Wyoming Arts Council

Karen Cotton offers tips for young writers


Karen Cotton, Wyoming Tribune-Eagle features/entertainment reporter and children’s writer, will be conducting a presentation for middle school-age students at the Laramie County Public Library in Cheyenne on Thursday (tonight) at 7 p.m. Her free presentation will focus on journalism and novel writing. It is being sponsored by the New Futures Program through a student loan corporation.

Some of the topics Karen will cover include:

  • honing your writing skills
  • how-to tips on publishing
  • classes for writers
  • college degree — important or not?
  • writing organizations, conferences and workshops
  • generating writing ideas

She’s e-mailed professional writers about their views on these subjects. Their answers are featured on the WTE’s entertainment blog at http://wteentertainmentarticles.blogspot.com/.

From Karen’s WTE blog, here are some tips from mystery writer and former journalist T. Jefferson Parker:

I think the most important thing a writer can do, besides write every day, is to read a lot. That’s how you learn what good writing is. The human race is lucky to have thousands of years of writing to instruct us – so dig right in. Good books are the diet of the writing mind, just like good nutrition and good exercise build the body. What you take in is what you will eventually put out. So read the best writers you can find. Who are they? That’s up to you. Let’s just say that a good book will delight and instruct and mystify and provoke and educate and satisfy you. There, that’s a nice wide definition. Read on, friends.

I (Mike Shay) will appear with Karen at the library tonight to answer your questions about writing awards and programs offered by the Wyoming Arts Council.


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