My First Writer's Conference

by Bernadette Weisse Mrazek

I felt apprehensive about going to the 2024 Lakefly Writers Conference. I didn’t know what to expect. I had been to a teacher’s convention once, as a librarian at the elementary school I worked at, but that was many years ago.

The writer’s conference was a two-day event at the Oshkosh Convention Center. I arrived in time to look around and find the rooms where the presentations would be held.

The first session I attended was about whether something is a story and how you  know for sure. The speaker used the "Wizard of Oz "as an example because it’s a story that almost everybody knows. The take-away was that stories have five components, or the what the speaker referred to as “The Five Cs.”

During the break, someone mentioned that the forensics speaker was interesting so I went to that session next. Although I’m not a fan of horrific stories of crimes and identifying remains of unfortunate accidents, part of the presentation compared animal bones to human ones and how they can be mistaken for each other.

On Saturday, I returned to the conference in time to check out the book fair. There were rows of tables with about 50 authors promoting their books. I browsed the tables and spoke to many writers, asking them questions about their book and writing habits. A young author I talked with has written several mini-series. She said her stories just flow out of her and made writing a book sound so easy, anyone can do it. Perhaps even me.

I spent so much time at the book fair that I missed the first session of the day. For the second session, I attended a talk by a nurse who explained that in any hospital, it is the nurse that is the main caregiver. She went on to explain what it was like working as a nurse during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lunch was held in a big room with over a dozen tables set up as though it were a wedding reception, with center pieces and linen napkins. I dined with authors from all over Wisconsin and met a couple with their cute one-year-old boy who was the center of attention.

In the afternoon, I sat in a session led by a police officer. He talked about his real-life standoff and other incidents in his career. As he shared his experiences, he gave tips on how to write accurate descriptions of things like police chases and weapons to make your story authentic.

The final session I attended was “Writing a Memoir that People Want to Read.” Like any story, memoirs have a plot structure and each scene should connect.

After door prize winners were announced and photos were taken, I wrapped up my first Lakefly Writers Conference. There was nothing to fear. Who know it would be one of the fragments of my life?

Bernadette Weisse Mrazek is a member of the Oshkosh Area Writers Club; her work has appeared in the club’s anthology, Fragments of Ourselves.