The fourth annual Sacramento State Writers’ Conference brought writers together to share and critique their work.

The conference, hosted by the College of Continuing Education on Aug. 16 and 17, was headlined by Dinah Lenney, author of “Bigger than Life: A Murder, a Memoir.” The event offered writers workshops to assist and further the art of writing. Some of the workshops focused on non-fiction writing, blogging and children’s literature. The workshops were presented by authors, playwrights, bloggers from the local area, Sac State instructors and a publishing agent from Cincinnati, Ohio.

The conference was designed to help beginning and intermediate writers as well as to give guidance to advanced writers, said Amy Ruddell, program manager of the College of Continuing Education. “The workshops and one-on-one meetings with authors allow writers to craft their work,” Ruddell said. “I want the writers to think outside of the box and get out of their comfort zones.” Lenney focused her keynote address on the writing of memoirs. She spoke about finding a personal voice. Her memoir “Bigger than Life: A Murder, a Memoir” discusses her relationship with her politician father who was murdered. “Writing memoirs is about telling the truth as you see it,” Lenney said. She quoted several authors to show how the use of personal voice can bring energy to the writing of a memoir. “The most valuable piece of advice I could give a writer would be to read, read widely across the board, and write, write, write,” she said. “Writing is one of the things where it is the journey that is valuable, not the destination. Many writers get lost when they start focusing on getting published,” Lenney said. During the Saturday morning session, writers were able to pitch book ideas to publishing agents and editors. Last year, a local area amateur writer was picked up by a publishing firm as a result of the meetings with publishers. Dean Hamilton, a local area author of adult fantasy novels, said he would be submitting novels to publishers. Hamilton said he was happy to make the connection with the publishers and to have his work requested by them. Hamilton is currently trying to get into writing children’s fantasy. “It was good to hear some of the things, elements and common elements of children’s literature, and how the structure is similar to adult fantasy literature. It will help me to plot out some of the stories,” Hamilton said.

Paul Valentine, a local writer, said he learned that more authors are now self-publishing. Valentine said the workshop helped to expose the pitfalls of the commercial publishing world. “I have questioned whether I really care about the commercial publishing route,” Valentine said. “I think I would like to put something between two covers. I got a lot of really good ideas.” Judie Fertig Panneton, the presenter of the workshop “Get Out of Your Own Way and Get Your Writing Published,” said persistence and passion are essential to overcoming the obstacles to getting published. “If you write, you are a writer,” Panneton said. “It is important to recognize that writing is a unique gift. We are all entitled to dream big.” Elizabeth Hagan, a writer from San Jose, was in attendance for the second year in a row. Hagan said she learned from Panneton that there are many ways to reduce the stress of writing including taking a walk, thinking about the colors blue and green, taking a swim, or even writing a thank-you note. “I was able to feel more confident about my writing after attending the workshop,” Hagan said. “The presenter said that it is not uncommon for people to feel that they can’t write or that their writing is not good enough and she gave some very helpful advice to regenerate my confidence.” Melinda Lauten, a Sacramento-area writer, also found inspiration in the workshop. “She explained that rejection happens to everyone, and to not take it personal,” Lauten said. Local poet Frank Graham attended a workshop focusing on nature writing. Graham said he was inspired to do more nature writing after the workshop. “The presenter spoke about the fear that some people have when in nature, and I think that fear is something to consider. Maybe there are things out there that we have to worry about,” Graham said. “It leads me to deeper thoughts about how those fears take us away from the peacefulness that is in nature.” Bill Pieper, a member of the Writers’ Conference Advisory Committee, said the conference went very smoothly this year. Pieper said the conference had been shortened from three days to two, both to save on overhead costs and to reduce costs to writers. Planning the event, Pieper said, is a major endeavor. “The temptation is always to go for the highest profile name for the keynote speaker, but this limits how much money is available for the workshop presenters,” Pieper said. He said Lenney, while not being a particularly well-known name, was a perfect keynote speaker. “She drew a good audience, was an excellent speaker, and allowed for the college to bring in good writers to fill in behind her.” For next summer’s conference, Ruddell said she would like to see a larger student involvement. Ruddell said the lack of students may have been because the conference was held at the end of summer, when a lot of students are on vacation. “We will be reaching out to the departments on campus to draw more students,” Ruddell said. “We are also thinking about offering campus credits for students who attend.” Derek Fleming can be reached at [email protected]