2015 Willamette Writers Conference

It can be said that all writing is about travel: the transportation between one place and another; between one state of mind and another place of being; or between hither and yon, then and there, or even between good and bad. And good travel writing is about much more than just travel. It’s about good writing, an extension of the writer’s own history that takes the reader to a new world and beyond.

This workshop will examine and discuss examples of effective writing and the mechanics and magic of describing place in both fiction and non-fiction to help participants improve their overall writing skills and powers of descriptive framing. Attendees with engage in exercises and group critiques that center on how to write about a place - fantasy or factual - and craft descriptions that lure, inspire, and take your reader on the intended journey. This workshop will help improve your powers of description; capture your reader in a web of words; and help your reader discover, move forward, and finish in a way that changes them.

Bring a short place description that curled your toes from a favorite writer – and be prepared to write a short transportive piece to share with the group!