Jessica Handler led a session on using sensory details in writing to make characters come alive
We shared our favorite techniques using what we’re currently writing as our material for organizing in different ways. Mickey is a master at teaching how to outline!
I didn’t want to leave. I wanted the writer’s conference to last a full week, and I wanted to stay in a lodge with other writers, where we could sit in the common room by the fire in the evenings in sweatpants and scarves and sip wine and share writing. But I keep that vision in my mind, that image of total peace and bliss, and carry it with me back into reality on the heels of this fabulous winter break.
I’m already looking forward to next year’s conference.
The original courthouse is now the home of the Blue Ridge Arts Council
there’s nothing I don’t love
about the Blue Ridge Arts Center
from its towering columns
of stately presence
to its history and artful womb
this birthing center for
pottery, dance, painting,
sketching, mosaic, sculpture,
stained glass, yoga, tea blends, origami,
jewelry making, drama, weaving,
poetry, plant pressing,
paper mache, woodcarving, and
exhibits of inspiration but what
I love best is that there is something
for everyone ~
including writers
In the first session, I wrote an I’m From poem, which I’ve written several times through the years – but it changes every time.
We also learned about a Color Study. I’ll be featuring this one on Ethicalela.com sometime this year as a prompt.
A Poetry Reading during the Opening Reception in the old courtroom
I love the old sink and the windowsill deep enough to grow friendly flowers.
The Opening Reception was held in the main part of the old courthouse.
Oh, how I wish our county held a writer’s conference. Maybe that’s my next venture, starting in fall of 2026: to conjure up a place for art to happen here in one of the most beautiful places in rural Georgia. If that ever happens, The Art Center at Blue Ridge will be my model. I need an old farmhouse or barn with an exhibit space and smaller spaces for workshops and rooms upstairs for visiting artists and an old sink with a deep window ledge for plants and a fresh pot of coffee……..and I’ll keep dreaming.
Check out this amazing place and all it has to offer here.
Read more about this year’s writing conference here.
Common Threads 