Who knew we already knew?

I recently attended Saturday Writers monthly meeting and it was fantastic! This chapter of the Missouri Writers Guild is growing by leaps and bounds. With membership close to 100, the group lives up to its motto “Writers Encouraging Writers.”  Saturday Writers, formed in 2002, celebrates the craft of writing and the creative process, allows for networking opportunities, and inspires writers to meet their individual goals. 

This past weekend, our speaker was Mrs. Margo Dill - author, teacher, editor, mother, and all-around go-to gal. I was excited to hear Margo speak, especially since her focus in on children’s literature. She did not disappoint! Using the 6+1 traits of writing as her framework, she reminded us that everything we need to know as writers, we already learned in school.  Now we just need to focus on tweaking that to meet our needs as adult writers. I loved her honesty and candor, mixed with fantastic wit, about the writing  process. 

Even though I am familiar with the 6+1 process as an educator, I still found myself taking copious notes. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I struggle with voice when writing. Mrs. Dill addressed this area at length, never sugar-coating but also encouraging. She used examples from her own work but also pulled in work from other authors. 

 If you are looking for a great speaker, for children or adults, I would highly recommend Mrs. Margo Dill. She recently published her middle-grade novel Finding My Place and works at WOW! Women on Writing. Great job, once again, Saturday Writers on another superb meeting and for encouraging this writer to write!

Photo Credits: Saturday Writers (top photo), White Mane Publishing (bottom photo)