A Day Apart -- WOW!

Last Saturday, July 30, 2011, Donna and Jean met with seven eager Write2Igniters. We spent a day apart from our everyday lives, a day revising one of our manuscripts, a day apart to see those manuscripts in fresh, new ways.

Each participant came armed with her best manuscript, her laptop and flash drive, and a willingness to learn from each other.

By the time we parted ways we were all inspired, informed, a few steps farther down the road than when we came, and totally exhausted!

Brain work is hard work, folks! But everyone agreed that the day was a smashing success.

We listened and questioned, reasoned and critiqued.

We polished and thought, and critiqued again.

We brain-stormed and revised, and critiqued some more.

We punched our little keyboards and flashed our little flash drives.

We printed, then critiqued again!

It was tiring but fun and profitable. And to top it off, we made some wonderful new friends.

Thanks, Camilla and Carol, Rosemary and Joan, Caroline, Angela and Kavitha. You made the day worthwhile.

Maybe we’ll have another A Day Apart in a locale near you.

And maybe, just maybe, YOU will join us.

We sure hope so.

Remember our Write2Ignite! Conference 2012 – March 16-17, 2012 at North Greenville University

ANNOUNCEMENT: SUMMER WORKSHOP with WRITE2IGNITE!

Write2Ignite! Conference for Christian Writers of Children’s (and Youth’s) Literature Presents:

A Day Apart on July 30, 2011

We love to write, right? We love children; we love Jesus; we love the Bible; and we absolutely love to write to, and for, and about them all.

But how many of us dread re-writing? How many of us procrastinate with every possible excuse for not revisiting our manuscripts and making changes – BIG changes – that can make our stories stronger, better? Maybe we realize that we need to make some drastic changes, but we don’t know where to start? Or, perhaps our manuscripts are complete. Maybe we have received critical feedback from other writers, an agent or editor. But something still isn’t quite right.

Could it be that our stories need more than revising? Could they need a total re-visioning?


A Day Apart is designed with those manuscripts in mind. It’s not another conference. It’s not a writer’s retreat. And it’s not just a workshop. It’s more than a critique group or a writer’s group. A Day Apart is bits of all these things rolled into one day. It is A Day Apart for us to focus on revision, and on helping each other perform radical surgery on ailing manuscripts.


Great writers soon learn that as we help each other we help ourselves. So we’ve designed A Day Apart to be an opportunity for all of us to do just that. We’ll work together in small groups, critique partnerships, and a large group to brainstorm new ways to look at old manuscripts. Then we’ll work individually to make radical changes and give new life to those stories.


On Saturday, July 30, 2011, Write2Ignite! Team members Donna Earnhardt, Jill Lord and Jean Hall will lead a limited number of participants in A Day Apart. It will be a day to rethink the way we look at revision.

Donna, Jill and Jean will lay out some effective principles of revision by looking at critical elements (not grammar and mechanics, folks) in our stories. They will share their experiences revising their own manuscripts. We’ll all look at suggestions and checklists from experts and apply those to our stories that very day.


For A Day Apart we will meet at First Baptist Church of Indian Trail (off Hwy 74 near Charlotte, North Carolina) where we’ll have plenty of room to spread out and work. We’ll share a tasty lunch and the good company of other children’s writers.

Participants should come prepared to learn from each other, to re-work one of their own manuscripts, and to give and receive honest feedback.

The cost for A Day Apart is $45 – Lunch, supplies (printer and paper, hand-outs, pens and highlighters) included. We’ll even have a few door prizes! Does A Day Apart sound like something you need for one of your manuscripts? Think about it. Pray about it. But don’t wait too long because A Day Apart is limited to 25 participants.



A Day Apart – Preparations

Complete the Registration Form. Mail it with the $45 Registration Fee to Write2Ignite! at 5707 Fairvista Dr., Charlotte, NC 28269.

We must receive your forms and fees no later than July 23, 2011.

E-mail your manuscript to Write2Ignite@jeanmatthewhall.com BEFORE July 23, 2011.

Bring three (3) hard copies of your manuscript (double spaced), your laptop (preferably with the battery charged) and a flash drive with your manuscript(s) saved to it. Each manuscript should be a completed draft of a picture book, an easy reader, an early chapter book or part of a mid-grade work (no more than 2000 words).

Your manuscript should be one that you think is complete, and that you have put aside and not read at all for at least one full week before the event.

Bring a teachable spirit and a heart ready to help other writers learn and practice re-visioning techniques.
Please pray for Donna, Jill and Jean, and for the Lord to use this time to help all of us to sharpen our re-writing skills so that we can move forward on the Lord’s path for our writing.

We hope to see you on July 30, 2011.

For immediate download:

http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/2892597/registration-form-rev-pdf-june-20-2011-10-38-am-53k?da=y

“Plans fail when there is no counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.” Proverbs 15:22 HCSB














Don't forget: Write2Ignite! Conference 2012 – March 16-17, 2012 at North Greenville University