Diane LeBow & Laurie McAndish King Teach at Central Coast Writers Conference — Sept. 17-18

Diane LeBow and Laurie McAndish King will teach three classes at the Central Coast Writers Conference in San Luis Obispo in September.  Diane says these would be especially good for “budding travel writers or those wanting to update skills — as well spend a few stimulating days with other writers in the lovely San Luis Obispo area.”  Their classes, as described in the brochure, are:

Jumpstart your Writing with Travel

Expand your travel experiences—whether a sumptuous meal, a sunset on the Sahara, or a conversation with a local—to write destination or adventure articles, food and wine reviews, political pieces, memoir, and even fiction. We’ll explore tricks of the trade: from pre-trip research and note-taking tips through capturing scenes and hooking your story; all the way to post-trip productivity. Learn the 7 essential items in a travel writer’s toolkit and more than 30 publishing venues.

Travel Writing — From the Road to the Page

Like creating a delicious soup from many ingredients, turning your notes and memories into a well-crafted piece of writing takes both creativity and planning. We’ll explore angles, leads, and kickers; structure and pace; uses of conflict; voice and point of view; epiphany and sensory imagery; revision; and much more. Learn the 7 essential elements of a great travel story, 20 types of plots, and 10 types of closes.

Marketing, Publishing, and New Media

Explore the dynamic world of blogs, tweets, and vooks. We’ll cover online resources, websites, blogging, FaceBook, social networking, podcasting, and self-publishing. Learn to plan your blog, develop your niche, strengthen your platform, write for the web and drive traffic to your site, and brand yourself. Develop an action plan to make new media work for you. Learn 10 tips for better blogging and 8 steps to successful self-publishing.

26th annual Central Coast Writers Conference
San Luis Obispo, CA
September 17-18, 2010
Register before July 29 for $129
http://www.facebook.com/CentralCoastWritersConference