If you're NOT in regular teaching...

(1) So far as I can gather from the IfL (Institute for Learning) website http://www.ifl.ac.uk if you are currently teaching in FE colleges (funded by LSC (Learning & Skills Council, ie government)) you must register with IfL by 31 March 2008 -- no fee to pay.

(2) But if you teach (train, assist-teach etc) in other LSC funded institutions (say prisons, community education etc) you have til 30 September 2008 -- no fee to pay.

(3) OR, if you do NOT CURRENTLY teach in LSC funded institutions -- but who knows, you might! -- you have until 31 March 2008 to register with no fee to pay. After that date, fee is £30.

I'm thinking of writers and creative types who teach occasional part-time creative writing adult classes... so this would be category 3 if you are not currently in a teaching gig. Most likely you'd register as an associate.

As to what this is all about, see my 15 Jan and 11 March blog entries, the comment from Lindsay on the 11 March blog, and the links under Gov't Now Requires in the column to the right -- the official sites.

Strange breaks with Easter so early this year, are you and your students confused?

New Year, new me, new you

Greetings! I'm creating this blog for anyone interested in teaching creative writing to adults. Especially writers who teach (or are about to teach) creative writing in adult education, at writing events etc. Others welcome too, for instance creative writing teachers of all levels and circumstances, teachers of all sorts, maybe even creative writing students and writing circles.

The blog is to back up my book Creative Writing: the Matrix, Exercises & Ideas for Creative Writing Teachers. Such a small niche (hello, fellow nichers!) that I have published it myself (that's a story for a later blog posting). See http://www.paxtonpublishing.co.uk The book has 95 exercises and 21 mini-lectures plus advice on planning and running a course.

News: If you can get to London, come ask questions direct on Monday 14 Jan. I'm talking at Women Writers Network, 6:30 for 7 pm, Conway Hall, Holborn WC1. For more on WWN see http://womenwriters.org.uk/ Sorry chaps, women only, but I'll be promoting more; watch this space.

Urgent news for all who teach or want to teach adults: there is a new government requirement to register. From March 2008 registering costs £30 but til then it's free. Even if you are not sure you'll teach, or will only teach now and then, you can just be an associate. So do it now while it's free!

And finally... most likely I will update this weekly, not daily. Let me know if Teaching Creative Writing as a blogspot suits your interests. I will blog the progress of Creative Writing: the Matrix, of small publishing, of my adventures in teaching creative writing.