Writing One-on-One with Dwight
This month's column's going to be rather short. This is for a variety of reasons, not the least of them being me having to write a bunch of short articles under a tight deadline. Still have one left. In the middle of that, I got a reminder from Editor Jim, so…
Earlier this month I was on the phone with our president Joyce brainstorming events for the upcoming conference. I remember that at past conferences, at varying points I found myself in informal, ad hoc one-on-one sessions with members, talking about their books, their writing, goals, etc. The atmosphere was very relaxed (and, no, not after a drink or three – when I'm hoisting, I'm definitely off the clock). I also critiqued their writing, pointing out strengths and weaknesses and offering some tips I had learned over the years. The people I talked with seemed to appreciate what I was saying.
So, I asked Joyce what she thought of me doing a number of one-on-one sessions at the conference. She thought it was a great idea, so here's the basic plan:
- Sessions will be on Friday and Saturday, September 28-29.
- There would be three sessions per day, schedule TBD.
- Each session would be one hour.
- I'll answer any and all questions regarding your writing and the publishing industry.
You can give me either a printed copy of your work or a manuscript. For that I'd need to get the work by August 15 in order to have time to read and form my comments.
The only restriction I must ask is that anyone who writes poetry or music, please don't apply. Those are two areas that I have no experience or expertise in, so I have nothing to offer there. Other than that, the subjects are wide open: fiction, non-fiction, kids’ books, young adult, picture books, chapter books, and articles. Any genre.
Sign-up is first come, first served, email me djonzim@gmail.com. Once I have your emails, I'll give you my address.
The above is subject to change if I get a big response – I want to make sure I'm available to as many people as possible.
Looking forward to your feedback!