Christmas
Special
One Month Only
Eight-Week Private Tutored Courses
NOT $200
NOT $175
NOT $155
ONLY $140
Until January 15, 2011
Conditions apply. See below.
You can't beat this sale anywhere and it will NOT be repeated. Lock in the price today and take your class any time in 2011. Take two courses. Great savings! You have a whole year to work an eight-week course into your schedule. Just click below:
Sale Ends
January 15, 2011
The following conditions apply:
* Tutors may not mentor more than 12 students at one time. Reserve your space now
* Students must choose from available courses at time of first lesson
* Sorry, payment plan is not available for this sale
* No refunds
Gift Certificates
Available at same
price. Use them
yourself or give
them away.
Amazing
Price!
Creative Writing Institute is a non-profit charity that scholarships cancer patients in writing therapy courses. Everyone knows someone who has had cancer and you know how devastating, debilitating and humiliating that disease is. Would you like to make a gift in someone's memory? Any size gift will help and you can do that below. And of course, it's tax deductible. Thank you very much!
Learn by Writing
by Mr. Lynn Carroll, Admin. Asst.
There are three types of writers… readers, thinkers and doers. You can read all the writing books ever written but you won't learn to write until you actually put pen to paper. Some wannabe writers never begin because they can't live up to their idol. With rare exceptions, all famous authors were rank amateurs at one time. They felt just as helpless and frustrated as you do. They made it to the bookshelves because they jumped in feet first.
You aren’t going to publish everything you write, but everything you write will be valuable experience. By studying and evaluating you will learn to separate the chaff from the grain. As in any craft, there are basic elements you must learn to master.
Nothing will get your manuscripts kicked to the reject pile faster than poor grammar, sorry spelling and sickly punctuation so you must master these skills or hire an editor.
All great writers have a unique style that is peculiar to them. Try to endorse their style into yours by reading a paragraph, studying the structure and rewriting it without looking. Style is a reflection of your personality. Be yourself, but flavor your pot of stew by using the same spice the great writers used.
Take writing seriously but lighten up on the attitude or your writing experience won't be fun, relaxing and therapeutic.
As I write this little note, I have such a warm feeling for everyone who supports Creative Writing Institute. That includes you, my friend. A personal note from me to you - I hope this will be the best Christmas you've ever had. God bless. Deb
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NOTE: We are painfully aware that some servers distort or fail to reflect the beauty of our newsletter. We work hard to make it attractive but Yahoo crams it all together and otherwise skews the formatting. Hotmail blocks out large quantities. Gmail fails to show colored print, diminishes the sizes of headlines and sometimes thickens dividers and borders. We want you to know we're doing our best to find a solution. Thank you for your understanding.
Short Story
Winners Will Be
Announced by
January 31
Merry Christmas and many thanks to the volunteers
who researched and submitted articles for this newsletter. You are much appreciated! Ms. Deb
Dear Reader - would you like to volunteer your talents to this great cause? We need people to help with blogging, researching, writing, posting, etc. If you would like to hone your skills and be helpful at the same time, write to Ms. Deb deborahowen@cwinst.com.
Christmas Writing Prompts
Finish your chosen statements in 75 words or less. Send them to me at deborahowen@cwinst.com. I would be honored to read them. Ms. Deb
1. When I was a kid, I used to stare at the Christmas tree and __________
2. I'll never forget the year I got ________
3. The one thing I wished so hard for but never received was _________
4. Now that I'm an adult, I look back on early Christmases and ___________
. Our favorite Christmas food was _______
6. On Christmas day we used to ________
7. I want to help others this month. I have a great idea. I can _________
8. I couldn't have been more than ________ years old when _________
9. Every Christmas we went to __________ house and __________
10. I'm thankful for what I have in life. Christmas is the best time of year to _____
Merry Christmas
From Ms. Deb and all of the Creative Writing Institute staff and every volunteer!
Writing Space
Writing space is a luxury for some, but even professionals don't require the latest laptop or a room devoted to writing. Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter on scraps of paper wherever and whenever she could find time. At one point, her writing table was a fold-down ironing board. Who would have thought that a single mother from an unfashionable area would produce blockbuster novels that later became movies? Other greats also had humble beginnings.
A Strange Gift
Contributed Article
Christmas isn't a happy time of year for everyone. If you happen to be one of those folks, this article is for you.
Three years ago, I received my greatest Christmas gift – the knowledge that Grandma would live through one more Christmas. She was 82 and had battled cancer for many years. That year our family celebrated life and love and family togetherness. We traded gifts, of course, but it was a secondary ritual.
The memory of that Christmas remains wrapped in the recesses of my mind ready to retrieve at a moment's notice. In the after years, we huddled around Grandma's memories. The more we talked about her the more laughter shook the walls.
Hold onto the ideals of the season. Don't let the present pass you by. Make new memories and unwrap them later when your heart feels a chill.
Hint: Buy a special candle in memory of your loved one and light it every time you miss them. You'll be surprised how much it helps.
MERRY CHRISTMAS
May your every wish come true.
SALE ENDS JAN. 15, 2011
If you wish to unsubscribe, (but we hope you don't) please let us know what we could do better. Write to Ms. Deb at deborahowen@cwinst.com. Put UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line. Thank you for your patronage. We enjoyed serving you.
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Writing Tips
Contributed Article
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Attitude. Attitude is the way you treat yourself and others. If you don't take your writing time seriously, don't expect anyone else to.
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Modeling. Modeling is the process of analyzing other writings and learning to endorse them into your own style. Reading is an absolute must if you want your writing to grow.
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Critiques. Professional writers have the skin of a rhinoceros. There is no place for thin-skinned and timorous writer. Accept all criticisms and don't take them personally. Some will be fair and helpful. Discard those that aren't and don't let it bother you. Treat all critiques like gold. Put a big note near your computer – CRITICISM EQUALS OPPORTUNITY.
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Education. Professionals constantly seek to improve their writing with courses, seminars, writer's workshops, networking and conferences. The actual writing is only a small part of the picture. Knowing today's market, timing and submissions – that's what it's all about.
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Submitting. Don't submit once a month. Submit two or three times a week. When one item reaps a rejection slip, have the next market all picked out and submit it again the very next day. Remember one thing – persistence,persistence, persistence.
Dashing Through the Snow!
These are my Jeep tracks. Follow them to my house and I'll give you hot chocolate and chocolate chip cookies. :) Okay, so it's winter and maybe you don't like the cold (depending on who you are and where you live). Don't let that keep you from living every day as though it were your last. Today, do one kind deed for someone else. It's a great way to keep your mind off yourself and the cold. Brrrrrrr... *throwing a snowball at you*
More Writing Tips
Contributed Article
1. Editors usually buy their material 4-6 months in advance. Right now they're buying articles for early spring.
2. Sometimes it's hard to get "in the groove" if you're trying to write a Christmas article in July so write your articles during the holidays -whether it's Mother's Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years or whatever. That's when the muse is flowing naturally and you need to capture that.
3. File the articles, edit them later and submit them at the proper time next year.
A professional writer is an amateur who didn't quit
- Richard Bach
Are You a Writer?
Then Step Up and Be Counted
Most writers, when asked if they are professional or amateur, will respond with the latter then flush or change the subject quickly. Don't be embarrassed to admit a dream. Take a public stand as a writer and accept your mantle. Keep in mind, famous writers held down paying jobs while they honed their craft. Persistence counts.
Key Indicators
Contributed Article
In any profession, a number of key indicators separate beginners from the more experienced. In writing, professionals adopt a certain attitude, model after established writers, seek and accept critiques, grow hard shells, accept rejection, constantly educate themselves and have clear goals.
Christmas Around the World
by
Princess Megan Rose, author of Passage To Romance and Princess Of Scruples
Christmas is celebrated in different ways all around the world. This information comes from
the Christmas Encyclopedia By Tanya Gulevich.
Christmas Lads
In Iceland, thirteen leprachaun-like creatures known as the Jolasveinar or Christmas lads visit homes during the Christmas season. Legend has it, they are the sons of a giant female troll named Gryla. A different lad comes to the house everyday starting on the thirteenth day before Christmas. One boy leaves on Christmas day and one leaves everyday until all the lads are gone.
They are bad little boys. They steal sausages, candles and grain which is used for most of the foods cooked in the households. One may leave a room neat and then dirty it up. After Christmas, they tried to steal the naughty children who live in the house. Legends have changed in Iceland over the years. The lads now look like Santa Claus instead of trolls and leprachauns. They bring gifts, songs and stories to the household children. They are also believed to be elves like the ones in Scandinavia.
Written by Glen: It is believed that Martin Luther, the Protestant Reformer, was the first to to light a Christmas Tree with candles. While coming home, one dark winter's evening near Christmas, he was struck with the beauty of the starlight shining through the branches of a small fir tree outside his home. He duplicated the starlight by using candles attached to his indoor Christmas Tree. The Christmas Tree was not used widely in Britain until the early 19th century. It was bought to America by the Pennsylvania Germans in the 1820's.
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