Western Reserve Writers Conference 2024
Introduction
I attended the 39th annual Western Reserve Writers Conference 2024 on March 23, 2024. They held the Conference at the South Euclid-Lyndhurst branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library at the William N. Skirball writer’s center at the branch. It was a one-day event with an introduction, a keynote speaker, three breakout sessions, and one first-page critique panel.
This is the link to the Cuyahoga County Library.
https://www.cuyahogalibrary.org
This is the link to the writer’s center at the library branch.
https://www.cuyahogalibrary.org/Services/William-N-Skirball-Writers-Center.aspx
Summary
Saturday, March 23rd at 9:30 AM
Welcome and Conference Overview
Deanna R. Adams is the conference coordinator and Laurie Kincer is the librarian in charge of the writer’s center.
Laurie explained how they set up the library, where the three meeting rooms were located, and about the door prizes available at 4 PM. Deanna introduced the keynote speaker, Brandi Larsen.
They held the welcome and conference overview in the meeting room A/B/C with about 100 attendees.
Saturday, March 23rd at 9:45 AM
Keynote Speaker: What’s Best for Your Writing Right Now.
The keynote speaker was Brandi Larsen, the 2024 Cuyahoga County Public Library Writer in Residence. She is a writer, speaker, and a writing coach.
She talked about sharing how to weave in the threads of community, craft, and commerce to bring more joy and inspiration into your writing (and encourage you to approach the writing desk with confidence).
- Craft: The big questions. Can you get to the page? Figure out your writing style alignment. What is your why? Can you communicate what you wish? Can you finish what you start?
- Community: The world needs your work. We need each other. Find your people. Showing up matters. Books are loved into life.
- Commerce: What do you want for your writing? Are you ready for your writing to become a product?
They held the talk in the meeting room A/B/C with about 100 attendees.
Saturday, March 23rd at 11:30 AM
Breakout Session: Self-Editing Tips for Writers of all kinds.
The presenter was Rebecca Ferlotti. She is an editor.
You must self-edit your work first before you even consider sending your work to an editor. So, why do you hate editing? Whatever you do, don’t stop writing to read between the lines. Read the story out loud to change your headspace. Print out the story and cut it to edit it. When you read, keep in mind detail deficits and places to pare down your writing. Also consider continuity issues, word choices and grammatical errors. Final advice: complete your first draft before your first edit.
You can find Rebecca Ferlotti at the following website.
They held the talk in the writer’s center meeting room with about 45 attendees.
Recommendation – Conclusion
I enjoyed attending the Western Reserve Writers Conference 2024. I also attended the conference in 2019, 2022, and 2023 (they canceled the conference in 2020 and 2021 because of COVID-19). My Star of the Con was Rebecca Ferlotti. She had some brilliant advice for writers who want to self-edit their work.
Links
This is my Recap for the Western Reserve Writers Conference on March 26, 2022, where I attended the introduction, a keynote speaker, and two breakout sessions. The Cuyahoga County Public Library held the conference at the South Euclid-Lyndhurst branch.
I attended the 36th annual Western Reserve Writers Conference on April 27, 2019. They held the Conference at the South Euclid-Lyndhurst branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library at the William N. Skirball writer’s center at the branch. It was a one-day event with an introduction, a keynote speaker, three breakout sessions, and one first-page critique panel. I attended the introduction, a keynote speaker, and two breakout sessions. I thought The Western Reserve Writers Conference was well run, diverse in the presentations offered, and informative. My Star of the Con was Bree Barton. Her presentation was fun, the exercises were useful, and I liked her personality.
I attended the 34th annual Western Reserve Writers Conference on September 23, 2017. I could not attend last year. This is a link to my review of the 2017 conference.