So Much More than a Sandwich

Emails in the run up to the 2025 Virginia Writers Club symposium led me to believe the boxed lunch sandwich might be the main event. Participants who didn’t register in a timely fashion, we were warned, risked not having a sandwich. It seemed urgent that we register for the meal! So I got my order in, wondering who would play with fire by not immediately paying the low event fee of $65 to secure their sandwich.

Writers make excellent procrastinators, but we also like to eat. I sensed imminent conflict, perfect for those who thrive on plot.

Much as I enjoyed my sandwich—chicken salad—at this weekend’s event, the best part of the symposium turned out to be the members. I felt overwhelming mutual support, as much from the well-prepared presenters as from the participants. By my informal count, around 100 writers gathered for the day-long symposium. We met on the quiet, summer-green campus of Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, about two hours south of DC.

Participants had the opportunity before lunch to attend two break-out sessions. During the first, I chose a seminar with Betsy Ashton on how to track characters, scenes, and plot questions, including whether or not the questions get resolved. Options I missed out on included writing nonfiction, the use of AI, the real Hunt for Red October, and what to do with that completed manuscript. In the second seminar, Emily Babbitt shared precise techniques for email marketing. I chose this over sessions on writing credible fictional law enforcement interactions and compelling creative historical nonfiction, among others.

After the box lunch (sandwich, chips, cookies, apple, a starlight mint) we gathered in the Copley Hall auditorium for the plenary. Edgar Allan Poe Award nominee and true crime writer Diane Fanning shared pearls of wisdom gathered from publishing 27 books. My favorite among them: Writing is not a competition: display a collaborative spirit, share in other writers’ excitement, and remember that all writers walk in each other’s shoes. We know the courage and resilience required to complete the ACT OF WRITING A BOOK.

I attended two more seminars in the afternoon, including an overview of marketing techniques led by Leslie Truex, although I was intrigued by the potential to attend “Your Poem Is Good, But What Good Is It?” For session four, I liked the look of Inspired by True Events but selected Media Training for Authors with former news anchor and Capitol Hill press secretary Christine Gunderson.

The Virginia Writers Club put together a spectacular symposium this year, showcasing just what a vital, thriving organization it is. There didn’t seem to be a jerk in the bunch. A writers’ conference without conflict? Ironic.

It was so much more than a sandwich!

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