Silver Leos Writing Group
Hosted Writer's Conference, Last Saturday

by: Bobby McDonald

Dr. John Hanners, retired Head of the TAMU-C Department of Mass Media, Communications,
and Theater, was the morning speaker for the conference.

Last Saturday's Silver Leos Writing Conference, hosted by the Silver Leos Writing Group, on the TAMU-C Campus in Commerce, was termed a "huge success" when the event was attended by approximately 40 writers of al genre, from all across Northeast Texas. "We had writers from as far away as Arlington and Longview," exclaimed Silver Leos President, Avon Acker, of Greenville. "We had a great conference and some very knowledgeable speakers, who offered a number of writing and communications tips to all of those who attended!"

The morning speaker was Dr. John Hanners, retired Head of the Department of Mass Media, Communications, and Theater at TAMU-C, who offered a number of writing principles that could be applied to improve presentation and "reader participation" in the storyline. He also delivered a number of "myths" that most have been taught in both high school and college English courses, that do not effect writing......"remember split infinitives? writing must be painful, and never ending a sentence with a preposition!"

Dr. Hanners encouraged writers to develop their own style, adhering to well developed plots, and revealing characters that are believable to the reader. A question and answer session followed Dr. Hanners' outstanding presentation, before the group broke for lunch.

Terry Mathews, Winnsboro native and Arts Editor for the News Telegram, was the
featured presenter, on Saturday afternoon.

The afternoon session, was a presentation by Winnsboro native, and News Telegram Arts Editor, Terry Mathews. Mrs. Mathews shared her ideas on conducting interviews, following a long career in writing book and music reviews. Mathews told the group that she was a member of the elite group of top 100 interviews for Amazon, and about her many experiences involving collecting interview material from musical entertainers and icons. She also shared a number of things she looks for when she receives a book to be reviewed. "I read for a living, and it's nothing unusual for me to read a book in one night!" allowed Mathews. "So, there are some things that you as the author can provide to make that manuscript much more attractive to me!"

Mrs. Mathews also encouraged writers to develop interview skills and to do "homework" before conducting the interview. "You usually have just one shot, at getting a good interview, and the person that you are interviewing can immediately tell if you've studied their material, and done your preparation," expressed Mathews. "However, that's not to say that a good interview will 'take on a personality of its own,' when you begin asking a series of questions and establish a comfortable dialogue with the person your are interviewing. I both record and take extensive notes in my interviews!"

Again, a number of questions surfaced following Mrs. Mathews' presentation, to end the Saturday conference, hosted in the TAMU-C Alumni Building.

The Silver Leos Writing Group meets monthly, on the second Wednesday of each month, and welcomes anyone that is interested in improving and sharing their writing, to come and join them!

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