Posts filed under 'WLT Events'
WLT Supports All Members Participating in NaNoWriMo
November is National Novel Writing Month!
The goal is to write 50,000 words by the end of November. (Learn more about this fun and painstaking goal at the NaNoWriMo website!)
Wrimos are almost two weeks into their novels by this point. We know it can get stressful. Maybe it’s starting to feel like the end is nowhere near? Well, we believe in our Wrimos! The goal may seem unattainable, but it is perfectly attainable.
The WLT is hosting NaNoWriMo related events all throughout the month. Feel more than free to stop by our office, meet other Wrimos, and write non stop!
NaNoWriMo
Friday the 13th Lockdown
Come join fellow Wrimos for a “killer” all-nighter on November 13 from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. here at the WLT offices. We’ll also snack, socialize a little, and play a game or two. The 12-hour lockdown is a great way to boost your word count.
Please:
- Be a registered NaNoWriMo participant
- Be actively working on a novel
- Be 18 or older – this is required by the Writers League insurance company
- Plan to stay the whole twelve hours – that’s why it’s called a lockdown!
- RSVP to receive the secret password.
Space is limited.
RSVP is first-come, first-served. Once we’re full, we’re full. After that, we’ll start a waiting list. If you RSVP and then can’t make it, please let us know so someone else can take your place. Please don’t show up without the password!
What you’ll need to bring/do:
- Bring potluck snacks to share during the long, long night
- Wear comfortable clothes, and bring a sweater in case it gets chilly
- If you think you’ll need a nap, bring a pillow/blankie
- Bring headphones – please make sure the sound doesn’t bleed through
- Arrive by 7 pm if possible. We’ll post the phone number at the door for emergency late arrivals.
No drugs or alcohol allowed.
What we’ll provide:
- Liquids – sodas, water, tea, and coffee, ice (there is also a soda machine in the building)
- Extension cords and surge protectors (though it wouldn’t hurt to bring one if you have it)
- Tables, chairs, and one small couch
- Access to the internet for folks who just can’t write without it
- Access to the Writers’ League library
Last Chance Write-In
November 30 from 9 a.m. to midnight. Use your final writing hours wisely by spending them at our WLT offices.
Additional NaNoWriMo Support
If you are a WLT member who receives the official NaNoWriMo Certificate of Completion, the WLT will give you 50% off of the submission fee for WLT manuscript contest.
Best wishes to our Wrimos!
Add comment November 10, 2009
The Art of Interviewing
Learn Effective Interviewing Skills with Suzy Spencer
Suzy Spencer
at the Writers League Office
611 S. Congress Ave. Suite 130
$99 members / $159 non members
Effective interviewing is an art form essential to the success of all writers — whether you’re doing research for a novel or nonfiction book; writing newspaper, magazine, or journal articles; preparing your thesis or dissertation; creating web content; blogging; or promoting your own book.
In fact, if a writer doesn’t know what questions to ask, how to ask or answer them, as well as how to listen to glean information that no one else has, the writer could miss key opportunities to make an even better book, story, or article.
New York Times best selling author Suzy Spencer, a professional in the techniques of interviewing, will teach the course through lecture, discussion, and role-playing. This two-session class will teach writers how to prepare for an interview, how to conduct an interview, how to turn a bad interview into a good one, and how to follow-up after an interview.
The information from this class is useful for everyone, but especially if you are: a freelance writer or journalist who wants to bump up your interview skills to excel in a tight market, a blogger who wants to add original reporting to your blog, an authors who is — or who plans to be — interviewed to promote a book, or an author interviewing prospective agents and/or publishers.
Interested? Register here.
Add comment November 5, 2009
Book in a Month: Novel Writing Tool Kit
Novel Writing Online Class with Kit Frazier
Kit Frazier
Self study, online course
starts Oct. 26 – Nov. 30, 2009
$149 WLT members / $209 nonmembers
Kit Frazier
Just in time for National Novel Writing Month! Whether you’re thinking about writing a novel or mired in the middle of your work in progress, this is the class for you. The intensive course of study reviews Christopher Vogler’s The Hero’s Journey’s three-act structure and Debra Dixon’s Goal, Motivation, and Conflict: The Building Blocks of Good Fiction, and breaks these concepts down into a manageable, 30-day writing regimen, with particular emphasis on those all-important first five pages and middle-of-the-story conflict.
The Book in a Month Tool Kit includes:
- PowerPoint Videos of Class Instruction
- Personal Goal Tracker Calendar
- Character Worksheets
- Character Goal, Motivation & Conflict Sheets
- Story Board Worksheets
- Time Tracker Worksheets
Add comment October 22, 2009
The Writers’ League of Texas 2009 Bookish Brunch
Reservations extended until Wednesday, October 28th!
The Bookish Brunch
Honoring:
Texas Book Festival Authors
Click on their image and read the author’s bio.
Also honoring the 2009 Writers’ League of Texas Book Award Winners
9 to 10:30 am, Sunday, November 1
At the home of Frances Townsend & Ted Gilman in Austin
$40 WLT members/$50 nonmembers
Proceeds benefit the Writers’ League of Texas
For more information, please visit our Bookish Brunch page.
Add comment October 2, 2009
Monthly Program
“Build a Book” Series: Meet Your Publisher and Editor and Marketing Reps and Publicist and …
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- Deltina Hay
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- Colleen Devine Ellis
Once your book is signed, you’ll have a whole team of people working with you. Find out more about the publishing team who will bring your book to the market. Arrive early, seats fill up fast!
Panelists: Publicist, Colleen Devine Ellis, market rep, Gillian Redfearn and author/publisher, Deltina Hay.
For more information, please email us at wlt@writersleague.org or visit our website.
Before the program, join us at Doc’s Motorworks Bar & Grill, 1123 S. Congress (two blocks south of the WLT office) for a very special “Mix and Mingle Happy Hour.”
Add comment September 11, 2009
Google Settlement Teleconference
The Writers’ League of Texas Presents
The Google Book Settlement:
What’s an Author to Do?
Teleconference Call with Media Attorney Steven D. Smit
4 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 2
Free to Writers’ League members / $10 for nonmembers
Register here
Steven D. Smith
If you’re an author who has received an opt-out letter regarding the Google Book Settlement, it’s hard to know what opting out or staying in actually means for you. And with the opt-out deadline of Sept. 4 approaching, authors are scrambling to make a decision.
As a service to our members and other authors, the Writers’ League of Texas is hosting a teleconference call with attorney Steven D. Smit, of Graves, Dougherty, Hearon, & Moody in Austin. Steve has been monitoring the Google settlement and will give an overview of the settlement and review the pros and cons of opting out.
NOTE: The conference call is limited to the first 90 registrants; you MUST register here. The dial-in number and pass code will be sent to registrants in an e-mail confirmation.
For more on the Google Settlement, see our previous post, “The Google Settlement: Opt Out or Stay In?”
Add comment September 1, 2009
2009 Agents Conference Photos Posted
Flickr donated a Pro account so we’re able to post all the pictures from the Conference. If you got any good pix please let me know and we’ll post them too. Giant thanks to Candice Munoz for being our event photographer for the weekend. She’s just starting her photographic career, so email the League if you want her contact information!
Add comment July 23, 2009
An Evening with Roy Blount Jr.
The Austinist ran a great recap of our May 27 spring benefit with Roy Blount Jr.
“About 100 Austin literary aficionados gathered Wednesday night at St. Edward’s University to sample wine, duck and Brie quesadillas and the ambiance of Roy Blount stories. It was the Writers’ League of Texas spring fund raiser. As Blount set his wine glass on the podium, it started to slide. He deftly caught it and remarked, “I hate slanted podiums. They must think that a man can’t drink and lecture at the same time.” He, of course, can, though the evening felt more like a living room chat than a formal talk.” Read more here.
Add comment June 3, 2009
The Business of Writing
ResumeRX to the Rescue with Khotan Shahbazi-Harmon
2 pm – 5 pm, Saturdays, April 4 and 18
Writers’ League Office, 611 S. Congress Ave., Ste. 130, Austin
“ResumeRX” is back by popular demand! Khotan Shahbazi-Harmon is expanding “ResumeRX” into an interactive two-part session that will assist anyone writing or revising a resume in search of a new job, including writers and publishing professionals seeking to develop their own platform or pitch their books in the new economy.
Registration is still open! $99 members; $159 nonmebers.
Add comment March 23, 2009
Opinionated: The Art and Craft of Op-Ed Commentary
9am – 1pm, Saturday, March 14
A Master Class with Journalist, Evelyn C. White
Writers’ League of Texas, 611 S. Congress Ave., Suite 130, Austin
Commentary is a perfect microcosm for exploring nonfiction writing. Journalist, Evelyn C. White, will lead students in producing a 600- to 700-word op-ed that can be submitted to newspapers following the class. Students are encouraged to bring an idea and a self-addressed, stamped envelope addressed to a newspaper. $99 WLT members; $159 nonmembers.
Don’t miss Evelyn’s other Austin appearances:
- International Women’s Day Lecture at UT, 5 p.m. Wednesday, March 11, Main Building, Room 212 (free)
- Talk on Alice Walker’s life and impact and book signing at BookWoman at 3 p.m. Sunday, March 15
Add comment March 9, 2009
