Hello Want-to-be-writers:

Starting on Wednesday February 24, 2010
I am teaching both a afternoon class (1:00-3:00) and an evening class (6:30-8:30)

I will post here the writing suggestions for next week.

Topics for the afternoon class are:

1) Message in a Bottle

2) It was a terrible, terrible (storm or anything else)

3) Neighbors

4) Bits and Pieces (scraps)[incomplete ideas]

Extra credit for poems

Topics for the Night class

1) Rain

2) Terrible twos

3) I'm totally ( fill in the blank)

4) Bologna (all kinds)

Have a good time writing and remember these are only suggestions,
Keep Writing
Frank

This week's writing suggestion

This coming weeks writing suggestion comes from Jay.

"So that is your Idea of fun ?" or What is it that you do for fun.
Fun is the keyword. Use it in your story or essay.

But I had forgotten what it was. . .so I suggested you write about History or something that happened in the past.

For examples:

When I got my first pair of glasses

when I had my first date

when I found out roses had thorns

or

when the war started

when the race began

when JFK died

or

when my ship came in

when the grass was greener on the other side

Write me at Coughson@earthlink.net if you have questions or more examples or suggestions.

Writing a Book in Month

The following is taken from the book " Book in a Month" by Victoria Schmidt, Ph.D.

The five secrets to keeping the momentum of your writing moving forward are:

Secret number 1) work as if - which means that as you write and decide to make a change in plot, character, or setting (make a note on the margins of the change made and keep writing as if you have already gone back and made your change (Don't stop your forward momentum by going backwards and changing the character.
for example:
Betty was a nurse at County General working the graveyard shift. She liked working in the dead of night because she felt she was away from the general madness that takes place on the other shifts.

[AUTHOR'S NOTE] I decided to change Betty from a nurse to a kindergarten teacher so she can be closer to children.

Betty liked her job because now that her own children were grown she could still be around youngsters who appreciated her.

Secret number 2) Leave out subplots (to get a book finished fast this is a must) Side plots and subplots tend to distract you the author from the main plot.

Secret number 3) be realistic -MOST IMPORTANT SECRET - Don't try to write more than you can - if work, kids, and other things (holidays) take up your time so be it - DO WHAT YOU CAN as far as writing goes

Secret number 4) Don't use guilt or shame as motivation to write, don't put yourself down for not writing enough, or good enough - Just write as much as you want because you like what writing your book does for your own self-esteem. Positive motivation always is better than negative motivation

Secret number 5) Trust Yourself - when nagging little (or big) doubts come into your head such as 'Is this good enough' or 'I don't think I can do this' - TRUST YOURSELF - trust that you will make some adjustment in order to deal with whatever comes up
YOU CAN DO THIS
The author admits that secrets 4 and 5 are psychological in nature but says that a trick of writing is learning how to deal with yourself and the ways you block yourself.

I hope this helps you.
Frank

Semi-Big News

All you writers who want to post your stories but do not want to have to go through a lot of technical, tedious details of learning how to make a blog or post on a blog, I have news for you.
I have created a new blog for you. It is called

Our Write Place

You can get there by clicking the below link

Our Write Place

There I will post any and everything, you writers give me. I will also provide links to your websites and blogs unless you tell me not to. I hope you like it - Frank

Classes set for Jan. 2009

Coming In January - More creative Writing Classes
Afternoons ( 1 pm to 3 pm) on Wednesdays starting January 14th

Evenings (6:30 pm - 8:30 pm) on Mondays starting January 11th

All creative writing classes encourage you to write -
Both fiction and non-fiction
Novels, short stories and poems
Essays and narratives
Memoirs and Biographies
Humor, romance, and scary stories

Come and find your inner writer
Come and find the stories inside of you

World Famous Author Mocks Me

Here is a link to an email I received a couple of days ago.

World Famous Author Mocks My attempt at Novel writing ! Read all about it.

Enjoy and Keep Writing,
Frank

Welcome Patty to the world of Creative Blogging

Patty Mc has just made a new blogsite for her stories and commentaries. I hope she posts often as I have always enjoyed her writings (especially the last one about the tree that sheds its bark.

Visit Patty's blog via the link I have just added in the member website section (on the right, 1/2 way down or so).

Good luck to you, Patty

Frank