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THE TWENTY-EIGHTH ANNUAL YOUNG AUTHORS CONFERENCE
Write On Time
March 16, 2015
Dear Young Author,
Congratulations on being named an outstanding young author! This year’s
Young Authors Conference Write On Time has been designed to honor and
encourage you as a writer.
At this conference you will have the unique opportunity to work with
professional writers and editors from diverse fields who will share their
experience and skills with you. Each presenter is here to help you improve
your writing by giving you insight into the ways professional writers work.
We hope you enjoy the conference and the opportunity to meet outstanding
young writers from other high schools. But even more, we hope you will
continue to commit yourself to the art and craft of writing, recognizing the
power of written language to explore thinking, explain feelings and beliefs,
and to tell your stories.
Sincerely,
Cathy Greenwood & Fred Ende
C O N F E R E N C E C O O R D I N AT O R S
FOR REGISTRATION INFORMATION, PLEASE GO TO:
http://www.pnwboces.org/cesar/YAC/Young_Authors_Welcome.htm
Write On Time
AGENDA
8:30 – 9:00 AM Registration in Pace Lobby
9:05 – 9:25 AM
Welcome - Auditorium 206 & Room 204
• Fred Ende - P/NW BOCES
• Deborah Poe - Pace University
• Cathy Greenwood - P/NW BOCES
9:30 – 9:40 AM
Pick up refreshments in Room 208 on your way
to 1st session
• After picking up refreshments, head to
first workshop
• Wait outside room until presenter arrives
9:40 – 11:10 AM
Workshop Session I
11:20 – 12:50 PM
Workshop Session II
1:00 – 1:45 PM
Catered Lunch
• Pick up lunch in Room 208
• Eat in Rooms 204, 306, 308, 310, 311, 312,
313, 314, 316, 318
• Make sure chaperone/presenter is in room first
Special thanks to…
Pace University Graduate Center, White Plains, New York
For Hosting the Young Authors’ Conference
1.
Keeping It Real in YA Literature: What’s Changed, What’s Next & How Your Writing Can Be A Part of It!
– Sangeeta Mehta
2.
Find Your Authentic Voice – Rachel M. Simon
3.
Breaking Bad: Writing Well While Breaking Writing Conventions – Tony Monchinski
4.
How to squeeze 400,000,000 seconds of life into 650 words (or how to write a college essay)
– Wendy Siegelman
5.
Think Like a Screenwriter – Darrel Swann
6.
Novel Ways To Write Your Own Novel – Vin Dacquino
7.
Character Is Action: Let Your Characters Speak for Themselves - Scott Johnson
8.
Grab Life with Poetry – Chris Hansen-Nelson
9.
Just Shoot, Stab, Strangle, Smother or Poison Me: Writing the Murder Mystery – Alan Beechey
10. Writing From Art: Ekphrastic Writing – Alicia Zadrozny
11. Play With Words: Writing Scripts – Gabrielle Fox
12. I’m Not Writing About YOU. I’m Not Writing about ME. Or Maybe I Am. – Kim Purcell
13. A Modern Tale of Horror - Diane Sarna
Keeping it Real in YA Literature: What’s Changed, What’s Next
& How Your Writing Can Be a Part of It!
Presenter: Sangeeta Mehta
A few years ago, the young adult series Twilight rocked the publishing world. Then came The
Hunger Games and Divergent. But are vampires and dystopian societies gone for good? Are more
realistic, heartrending novels like John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars and Gayle Forman’s If I Stay
here to stay? In this workshop, we will talk about what’s making headlines in YA literature today.
We will also discuss the steps involved in turning a concept into a manuscript and then eventually
into a published book. Every book begins with an idea. During the free writing exercise, you will
brainstorm ideas and share them with your peers. You will also learn the basics of writing a query
letter, which is a pitch that aspiring authors use to approach publishers. S.E. Hinton, Christopher
Paolini, and Beth Reekles were all teenagers when they were first published. Although it isn’t easy
to get a book deal, it doesn’t hurt to try, and it’s never too early to start writing!
Sangeeta Mehta has been an acquiring
editor at both Little, Brown Books for
Young Readers (the children’s division of
Hachette Book Group) and Simon Pulse
(the teen paperback division of Simon &
Schuster). At Little, Brown, she worked with
debut and bestselling authors. At Simon
Pulse, she acquired and edited commercial
fiction and non-fiction and ran two
paperback series. She currently consults
on book projects for corporate and
independent book publishers, boutique
literary agencies, and individual writers.
Ms. Mehta earned her MA in comparative
literature from UCLA and loves to help
young writers hone their craft and learn
more about the book publishing field.
Her website is :
www.mehtabookeditingnewyork.com
Find Your Authentic Voice
Presenter: Rachel M. Simon
Writers of every age are forever struggling to find their
own authentic voices. We take risks when we write and
again when we share our work with any audience. Think
of how you are moved when you read a poem or a novel
written by someone who obviously struggled with the
subject matter and took care in exactingly crafting their
work. In this workshop we will explore ways of voicing our
authentic selves in a way that doesn’t sound like anybody
else. By trusting in our vulnerability and inhabiting the
parts of ourselves that are different from everyone else we
will generate a few short pieces of writing that work to get
at something genuine. We will work in every genre, limited
only by the short amount of time we have together.
Rachel M. Simon is the author of two poetry collections,
Theory of Orange and Marginal Road. She is the Assistant
Director of Multicultural Affairs & Diversity Programs and
LGBTQQ Coordinator at Pace University in Pleasantville.
She also teaches courses on writing film, and gender
studies at Pace University, Poets House, Sarah Lawrence
College, and Bedford Hills Maximum Security Prison’s
College Program.
Breaking Bad: Writing Well While
Breaking Writing Conventions
Presenter: Tony Monchinski
There would probably be a sea of red teacher ink on a high school English assignment handed back to
Margaret Atwood, Cormac McCarthy, June Jordan or Kevin Powers. Yet these authors, recognized as
established or emerging masters in their art, routinely flaunt, violate or seemingly ignore ”the rules” in
the service of their craft.
What we recognize as “grammatically correct” or “standard English” reflects choices and value
judgments, not the mirroring of some perfect grammatical form (in Plato’s sense). In this workshop, we’ll
look at a variety of excerpts from these authors and others. We’ll consider how they violate the rules; the
why and how of how they do it; and decide whether or not we—as readers—think what they’re doing
works. We’ll also craft and share our own nonstandard passages, discussing and critiquing one another’s
work in small groups and as a whole workshop.
Tony Monchinski, PhD, a high school Special Ed. teacher, is the author of 18 books, including the novels
Eden (Simon & Schuster), Little Birds (Permuted Press) and ‘skill (Post Hill Press).
How to Squeeze 400,000,000 Seconds of Life Into 650 Words
(Commonly Known As How to Write A College Essay)
Presenter: Wendy Siegelman
Condensing an entire
life into one page is like
writing the caption for your
high school yearbook photo or
fitting a review of War and Peace
in a tweet. What do you highlight?
Where do you start? This workshop
will cover some college essay basics, like
what it is, why it matters, and some helpful
dos & don’ts. You’ll look at examples of essays
that worked and discuss how they hook your
attention. You’ll write and stir up the creative
juices and come up with a few good ideas (maybe
even some great ones) for your essay topic. You’ll tell
your inner critic to take a break while you write some
crazy opening sentences. You can share what you wrote
and bounce ideas around the room. Writing a college essay
may be hard, but it can be fun. The essay has a word limit, but
your imagination doesn’t.
Wendy Siegelman is Chief Operating Office of iCouldBe.org a non-profit that provides online mentoring to atrisk youth, where she developed a curriculum to help high school students prepare for college and career plans.
Wendy developed news web sites at Dow Jones, was Director of Marketing at the American Stock Exchange,
and co-owner and Executive Publisher of Art Asia Pacific Magazine. She graduated from Vassar College with a
B.A. in Studio Art and is the mom of a college freshman.
Think Like a Screenwriter
Presenter: Darrel Swann
This hands-on workshop will introduce young writers to the art of screenwriting. Through a range of
activities, including exploration of the screenplay format, viewing film clips, and writing exercises,
students will practice some of the key components of successful screenwriting: detail, dialogue, story,
and character.
Darrel Swann is a member of the Jacob Burns Film Center’s Education Faculty. He teaches
Experiments in Media, Projects in Media, Screenwriting, and MyTube for students ages
eight and up at the JBFC’s Media Arts Lab. Darrel is an avid and experienced
screenwriter. The JBFC is a nonprofit cultural arts center dedicated to:
presenting the best of independent, documentary, and world cinema;
promoting 21st century literacy; and making film a vibrant
part of the community.
Novel Ways To Write Your Own Novel
Presenter: Vin Dacquino
Are you ready to think outside the box? How can you compete with the
saturated novel market and still adhere to all the things that make a good
book great? How does a writer package stories about everyday real life and
still create signature pieces? Bring in your novel ideas and let’s see if we can
help make them a little less ordinary.
Vin Dacquino is the author of the recently released novels, EMAILS TO A
PARANORMAL: The Diary Poems of Damien Darrk and MARY LOVED DAISIES: The
Diary Poems of Jim E. Lhyte.
Character Is Action: Let Your Characters Speak for Themselves
Presenter: Scott Johnson
Get beyond clichéd and
contrived plots by letting
your characters loose! This
workshop, tailored for fiction
writers and dramatists, will
focus on ways to perceive
the conflicts that rest in
every literary character.
Scott Johnson will guide you
through exercises designed
to help you build interesting
and involving plots through
these conflicts.
Scott Johnson is the
author of several novels
for young adults. His most
recent, Safe at Second,
was named to the School
Library Journal “Best Books
of 1999” list and selected
as one of the American
Library Association’s “Best
Books for Young Adults
2000.” His previous novels
are One of the Boys and
Overnight Sensation. Mr.
Johnson is Department
Chair and teaches English at
Pleasantville High School.
Grab Life with Poetry
Presenter: Chris Hansen–Nelson
In this workshop we will write, write, write, examining and
discussing poems of reflection and engagement, as well as
using writing exercises to loose the uncritical eye.
Confront your life. Poetry can be a microscope/
kaleidoscope in this time of all too often
synthetic experience. Writing can force
the writer into concrete confrontation
with the self in the specific moment,
demanding fresh observation and
honest individual investigation that
reflects the writer as one individual
at one point in time. Right here, right
now, you will write, read, and discuss
poetry that will grab onto your life.
The majority of time will be spent
writing and sharing work.
Chris Hansen-Nelson came to poetry
after long careers as a professional actor
and director. Chris earned his MFA in poetry
from Sarah Lawrence College in 2006. While
there, he worked primarily with Stephen Dobyns
and D. Nurkse. He was also a member of the student
organizing committee of the Sarah Lawrence Poetry
Festival in 2005 and 2006 - the largest free poetry festival
on the East Coast. Chris has published in journals, anthologies
and newspapers and has won awards for his writing including
the Herbert J. Rubin Prize from the Gallatin Review. His work last
appeared in the journal Storyscape. Most recently, he worked with
Jean Valentine.
Just Shoot, Stab, Strangle, Smother or Poison Me:
Writing the Murder Mystery
Presenter: Alan Beechey
Now that a little dab of DNA can identify
a murderer faster than you can say
“Elementary, my dear Watson,” is there
any future for the amateur sleuth, the
consulting detective, the wise-cracking
gumshoe, or the world-weary cop on the
beat? This workshop will take a look at
the elements of the mystery novel, help
you tell a whodunit from a howdunit
from a whydunit, and explore ways to
build suspense and bamboozle the
audience. What does it take to make
your characters live and breathe on
the page – and occasionally stop
breathing on the next page? How do you
avoid the clichés of the genre? And just
how can a great mystery also be a great
novel? Come to the session
with crimes in mind, and
get a clue or two.
Alan Beechey is the author of a
series of mysteries featuring
children’s author and amateur
detective Oliver Swithin. His latest
novel, This Private Plot, will be published
this May by Poisoned Pen Press, along
with new paperback editions of his
earlier titles An Embarrassment of
Corpses and Murdering Ministers. He
is also the co-author of a recent nonfiction book on American culture and
values. For his alibi, Alan claims to be
a writer and consultant on employee
communications. He grew up in London
and appropriated his two psychology
degrees from Oxford University.
Writing from Art: Ekphrastic Writing
Presenter: Alicia Zadrozny
ek•phra•sis: Such a complex and archaic
word to describe a simple way to find
inspiration for poems, stories, and essays.
This workshop will examine how and
why writers look to other works of art to
start their own. Students will get inspired
from (visual) art forms in class and then
begin their own masterpieces. We will
also examine how viewing art is a great
way to find topics, characters, plots, and
more. Students should expect to start
filling up their writer’s notebooks, blogs,
or even perhaps write the first chapter of
a novel after attending this workshop.
Alicia Zadrozny has worked in local
journalism, educational publishing,
and children’s book publishing. She
was the editor for Current Health
Kids and the writing editor for READ,
both publications of Weekly Reader
publishing. She holds a Master of Arts
in Writing degree from Manhattanville
College in Purchase, N.Y. While studying
for her MAW, she served as the
managing editor of Inkwell, a literary
journal produced by students of the
program. Now as a freelance writer she is
constantly on the hunt for good stories.
Play With Words: Writing Scripts
Presenter: Gabrielle Fox
Plays are exactly like playing! Theatre
is live and needs to get right into the
action in the moment. You’ll learn how
to jump into writing a play by making
characters jump off the page and onto
the stage. We will start with one page
plays to demonstrate structure and
answer the critical questions: who
wants what and what gets in the way?
These questions are the building blocks
of writing a play scene by scene. Let’s
get “write” to the action!
Gabrielle Fox is an award winning
playwright who has had her plays
produced throughout New York City
and in Westchester, Putnam, and
Orange Counties. Theatres include the
American Theatre of Actors, Baruch
Performing Arts Center, The Gene
Frankel Theatre, Blueberry Pond Theatre
Ensemble and the Axial Theatre. Her
most recent play “The Home” won
awards for outstanding playwriting and
overall production in the 2014 Planet
Connections Theatre Festivity where
she also won an activist award for her
fundraising efforts for the Alzheimer’s
Association. She is a member of the
Dramatists Guild and recently returned
from Italy on a playwright retreat with
La MaMa Umbria.
I’m Not Writing About YOU. I’m Not Writing about ME.
Or Maybe I Am.
Presenter: Kim Purcell
Sometimes real life is more interesting than fiction. You have crazy, strange, scary people in your
life and you’d like to write about them, but you don’t want them to feel offended. Or you’d like to
write about that thing that happened to your best friend which was really, really embarrassing.
(Maybe it actually happened to you??) Perhaps you want to write about something that you don’t
want anyone else to know about. Or you want to write about your math teacher who is always
picking at something on his head, but you’d rather not get suspended.
What do you do? In this workshop, novelist Kim Purcell will help you take your true stories and
turn them into fiction and she’ll help you take your fiction and add some real life to it, so that
both your fiction and your true stories will resonate in a more powerful way.
Kim Purcell started out as a radio and television reporter, but decided early on that what she
really wanted to do was write fiction and teach writing. She started writing her first novel and
moved to Los Angeles, where she worked as a freelance journalist, taught English as a Foreign
Language, and ran writing workshops for an organization called WriteGirl. In 2012, her first young
adult novel, Trafficked, was published by Penguin. She’s been working on her next novel and
running writing workshops for teens around the country.
A Modern Tale of Horror
Presenter: Diane Sarna
SCENARIO: You have answered an ad
for writing retreat participants and
have unwittingly fallen into a scenario
straight out of Survivor. The host of
this so-called retreat withholds heat,
electricity and food. As the storytellers
grow more and more desperate, their
tales become more extreme.
This workshop is not for wimps. If you
love a good horror story or film, but
never knew how to get started with
your own, consider yourself invited
to this workshop. You will leave with
a handful of nasty characters and
possibly a few inner demons- fully
prepared to take a stab at your own
work of horror.
Diane Sarna teaches English at Fox
Lane High School in Bedford, New
York. A 30-foot-long dragon kite floats
above her students’ heads as a daily
reminder that there is always space
for creative writing in her classes.
When she is not planning Fox Lane
High School’s annual writing retreat
weekend or open mic, she may be
found building homes in Nicaragua,
hiking with her dog Gibson, or singing
off-key to her favorite country tune.
Most of her writing focuses on family
and her 25+ years of teaching.