Why Do You Write?

Bobbie Christmas, editor and writer, published this article on LinkedIn. 

Why Do You Write? is a good question to ask yourself. Bobbie answers this question and tells us what we should do according to who we write for, who we want to read our words, where we hope to publish, and what we want to do if we publish a book.

Students gather around the table for a class in my studio before COVID

I have scheduled my next writing class for September 27 - November 1, Mondays 2:30 - 4:30 PM.

The classes will be on Zoom as my last several classes have been. The Institute for Continuing Learning will sponsor the class. Visit  www.iclyhc.org to see when registration begins for this class. 

Check the calendar for all 2021 fall classes. No matter where you live if you can get Internet coverage and can connect with Zoom.com, you are welcome to join locals in my region of the Appalachian Mountains in my class. 

We are now taking registration for Creative Writing Classes in June

Beginning the first Tuesday in  June, we will hold two hour creative writing classes each week from 2:00 - 4:00 p.m.

In these classes we will learn what makes a good story, why editors reject your submission, the short and the long stories, true and fictional.

We will write from prompts or not, share our writing with the group and get feedback in a friendly and respectful manner.

Write the truth about your life or write about your life as fiction. 

Write short stories from your imagination, create characters who are unforgettable.

We have fun and sometimes we even shed a tear, but we bond and enjoy our time together.

See Studio Schedule for more information.

Getting Back to Basics with Paula Canup

 Paula Canup

writer, journalist and former English teacher, will present a workshop on

 Saturday, March 7, 2015, 10 - 12:00.
Fee: $25.00

This  class is for all writers of prose, beginners and more experienced, who want to submit polished work for consideration by agents, editors and publishers. We all make errors in grammar, punctuation and word usage, but especially in writing dialogue. Where do we place quotation marks? When should we use quotation marks, ellipses, dashes, and how often should we use exclamation points? So many questions I hear from students and errors I see in the work of many writers will be addressed in this class.

Paula Canup is a former middle school English teacher who has also worked as a tutor in English grammar. Later, as a high school history teacher, she assigned many papers, and her students knew they would be graded on spelling and grammar as well as content.

After retiring from teaching, Paula wrote articles for a regional magazine, Southern Distinction. She later wrote regular columns for two local newspapers, The Leader in Oconee County, GA, and, locally, The Sentinel.  She worked for a year as a staff writer for the Clay County Progress.

Paula still enjoys writing non-fiction and memoirs, though she currently focuses on painting as her means of artistic expression.  She and her husband moved to Hayesville, NC from Athens, GA, in 2008, and now live on the side of a mountain where they enjoy the natural beauty of “God’s Country.”

Words Are All We Have - Dana Wildsmith

Dana Wildsmith will be teaching Words are all we Have at Writers Circle around the Table on Saturday, April  25. Mark that date on your calendar now.

To see some of her work and see the way she thinks as a writer, visit her blog site:

http://www.danawildsmith.com/blog

Write What You Like. Tuesdays at Tri-County Community College

Tri-county Community College

21 Campus Circle, Murphy, NC 28906

September 2- September 23 -- Tuesdays

6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. 

 $29

Write What You Like: Fiction, Memoir, Articles – Fulfilling Writing Dreams & Goals, Creating New Writing, Revising & Polishing Your Writing:

• This class is designed to help you fulfill your writing goals.
• See what mistakes editors most often find in submissions and learn how to avoid them.
• Gain the knowledge, inspiration and motivation you need to put your words on paper.
• Each week writing prompts will generate material for new writing or further a piece in process.
• Through examples of accomplished writers, you’ll learn techniques to aid you right where you are in the process.
• You'll also get feedback on your work and learn revision tools.
• Small class with interaction and feedback from teacher and other students

Instructor: Glenda C. Beall, published author and poet, experienced teacher and blogger. 

Owner/Director of Writers Circle Studio

Register now: Contact -Lisa Long

Director of Community Outreach

828) 835-4241

lthompson@tricountycc.edu

I'm Scared. Aren't we all?

With a new class coming up at TCCC in August, I was reminded of a post by Nancy Purcell, wonderful writer and teacher from Brevard, NC.

She posted this: http://www.nancypurcellauthor.com/im-scared/

We are all afraid of something and many of us live our lives in fear of making mistakes, disappointing others, making a fool of ourselves and looking ridiculous, not having the talent to follow our dreams and so we don't take any risks or try to do what we want. 

Nancy's article is for all of us who halfway live our lives. How many never follow their passions and fulfill their hopes for themselves? Don't let it be you.

Writing class will be held at Tri-County Community College, Murphy, NC 

August 5 - 26, Tuesday afternoons, 6 - 8 p.m.

Contact Lisa now to register.  Lthompson@tricountycc.edu

See www.glendacouncilbeall.blogspot.com for more info

Karen Paul Holmes to teach weekend class at Folk School August 1 -3

Take note! If you have not attended a class at the John C. Campbell Folk School, where I attended writing classes for the past 19 years, this is an excellent time to come and take a class from poet and writer, Karen Holmes.

Karen Paul Holmes to Teach Weekend All-Genre Writing Class

Your Write Time
Itching to write, but can't find time? Or do you need a jumpstart to get you going? Give yourself the gift of a weekend devoted to writing. The instructor will provide inspiration, encouragement, writing prompts, editing tips, and one-on-one coaching. The Folk School provides the creative energy. Write here, then go home motivated to write more! For prose (fiction, non-fiction, memoir, blogging) or poetry. All levels welcome.

Ask the Folk School about 1/2 price tuition if you live in a near-by county.

Aug 1-Aug 3
For more info on the Folk School website, click here.  
or email kpaulholmesATgmailDOTCOM

Michael Diebert, last class for the 2013 season at Writers Circle, October 12

Michael Diebert, poetry editor for the Chattahoochee Review - Saturday, October 12, 2013

10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Writers Circle Studio

Michael Diebert is poetry editor for The Chattahoochee Review and teaches writing and literature at Georgia Perimeter College in Atlanta.  He is the author of Life Outside the Set, available from Sweatshoppe Publications through amazon.com.  Recent poems have appeared and/or are forthcoming in The Comstock Review,jmww, and The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature.

Looking at the Poetic Line
Just as the sentence is arguably the fundamental unit of prose, the line is arguably the fundamental unit of poetry.  More than image, metaphor, concision, or imagination—all of which are also crucial elements—the line gives a poem essential force and significance.  We’ll briefly examine some theory of line, look at several poems’ uses of line, and discuss how more conscientious attention to this oft-overlooked element can inform and enrich our own poems’ potential.

Participants may email one original poem to Michael for inclusion in the discussion—preferably 30 lines or fewer.  His email address is crazyquilt67@gmail.com.  Please send poems no later than Friday, Oct. 5.

Register by sending a $40 check made to Glenda Beall and mail to 581 Chatuge Lane, Hayesville, NC 28904 or email: nightwriter0302@yahoo.com

Snow all day kept me home and busy.

On a cold snowy day like today, I get so much done at home. Today I went down to my studio in my basement and turned on my old desktop computer. That is where many photos and older files are found. I had Bob, my computer guru, clean up that old dinosaur.

View from my deck looking off into the woods and the snow covered mountains

 Now it is quick and I enjoy it more than my fancy new desktop in my office. I am still struggling with learning Windows 8, Microsoft Office Word 2010, and I get frustrated when I have to search for all the new ways of doing things.

I have learned that not all young people know more about computers than I do. In fact, I find that most of them know how to use their smart phones, but when it comes to what I need to learn, they tell me they don't know anything about computers.

The next time someone tells me to just ask a twelve year old how to hook up my computer or use a program that is new to me, I will tell them that I don't have time to teach a kid or have the patience to try to get him/her off their cell phone. 

I hope that Ronda Birtha's class on using Social Media for marketing your writing will make. I look forward to learning how to do that properly and how to be safe on Facebook and Twitter. I see people giving out their home addresses on FB, and putting their young children's pictures online and I wonder if that is safe. I know I wouldn't give out my home address on Facebook. But Ronda is an expert in all this and I'm sure she can tell us what to do and what is not safe to do. 
Mainly, I hope she will help our writers see how they can promote their writing and reach a larger audience.

I hope all of you are warm tonight. I think about my parents and grand parents on cold nights like this. They couldn't go in and flip the thermostat higher to take the chill off.
Even when I was a small child we had only one heater in the house. Mother would warm a blanket and wrap up our feet when we climbed into the cold bed. Then she would pile quilts on us and we slept warm, my little sister and me, cuddled up together.

We Had a Great Everything but Poetry Class

We had a great four weeks of writing with five students at Writers Circle, but it ended today. Thanks Staci, Laura, Paula, Mike and Gene for all of your participation and contributions, as well as your comments.

This group included published and yet to be published students, but each gained from the participation of others. I appreciate all of you for your commitment. 

I am sure we will see you again at another class at Writers Circle or maybe at my next class at Tri-County Community College in March. Continue to watch our Schedule Page as we set up the calendar for 2013. 

******************************************************

Today we reviewed what we covered in the sessions and added publishing as the last subject. I suggest that writers begin by first writing short -- short fiction, personal essays, and articles before jumping headlong into a novel. In a short piece it is easier to focus on the story. 

By publishing short fiction, personal essays or articles, the author begins to build a platform which will likely help her to catch the attention of an agent or publisher when she completes her book.

I also recommend that my students subscribe to at least one writing publication. Beginning writers can find excellent articles on the craft of writing in Writers' Digest and the Writer Magazine. Poets and Writers is more helpful, I believe, to more experienced writers who want to read about accomplished writers and who are interested in the pages of Classifieds at the back of the magazine. 

Writers Circle classes 2013

CreateSpace self-publishing class, October 27 cancelled due to illness of instructor

Writers Circle hopes to hold this class at a later date, possibly next year.

Writers Circle schedules no classes from November - April. If you are a writer or teacher of writing, and want to teach a class in 2013, contact us by email:  nightwriter0302@yahoo.com.

Check out the Schedule page on this blog to see classes as they are listed on the 2013 Calendar.

Poets, Send It Out Now! Royston Class

August 
Rosemary Royston


Send it Out, Now!
Saturday, August 25, 10:00 – 1:00 PM,  2012

This class is for Intermediate to Advanced poets, or those who write poetry but have not had the courage to submit their work. 

What to Bring:

1) The print journal and/or a printout of your work in the online journal, web address included.

2) 3-5 poems that you are ready to submit.

3) Envelopes and stamps.

Purpose of the Class: You will leave with at least one new journal to which you can submit your finished poems, along with a resource list of journals and websites that are helpful to the publishing poet. The class facilitator will lead a discussion on how to ascertain what a particular journal is looking for, which contests are worthy of your time and money, and the in’s and out’s of good practice in submitting. This will be a discussion-based class, with time set aside to read at least one of your poems

Registration fee: $25.00

Contact Glenda: nightwriter0302@yahoo.com or call 828-389-4441 for mailing information.

SIX WEEK WRITING COURSE AT TRI-COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Tri-County Community College, Murphy, NC

Beginning June 5 - a six week course meeting on
Tuesdays, 2:00 - 4:00 p.m.  Fee: $40.00

Writing your Life Stories

To register, contact Lisa Thompson Long at 828- 835-4296 at the Community Enrichment Center at Tri-County Community College

Call Instructor, Glenda Beall @ 828-389-4441 

email: nightwriter0302@yahoo.com for questions.

Beginning writers and intermediate writers are encouraged to take this class to learn better writing techniques. More advanced writers will find motivation to beat writers block, revise work you've shelved for awhile, and will simply have fun working with other writers. 

What We Want in a Writing Class

In the writing course, Write What You Like, that I will teach at Tri-County College beginning March 15, I will feature the basics of writing fiction and non-fiction. 
What do we want to include in all of our writing, poetry and prose? I think first of imagery - using the senses to draw the reader deeper into the piece.

What about metaphor and simile? We use metaphor to say more with less words. 

And the number one problem in the work of most writers, I've found, is punctuation and writing dialogue. We don't want to tag every comment made by our characters with he said, she said, he whined, she cried. What about run-on sentences? How do we mix up the length of sentences? Why? We will work on this in our class.

We will talk about starting small at first. Publish in magazines and journals before attempting a book.
Why? One student came to me with a manuscript for a novel. He was telling a great story, but his characters were weak and unbelievable. We'll talk about how to create unforgetable characters.

Once we see what each student wants to gain from the course, we can direct classes to that need.

If you haven't signed up yet, you still have time. Call Tri-County College in Murphy, NC and ask for Lisa Long in Adult Education.
The fee is only $40.00 for the seven week course. We will meet on Thursdays, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.