My Thoughts on the Southwest Washington Writers Conference 2015

Recently, I was invited to give two workshops at the second annual Southwest Washington Writers Conference held in Centralia. I was very happy to accept the invitation, since I’ve felt for some time that the writing community in the South Puget Sound area often doesn’t get the kind of attention that it deserves. While the conference was just a one-day event, it was well attended and seemed to me to be a complete success.

As soon as I arrived at the conference, I felt very welcomed. Everybody from the bookstore staff to the event organizers were friendly, cheerful, and accommodating. It was clear that each volunteer had a passion for both writing and the local community. I was also pleasantly surprised that the event was carefully organized and scheduled. Workshops started on time, remained on topic, and even the keynote speakers were kept to a strict schedule. As a presenter I especially appreciated this. Too often, organizers will think that they are being generous when they let a speaker go over time without considering either the following speaker or the attendees that were especially looking forward to the next schedule block.

Speaking of presentations, I had a great time giving both of my workshops. There were plenty of participants for each, and it seemed like everyone enjoyed learning more about word choice and the four stages of writing a novel. We also spent some time discussing revision techniques and where to find good feedback, listing a variety of possible options as well as the positives and negatives of each. I’m always so glad when I can share insights to help to my fellow writers, and I hope that many of them take up my offer of a free, one-hour coaching consultation.

All in all, I have to say that I was very happy with my experience at this conference. The generosity and helpfulness of the organizers was amazing, and the conference offerings were on par with any of the big city events that I have attended. I look forward to next year’s conference, and hope that I will be invited to participate again!