This fierce Towson tiger acted as welcoming committee to the Baltimore Writers Conference on Saturday. The event served as a splendid inaugural writers conference for me, and I’m already looking forward to future conferences. I’ve read about the importance of these events for freelancers, often for the purpose of networking. However, I definitely underestimated the impact Saturday would have on me, both to instruct and to inspire.
We had four sessions over the course of the day, each offering seminars on a variety of topics, ranging from technique to business. For example, I took a session on improving dialogue, and on how to get your novel or memoir to Hollywood. The conference came as a result of a collaboration between faculty from several Baltimore Universities, and the speakers were several best-selling authors, a Hollywood producer, and writing faculty as well.
Being the good little academic enthusiast that I am, I freaked out about choosing the right the classes and took copious notes.
Despite all the incredibly helpful instruction, the biggest takeaway came in the form of inspiration from the keynote speaker. MK Asante is a brilliant writer, artist, filmmaker, whose best-selling memoir, Buck, tells the story of how writing changed his life. After hearing his keynote address, I heard him speak on a panel about turning life stories into memoirs. I am still blown away by his story, and so excited to see the positive influence he will have in the future. The trailer for his book is below:
Pencil & Uke 