My 2nd Annual Writers Conference… and I Was Selected to Present!

Written by Nicole Klunder

In February, my birthday month, I attended my second annual Write On St. George’s Winter Writers’ Conference located at The Kayenta Center of Arts in Ivins, Utah. There are no words to explain the beauty and awe-inspiring backdrops of the bright red rocks hovering in the distance.

The drive was full of excitement, snowy mountain caps, and what was to come of the day!

The theme was, “Everyone has a story; tell yours.”

Months before the conference, I was asked to present the last author of the day, so I think I had anxiety the entire first four hours!

I did, but I didn’t realize I did.

I met a friend there, who was in the last critique session with Write On, which I attended a couple weeks prior where I read a chapter from a short story I’ve been working on for well over a year now.

It was provocative, as my clammy hands turned each page, but they all enjoyed it!

Meeting a friend was a great distraction today. I’ve gotten used to speaking in front of a couple people or a small group, thanks to critique sessions and writing meetings—but a small room filled up with at least thirty people? Not my cup of tea! Luckily, it wasn’t the stage auditorium room!

My friend and I exchanged notes, shared tips, and what we’re currently writing, including what we were excited about for the day’s conference and our life experiences, like how I’m from New York and she is new to St. George, and recently moved from Salt Lake City.

She told me she has friends who have published cookbooks in the past. She gave me their information for a future connection to help me. I was grateful for this.

Two months later, and I now have a rough outline after connecting with this individual about cookbooks, and where I can go from my “I don’t know what to do next” moment.

When the conference commenced, the words that sunk deeply for me were, “Today is a day of love and enrichment.”

Ahh, I love words!

Another tip that struck a chord was that we are given permission to take breaks from our writing. Life and work does happen so it’s inevitable. I truly embrace this. I’ve noticed when I do gracefully embrace and accept it, I find more production and fulfillment when I do sit down to focus and write. After all, this writing we all love and have passion for can feel like it’s “work.”

But when I dive in it feels like less work. Maybe it’s a mindset issue. In addition, I have noticed I’m more productive after journaling, or reading a writing craft book, or short works such as poetry and short stories.

Craft tips that I have added to my toolbox from today:

Fast scenes (fights, action) versus slow scenes (emotional)

Create a poll on social media:

Maybe you have several projects and want to know what would be most popular as a fan fave. Create a social media poll and watch the votes flow in. This was fun to do! I found it helpful and now can streamline as to what I would like to work on next, but not sacrificing what I feel the need to work on for myself.

Read stories from the beginning:

I’ve done this only with two of my short stories so far. It’s invigorating and refreshing, and I usually impress myself like it’s the first time because I simply forget what I already have written. It’s really important to get what’s out of your head onto paper and essentially finish the story and you can always go back to the beginning later.

For me, I am switching it up in regards to the time I have to do the work.

Scene by scene:

List 10 things the character does at the beginning of chapter one of the book. I have not done this yet, but I plan to do this exercise.

Age-appropriate writing:

Good tips to pick up, but I know my age group already. I did learn a lot as I have not realized there are so many options and details within age groups and genres.

Then, the last class had arrived!

The day was chock-full of fun, words, learning, laughter, enlightenment, reflection, and building connections.

I was so happy to be there.

I finally presented the last class. It was fast. I was dizzy, but I nailed my tone, the name of the presenter, and smiled.

After all, I read off a piece of paper.

Before I knew it, I was sitting writing lines and lines of notes. This class described the types of structures that can be used for your stories. I recently used a three-part story layout for one of my stories, and this was an excellent way to refine what I’ve learned and created on my own, which I now understand more about.

As the day went on, we connected through lunch, eating outside in the mountain backdrop. It was a beautiful sunny day talking amongst each other, sharing our writing projects and troubles, and reviewing what we’d learned that day and our favorite moments, quotes, and tips to remember.

Shortly after lunch, I browsed some books from Book Bungalow, a local bookstore, and found a wonderful book titled “1000 Words” by Jami Attenberg.

The book cover reeled me in fast. I highly recommend this book. I’ve been reading it for three months because I don’t want it to end! The advice, fun, motivation, reflection, sudden realizations, troubles, and writing tips to stay on track and creative is done so well in this book!

The ultimate “why” we write and what we are capable of! Write because you can.

Choose to write! Write for those who can’t!

Keeping your fingers in your work and ultimately F*&^ your distractions!

I’ve connected to it so much that I had multiple moments of wanting to email the writers directly from their letters that they have written so well!

This book was the perfect ending to the conference and the perfect reflective start of the new year ahead.

Closing our words and learning on this special day at Kayenta, I connected with a few others right before I left about recent stories I’m still working on. After mentioning my ideas, the fire lit within me and now I’ve redirected my story focus to a Las Vegas series themed setting because I moved back to the city.

Timing is everything they say!

See you next year Write On St. George Writers Conference!!

As always, thanks for listening!