Workshop Highlight - What Editors Want

This how-to class focuses on writing for magazines and take-home papers.
Both beginning and experienced writers will learn what makes editors want to buy their articles.


Marcia Hornok, editor of CHERA Fellowship magazine, will discuss:


* Single focus (your theme)
* Arresting leads (your opening)
* Logical flow (your progression)
* Word images (your appeal)
* Take-away (your ending)
* And reprints (your income)


"What Editors Want" will be presented from 11:30-12:30 on Saturday, Sept
12 at the Utah Christian Writers Conference in Salt Lake City. For more information, or to register, visit www.utahchristianwriters.com


Marcia Hornok has been freelance writing for twenty-five years. Her work has appeared in more than 50 Christian and secular publication, and also includes six curriculum books. Since 2001 she has been the managing editor of "CHERA Fellowship", a Christian magazine for widows and widowers. She also edits nonfiction books and articles.

Workshop Highlight - Ramp Up Your Fiction

This lecture & hands-on class will help you revise what you've already written or can be used as a checklist as you write. Come see how you can drive up the "can't put down" intensity of your fiction by strategic layering of these five principles. Be prepared to let go of favorite bits that aren't helping and add "wow" to your work in progress.

"Ramp Up Your Fiction: Five Layers of Intensity" will be presented from 1:30-2:30 on Saturday, Sept 12 at the Utah Christian Writers Conference in Salt Lake City. For more information, or to register, visit www.utahchristianwriters.com

Kathleen Damp Wright caught, rather than sought, the moniker The What If Girl. She’s a fiction coach for beginning and multi-published writers, writes her own fiction, and blogs inconsistently on her website. In addition, she gets to teach writing to fascinated junior and high school students in an educational co-op. Living in the Wasatch Mountains, she writes and plays and not always in that order.

Fiction Coach - What If you made your story better? http://whatifgirl.wordpress.com/

Tweet Kathleen on TheWhatIfGirl at http://twitter.com/

Conference Planning Committee Hard at Work!!!

The conference planning committee has been hard at work in the past few weeks as the date for the Utah Christian Writers Conference draws close. Pictured here are Julie Scott, Marcia Hornok, Kim Riddle Smith, and Jim Cook. Not pictured are Ginny Smith and Mark Scott (website designer extraordinaire!)

We invite you to take a few moments to browse the website at http://www.utahchristianwriters.com/. Check out the awesome workshops that will be offered. Spend some time reading the faculty bios. Look through recent posts on the Blog to read a highlight of each of the workshops.

We hope you'll join us on September 12 at Midvalley Bible Church in Bluffdale, Utah.

Workshop Highlight - Personal Histories Worth Reading

Appealing? Or Appalling?


What did you think when someone showed you his life story or personal biography?
Did your mouth say, “Wow—looks like you've put a lot of time into this,” while your mind said, “I'll put this tome next to War and Peace and Moby Dick. Maybe one day I'll get to it.”


In this hands-on workshop you will address these topics (and more!):


Audience—the big WHY
Voices—I'm hearing them
Organization—the plan of attack
Authenticity—It's ok to polish the wood, but don't cover it with veneer
Brevity—More is not always better
Presentation—Icing on the cake


Why do people write their personal histories? Perhaps because they wish someone in preceding generations had left something for them to understand the world he lived in. What would it be like to be in his skin as a child? What was tough/easy about school? What was his childhood home like? Was he athletic and popular? What kind of chores did he do? What about the first car, first kiss, first day at college, his wedding proposal? Whatever the motivation, a well-written personal history indelibly records a slice of Americana (or wherever) for others to enjoy. A life story may never hit the bestseller list, but rarely is that the motivation for writing one.


Anybody can keep a journal, but the writer armed with skills and a “pocket full of questions” can learn to move a story beyond the ho-hum and elevate it to an heirloom. Whether you're writing your own memoir, or interviewing someone to capture his life story, you will come away from this workshop with some skills and tools to help you tackle the rewarding process of producing a personal history.



“Personal Histories Worth Reading” will be presented from 11:30 – 12:30 on Saturday, September 12 at the Utah Christian Writers Conference in Salt Lake City. For more information, visit www.utahchristianwriters.com



Julie Scott captures the life stories of individuals and families so their personal histories can be published. She believes that everybody has a story to tell and enjoys learning about different people, times, and cultures. When she's not writing, Julie can be found in the classroom of adult international students and scholars, and their spouses, helping them to improve their English skills in the areas of writing, reading. pronunciation, and communication. She has been married for 26 years, has two adult children who are married, and has the self-proclaimed "World's Cutest Grandson" -- and the pictures to prove it.

Workshop Highlight - Resurrect Your Writing

Do you want your writing to come alive? Then learn how to resurrect it by trimming wordiness and avoiding killers such as:

* Passive voice
* Inactive verbs
* False starts
* Misplaced modifiers

This workshop, taught by freelance writer and editor, Marcia Hornok, will train you to condense and edit yourself. You will do exercises in class to improve your writing skills and make your stories live.

"Resurrect Your Writing" will be presented from 10:15-11:15 on Saturday, Sept 12 at the Utah Christian Writers Conference in Salt Lake City. For more information, or to register, visit www.utahchristianwriters.com

Marcia Hornok has been freelance writing for twenty-five years. Her work has appeared in more than 50 Christian and secular publication, and also includes six curriculum books. Since 2001 she has been the managing editor of "CHERA Fellowship", a Christian magazine for widows and widowers. She also edits nonfiction books and articles.

Workshop Highlight - Three Questions to Fire Off Your Story

"Characters flat," "lack of sufficient tension," "I wasn't drawn into the story," are all symptoms of missing one or more of The Three Questions. Brainstorm extensively on your characters until you think you know what makes them tick. Then attend this class and get help, whether to get untstuck, refine, or fill in the gaps. This is a lecture & hands-on class. Be prepared to think and write! Three simple questions explored will help your fiction explode.


"Three Questions to Fire Off Your Story" will be presented from 10:15-11:15 on Saturday, Sept 12 at the Utah Christian Writers Conference in Salt Lake City. For more information, or to register, visit www.utahchristianwriters.com


Kathleen Damp Wright caught, rather than sought, the moniker The What If Girl. She’s a fiction coach for beginning and multi-published writers, writes her own fiction, and blogs inconsistently on her website. In addition, she gets to teach writing to fascinated junior and high school students in an educational co-op. Living in the Wasatch Mountains, she writes and plays and not always in that order.

Fiction Coach - What If you made your story better? http://whatifgirl.wordpress.com/
Tweet Kathleen on TheWhatIfGirl at http://twitter.com/

Workshop Highlight - C.R.E.A.T.E. Organization

For many years, Kim Riddle Smith has run the business office of a growing software company while also helping business owners streamline and organize their office and document management systems. It is the marriage of Kim’s organizational skills and her passion for writing that begat “C.R.E.A.T.E. Organization” seminars.


“C.R.E.A.T.E. Organization” sessions include encouraging, funny and practical training that is tailored to the person whose artistic center tends to overpower his or her analytical abilities. Kim believes that, while sometimes deeply buried, the creative artist or writer usually has organizational skills but may have allowed them to become weak from lack of exercise.


On your own path to publication, “C.R.E.A.T.E. Organization” will be a useful guide. You’ll learn how to keep from stumbling over piles of research materials and wandering off on time-wasting trips down rabbit trails looking for that one crucial statistic you wrote down somewhere. Leave behind the exhausting frustration of searching for that quote or contact information that “was just right here a minute ago…” by exercising some simple techniques you will learn in C.R.E.A.T.E. Organization.



“C.R.E.A.T.E. Organization” will be presented from 1:30 – 2:30 on Saturday, Sept 12 at the Utah Christian Writers Conference. For more information, or to register, visit www.utahchristianwriters.com



Kim Riddle Smith is the Business Office Manager of a Salt Lake City software firm. A member of NAPO, the National Association of Professional Organizers, Kim also owns and operates “TimeWise Services”, whose motto, “Your time is precious, don’t waste it” appeals to both businesses and individuals in need of organizational support. Kim’s monthly newspaper column, Faith Footnotes, is about Salt Lake Valley Christians and appears in her hometown newspaper, The Draper Paper.

Workshop Highlight - A Novel Approach to Fiction

Do you have a story idea floating around in your head? This workshop, taught by award-winning author Virginia Smith, will teach you how to take your idea from concept to completion. Learn about the three fundamental elements of a novel: plot, setting, and character. Then peel back the layers of each of those elements, so you can use them to the greatest effect in your novel. In “A Novel Approach to Fiction”, you’ll learn how to:

· Craft a compelling plot that makes your readers eager to keep turning pages

· Determine the best place to begin your story

· Create characters so real your readers will miss them when they close the book

A jam-packed hour, full of tips and techniques for turning your story idea into a great novel!

“A Novel Approach to Fiction” will be presented from 11:30 – 12:30 on Saturday, Sept 12 at the Utah Christian Writers Conference. For more information, or to register, visit www.utahchristianwriters.com

Virginia Smith left her job as a corporate director to become a full time writer and speaker with the release of her first novel Just As I Am. Since then she has contracted eleven novels and published dozens of articles and short stories. In March of 2008 she was named "Writer of the Year" at Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference. Her recent novels include Age before Beauty, book 2 in the Sister-to-Sister Series, Scent of Murder, and A Taste of Murder, which was recently named a finalist for the Daphne du Maurier Award. In 2008 she was named "Writer of the Year" at Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference. An energetic speaker, Virginia loves to exemplify God&s truth by comparing real-life situations to well-known works of fiction, such as her popular talk, "Biblical Truths in Star Trek." Visit Ginny on the web at http://www.virginiasmith.org/

Utah Christian Writers Conference - Writing Workshops Offered

• The program for the Utah Christian Writers Conference, to be held in Bluffdale on September 12, 2009, has been finalized! We've got a terrific line-up for writers to learn from the pros. Take a look at these workshops:
  
  Three Questions to Fire Off Your Story, by Kathleen Wright
  
  Resurrect Your Writing, by Marcia Hornok
  
  Personal Histories Worth Reading, by Julie Scott
  
  A Novel Approach to Fiction, by Virginia Smith
  
  What Editors Want, by Marcia Hornok
  
  Ramp Up Your Fiction - Five Layers of Intensity, by Kathleen Wright
  
  C.R.E.A.T.E. Organization, by Kim Riddle Smith
  
  
  Sounds great, doesn't it? In the coming days, we'll post description of the workshops, so bookmark this page and check back often. Besides these workshops, attendees at the Utah Christian Writers Conference will hear two keynote addresses by award-winning author Virginia Smith, each jam-packed with tips on getting your work published.
  
  Are you ready to register? Download a printer-friendly registration form here and reserve your place today!

Great Faculty Lineup!

The Utah Christian Writers Conference will be held on September 12 at Midvalley Bible Church in Bluffdale. We're excited about the faculty line-up at this year's event!


VIRGINIA SMITH -- This year's keynote speaker is the award-winning author of eleven Christian novels and dozens of articles and short stories. In addition to her keynote addresses, Virginia will present several workshops to help attendees develop their fiction writing skills. www.VirginiaSmith.org


MARCIA HORNOK - Ms. Hornok's nonfiction articles have appeared in a variety of high profile Christian magazines, including Discipleship Journal. She's the editor of CHERA Magazine, and will present workshops to help attendees fine-tune their nonfiction writing skills, as well as giving them an insider's view of what editors want.


JULIE SCOTT - The president of the Utah Christian Writers Fellowship, Ms. Scott is the writer of nonfiction articles and personal histories. She will teach attendees the art of interviewing, and writing personal histories.


KIM RIDDLE SMITH - A fiction and nonfiction writer, Ms. Smith is also a columnist for the Draper Paper and a member of the National Association of Professional Orgfanizers. She'll present organization techniques for the creative mind, a topic in which she has achieved a level of expertise she's eager to share.


KATHLEEN WRIGHT -- Known as the What-If Girl, Ms. Wright is a writer, fiction coach, and writing teacher. This sought-after writing instructor will guide attendees in the craft of fiction writing. http://thewhatifgirl.com/


In addition to teaching workshops, attendees will have the opportunity to sign up for paid critiques and consultations with the staff members.