Events, workshops and ways to get help with writing and publishing

Collage sheet from Artella at http://www.artellaland.com/

With the specific exceptions of technical and proposal writing, writing is essentially a solitary occupation. As a result, we writers can benefit highly from a dose of organized social contact (well, unorganized social contact is good for us, too, but that’s not what I’m talking about here).

If you’ve never attended a book fair, writing workshop, writers’ group, conference, or other program designed to give practical advice as well as inspiration, make a note now to check out some out.

For example, here in Wisconsin, the University of Wisconsin’s Division of Continuing Studies offers a wide range of programs and services. The online writing workshops are available anytime to anyone with an Internet connection. The workshops provide one-on-one contact with an instructor on topics ranging from fiction and nonfiction writing, how to market your material, poetry, dialogue/scene mastery, and screenwriting. See http://www.dcs.wisc.edu/lsa/online for full details and fees. Later this month, they will announce details on their fall workshops for novelists and poets, and I’ll tell you more at that time.

For those of you who would like face-to-face programs, there are likely to be a number to choose from depending where you live. Check university extension departments, local colleges, writers publications like Writers’ Digest Magazine, or follow some of the contest links I provide in The Money Corner, many of which will lead you to writers’ organizations. Most, like the University of Wisconsin’s Division of Continuing Studies, will also have email sign-up options to keep you up on what’s happening.