Session Topics, OWR 2022

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[This page is in the process of construction. We will have the complete list by August 15}

This is a list of speakers and topic titles. Click on ‘Topics’ to learn more about the presenter and his/her topics.

Nicole Baart: Make Your Prose Sparkle, Marketing and Publicity 101, and Mistakes Aspiring Writers Make (&How to Avoid Them). Details: Topics

Rekha Basu: Telling Your Tough Truths; Making Your Commentary Relevant. Topics.

Perry Beeman: Write what you know, or How to Get Dirty; Speaking across the fence to a neighbor; Weeding your garden. Topics

Venise Berry: Writing for Social Change; Elements of Fiction: Plots and Subplots; Writing Strategies: Clarity and Depth. Topics

Laura Belin: How Reporting is Essential to Opinion Writing; Blogging. Topics Topics

Rachelle Chase: Using Research to Bring Your Work to Life – Not Kill it; Indie Publishing, Traditional Publishing, Self-Publishing – What Should I Do? Topics

Courtney Crowder: How to Write Stories People Want to Read; Authentically You; Panel discussions on Authentically You on Social Media. Topics.

Todd Dorman: Finding Your Columnist Voice; Opinion Writing; The Lost Art of Editorial Writing. Topics

Debra Engle: Writing Your Life Through Memoir; Spiritual Nonfiction: Writing to Inspire. Topics.

Randy Evans: Remember to KISS* When You Write (Keep it Simple, Stupid), Don’t Give Your Readers an Excuse to Quit Reading. Topics

Arnold Garson: Digging for Your Family Roots; Writing Your Family Story

Scott Garson: Stories in Miniature: the New Horizon of Flash Fiction, Microfiction and Prose Poetry; What Is Autofiction?: Blurring the Line Between You and Your Stories; Spinning Fictions: Paths Towards the Writing of Stories. Topics

Nik Heftman: Writing for Television Broadcast; Things I’ve Learned the hard way in Broadcast News. Topics:

Beth Hoffman: Why Should Anyone Care About Your Memoir? Workshop your work. Topics

Ann Garvin: Can You Describe Your Novel in Two Sentences?; How to Plot Your Book with Ease; Comedy Writing. Topics

Leigh Michaels: Indie Publishing Isn’t Rocket Science; Our Town; Writing Between the Sexes. Topics

Kyle Munson: Storytelling Basics; Interviewing techniques; Column Writing. Topics

Chuck Offenburger: Interviewing, Writing the story, column, or non-fiction book; Marketing & Promoting your work in this new media age (catchy titles to come!) Topics

Caleb Rainey: The Spoken Word. Topics

Lee Rood: Digging Deep; What’s Investigative Journalism, Anyway? Topics

Andy Ross: First Lines: Querry Letter Workshop; Elements of the Book Proposal; Checklist for the Final Draft – Fiction. Topics

Larry Stone:

Pat Tyrer: Taking the Road Less Traveled!; Bird by Bird: Tacking the Longer Forms of Poetry; Yes, But What Does it Mean? Topics

Panel: How to Start a Substack Column: Bob Leonard, Beth Hoffman, Julie Gammack, Douglas Burns

Panel: Self Publishing

Panel: Social Media Marketing


Panel: Framing a story: when you have to stick to the facts: Nonfiction writing from essay to article to chapter to book. Writing starts with reporting. We will talk about how to find a story, run down the details, and know the difference between reliable information and what you see on the internet. John Dinges taught writing and reporting and headed the radio department at Columbia University.  John Dinges

Panel:  Finding secrets: The basics of investigative reporting and writing. We’ll talk about getting the stories the bad guys want to hide. The methodology of developing sources—be they human or documents about planning the investigation and getting it on paper—oh yes, and how to avoid getting sued. Dinges was a correspondent in South and Central America (Washington Post, NPR) and has written four investigative books using interviews, court testimony, and declassified documents. Examples will be drawn from my work investigating dictatorships and US policy. John Dinges

WATCH THIS SPACE. WE HAVE OVER 30 SPEAKERS AND 70+ TOPICS AND PANELS. THIS PAGE WILL BE UPDATED REGULARLY.