Writers of all ages from around Prince William came together to share their knowledge of writing and publishing at the Write By the Rails (WBTR) first Rising Writers Workshop, which was held this Saturday at Trinity Episcopal Church in Old Town Manassas just two blocks west of the train station.
The event was organized to give young writers a chance to learn from local published authors; it was also an opportunity for the young writers to mentor each other.
“It’s the first time that we’ve done this. We had 42 students who came, and they seemed to be enjoying it,” said organizer June Forte of WBTR.
Forte thanked the community for the overwhelming support the writing organization received, which made it possible for them to raffle off restaurant gift cards and even an iPod to one lucky young writer.
Patriot student Lynna Sosa said her mom found out about the event and encouraged her to participate. Sosa said she writes mainly fan fiction, but was inspired to attend a poetry workshop.
“I was interested in all of the different writing styles I could learn from these authors,” Sosa said.
The event began at 10 a.m. with coffee, tea, or hot cocoa and time for the students and writers to either settle in or network with each other.
At 11 a.m., the student writers got to choose between a panel about publishing or poetry. The panels featured published authors from Prince William, Manassas, Richmond and Charlottesville.
The publishing panel discussed the pros and cons of self-publishing verses pitching their work to a big name publishing company. Panelists seemed to be in agreement that if authors do choose to self-publish, they should take the extra care to make sure their book is ready to be published.
Students said the thoughtful advice changed their perceptions of self-publishing.
“Self publishing isn’t a very bad resort,” Woodbridge writing student Saleha Malik said she learned from the panel. “It just comes with some conditions. You don’t want to publish it if it’s just not good enough.”
In the poetry panel, Sara Crossland told students to read literary journals to learn which ones match their style. She said not to take rejection letters personally - just because one journal doesn't appreciate the work, doesn't mean all would agree.
However, she warned that not all journals publish “emerging writers” even though most claim that they do.
After lunch, students moved on to workshops. The most popular workshop, Science Fiction and Fantasy, was led by authors Robert Scott (“The Eldarn Series: Hickory Staff,” “15 Miles” and “Asbury Park”), and the husband-wife team Nick Kelly (“Leon Catwalk Caliber) and Stacia Kelly (“the Goddess Chronicles”).
In that session, students were asked to use an antique postcard with a message to a woman named Mabel from a friend saying she is no longer angry with her as the prompt for their sci-fi or fantasy stories.
Taylor Petty, a sophomore at Woodbridge, said she learned a lot about character development from the workshop. Petty said Scott taught her that “a good way to formulate a character is to think of the problem and then think of the person who would deal with it.”
In another room, Woodbridge students taught their fellow young writers about the different type of punk literary genres that were spawned by Sci-Fi - everything from steam punk, to splatter punk like “Dexter,” or cyber-punk like “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?”
Downstairs, writers engaged in writing and the arts workshops, as they made origami that combined art with the written word, and used Van Gogh paintings as inspiration for poetry.
A student-run seminar in the next room advised the young writers how to include alternative rhyming devices to their free verse poems, such as alliteration, slant rhyme or onomatopoeia.
Afterward the workshop sessions ended, student writers were invited to come to the podium to read their poetry open-mic style, while WBTR volunteer Jan Rayl called out raffle numbers for writers to come up and accept their prizes.
The adults present during the student readings admitted to being stunned by the skill and talent of the young writers.
Organizer Linda Johnston said she found the “level of sophistication” that the Woodbridge creative writing students showed in their writing to be “amazing.”
Robert Scott agreed.
“What a testament to Cathy Hailey and Woodbridge Senior High School. They are three touch downs better than I was when I was 17,” he said.
Writers said they were happy to volunteer their time for the event.
“I’m born and raised in Prince William County,” said Stacia Kelly, “and I’ve been writing all my life. I wanted to be able to interact with young authors, as I was once one.”
Johnston said the workshop accomplished all the goals that WBTR had for it.
“It’s our first event, so I’m excited that so many people were interested in coming. The kids were really engaged,” she said.
Johnston said they are definitely planning on holding the event again next year, and hope to invite even more adults to participate, so students and adults could learn side by side.
Writers who participated in the event included Garrett Carlson, Sara Crossland, June Forte, Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt, Matt Iden, Cathy Hailey, Zan Hailey, Kelly Harman, Linda Johnston, Nick Kelly, Stacia Kelly, Jane Fullerton Lemons, Jan Rayl, Sara Robinson, Robert Scott, Stacy Shaw and Dan Verner.
Student presenters included Lindsey Barszcz, Phebe Cimeny, Rachel Hanley, Saleha Malik, Erin McCall, Jack McLain, Jasmine Murray, Renee Ordoobadi, Jahnessa Palmer, Paige Pielmeier, Maria Schleh and Shirley Shields.
Community support came from Prince William County Tackett’s Mill in Occoquan with a donation of a mini-iPad, Alyssa Byrn, Art Smart, Ashby’s Jeweler, BJ’s Wholesale Club in Woodbridge, Bobby’s Burger Palace, Creative Brush Art Studio, City Square Café, City Tavern, Foster’s Grill, Grounds Central Station, Mackey’s, Office Depot in Dale City, Okra’s, Opera Gourmet House, P.F. Chang’s at Potomac Town Center, Prospero’s Books, The Things I Love, TGI Fridays Woodbridge, and Wegmans in Woodbridge.
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