Our News provides useful information about Willamette Writers, upcoming events in the writing and publishing world, and Pacific Northwest updates for writers.
Registration for Willamette Writers conference, August 7 – 9th at the Doubletree Hotel in Portland, is now open. The conference offers a variety of workshops and opportunities to meet with literary agents and Hollywood producers. Our success stories range from Jean Auel’s Clan of the Cave Bear to Fonda Lee. Fonda first pitched her YA…
The Oregon Book Awards & Fellowships program promotes, support and celebrates Oregon’s writers. Guidelines and applications for the 2016 Oregon Literary Fellowships, including the newly established Writers of Color Fellowship, are now online at http://www.literary-arts.org/what-we-do/oba-home/fellowships/ As part of the application for an Oregon Literary Fellowship, writers can also choose to be considered for the Writers of…
The Willamette Writers’ 50th Anniversary celebration at our Writing House this weekend brought out members old and new to discover each others’ latest work. Longtime members Salli Slaughter and George Mason, who have visited over 20 states for their Authors Road project, recently added Daniel Handler aka Lemony Snicket to their impressive list of author interviews. We were also visited by the…
The 46th installment of the Willamette Writers Conference is on its way, bringing a mix of old favorites and brand new programs, events and pitching to agents and publishers over three and a half days this summer. We’re challenging you this year to “Tell Your Story” – whatever that story is, and whatever form it takes. We’re assembling…
Willamette Writers was saddened to hear of the death of award-winning novelist and non-fiction writer Ivan Doig. From This House of Sky to Sweet Thunder, Mr. Doig proved his mastery of language and storytelling. He never considered himself a “Western” writer, despite his stories taking place in the American West. He felt that writing, though…
Since so many of our members seek critique groups, I was delighted to stumble upon what appeared to be a “secret society” of such groups right here in Portland. In fact, it’s not a secret society but a highly organized, grassroots, community-based organization of serious writers who joined together to form People’s Ink to hone their writing…
We are halfway through the FiLMLaB short script contest. There’s still plenty of time to submit your seven page script for a chance at the Grand Prize: the filming and production of your story by a professional film crew. In three act structure, the second act is always the longest, and arguably the most tedious…
Trying to stay focused and on task during the four weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas (five if you include New Year’s) can be a real challenge. If you established writing goals on January 1, you are rapidly running out of time to complete them and the knowledge that time is slipping away while you are…
by Dick Lutz 7. Capitalize the title and subtitle. The first word, last word, and every noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, and adverb should be capitalized. Articles, prepositions shorter than five letters, and conjunctions use lowercase letters. Be aware that not all “small” words are to be lowercased. Some small words are verbs (for example, “Is,…
by Dick Lutz Appearance Is Everything There’s a lot less stigma of self-publishing than there used to be, but it still exists. Regardless of the stigma, there’s no reason why your book can’t look just as good as one published by, say, Random House. The steps to avoid the self-published look are simple but they…
