Discover Your Writer’s Voice
This workshop is designed to help people find their unique writing style (“writer’s voice”) by using storytelling, journaling, and observation. Participants will be guided by Victoria Reeves to write/share personal stories and receive creative tips and prompts to help unearth memorable moments. We will also practice descriptive writing to help define/refine our personal writing styles.
Victoria Reeves is a memoirist, storyteller, and writing coach. Her work includes “The Quandary” (Chicago Storytellers: from Stage to Page), “Queen of Flossmoor” (www.storied-stuff.com) and her upcoming memoir: “How to Raise a Black Genius on $20K Year.” Explore Victoria’s private coaching and engaging STORY CRAFT classes @ www.coachvictoriareeves.com
Writing Through the Pain of Loss
Pain is a part of life whether it’s the loss of a loved one, a job, a friendship, or even a pet. Authors Patricia Skalka and John DeDakis will share their personal grief experiences and discuss what they learned from their losses and how they use those lessons to add depth to their stories and characters. Even though grief is a part of life, it need not be crippling or debilitating. In this session, we’ll look at strategies that will help you mine the emotions of your personal experience and apply them to your writing. The workshop includes short writing exercises.
John DeDakis is a former editor on CNN’s “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer.” DeDakis is the author of six novels in the Lark Chadwick mystery-suspense-thriller series. In his most recent political thriller, Enemies Domestic, Lark is a pregnant White House press secretary when abortion is a crime and a dictator becomes president. DeDakis, a former White House correspondent, is also a writing coach, manuscript editor, podcaster, and rank amateur jazz drummer. Originally from La Crosse, Wisconsin, DeDakis now lives in Baltimore, Maryland with Cindy, his wife of 46 years. Learn more at www.johndedakis.com
Patricia Skalka turned to fiction following a successful career in nonfiction and is the author of the award-winning Dave Cubiak Door County Mysteries. Her other credits include: Staff Writer for Reader’s Digest, freelancer, ghost writer, writing instructor, and book reviewer. She is past-president of the Sisters in Crime Chicagoland Chapter and a member of several professional organizations, including The Authors Guild of America, Mystery Writers of America, and Society of Midland Authors. She lives in Milwaukee and Door County, WI.
The Lakefly Writers Conference is May 2-3 at the Oshkosh Convention Center. For more information or to register, please visit lakeflywriters.org
The Lakefly Writers Conference and Book Fair are sponsored by the Oshkosh Public Library in partnership with the Oshkosh Area Writers Club.