Five speakers will talk about the writing process at a free writer’s symposium Saturday.

The 11^th annual Writer’s Symposium, hosted by the Picayune Writers Group at the Margaret Reed Crosby Memorial Library, will include a continental breakfast, a buffet lunch and presentations from local writers focused on the year’s theme “The Writing Process,” said Picayune Writers president Laura Ewald.

“We like to provide a writer’s workshop for the general public that is free,” Ewald said. “There are a lot of really good conferences around, but they’re not free.”

The speakers include Ewald, a former university librarian who currently works as a freelance writer and editor. Her topic, strategic thinking, will focus on how to narrow large topics to a manageable size, she said, and will use her knowledge from working with college students to create papers.

The speakers will also include authors Kathryn Martin, Max Hardberger, Mary Beth Magee and Melinda Taliancich Falgoust.

The presentations will cover different parts of the writing process, including where ideas come from, rewriting and dealing with writer’s block, Ewald said.

All five speakers have worked in both fiction and nonfiction, Ewald said.

The event will also include themed gift baskets and prizes, which there will be raffled off throughout the day. The event is free, but the gift basket raffle tickets will be $1 or seven for $5. Proceeds from the prizes go toward putting on the next year’s symposium.

Local authors will also have books for sale, Ewald said.

“Come ready to learn and to share and to explore and to talk to other local writers who are enthusiastic about what they do,” Ewald said.

The symposium will be from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and for more information visit the Picayune Writers Group Facebook page.