Youth Writing Contest Opportunity

CONCERN CONTEST
http://www.concern.net/writingcompetition
—
Tell us what you would write to President Obama on one of
these critical global issues: child labor, climate change
and the developing world, world hunger. Your letter can be
in the style of a factual essay or a fictional story. Must
be in English, unpublished, original and unaided. Deadline
March 22, 2009. Three categories:

Junior: Age 12 to 15 – Up to 1,000 words.
Senior: Age 16 to 18 – Up to 1,500 words.
Adult: Age 19+ – Up to 1,500 words.

Prizes awarded in each category with special awards for
the best entries from third-level and community and adult
education sectors. The prizes for last year’s writing
competition included laptops, ipods and subscriptions to
National Geographic Magazine. All of these prizes were
kindly sponsored and we hope to do the same again this year.

Writer’s Space

One question that often comes up in both writer circles and with young writers is: Where do you write? There is even a website devoted to Writer’s Spaces.

For me, the correct answer is I write all over–libraries, dining room table, coffee shops, even basketball games–no, I’m not really writing during the game, but my mind is working….

However, there is a central place in my house that I do “officially” call my Writer’s Space. In my current house, I am lucky to have both a library and an office. The library is downstairs, and the office is upstairs. I like this arrangement because when I have company,  my writing space remains private, while people can “get a glimpse of the writer” by browsing the library.

My writing office is actually not a room, but instead is a loft.  I like this “no room” sensation because it makes me feel like I am not boxed in by four walls.

While I write, my dog usually sleeps on the floor and sometimes the cat sleeps on the small bench.

Here are a few pictures:

Writing Office Loft

Dog and Cat Sleep in the Writing Loft

BizArt Conference

One of the best conferences I have attended was not a writing conference, but a conference about the BUSINESS of being an artist–any artist (writers, dancers, theater people, visual, musicians).

The upcoming BizArt Conference is now accepting registrations. If you can only attend one conference this year, I’d suggest this one! Writing is a lot more than just writing, it’s also about being a small business which includes everything from taxes to finding ways to promote yourself.

Here’s a bit of information about the conference:

BizArt 2-Day Conference on February 20 & 21, 2009
For general BizArt information call ArtsNow at 425.640.1344

BizArt is designed to help artists develop the business savvy they need to pursue their career dreams. Musicians, dancers, designers, photographers, actors, sculptors, painters from crafters to professional artists all have much to gain in this artist friendly, business based learning environment.

This fourth annual conference offers over thirty different workshops and panel discussions, led by artists with business savvy and professionals who work with artists. The sessions will provide information about the business end of being an artist including such topics as marketing and promotion, pricing your work resource development, financial and legal issues and business operations. Regional organizations and agencies working to support artists and small businesses will be on hand to communicate about area resources.