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== = = = = =Tip of the Day --April 27th=

[|Writing Club –Start a Summer Blog!]
Posted on [|April 27, 2011] by [|A. Grauwiler] Today we talked about blogging. For the summer, I’d encourage you to create your own blog as a way to keep up your writing habits. Journal what’s happening around town. Post some of your own fiction or poetry pieces. Add pictures. Be creative and do what you want. Take a look at these websites to choose which works best for the writing you’d like to do: [|WordPress] [|tumblr] [|Figment] [|YouTube] [|facebook] These are all great sites where you can post your thoughts and read others’ work. (Remember, safety first!) Happy writing!!!

= = = = =Tip of the Day --March 18th=

Here's a trick to use to come up with more descriptive, original, less cliche sentences. Pay attention to how verbs are used in the sentence to describe nouns.
1. Create a list of nouns that are specific to the location you are describing. 2. Create a list of verbs that are associated with a specific occupation. 3. Using these two lists, come up with 5 sentences to describe the setting. 4.  Assemble the sentences into a logical paragraph. Don’t forget to add an introduction sentence and a concluding sentence to your paragraph.

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 1. The CARCASSES of recent road kill MARINATED in the hot sun, causing a sickening odor.  2. The spilled oil COATED even the EARTHWORMS buried deep in the sludge.  3. The offensive BILLBOARDS CHOPPED up the otherwise scenic view.  4. The SAXOPHONE music heated up the snooty socialites until their emotions were BROILING with excitement. ======

= = =Tip of the Day --February 25th= Most of you are have chosen a project and are deeply invested in it. Today, take some time to get feedback from one other person. Have a partner read your work, the entire work. Then, ask for "2 Stars and a Wish". 2 Stars --2 things they like about your writing (ask them to be specific) A Wish --1 thing they are looking for in your writing: a detail, a description, an event, a character, a different word or phrase...

Just before the end of our session, post a passage, or the entire work, on the "Discussion" portion of this page. = = =Tip of the Day --February 4th= Today we're going to look at a book by author Lynda Barry. She's a highly successful graphic novelist and has put together a chaotic and amazing "Acitivity Book" to encourage writers. Learn more about her here: [] =Prompt of the Day --February 4th= Lynda Barry suggests, rather than writing about feelings, choose an //image// from your memory and write about that image (a thought, a memory, or a location). Try looking around that image in your memory. Now take ten minutes to write non-stop about what you see. Focus on describing the senses, rather than the feelings of that memory. See me for a copy of Lynda Barry's first "lesson" if you're interested.

=Tip of the Day --January 21st= Read your work aloud. To yourself. To someone else. Words can sound different in your imagination than aloud. Reading aloud can help you get a sense of how your words flow. =Prompt of the Day --January 21st= __figment.com__ is an online community of writers. On the website you can read what others are writing, as well as post your own work. The other night they hosted a game. Here's an excerpt from their blog: HILARIOUS HUMAN DICTIONARIES //Last night, we played Human Dictionary on the Figment Forums. I gave Figmenters an arcane word, they had to come up with a definition. They nearly killed me. Here are some highlights!// //**sesquipedalian**: a sequined elderly woman who likes to go biking. ([|hnilla])// //**exfluncticate**: The careful, practiced art of shifting to one side when sitting down in order to disguise the evidence that you have, in fact, just farted. Used typically to keep significant others unaware and sometimes accompanied by an unearthly cough to drown out the noise. ([|Caroline Grand])// //**hornswoggle**: To be assaulted with so many Facebook notifications, messages, and IMs that your eyes wiggle in their sockets uncontrollably. Similar to a seizure, but only observed in those with 1500 Facebook friends or more. ([|Michele Ford])//

Why not try this on your own? You may be surprised how imaginative you become! =Tip of the Day --January 14th= If you ever feel like you've got a great idea but don't know how to turn it into a story try thinking of it as a boulder you are going to explode and turn to sand... Your idea is a giant boulder. Use the five W's (who, what, when, where, and why) to explode the idea, leaving you with sizable chunks of rock. Then turn those rocks to sand by imagining the minute details in each chunk; go through the five senses (sight, sound, feel, taste, smell), describing each... You want your reader to picture a film in their mind as they read your work. =Prompt of the Day --January 14th= Write a newspaper article about an empty mailbox that won't stay in one spot.

=Welcome to our new Creative Writing Club Wikispace!=

This is a forum for us to share what we have been working on. We'll use this space for several purposes:


 * You can post your work here to allow others to read and post encouraging remarks.
 * Find writing prompts to help spark ideas.
 * Find the "Tips of the Day" to help you work