Centered on you — the writer — the writers workshop track will build your relationships with other writers and professionals in the writing community while you learn practical tips and techniques to improve your writing and its reception. This will be an experience to stimulate your intellect, enlighten your spirit, and delight and refresh your imagination.

Come join us for our lectures, workshops, and group sessions for the jump-start, dusting off, or home-stretch encouragement you’ve needed to move forward with your writing. We all know that writing well is, in part, a talent. But moving from God-given gift to a finished — and perhaps published — product requires self-discipline and dogged perseverance, as well the encouragement and feedback of others.

We offer an affirming atmosphere for learning from respected authors, reading and commenting on one another’s work, and discussing specifics for creating a writing life that is more than a rainy-day hobby. Writers of all expertise levels are welcome to come celebrate the creative life — and the privilege of working in community.

Writers Workshop Track Program

Writing Sessions – Friday

Terry Glaspey

• What We Can Learn About Writing From the Great Writers – Perhaps the greatest goal for any writer is not to make the bestseller list, but to create work that will be read for generations. Using writers like Jane Austen, G.K. Chesterton, Thomas Merton, John Donne, and others as our guides, we’ll explore what makes their writing so enduring, and how we might incorporate some of their methods and vision into our own writing.
• Navigating the World of Publishing – This session explores what you need to know if you are hoping to write for publication. Terry, who has written over a dozen books and worked as a professional editor, will demystify the seemingly complex process and explore how to move through the steps from a glimmer of an idea to a published piece of writing.
  
• Telling It Slant: Finding New Ways to Reflect the Old, Old Story – Emily Dickinson spoke of telling the truth, but “telling it slant,” communicating in ways that are unexpected and surprising. In this session we’ll explore ways to move beyond propaganda and cliche to create fiction and non-fiction that is startling, fresh, and effective. We’ll also consider the philosophy and practice behind powerful writing.
  

‘Sprinklings’ Groups – Friday evening

• Facilitated by Melanie Stiles, these small groups are for sharing and feedback for prose writers and poets.
  

Breakout Sessions – Saturday

Terry Glaspey

• A Cloud of Creative Witnesses: A Celebration of Our Creative Heritage (this session is also for nonwriters) – Any creative (writer, painter, musician, etc.) who wants to reflect their faith in their work is part of a rich heritage of Christian creatives. With a multi-media presentation we’ll explore and celebrate some of the great artists, musicians, and writers who have gone before us, and embrace our place in the continuing cultural conversation about faith.

Lancia Smith

• Calling – What Is It and What Do I Do to Answer It? – What does it mean to be “called” to write and how do I know if I am? What is my response to God’s command to follow Him as a writer as I mature as a believer? What are the costs of obeying the call? If you are wrestling with these questions or others related to being a writer, this workshop is for you! This interactive session mixes teaching, story-telling, visual presentation, and group sharing to expose some of our common misunderstandings of what it is to be called, and then explores what it takes to answer the call. You will leave this session with handouts, links to resources for further study, and very possibly a clearer sense of the call on your own life.
  

Melanie Stiles

• A Writers Disciplines – Writing flows out of the passion and fire within. A moment of creativity seizes a writer and fingers begin to pound out masterpieces on a laptop. OR IS THAT REALLY HOW IT HAPPENS? We often assume great things are done by those who were blessed with natural talent, genius or skill. But, how many great things are done by people who simply made the decision to realize their fullest potential? Every true writer has one commonality with every other writer, but it’s not necessarily style, technique or vocabulary. It is the development of writer’s disciplines. In this interactive session, we will be sifting through the core disciplines every writer needs. Leave the session with a personalized action plan for your own writing journey!

‘Sprinklings’ Groups – Saturday evening

• Facilitated by Melanie Stiles, these small groups are for sharing and feedback for prose writers and poets.
  

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