The Write Inspiration: A Recap of the Just Write 2nd Writer's Workshop

Hello, #JustWrite and Happy Resurrection weekend!! After attending our 2nd Writer's workshop last month, I just wanted to highlight a few points that resonated with me. Before I get into those points, I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of the speakers, EICC, and the Just Write Team for another successful writer's workshop. Your dedication, diligence, and service are greatly appreciated. Now let's get into those highlights from the workshop. On that Friday, I had an opportunity to briefly sit in on Paris Love's Vision Board presentation. She shared her tips on how to "Create the Life You Crave.", a pamphlet that was provided during her segment. Through her company, Paris Love Productivity Institute, LLC, Paris touched on the following topics, Having Less Stress, More Freedom, and Abundance, Silencing the Mind, Mind Chatter, Forgiveness, Values, Banish Self-Limiting Beliefs, Living With Excitement and Determination, Gratitude  Writing Your Vision, Writing Your Goals (short-term and long-term), and the finale of creating a vision board and treasure maps. Paris even shared one of her personal vision books with the attendees. The take away from her session was that your vision boards/maps assist you with clarity on YOUR vision, not your family or friends' visions. Saturday's sessions kicked off with Tia McCollors, who was very transparent about her journey and a dear friend who inspired her to write. She shared the following points, "Writing is the best way to talk without being interrupted." "Write because your Father told you too." "We are the light; people have questions and we have the answers." "We are leaders and others are drawn to our stories." Next, we had Tanya Bryant to present, "The Write Brand." Tanya shared her testimony about rediscovering herself while peeling back the layers she hid during her time in the military. She referenced the scripture, Matt. 5:14-15, “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house." In terms of branding, I learned these strategies: "live streaming is the fastest way to reach your tribe (target audience). You increase your brand presence with drip marketing, which is a concept of showcasing your book a little at a time, social media, and also by being a guest on other writers' platforms." Tanya also shared a quote from Jeff Bezos, the founder of amazon.com, "Your personal brand is what people say about you when you leave the room." Tonia East Phanor discussed "The Write Plan" and how to A.M.P. it up!, an acronym broken down as the following: A-The Write Audience, your writing is not about you, but your audience. M- The Write Message; how is your message the solution for your audience? How is it different? What is the best way to showcase your message? P-Are you the right person? How are you uniquely qualified to write this book for this audience? What are the areas where you will need to learn new skills? Are there habits or hindrances that keep you from writing? Are their people that are able to help you become the right person? And remember, "Keep Calm and Write On!" Marlean and Murlean Tucker gave us the breakdown on the different ways to use social media platforms and programs to create shareable content with graphics, such as the Big 3: FaceBook, Twitter, and Instagram and Twitter industry experts. One website I was excited to hear about as a great graphic recommendation was Canva. I've been using Canva for a few months now and it is a great way to create professional-looking graphics with free template and pictures. Our final session was with Sharon Frame who shared different ways to be a speaker. One thing I noticed about the session was the overlapping of each speaker's message. The content of one speaker was a predecessor to the next speaker's message. It reminds me of reading a book. Each speaker represented a unique chapter with the focus of all us writing our stories and sharing them with the world. That reminds me that during the workshop, we all had an opportunity to meet the faces behind Kingdomwood, a faith-based film production company. We all know that one way to share our stories with the world is via films. Kingdomwood Films shared a great opportunity for all us to support for more faith-based films to be presented on screen. It's the Kingdomwood Flapjack Fundraiser being held on April 22, 2017, at AppleBee's from 8am-10am.

For a donation of $7, supporters will be able to partake in a pancake breakfast and join in on a discussion on faith-based films in support of the Kingdomwood Christian film festival. For more details, check out https://www.facebook.com/kingdomwood/

In closing, I hope these nuggets that I shared with you all will inspire you to continue on with cultivating your vision from planning to provision to production. Write On!!

The Write Team

In His service,

~Lequvia Ousley~