because I was pitching agents. All of the workshops I attended were informative. Below are a few highlights.

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Pennwriters Conference 2015

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As another step in my writing career, I attended the three-day conference in Pittsburgh, PA. I went with specific goals in mind. If I could accomplish X, Y, and Z, I’d call the conference a success.

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Pennwriters Mini Conference in Leesburg

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Yesterday, I attended Pennwriters‘ Writers Project Runway — Fashioning Your Story in Leesburg, VA.I arrived at the Ida Lee Rec center and found the main entrance locked. Huh, a test to start off the day. I walked to the left and found a second entrance, this one to the ground floor. Balloon festooned the stairs’ railing. This was the correct entrance.

After registering, I ran into Pat DiCesare. Growing up in the Pittsburgh, PA area listening to rock radio, you couldn’t help but hear his name. He promoted all of the rock concerts in the area. The commercials either began with “DiCeasare-Engler presents” or ended with “a DiCesare-Engler production.”

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Latest Writing Activities

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Lately, I’ve been doing several different writing activities. I’m planning to attend the annual Pennwriter’s conference in Pittsburgh in the middle of May. There’s the logistics of travel, hotel reservations, and picking the talks. With this conference, though, opportunities abound, such as pitching a novel to agents. I’m reading (more like studying) Shifting Mars’ Sands, and preparing an elevator pitch as well as being able to discuss it in detail when I hook an agent. (Yeah, I used “when,” not “if.”)

Also, I’ve been critiquing pieces for my Saturday writers’ group. The pieces range from obvious first drafts to fairly polished drafts. I see a variety of issues. Some are overwritten, providing description of the ordinary, yet ignoring details to further understanding. Others exhibit structural issues from a vague protagonist story goal to extraneous scenes detailing secondary character background that dubiously relates to the story. Still others, plod along, seemingly not advancing the plot or advancing it at a snail’s pace.

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