High school students had the opportunity to visit Canyon Crest Academy on Feb. 21 to attend a free writers’ conference put together by the school’s Creative Writing Club.  More than 20 authors held workshops throughout the day, inspiring and offering advice to young writers.

“I love doing events like this,” said author Michelle Gagnon who ran a session devoted to creating and improving a trilogy. “I love talking to young and aspiring writers.  I feel like I always come away learning something too.”

“I usually agree to do things like this because when you’re a writer you spend a lot of time sitting at your desk inside your own head and you don’t often get to meet people who actually read,” said author Greg Van Eekhout, who ran a workshop  titled “Seeing the World Through Your Characters Eyes.”  “It’s good to get out and meet people who are engaged and doing what you are doing.”

After a brief welcoming and a presentation by keynote speaker and New York Times bestselling author Jonathon Maburry, attendees were able to visit six different sessions of their choice. Halfway through the day, lunch was provided for the students by Chipotle, one of the events’ sponsors.  The workshops themselves ranged from developing complex characters to writing for television to mastering spoken word poetry. Each author who led a workshop walked the students through the fundamentals of their particular topic, providing their personal advice and anecdotes.

“Not giving up [is the most important part of writing],” said Gagnon. “My advice to people is to always write the entire book as fast as you can; don’t worry about typos, don’t worry about mistakes and know that you’re going to have to go back through and edit that book anywhere between five to 20 times.  Just persevere and don’t give up.”

“Read, read, read a lot and then write, write, write a lot,” said author Kasie West. A young adult romance novelist, she gave a presentation regarding the common traps to avoid when constructing with love triangles. “I mean the more you practice the better you’re going to get and the more you read the more you’re going to understand story concept and the genre you’re working in and what works for the genre you’re working in.”

The conference ended with a special appearance from Taylor Williamson, comedian and former runner up on “America’s Got Talent,” who spoke about comedy writing. “I think it’s really amazing,” he said, “that in being a writer you can take bad experiences that anyone else would be sad about and, to you, they’re gifts.”