March 9, 2024

Memoir is having a moment in the publishing industry. Fifty percent of nonfiction books on the bestseller list are in the Biography & Memoir genres. You too have a story, that deserves to be told! In the session Writing a Memoir that People Want to Read, Tara Meissner Huck will teach techniques of memoir writing through exercises and prompts. She will also show how to use fiction-writing techniques to develop scenes that bring your personal story to life!

Setting are a vital part of any story. Kate Pendorf will examine how the setting can ground a reader in genre, time, and place, as well as the importance of interacting with setting. Two takeways of her workshop, Setting the Scene, are determining a character’s dominant impression and how that affects their interiority, actions, and dialogue, as well as discovering how setting can affect mood, reveal cast of characters, motivation, back story, hint at foreshadowing, act as an obstacle and/or display symbolisms. 

A 10-Step Plan for Self-editing. Nicholas Chiarkas advises that you never self-edit all at once. As you begin the rewriting process, you also start the editing process. This is the art and the heart of it; this is when you begin to build castles and rewrites you can share with your writing group or your initial reader. A poorly edited manuscript is certain death for any legitimate agent or publisher. And it is one of the things within your control along the journey to publication. Learning how to edit your manuscript will reduce costs and improve your writing skills at his presentation,

Have a manuscript ready for publication? Dan Cramer of Page Turner Literary Agency will present a special two-hour presentation on Perfecting Your Pitch Friday afternoon. In this workshop, Dan will go over the components of a great pitch, conduct multiple exercises on pitches, and have a Q&A session at the end. At the end of the workshop, you will know what a pitch is and how it is part of a query letter, understand the impact of word choice, and how to create your own pitch that highlights the main character(s), the hook, and the stakes. For the exercises you should familiarize yourself with the fairytale Little Red Riding Hood. Please bring something to write with or type on for the exercises.

During the conference, Kate Penndorf of Much Ado About Writing will be offering free individual writing coaching sessions. Also, Dan Cramer will be accepting free individual pitches sessions on behalf of Page Turner Literacy Agency, Chicago. Advance registration required for both ; watch for details the first week in April!

The Lakefly Writers Conference is May 3-4 at the Oshkosh Convention Center. Register before March 10 and save $15.

The conference is sponsored by the Oshkosh Public Library, in partnership with the Oshkosh Community Foundation, Wisconsin Arts Board, and the Oshkosh Area Writers Club.