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Patricia NewmanPatricia Newman
Sibert Honor Children's Book Author & Environmentalist
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Writers’ Conference–California State University, Sacramento, August 2007

Home UncategorizedWriters’ Conference–California State University, Sacramento, August 2007

Writers’ Conference–California State University, Sacramento, August 2007

September 24, 2007 Uncategorized No Comments

If you live in Northern California, this is an excellent annual writing conference to attend. Writers from several genres–stage, screen, poetry, fiction, children’s, memoir, travel, mystery–speak about their specialties. This year’s conference opened with Raymond Obstfeld, author of On the Shoulders of Giants: My Journey Through the Harlem Renaissance–his most recent book.

I spoke at the conference with my writing buddy, Erin Dealey. Our topics included “So You Think You Want to Write for Children?” and “First Page Critiques.” The first of these one-hour sessions gave participants an overview children’s writing dos and don’ts. In the “First Page Critiques” session, we asked our audience to trust us and allow us to read the first page (the first 12 lines) of their manuscripts aloud. We critiqued the manuscripts on the spot according to a set of rules Erin and I have established for our own work.

Erin and I also conducted private critiques of participants’ manuscripts in one-on-one sessions designed to give writers more personalized attention.

One reason for writers to attend conferences is the fortuitous opportunities they bring your way. For instance, Erin and I sat down for dinner in a restaurant with the other speakers. We were discussing our “First Page Critiques” session, trying to determine what went well and what we’d change for the next time. Jane Friedman, the executive editor for Writer’s Digest Books, happened to be sitting across from us. She said, “That would make a great idea for the [Writer’s Digest] magazine.”

Needless to say we acted quickly. We submitted a proposal, which was accepted! The article publication date will be announced shortly! Good things come to those who attend (or speak at!) conferences.

Tags: Speaking Engagements
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  • Home
  • Books
    • A River’s Gifts: The Mighty Elwha River Reborn
    • Planet Ocean
    • Eavesdropping on Elephants
    • Neema’s Reason To Smile
    • Zoo Scientists to the Rescue
    • Sea Otter Heroes: The Predators That Saved an Ecosystem
    • Plastic, Ahoy! Investigating the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
    • Ebola: Fears and Facts
    • Jingle the Brass
    • Nugget on the Flight Deck
    • Surviving Animal Attacks
    • Elite Operations series
    • Energy Lab series
    • QuickReads Fluency Library
    • English language-learner books
    • Writers write all kinds of things
  • Author Visit Programs
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    • KidLit creators who make kids want to read
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