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Wednesday, June 13, 2012

A free teen writers conference and the top 20

by Stephanie Morrill


On Friday (the 15th) registration opens for the NextGen Writers conference! This is a free on-line conference for writers 19 and under 



I am SO excited. Shellie Neumeier puts it all together and she does such a wonderful job of hosting us all. The teaching line up looks awesome. (Many of the names will be familiar to you!) I don't know what everyone else is teaching on, but I'll be talking about the challenges of writing the middle of your book.

I'm also in charge of the contest, which is a backcover copy contest. Should be a lot of fun. The details for it aren't up quite yet, but they will be soon!

And congratulations to those who made the top 20 in last round's contest! (Listed in no particular order. Not even alpha because that would take brain power, which I'm really lacking at the moment.)

Meaghan Ward
P.R. Golden
Savannah Smith
Elsa Huffman
Skye Hoffert
Taylor Copeland
Margaret Paquette
Katie Daniels
Eliza Salinas
Lindsey Bradford
Julie-Anne Hepfner
Rebekah Hart
Elizabeth Ryan
Elyssa Blow
Rachelle Rea
Jessica Staricka
Sierra Bennett
Matthew E.
Laurie J. Curtis
Jenna Blake Morris
MacKenzie Pauline

Way to go everyone!

30 comments:

  1. I have a question...is this conference going to be a webinar?

    Darn, I forgot to enter the writing prompt. <.< I had my piece written out and everything.

    Thanks, Stephanie.

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    Replies
    1. Details are on the conference site, but it's more like a blog.

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  2. Congrats everyone!

    And aw, I'm too old! :( Are there ways to find similar conferences (online, free.) for a slightly older crowd?

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    1. The sad reality of adulthood, Allison, is people expect you to pay for stuff. Stinks, doesn't it?!

      I don't know any off the top of my head. You could try Google...?

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    2. Aww. :( Typical. :P

      Oh, well, after thinking about it, I don't feel like my writing is ready for one, anyway. :)

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    3. I guess that's fair, too. Teens won't always have the money or transport to go to a conference. Adults do(or should, lol!)

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  3. I got the conference bookmarked! Hopefully, I'll remember to join when the time comes.

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  4. I'll be presenting as an author, too! I haven't decided what to write about. Does anyone have any suggestions of what they'd like to hear?

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    Replies
    1. Oh, I know! I've been meaning to ask you on your blog, for Writing Q&A... what do you think makes a book great? You know, makes it go above and beyond, makes it popular, makes it a classic? What do people like to read? And how do we write what they want to read, while writing what we want to write?

      Yeah, it's a confusing question. Mostly I just want to figure out how to write to the best of my ability. :)

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    2. Rachel, I loved the post you did for us on being a teen in adult profession and how to make adults respect you. Maybe you could expand on that...?

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    3. Great ideas! And Margaret, I'll definitely include that in my Q&A. :)

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  5. I haven't had time during the last few months to do the prompts, but congrats everyone!!!

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  6. Yes, congratulations!! <3 I can't wait to see the winners up. They're always fabulous.

    So, an online conference, hm? Sounds interesting. And convenient. How exactly does it work? (Or should I just check the site for details? ;D)

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    Replies
    1. Allison, it works kinda like a blog. Posts will go live at designated times and then the instructor is around for an hour to interact with people in the comments section. There are also a couple of live chats that go on. The site will have more details, but that's the way it worked last year :)

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    2. Ooh, thank you. Sounds brilliant.

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  7. Eeek! I made it! Congratulations to everyone who put their writing out there, whether or not you made the Top 20! It takes guts!

    Also, that online conference was so awesome last year! I'm sure it will be even better this time around! Sign up, ya'll!

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  8. Way to go Becks! You deserve it :)

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  9. Congrats to everybody! :)

    So I have a quick question relating to placing at the end of the year... say you don't enter the writing contests every single time and only once in a while, would you have to enter every single writing contest in order to place at the end of the year? I'm just curious.

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    Replies
    1. That's a good question, Jazmine. Surprisingly, no. It doesn't hurt, of course, to enter more. And some inch their way to the top like that. Others get a couple of first places and a couple honorable mentions and zoom up to the top.

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  10. Oh, yeah, and congrats to all the placers!:)

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  11. Yay!!! I'm so excited! I can't believe that my name is on that list! :) Do you know how many entries there were this time?

    Congrats to everyone else! Can't wait to read them!

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  12. Aaaaaaaahhhh, Go Teen Writers changed! I'll get used to it after a while, I guess.

    Congratulations to all the winners. I can't wait to see the winning entries, they're always so good.

    And for the writing conference, what sort of writing stage do you want the participants to be at? I'm working on my first draft for my first novel, is that okay? Or do you want more experienced writers? And is there a limit to the number of people who can participate?

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    1. Lol, anonymous. It's all surface changes though - I didn't MOVE anything :)

      Regarding the conference, come as you are ... but we don't intend to let you stay that way! And no, there's no limit. It's a lot of fun, and you can be as chatty or as invisible as you want.

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  13. Wow! Congratulations, last round's finalists. Love seeing names I recognize :). As for the conference, Thank you Stephanie for mentioning it and supporting it AND working up the Back Cover Copy Contest (more on that gem on the site Monday:).

    The conference is really easy. Just like Steph said, "classes" are posted every two hours and the teachers hang out to work through prompts, homework, discussion questions or just q&A, depending on their style. Love that Stephanie AND Rachel **waves** are teaching this year. It's an amazing line up. Check it out if you have the chance.

    Best part...you can join in your jammies, you can pick it up a week or two later (if you're on vacation), or you can bookmark your favorite classes to refer to later. BUT you have to register, cause tho it's free, it is password protected (keeps the comment sections safer). We give out the passwords to all who are registered 8/1. Did I mention registrations open tomorrow:D?

    Hope to see some of your familiar avatars and some new ones too:)! Thanks again for doing so much for NextGen, Stephanie!!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for coming by with a fuller explanation, Shellie!

      And I'll definitely be in my jammies :)

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    2. Me, too, but don't tell anyone :D

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