Area Failed Writer Attempts to Fail at Teaching Writing
So although this is only relevant to Portland writers, I still wanted to share with everyone that I’m going to teach three writing workshops in June using my videos as the launching point (aka: as a crutch for my stage fright).
I’ll be teaching at the Attic Institute. If you’re in the area and interested, please register. It is a fabulous organization and I’m honored to be a part of it.
Specifically, I’ve plucked out three particular topics that I think will be helpful to writers.
The first class (“Cool Tools for Writers”) will use my Writing a Novel When Busy video to begin a discussion about the possibilities for writers beyond Microsoft Word. Even though most of us geeks intimately know the billions of alternatives, many of my writer friends still use Microsoft Word as their only tool. I hope to open a few doors with this course… without actually getting too in depth… yet.
The second one (“Obsession x Voice”) will be a little more abstract as I take Gruber & Merlin’s brilliant SXSW discussion (which I summed up in my Obsession x Voice video) and talk to students about ways of focusing and enhancing their creative projects. This course is a little risky in that I arrogantly suggest this technique can work for something very specific (like making one character in a novel more interesting), or something very general (like finding a compelling niche for your blog). I hope it works out because I feel that this OxV mindset can help an artist in so many ways.
The third class (“Scrivener”) is the most concrete of the three courses. I just teach Scrivener Scrivener Scrivener. I won’t torture them with my one hour Scrivener video, but I will project my computer on the big screen as I walk them through a few of my projects. I’ve helped quite a few writers ramp up with Scrivener and I find that they sometimes need to see it in-action in order to get that AHA! moment. I hope to AHA! the shit out of them.
I’m excited and nervous. I’ve taught writing workshops before, but I’ve never used my video series in tandem with teaching. Who knows... perhaps it will help launch a new "I'm a Failed Teacher" series...