Author enrichment

How to rev up your creative writing students, and yourself, midway through the year? Curriculum enrichment. As a writer who teaches creative writing (yes? that's you?) or a teacher of creative writing who loves writing, surely you go to literature and writing festivals. Locally -- there are so many these days -- or the bigger ones (Hay, Chichester, Brighton etc). And among your friends and former students you know authors, too...? From these sources, invite an author or several to come to your college or wherever it is you teach to talk about their writing and publishing experiences. Many authors will happily do this for no fee (so long as they can sell their books at the mini-event), or possibly for expenses. Many will be thrilled to be asked!

Like me. Along with three other authors, all of us former tutors or students at this local college, we are giving an evening's panel discussion on How to Publish Your Book I no longer teach there, but I still love the place. And hope that we provide 'yes, you can' inspiration for current and future aspiring writers.

Clockwise from top left: Diane Chandler (The Road to Donetsk), Jacqui Lofthouse (The Modigliani Girl), Susan Lee Kerr (The Extraordinary Dr Epstein) and Stephanie Zia (Self-Publishing EBooks and Blackbird Digital Books publisher)

Published!

Just in time to uplift you through the first weeks of the new teaching year: the ebook version of Creative Writing: the Matrix, called the Quick Matrix, is now available via all the usual ebook outlets. What's more the paperback was available only for UK distribution, but ebook's selected exercises & ideas for creative writing teachers is worldwide.

On your kindle or ibook or whatever, the 104 exercises and mini-lectures are of course linked right from the table of contents, so it's easy-peasy to come up with content and planning for your classful of eager writers. Enjoy! And please do feedback, review and spread the word.

Have I mentioned yet that I've started a new blogsite in my name on the writing and creative life? Drop in for juice outside your teaching gig. Meanwhile, elsewhere on this site, do scroll down and look at the labels list of previous postings for other teaching support. Class planning, first class and exercises probably most useful to you at this time of year.

Quick Matrix: Advance Cover Peek

Hot off the cyber-waves, here's the cover of the NEW ebook, coming soon through all the usual ereader sources. As it says on the tin, Creative Writing: the Quick Matrix is exercises and ideas selected from the original print paperback. Watch this space for release date.

Meanwhile, scroll down to the archives to find yet more, on the spot, exercises that are not in either Matrix book. Collected and invented as I went along. Class planning is a good category for this time of year, of course!

Creative writing exercises galore

Published! The Extraordinary Dr Epstein -- check it out here -- but meanwhile, on with the teaching show. Two good newses: Creative Writing: the Matrix, that is this paperback, is now in its 3rd printing!

And it is soon to have an ebook variation:  Creative Writing: the Quick Matrix, Selected Exercises for Creative Writing Teachers. Scout's honour, if you already own the paperback no need to opt for the digital version. That's because I'm culling the print to provide a whizz-bang selection of the goodies so that MORE writer-teachers can access the book at LESS cost. So watch this space for announcement of its publication.

Meanwhile, there are over 112 entries in this teaching creative writing blog's archive. Just go to the list of Labels below. Some of the most useful: Creative Process, Critic Within, Exercises (24 entries), First Class, Lesson Planning (6 entries) etcetera

"geographic, spiritual and psychological... compelling, surprising and carefully researched"

...that's a bit of praise for The Extraordinary Dr Epstein. Hope it tempts you!

Creative juice

There are over 112 entries in this teaching creative writing blog and meanwhile I am deep in the formatting throes of The Extraordinary Dr Epstein -- to be published in 2015. It's the story of my great-grandfather's life -- his many lives, as he reinvented himself so many times: Russian, American, doctor, pastor, Jew, Christian, poet, sailor, scholar, farmer, founder of a university... check him (and me) out here.

I'm also learning the ins and outs of self-publishing, but this term YOU are teaching creative writing. Besides my Creative Writing: the Matrix book -- nearly out of print! -- there are loads of exercises and ideas for your class planning in this blog's archive.

Here's my shortcut to the best of the best for you and your students in the long list of Labels below: CREATIVE PROCESS, CRITIC WITHIN, DIFFICULT STUDENTS, ENDINGS, EXERCISES (24 entries!), FIRST CLASS, LESSON PLANNING (6 entries), START OF TERM, WORKSHOPPING etc etc.

Let the creativity flow!

Rev up to countdown

Half-term's almost over, one last run to go before it's all over for the year. You just have time to inspire your class to pull together work (or write new work) and publish a class booklet.

In fact, these days, you are probably remiss if you don't get your students exploring self-publication. Whether it is Smashwords, Lulu, Amazon, Kindle or whatever, anyone can e-publish these days. But will it be good? Get students, or perhaps small groups within the class (nothing like the competitive spirit) to decide on theme, content, length, format (just e? Print on Demand?)... or you set the theme/themes for them.

Even just asking students to browse the web and report (with print outs or screen show-n-tell) on poetry, flash fiction, fiction, memoir or whatever is a good practical exercise. If they don't rise to producing their own group collection at least this might inspire individuals eventually to go it alone.

Some other end-of-year ideas to be found under the label called that (see labels list at bottom). Strangely enough I like having a session on creating titles this time of year. Must be something about in our end is our beginning...

New creative term, new creative year

Ah, January, when we book -- or dream of -- holidays. But you are instead jumping into the next creative writing term. What a great excuse for looking through your postcards -- you do succumb to postcard temptation, don't you?

Travel Postcards, Surreal Postcards, Mythical, Animal... images are fantastic (I used that word purposely) stimulus. I have just put on the Matrix book website the how-to for using postcards/pictures in class exercises. It's a sneak-peek and free-for-you sampling with 4 subject categories and 3 methods with which to charm, bedazzle and encourage your students.

Treat your writers to a postcard exercise once a month -- that'll help you get through the term. The book, Creative Writing: the Matrix, has other tips on planning and running a course. Right here, this blog offers further exercises and support. See the post of 4 July 2011 where I listed particularly practical Labels like Exercises, Lesson Planning, Start of Term... or just go right to Labels and dip in.

I am now in re-revise stage of the epic docu-novel that is the story of the life of my great grand-father Ephraim M Epstein. It takes him from Belarus to Dakota Territory to the hills of West Virginia, through two marriages, ten children, careers as a missionary, a doctor, a university founder, a journalist, and back and forth between Judaism and Christianity. Because of this last my original title was Testing the Gods, but a recent discovery triggered a change of title to The Notorious Dr Epstein. Exciting! Last minute! Will it ever end? I am building a blog for him/it... but as all true writers know, I must first and foremost dedicate myself to finishing the book.

Still have some room to coach-buddy writers and creative writing tutors -- see column right. Meanwhile, treat yourself to an Artist's Date (thank you, Julia Cameron). Go out to a gallery or museum exhibition, then to its shop and indulge yourself in postcards that evoke a response in you.