{"id":2574,"date":"2015-03-15T15:15:13","date_gmt":"2015-03-15T19:15:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/2015.atlanta.wordcamp.org\/?p=2574"},"modified":"2015-03-15T15:15:13","modified_gmt":"2015-03-15T19:15:13","slug":"getting-to-know-cindy-reed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atlanta.wordcamp.org\/2015\/getting-to-know-cindy-reed\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting to Know Cindy Reed"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/2015.atlanta.wordcamp.org\/files\/2015\/03\/Cindy-Reed-350x350.jpg\" alt=\"Cindy-Reed\" width=\"350\" height=\"350\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-2576\" srcset=\"https:\/\/atlanta.wordcamp.org\/2015\/files\/2015\/03\/Cindy-Reed.jpg 350w, https:\/\/atlanta.wordcamp.org\/2015\/files\/2015\/03\/Cindy-Reed-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/atlanta.wordcamp.org\/2015\/files\/2015\/03\/Cindy-Reed-300x300.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><br \/>\nCindy Reed is a writer, speaker, and teacher blogging at the award-winning site <a href=\"http:\/\/www.reedsterspeaks.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">The Reedster Speaks<\/a>, where she writes with humor and clarity about family life, mental illness, progressive politics, and her underwear. Her work has appeared on The Huffington Post, In the Powder Room, Yeah Write, I Just Want to Pee Alone, and WhatToExpect.com. She is a two time recipient of BlogHer\u2019s Voices of the Year award, in the humor and op-ed categories, and has spoken on nonfiction storytelling at WordCamp Asheville and the Boarding Area Conference for travel bloggers. Cindy is a master online teacher and currently teaches the popular online course <a href=\"http:\/\/cindyreed.me\/\" target=\"_blank\">Storytelling for Bloggers<\/a>. Now on life\u2019s third chapter, she previously has worked as an academic and an attorney. She lives with her family in Asheville, North Carolina.<\/p>\n<p>Connect with Cindy on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/reedster2\" target=\"_blank\">Twitter<\/a> (The Reedster Speaks), <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/cindyreedwrites\" target=\"_blank\">Twitter<\/a> (Storytelling for Bloggers), and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ReedsterSpeaks\" target=\"_blank\">Facebook<\/a>\u00a0so you won\u2019t miss a pearl of wisdom that drops from her lips.<\/p>\n<p><strong>WCATL 2015 Session \u2013 What&#8217;s Your Story? Harnessing the Power of Story to Engage Your Readers<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Whether you&#8217;re starting a personal blog to share your thoughts and ideas, or blogging to promote your business, storytelling is the most effective way to engage your audience. Recitations of facts or personal journal entries might convey meaning, but stories provide your audience with a relatable entry point into your subject matter. Story inspires, teaches, and stimulates discussion. The well-told story is memorable and unique, positioning you as a trusted voice.<\/p>\n<p>In this presentation, we&#8217;ll look at all the elements of creative nonfiction storytelling so you can create the most compelling content for your blog, one 400-600 word post at a time. Using examples from published blog posts, you&#8217;ll learn to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Identify the Central Conflict in each post:\u00a0 What is your one reason for writing this piece?<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0Use Narrative Structure:\u00a0 Begin like a boss, stick a fork in it when it\u2019s over, and conquer the muddle in the middle.<\/li>\n<li>Make it interesting:\u00a0 Employ the storyteller\u2019s toolkit:\u00a0 Develop setting, character, plot, and dialogue. Use literary devices to make your true stories as readable as fiction.<\/li>\n<li>Show, Don\u2019t Tell:\u00a0 Avoid telling your readers what to think and feel and illustrating instead, using sensory descriptions and imagery.<\/li>\n<li>Hone Your Authentic Voice:\u00a0 Discover and trust who you are as a writer.<\/li>\n<li>Edit and Polish Your Work:\u00a0 Create a checklist to catch errors in grammar, spelling, and proofing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cindy Reed is a writer, speaker, and teacher blogging at the award-winning site The Reedster Speaks, where she writes with humor and clarity about family life, mental illness, progressive politics, and her underwear. Her work has appeared on The Huffington Post, In the Powder Room, Yeah Write, I Just Want to Pee Alone, and WhatToExpect.com. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3004019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6846],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-speaker-feature"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5qmLu-Fw","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/atlanta.wordcamp.org\/2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/atlanta.wordcamp.org\/2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/atlanta.wordcamp.org\/2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atlanta.wordcamp.org\/2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3004019"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atlanta.wordcamp.org\/2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2574"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/atlanta.wordcamp.org\/2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2574\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2577,"href":"https:\/\/atlanta.wordcamp.org\/2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2574\/revisions\/2577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/atlanta.wordcamp.org\/2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atlanta.wordcamp.org\/2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atlanta.wordcamp.org\/2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}