Those of you who know me – either personally or through my writings in this blog – know that I lovelove love to learn new things and that I am a lifelong student of writing: techniques, story building, plotting, and grammar, just to name a few. I simply love to learn new things related to writing in all its aspects. My personal writing library has over 100 books on subjects of plotting and structure, dialogue, character traits, etc. I refer to many of them whenever I am starting a new book or even when I a looking for guidance with a problem I incur during writing.
Writing technique books are it for me, but I also live to go to writing conferences. My goal is always to learn at least one new thing at a conference and so far, that number has grown exponentially with each new conference I attend.
The reason I mention this lifetime and lifelong love of learning is because my New England chapter of RWA is hosting such a writing worshop/conference this month. An Editorial Director at Carina Press, Angela James, is presenting her wonderful BEFORE YOU HIT SEND class for writers of all genres. You can click on the SPECIAL EVENTS toggle at the NWRWA website for details and to register, here: NHRWA
I have taken this class twice before: one at a New England RWA conference and once on-line. Both times I learned something I hadn’t learned the time before. Nowadays, with the publishing industry changing by the second, and editors pressed for time to find the next big author, if you are a writer, you MUST, absolutely MUST submit a manuscript that is professionally polished and worthy of a complete read-through. I have been to too many conference talks to count with editors and agents who persistently and consistently only read the first page of a submission and if there is any kind of mistake ( typo, wrong grammar use, poor tense) their reading stops at the end of that page. We all want to make the best first impression we can, and unfortunately, your first impression is usually a query letter and/or a few pages of your manuscript. If there is anything that stands out and makes you look like an amateur, it is poor spelling, grammar, and sloppy writing.
Angela James’ class BEFORE YOUR HIT SEND tells you how to avoid and prevent all those pesky problems, how to correct them when they do occur, and how to get your manuscript as ready and as polished as it can be for an editor or agent’s eyes. You only get one shot to make a favorable first impression (What a great title for a book, btw!). Do you want to take the chance a professional will simply disregard your writing because it is riddled with mistakes? Mistakes that could have been prevented and corrected before you hit that send button?
I hope you join my chapter for this wonderful conference. If you do one thing this year to make yourself a better writer, this will be it.
Self-Editing Workshop with Angela James
Saturday, May 21, 2016
9am – 4pm
The Crowne Plaza Hotel in Nashua, New Hampshire
Join Angela James, editorial director of Harlequin’s Carina Press and developmental editor of New York Times Bestselling authors Shannon Stacey, Lauren Dane and Jaci Burton, for a day-long workshop covering ideas, tips, tricks and lessons for polishing and self-editing your manuscript.
Topics include: point of view, passive vs. active voice, show don’t tell, formalizing your manuscript, and more!
Spend the night at a special rate and have use of our meeting room for quiet self-editing/writing Sunday morning to put all you learned into practice before you head back on the road.
Conference Schedule
Saturday, May 21, 2016
- 7:30am – 9:00am: Check-in/Registration
- 9:00am – 4:00pm: Workshop & Buffet Lunch
Sunday, May 21, 2016
- Morning: (OPTIONAL) Meeting room will be open for attendees to use for quiet self-editing/writing time.
Registration Information
- Regular Registration for NHRWA members (3.1.16 – 4.30.16) = $90
- Regular Registration for non-NHRWA members (3.1.16 – 4.30.16) = $100
- Late Registration for ALL (5.1.16 – 5.14.16) = $110
Registration includes the following:
- Admission to the Before You Hit Send workshop.
- Saturday lunch buffet & afternoon snack.
Peggy Jaeger, Author 