Wendy Coneybeer

Archive for March 22, 2011

22 Mar 2011

Community • Events • Freelancing • Human Behavior

Fighting Social Anxiety to Share Experiences

I hate speaking in front of groups of people. I always have, and I probably always will.

Ever since I was in elementary school and had to get up and speak in front of my class it has been relatively the same experience. I am brave enough to get up there, but then once I see all eyes are focused on me I feel a rush of blood to my head, then my skin pales and begins to fill with red blotches from my face to my chest. Sometimes, I’ll be so nerved up that I begin to break out in itchy hives over the blotches, which I’m sure is a lovely thing to witness.

Then the mind blanks out. Sure, I’ve prepared well thinking this time will be different and I’ll sound like a professional who knows what she’s talking about, but then the stammering starts. Read more

wconeybeer | 11 comments | Tags: freelancing, gangplank, Gangplank Brownbag, mentoring, phobias, public speaking, red face, social anxiety, stammering

21 Mar 2011

Community • Writing

Storytellers AZ–Off to a Great Start!

The very first regular Storytellers AZ meeting kicked off last Tuesday, March 15^th at Gangplank with a strong showing of 14 attendees even though quite a few of the original organizing members were off enjoying SXSW.

Rather than having speakers on a particular subject this time, we broke into smaller groups to discuss individual concerns like overcoming grammar issues, maintaining a regular creation schedule, how to get inspired, and more. Group leaders shared their advice from personal experience with these challenges.

Following that exercise, we took more time to discuss some of things we’d like to address in future Storytellers AZ meetings in a full group chat led by co-founder Tyler Hurst.

The greatest strength of this group may be our diversity. So far we have a motley crew including poets, novelists, a rap artist, technical writers, and bloggers on a wide array of subject matter! We also have mix of ability levels of all types from a wide range of backgrounds, so we certainly have much to learn from and share with one another.

The next Storytellers AZ meeting will be held at Gangplank on Tuesday March 29^th from 7PM to 9PM, and subsequent meetings are currently slated to be held every two weeks thereafter. All are welcome to attend!

wconeybeer | No comments | Tags: advice, creative community, education, Storytellers AZ, support group, writing

06 Mar 2011

Community • Events

Phoenix Storytellers Support Group

On the evening of Tuesday March 1^st, Tyler Hurst and Jeff Moriarty, both members of The Domino Project Street Team, held a “Writer’s Event” to assess the creative and technical strengths and challenges of the Phoenix writing community. But rather than simply cater to writers specifically, this event asked for “storytellers” — those expressing ideas via written or spoken words.

Out of that event, a storytellers “support group” was born.

The premise of this group is to gather together to teach and learn all that we can from one another. Meetings will feature a specific speaker and topic each session, with open time set aside for networking, collective brainstorming, or collaborative work.

Whether you are a novelist, blogger, technical writer, journalist, podcaster, poet, or anyone else expressing ideas through words, you are welcome to attend and participate.

The first official Storytellers meeting will take place on Tuesday March 15^th from 7PM-8:30PM at Gangplank in Chandler. The current plan is reconvene every other Tuesday thereafter, same time, same place.

Hope to see you there!

wconeybeer | 4 comments | Tags: gangplank, novelists, Phoenix, podcast, podcasting, poetry, storytellers, support group, technical writing, The Domino Project, writer, Writer's Block, writing

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  • Episode 33 — Writing About What You Don't Know...Or Don't Like February 22, 2012
    Most writers, at least before they become rich, famous and immortal, seldom write about stuff they know. They're given assignments by their bosses, beats by their editors, topics by their clients or piece together bits of unfamiliar ideas and weave them together. In this episode, our gang talks about some of the struggles we face when writing about the […]
  • Next Meeting — Wednesday, February 22 from 7-9pm at Gangplank February 20, 2012
    It's almost magic time! We're meeting this Wednesday (I'll be here this time) at our normal place. Topic suggestion for this week include checking in on our February goals, how to edit your own work, best practices for article ideas and how to design an ebook. Vote for two or make a suggestion, please! See you this week. Permalink | Leave a co […]
  • Episode 32 — Linear or non-linear? February 15, 2012
    On a warm night at Gangplank Chandler, your almost-always host Tyler Hurst joins poet Sarah Marques, REALTOR Elizabeth Newlin and blogger/podcast editor Debbie Walker talk about the trademark that's supposed to be at the end of REALTOR, Debbie's kids and how we prefer to tell and write stories. The order of storytelling can be either non-linear or […]
  • First February Check-In — Next Meeting Wednesday, Feb 8 from 7-9pm February 6, 2012
    When we first talked about our February goals, the idea was to accomplish something big, not just our run-of-the-mill stuff that we likely do all the time, anyways. Unless you're behind on those things (laundry, dishes, etc.) As I think most of us have realized by now, what we think is important isn't all that important if you don't make it a […]