There is a FREE workshop offered by the magazine HOOT, on March 18 (this Sunday)from 1-4 PM in Philadelphia (110 S 13th Street). Info is here: http://www.hootreview.com/liveworkshops/

According to the Editor/Co-founder,

“All levels are welcome, and you don’t have to bring any writing with you. It’s going to be mostly a discussion of microfiction (writing with fewer than 150 words), which is somewhat a controversial “genre” but becoming more and more popular. We’ll hand out examples and discuss what does and doesn’t work, and venues that publish microfiction. At the end, we will have some writing prompts to get you started, and we’ll have writing time right there where you can try your hand at writing uber-short stuff.

We’ll give feedback (though you can opt out if you’re shy) to the first eight people to arrive, but everyone is welcome to come and join in the discussion/listen and read examples and each others work.”

For more information visit their website: http://www.hootreview.com/liveworkshops/

You can also email questions to Amanda at info@hootreview.com.

http://hootreview.com
follow us on twitter! @HOOTreview
follow us on facebook! http://www.facebook.com/pages/HOOT/253557961331571

http://www.hootreview.com/liveworkshops

If you are in the neighborhood I would highly recommend this!  

http://writerscoffeehouse.eventbrite.com

http://www.childrensbookworld.net/onsite.html#yaauthors

Wednesday March 14 – 7:00pm
ALEXANDER GORDON SMITH, GREGG OLSEN, SIOBHAN VIVIAN
Children’s Book World
17 Haverford Station Rd.
Haverford, PA 19041
610.642.6274

On the evening of March 14, 2012 we will be joined by a fantastic panel of Young Adult authors

Do you write poetry, plays, or short stories?  Show off your skills!  Share your talents with the world.

http://www.writersdigest.com/competitions/writers-digest-annual-competition?et_mid=542024&rid=233485968

Here is a great post from The New York Times.  You’ll find some great rules on writing.

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/16/arts/writers-writing-easy-adverbs-exclamation-points-especially-hooptedoodle.html

The Original 
Leap Year Poem
by Anonymous

Thirty days hath September,
April, June and November.
All the rest have thirty-one,
Excepting February alone,
And that has twenty-eight days clear
And twenty-nine in each leap year.

So, I’m applying for a grant to help offset the costs associated with becoming a writer.  The books, the writing conferences, the memberships to professional organizations, the paper, all really add up!  Right now I’m just whipping out my Am Ex card and praying that my first elevator speech gets me an incredible book deal, but I know that’s a bit unrealistic.  I feel like I’ve jumped off a cliff and before I could barely walk over to the edge.  How will I sustain this… the writer’s life?

How do you do it?  How do you find the resources (and stamina) to fund this little obsession?  Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

This is the beginning of an exciting new adventure for me.  I am an elementary school teacher.  I am a teacher of creative writing.  I help inspire my students every day to be the best authors they can be.  I teach them how to write drafts, edit, revise, and publish a finished, polished piece.  I show them how to use writing partners to critique each others’ work.  I help them learn how to look at their pieces through the eyes of their reader.  And I allow them the time they need to create something they are proud of.  When they are done they celebrate by giving a reading to their peers.  And finally, they share it with their school community, friends, and families by posting it as a podcast on our classroom blog.  Their own voices articulate their written words with great inflection and enthusiasm.  They love the process from beginning to end and they understand that hard work pays off.

This blog is about that enthusiasm.  It is an exercise in demanding time in the day, as a teacher, for my students to find their writing voices and nurture their creative spirits.