Virginia Writers' Workshop & Critique-a-Thon

Thursday - Friday, May 15-16, 2008

4-6 p.m. THURSDAY
Apply tools of clear, narrative writing to your clips and story ideas with veteran writing coach Kate Long. Writers of all experience levels will leave with fresh ideas about ways they can stamp out convoluted writing and inject new life into their own stories. Write fiction, poems, or any other form in your spare time? Long, also an award-winning reporter, radio producer and songwriter,  says these same tools do great things for any kind of writing. Please bring a story idea and 2-3 of your clips, including at least one you're not satisfied with. You'll use them to analyze your own writing during the session. If you forget your clips, Kate will have some you can use.
 

West Virginia native Kate Long has worked as a media writing coach for more than 20 years. Based at the Charleston Gazette, she has visited dozens of papers in the U.S. and Canada and has presented seminars at conferences sponsored by the National Writers Workshop, Poynter, APME, API, the Freedom Forum and others. Long holds an Master’s degree in education from The George Washington University and a bachelor’s degree in English from West Virginia University.
 
 
 
 

9:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. FRIDAY
The Multimedia Litmus Test: Changing the Storytelling Process from Within and Choosing the Best Tools for the Job

Ted Anthony, an editor with The Associated Press, will be the keynote presenter for the 2008 Writers’ Workshop, to include three mini-workshops:
• “Word and Image, Perfect Together:  Breaking Down the Wall Between the Verbal and the Visual”
• “A Multimedia Reporter's Toolkit: 10 Things You Absolutely Must Have (and Not All of Them Are Gadgets)”
• “Small Can be Beautiful, Too: Telling Stories on Miniature Canvases and Saving Time for the Big Things” 
 

Ted Anthony is an editor with The Associated Press. Anthony joined the AP in 1992 in Charleston, W.Va., after two years with The Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pa. He worked in AP's Philadelphia bureau, the international desk and as a national writer.
 
 
 
 
 
 

CRITIQUE-A-THON ALL DAY FRIDAY
Reporters frequently ask for critiques of their work to help them become better journalists, but there are few opportunities to sit down with an editor ­ especially one who doesn’t work at your newspaper ­ to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of a batch of stories.

A handful of seasoned professionals from throughout Virginia will be on hand for a full day to conduct one-on-one critique sessions with reporters. These one-hour critiques will be scheduled by appointment only. Reporters are required to e-mail no more than five clips representing their best work and a range of writing. Slots are limited, so clips must be received by VPA no later than May 1, or appointment will be cancelled. E-mail clips to kimw@vpa.net