It always pleases me when people come up and say, "The Writers' Roundtable" is one of the most enjoyable aspects of the conference." It's been happening for several years now, yet far too few WRWA members know about it or participate.

It began by accident at our Fall Conference at Lake Geneva in 2004. That was the first WRWA conference I attended, and I haven't missed one since. Val Johnson, from my local club, the Northwest Regional Writers, and I were sitting on the veranda outside our rooms Friday evening before supper reading our work to each other and talking about writing. Val writes wonderful stories with a Native American sound. His "Death of Red Basket" won the Jade Ring for adult short fiction that year.

Jane Osypowski, whose room was between ours, joined us and read some of her wonderful poetry. We went to supper together and resolved to meet again that evening to continue reading and talking. Other writers stopped by, listened for a few moments, went back to their rooms to get their writing, and joined us. We ended up with six or seven people. We read, listened, and talked until nearly 11 before calling it a night. Some lasting friendships began that evening. We also resolved to do it again at the following Spring Conference.

In Black River Falls we had to meet in the motel's lobby since the conference planners weren't aware of this burgeoning group. It was a bit noisy, but it drew more people in as they walked by and saw what was going on. The group went outside by the lake for a while, but it was also noisy there, and too cool, so they went back to the lobby. This time we ended up with ten or eleven people. And the motel's desk clerk, who listened to much of our reading, joined WRWA on the spot.

The next fall, we met at Wisconsin Rapids. Again, we were in the hotel's lobby, the WRWA conference planners not yet having awakened to our growing need for quiet space. Several members of the WRWA Board of Directors joined us after their meeting broke up late. Many of them lobbied for the Board to alter its meeting time on Fridays so members could fulfill their duties to the Board and attend the Writers' Roundtable, which we had begun to call it.

The Spring Conference in Appleton in 2006 was the first time we had our own room and most of the Board members attended following their meeting, which broke up late, as usual. After that, the Board decided to change its meeting time to early Friday afternoon so members could attend the Roundtable in the evening. By the time we met in Janesville last fall, we had over 20 attendees.

Writers' Roundtable is a lot like "open mic," but without Roxanne's 4-minute-hook. We sit around a table-which isn't really round but, since we're "around" it, we can still call it the Roundtable-and take turns reading whatever we want. Many members have read chapters from novels they're working on. Many read short stories, essays, or poetry.

We do not critique what is read. But we do often make comments. For the most part, comments are complimentary. For example, "I like the way you handled dialogue in that passage-no unnecessary tag lines." Or, "I loved the alliteration in your story." Or, "What a strong voice." On occasion, someone gets a little carried away with "constructive" thoughts that come a little too close to "critique" for comfort. We came close to that on one occasion in Manitowoc and I was close to asking for restraint, but it didn't turn out to be necessary. My point here is that we are committed to making Writers' Roundtable a fun, relaxed, informal, positive, supportive experience that even the most shy and inexperienced writers among us will invariably enjoy. We want people to head to bed afterward feeling good about sharing their work among the fellowship of writers.

On occasion, instead of reading something, or perhaps in conjunction with their reading, a member will pose a question that will lead to a good discussion. I was particularly grateful for some suggestions from Jenny Turner and Dave Rank after I read an early draft of the first chapter of a novel I'm working on-and working on, and working on. It's the reader's choice.

The conference planners and the WRWA's Board of Directors have now recognized that Writers' Roundtable is an important and regular feature of each conference. It's on the formal agenda; we now get a quiet room for the readings; and the Board has scheduled its own meetings so Board members can attend the Roundtable if they wish. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. Friday evening, spring and fall, and goes until we decide to stop. Anyone attending the conference is welcome. You do not have to be a member of WRWA.

As co-founders, Jane and I hope that many more will join this wonderful sharing experience at future conferences. It makes coming on Friday worth while.

A "URL" is a Uniform Resource Locator—Web speak for the address of a Web site. WRWA members are encouraged to submit the URLs for sites that you believe would be of broad interest and value to members. Please submit only those sites relating to writing. Send the URL and a brief description (use the items below as examples).

http://forum.wordreference.com/

A forum for people who need help discovering word usage in English and several foreign languages. You can search the site for any word/term you wish in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Italian. It's useful if you need short phrases or words in a foreign language, or even to look up something personal. For example, if someone refers to you as "ragaza," look it up and discover that they are calling you "girl friend." The English forum is most robust and includes discussions, for example, of the distinctions among "instant," "instantaneous," and "instantaneously." But, to post a question, you must register. It's free!

[Tip from Boyd Sutton]