Great Writing Conference London GW:

Great Writing:  The International Creative Writing Conference 2016
After 2 days of attending the Great Writing Conference at Imperial College in Londen my head's full of new ideas how to connect creative writers with... creative writers! Wouldn't it be great to combine Fine Art with Writing?

On Nicole Cooley

She put down her glasses

Creating a moment of peace

In her dazzling world of words

Photo Poem by Melanie E. Rijkers © 2016.

Scholarship

In the Netherlands we can't study Creative Writing so it seems. Bummer. I am curious if it would be possible to get a scholarship to study abroad. What I learned from the conference is that all lecturers were very driven to share their thoughts, papers and projects. I wonder, after you get your degree, what's next?

More than once I heard someone say: "Pity I cannot land myself a teaching position in Creative Writing". In the future I would like to see Academies of Art hire inspiring people like these to teach Creative Writing to art students. Writing is changing. Art is changing. Let's collaborate!

On Hyde Park: Face

Staring down

Stuck in place

Tiny feet touching his head

Flying off into space

Photo Poem by Melanie E. Rijkers © 2016.

Photo Poem: a new Short

Nicole Cooley's talk Tiny Texts: Flash Fiction, short poems, one minute plays raised questions like "But what if someone wrote a brilliant piece of 300 words, and the assessment says 2000?" At an Academy of Arts they'd know what to do. Also the digital era is here. Graphic Design, Arts and Writing are all in it together. A photo and a text are only ordinary until an artist puts them together brilliantly.

During Nicole's inspiring talk I wrote 3 pieces of what I call Photo Poetry. Being a visionair, working with Miksang Contemplative Photography and teaching Eyespiration, this is my answer how I'd like to combine the art of photography with the art of creative writing. 

On Hyde Park: Fountain

In the air I fly

Having landed I slide

Blending with family

I watch people walk by

Photo Poem by Melanie E. Rijkers © 2016.

Thank you Nicole, your talk was the last piece of information I needed to accomplish my writing goal. I was also inspired by Daniel Juckes and many more speakers, and will tell you more about Great Writing in my next blog!

7 Photo tips how to increase website traffic

Add an image to bring your post to life.

LinkedIn is spot on. Using images will really help to create more brand awareness. October 2015 I was asked to be City Facebooker for two weeks for the local page of Dutch tourism board (VVV Breda). Being a photo specialist and a writer I kept posting photos about my walks, bike rides and much more. Showing the things I saw, that caught my eye. I combined cultural moments with 'just' outdoor autumn shots of my beautiful city. 

Choose the right image

By choosing the right image I increased the actions of the 4500 community of the Gek op Breda (Crazy about Breda) page with an average of 85%, with 101% being the highest peak during my two week job. Over 21.000 actions, just by adding epic photos.

A good image is always intriguing, and makes people think, feel

How to get that traffic 

1) Make sure you post a good epic photo! Low quality photos never contribute to your brand's name. Invest in buying the best images available.

2) An epic image will make people think, feel, love or hate it. It will draw attention.


3) Therefor: go easy with stock photos. Think twice before buying a (cheap) stock photo. The average price of a good quality stock photo is € 35,- Please keep in mind that when you hire a professional image maker (not necessarily a photographer, also other people with visionary occupations like graphic designers and journalists might be able to do the job) you often can buy photos for the same price.

4) No overkill. Go easy on photos. Twitter: max. 2, Facebook: max 9 (preferably 2, 3 or 4, depending on landscape, portrait or square size) per post. Less is still more.


5) If you really want to share more images, create an album or share an album link to your website. Make sure the album cover photo is an appealing one. This image will pop up when you share the link.


6) Use b&w (black & white) photos now and then. To stand out of the crowd a monochrome picture can really do the trick. This can also be an old historic photo of your brand or company.


7) Respect copyright. If you do not know if you can use that photo, make sure you find out. Always add the correct credits. When unsure, do not use the image.

Open studio Marianne Naerebout's atelier Breda, the Netherlands

Gek op Breda post causing most actions, these two photos of Speelhuislaan Breda in autumn colours:

If you have an old photo of your company's location, building, or area: do share. 

People just love historic photos!

Artstudio23 - Speelhuislaan 173 Breda, the Netherlands

San Francisco Writers Conference

Sinds enige tijd werk ik samen met Taglibro.nl, een onafhankelijk Nederlands platform waar schrijvers carte blanche krijgen om een persoonlijk verhaal te vertellen. Bedenker en webdesigner Michel Switzar en ik hebben inmiddels grootse plannen.

Als je het niet ziet, kun je het ook niet (op) schrijven

Als gepokt en gemazeld kunstenaar in de autonome fotografie kriebelt de creativiteit na twintig jaar als nooit tevoren. In deze digitale tijden kunnen we allemaal fotograferen, en schrijven. Als zelfstandig ondernemer schreef ik jaren geleden al een blog op mijn website, ver voordat zoiets als social media bestond en we allemaal een Facebook en een Twitter account hadden.

Toch is het schrijven niet zo gemakkelijk als het lijkt. Echter, we kúnnen het allemaal. Net zoals we allemaal kunnen fotograferen. Iedereen met een camera kan een foto maken. De grote uitdaging is om een foto te maken die tijdloos is, een kiekje schieten kunnen we immers allemaal. Dat geldt ook voor je schrijfkunsten.

Ik heb gemerkt dat wanneer je je hoofd zo leeg mogelijk maakt, je de beste verhalen schrijft. Een writer's block is geen gebrek aan inspiratie, maar aan rust in je hoofd. Sommige schrijvers lossen dit op door naar het spreekwoordelijke hutje op de hei te vertrekken, maar wat als je geen middelen hebt om je een paar maanden terug te trekken? Of wat als je nú die wervende tekst voor je website nodig hebt? Waar haal je de inspiratie dan vandaan??

In dit blog zal ik regelmatig gaan schrijven over hoe je geïnspireerd kunt blijven. Zelf ben ik een echte ZIENer. Ik kijk niet, maar ik zie. Mediteren, maar dan met open ogen. Door je brein leeg te maken, is er weer ruimte voor nieuwe verbindingen. Dit leegmaken kan iedereen merkte ik tijdens het geven van onze Zien Fotografie Workshops. Als je anders leert kijken, mooie dingen leert zien waaraan je anders voorbij zou lopen, raak je als vanzelf geïnspireerd.

De workshop kun je ook zonder camera volgen, al is de basis de compositieleer vanuit de fotografie, gecombineerd met de Tibetaanse Miksang techniek: kijken met een puur en zuiver oog, zonder te oordelen. Hiermee voorkom je de valkuil dat je tijdens een wandelingetje alleen maar gaat denken aan wat je nog allemaal moet doen, boodschappen, was vouwen, kinderen uit school halen. Maak jezelf zo 'leeg' mogelijk.

Miksang Contemplatieve Fotografie is de Boeddhistische leer om het fris en puur kijken echt te ervaren voor je gaat oordelen en labelen. Dit moment kun je vastleggen in een foto.

Stel je voor dat je na een wandelingetje van drie kwartier wél je hoofd hebt leeg kunnen maken, mooie dingen hebt kunnen zien... wat dit kan doen voor je schrijfkunst, voor je inspiratie. Ik zie, ik zie, wat jij niet ziet! Ga je mee?


In februari 2016 is Taglibro aanwezig op het San Francisco Writers Conference, waar ik jaren geleden zelf werd geïnspireerd door de zin "If you can't see it, you can't write it". Bovenstaande foto maakte ik tijdens een wandeling in San Francisco en won een Honorable Mention bij de International Color Awards 2015.

My Book Story

I recently noticed that our son (16) was using my old book of fables by the Grimm brothers and other fairy tale writers: it's now a 'map holder', so he can follow flight paths when playing Kerbal Space Program.

Seeing the big red book again immediately brought back memories of my youth. This once was my favorite book, especially the title story of Snow White, the first story in the book.

The book was given to me by my parents for my 6th birthday in 1977.

Its illustrations being typical 70's style, and they kind of scared me. Not sugar sweet Disney style at all! The images are more like paintings and the faces look very different compared to modern children's books.

Also seeing the handwriting of my deceased mother ... wow, what an impression that book still makes!

I wanted to share my book story with all of you, and if you have a good story about a book you have, please share it by using the hashtag #mybookstory when telling us about it, thank you so much.

I am writing, I am reading and I sure love books!

#mybookstory

San Francisco Writers Conference 2012

All photos of the #SFWC2012 online via my Flickr page as via my Facebook page.
Have A Look! Feel free to tag yourself, download or share my pics.

What's the San Francisco Writers Conference? Check out the SFWC website!
Event overview: The conference is on Presidents' Day weekend, Feb. 16th-19th, 2012 at the Mark Hopkins Hotel. The main conference begins with a Thursday evening orientation and continues through Sunday. (There will also be SFWC Master Classes on Monday, Feb. 20th taught by some of the SFWC presenters.) The SFWC features 100+ agents, authors, editors and book industry professionals. What that means is non-stop opportunities for learning and networking at this 'Celebration of Craft, Commerce and Community' for all writers.

Attendees have access to more than fifty "how to" sessions, panels, and workshops taught by authors you know and love. Speed Dating for Agents and Ask a Pro are unique one-on-one opportunities to pitch your work directly to well-known publishing professionals. SFWC features major traditional publishing houses, but also gives attendees the latest e-publishing and self-publishing information.

Elegant keynote luncheons and networking breakfasts are included. A commemorative bag filled with writing goodies for all attendees? Of course!

Celebrity book signings and social gatherings with other writers add to the excitement of the event. No other writing conference offers so much social and one-on-one networking time with other writers and industry professionals for no extra cost. After-hours hosted open mics and pitch contests? You bet. Our attendees tell us this friendly, yet professional, atmosphere is what makes SFWC the conference they choose to attend.

From start to finish, the San Francisco Writers Conference is designed to help you become a better, more professional writer.


Bestselling authors Lisa See (Dreams of Joy, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan) & Lolly Winston (Good Grief) will join legendary editor Alan Rinzler as keynote speakers at the 2012 San Francisco Writers Conference. The SFWC will start on Thursday evening and run through the entire President's Day weekend. Both new and returning attendees will appreciate the welcome session on Thursday evening (Feb. 16th) at no additional cost. As always, the main event is Friday through Sunday...but now there will be optional PreEvent and PostEvent Master Class writing intensive sessions.


Will you be there in 2013? It's the 10th anniversary of SFWC in 2013! Perhaps we'll meet (again) in sunny San Francisco, California next February :)

The Scholarship winners