Saturday, January 10, 2015

Get your WIFYR on

First, I must confess a shameless partiality toward Carol Lynch William’s WIFYR conference. Pronounced, wiff-er or wife-er, it is coming in June. It’s time to get your WIFYR on.

The assistants met today to plan. It felt good to be back with a community of writers. That is what the conference is about, coming out of our solitary endeavors and sharing with like-minded others. No matter your level of skill or where you are along the spectrum, there are others cheering for you and helping you improve your writing. The draw is the the collegiality, the chance to mingle with other writers.

The WIFYR site is almost up. Technicals issues, you know how they go. The authors include: Natalie Whipple, Dean Hughes,  Dave Farland, Kathi Appelt, Dan Wells, Julie Berry (whom I’m assisting for), Lisa Mangum, Jennifer Adams, Ann Cannon (whom I’ve assisted for previously and can attest is a kind heart and an entertaining writer. And of course, Carol.

You should consider joining WIFYR this year. It will do you and your writing good. All the local conferences - LTUE, LDStorymakers, League of Utah Writers - have a community of writers in common. It is inspiring to being in their midst. WIFYR offers five intensive days of it. The level of commitment varies with each writer depending on cost, time, and other commitments. There are less expensive options for just the afternoon sessions or one of the daily mini-workshops. But I say take a big bite of the whole thing. The morning workshops is where real writing takes place. Knowledgeable, published authors pour over your manuscript and offer suggestions. Ten or twelve of your new best friends, in a gentle and caring manner, look at each other’s stories try to make them all better it. Bang for buck, there is no better deal than this conference.

The most important reason to should consider WIFYR this year is you’ll love yourself for it. You’ll  grow as a writer. Your manuscript needs this make-over. 


(This article also posted at http://utahchildrenswriters.blogspot.com)

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