http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/2012/01/30/training-to-be-a-career-author-writing-is-more-than-the-writing-2/

I agree heartily with her conclusions. At the same time, I’m one of those who is frustrated that writing as a career is no longer the “tweed jacket, cluttered study, crank out a book a year, let the agents and publishers sell it, then sit back and collect a nice royalty each year” ideal. Too many years of believing that myth, combined with not beginning a writing career until recently. Ah well, maybe someday I’ll become an expert internet marketer of myself, hopefully at the same time as I get that first novel published.

What do you think is necessary to be a successful (meaning published) writer in today’s world?

The reason: my title, http://chitrader.wordpress.com/2012/01/16/sex-drugs-rock-n-roll-reality-tv-obama-mitt-kardashian-vampires-harry-potter/ contains words I thought would generate more hits from searches by individuals, but when I did a search, I found that the only way my blog leaped to the top of the search results (using Google search) was if I used most of the words in the exact order they appeared. In other words, someone would have to have done a search using “Sex, drugs, rock ‘n roll, reality TV, Obama,” at the minimum, to be directed to my blog. Searching on one or two of those title words yielded no reference to my blog on at least the first 3-4 pages of search results, which is about where I estimate the searcher loses interest in further search results, or has found what he/she is looking for.

So there you have it. A provocative title still has to compete with many other website entries for the attention of the average web surfer, so if you don’t have an extremely popular website or blog, it’s not likely that provocative, current event-oriented titles will help you very much.

My supposition is that blogging regularly and building an audience is a better way to gain and keep one’s internet audience.

Have provocative or timely words in your titles boosted your readership? What other techniques work for you in building readership? Are you a generalist blogger, or a blogger who sticks to one topic most of the time?

You might say, “What’s the big deal? Isn’t that a normal occurrence in a democratic society?” Years ago I would have said, “Yes,” but in the last 20 years or so a citizen’s right to petition their government has been rendered moot by the overarching influence that has been gained by those with money and power. We as individuals might find 10, 100, 1000, or even 10,000 people to agree with us and choose to send letters to our representatives and senators advocating for or against some issue, bill, policy, rule, whatever. But all that clout can be virtually ignored when one individual with enough money can buy that lawmaker’s vote in return for a campaign contribution probably larger than the amount 10,000 individuals might collectively be able to afford or are willing to donate to oppose the power broker.

So when the two online piracy bills currently before the U.S. Congress, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) were for all intents and purposes booed off the stage by millions of US citizens, spearheaded by the likes of Wikipedia, Google, Mozilla, Craigslist, Reddit, and others. MILLIONS! That’s the kind of groundswell that is needed to overcome, in the case, the Hollywood establishment, which I presume are the entities which sponsored and wrote the bills and tried to slide them through Congress to little or no fanfare.

Big Corporations LOST. The people WON. That hasn’t happened very much in my lifetime, certainly not in the past twenty years or so. Back in the good old days (whenever they were) I had this notion that our leaders represented us, listened to us, passed laws that were in our best interests, and would always do so. But then they figured out that being in Congress was a cushy job, paid well, stroked your ego (who wouldn’t want to hobnob with world leaders, wealthy people, the best and the brightest? And the easiest way to keep that cushy job was to buy votes by promising something to those who had the audacity or the wherewithal to ask, and paying for it by taking money from those who didn’t complain or notice.

The spiral deepened and it took more money to buy more votes to retain one’s seat, because the guy in the other party was also making outrageous, expensive promises to his friends, which were often two different groups of people, but more and more have become the same groups. The haves couldn’t lose if they paid off both parties.

It’s gotten even worse since 2001 when the Republican Party realized that it was even easier to buy votes with debt, rather than by taxing unsuspecting dupes like the typical citizen. So we fought two-and-a-half wars (Libya/Pakistan/Iran—could turn into four or more in the future), expanded entitlement programs, but didn’t have the nerve to even declare war or ask the citizens to pay for this largesse with taxes. They borrowed the money, and appear to have little or no intention of paying it off.

The Democratic Party decided this was a great idea, too, but they’ve always been more eager to raise taxes than Republicans, so it took them awhile to catch on to this debt idea. Once they got control of Congress in 2006, they Dems made sure to overpromise goodies to the folks who could help President Obama elected. Then they really started promising everything to everybody during those two years, 2008-2010, when they had control of Congress and the White House.

Now we’ve got a government full of leaders that can’t lead; who are afraid to be honest with their constituents, afraid to be the first one to stand up and say, “We have to stop destroying our country from within.”

And that’s my point. Our elected officials stopped being leaders a long time ago. They are 100% politicians now. Politicians are good at getting elected, because politics has become a cross between a beauty contest and a popularity contest. In one campaign they will say one thing to get elected; in the next campaign they will say the opposite because the court of public opinion has changed in the intervening two, four, or six years. They will follow anyone who can guarantee their re-election.

And that’s where the internet comes in. This one little idea, government taking control of the internet in the guise of protecting us all from piracy, was so abhorrent to enough people that we immediately flooded the internet with protests. We several million saw through the charade of a bill that could have so many negative unforeseen consequences that I shudder to think of what might happen if the US government ever gets control of the internet. Look at how hard China works to suppress their people’s access to the internet. It’s being done, and the US government thinks it’s not such a bad thing, really, because the day may come when all the unemployed, over-mortgaged, underemployed, over student-debted, tired, frustrated, disillusioned citizens in this country say “enough is enough,” the American Dream has become a nightmare and we need a wholesale revolution of Government at all levels, but especially at the Federal level.

Thanks to all who sent emails or letters, called, protested or otherwise made it known to our leaders that they days of blindly following egotistical narcissists is over. We won a decisive victory over “government as usual.” Don’t let up. Pay attention, stay vigilant, and get more involved in what government is doing to us. Question everything. Ask “how will this law affect me personally?” Demand accountability and honesty. Fight for your freedom to live the best way you know how without interfering in everyone else’s life. Demand leadership.

My question to you: What’s your opinion? Let me know, and then let your government officials know. They need to hear that the times they are a- changing.

My blog gets 1-2 visits per day; a few more right after I post a new blog and mention it at Critique Circle (where I am a member). I’ve recently linked myself with Twitter and Facebook, and added my blog address to my email signature, so that might be responsible for a few more visits than before, but I haven’t noticed any increase in blog traffic because of those new factors.

So check back in a week or so, and I’ll crunch the numbers to see if I can generate more traffic just by using a provocative title or using popular search tags.

What do you think the result will be? More traffic, less traffic, or no difference?
Inquiring minds want to know.

I don’t mean the joy and excitement of ripping open presents, which was certainly fun when I was a kid. But as I got older, I started to notice the outside. I don’t remember when it first happened. One year I went outside, maybe en route to try out the new skates or sled I had received. Few people were out and about at that time. Birds and other animals don’t make much noise in winter. Few cars passed by. If the wind was still, one could imagine being in the middle of a wilderness.

As I stood in silence I was struck by a feeling of peace, tranquility, and beauty. You have to be from a northern climate to fully appreciate the beauty of six feet of snow piled high at the ends of driveways, drifts threatening to seal shut the front door until April, and air so cold that breathing actually hurts one’s lungs. But on those special Christmas mornings—where a fresh layer of snow colored the landscape such a bright white that one understands the meaning of “pure as the driven snow” and the sky is the bluest of sky blues, crackling with color, and the early morning sun bathes everything in a warm glow—I feel more spiritual than I do any other day of the year.

I’m not a religious person, meaning I don’t go to church, but I like to think I’m as spiritual as the next guy, if not more. On those perfect Christmas mornings, my spirit is filled with wonder, joy, even hope that the basic goodness of mankind will eventually triumph over evil. It sounds naïve, I’ll admit, but on one day a year shouldn’t we all reflect on what good things are possible, rather than what evil has befallen us since last Christmas?

I think about the message Jesus brought to his world. I like the idea of one man so good and forgiving and accepting of all others, no matter whom they might be or what harm they might do to him. Somehow, organizers and usurpers of religion have strayed from that message, and even though they preach it nonstop to their flocks, the world manages to get itself into one war after another about who’s beliefs are the only true beliefs, whose God is the one true God, and whose prescription for living is the one true way to live. What happened to living in the spirit that Jesus proscribed? That seems to get forgotten by the preachers in favor of knocking down other religions.

I ask myself, “Have you lived your life in the manner of forgiveness and acceptance? Of non-violence? Of helping the less fortunate?” I’m glad to answer “yes” to those questions year after year. It’s one of the accomplishments I’m most proud of in my day-to-day life. So on those quiet, peaceful Christmas mornings, when nature has blessed me with the sight of one of her wonders, a winter snowscape, I renew the pledge to myself to work every day at being a peaceful, non-violent, non-judgmental human being, who wishes that the institutions in our world—governments, religions, political parties, corporations—would strive toward a spirit of cooperation rather than competition, or at least of friendly competition to improve the lives of everyone, and preserve the beautiful, wondrous natural world we are privileged to inhabit.

In that spirit, thanks to my nephew Sam Rudy (check out his link to the right if you live in the Twin Cities and are interested in violin lessons), for sending me this most interesting video. It’s the first movement of my favorite piece of classical music, Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. Beethoven is my favorite classical composer, too. The anniversary of his birth was Dec.16. He would have been 241 years old this year. Beethoven’s Fifth premiered in 1808, meaning the world has been blessed with this masterpiece for more than 200 years. How’s that for longevity, all you pop music pretenders? When you’ve been around for at least 100 years, we’ll start talking greatness for you.

The great thing about this video is that it is designed for the listener who is more visual than aural. I’m an aural guy myself. I can close my eyes and let the movie of my mind play to any music I enjoy. This is how I imagine a visual listener might “hear” music. It’s remindful of a simplified conductor’s score (I used to be a band director, so I know), showing visually all the different instruments and parts rhythmically and with relative pitch locations using bars of different colors and lengths. Enjoy it when you can be uninterrupted for several minutes. I hope you all find your Christmas morning inspirations this year. Merry Christmas.

My Christmas question for you: What’s your favorite personal reflection related to Christmas?

Even if you know about her and have seen this piece, it only gets better to relive your emotions when you first heard her sing.Who’s your favorite musical artist? Female singer? Male singer? Group? Instrumentalists?

While I love French cuisine and think French chefs are among the finest in the world when it comes to creativity, maybe they went ju-u-u-u-st a bit too far with this monstrosity. I won’t bore you with the recipe ingredients, since there are dozens out there, much like everyone has their favorite meatloaf or chili recipe. But the process is similar no matter the ingredients, so let me share my odyssey and expertise in what to expect if you truly want to wow your family with a dessert “Yule” never forget.

First, make the cake in a jellyroll pan (have I lost most of you already?). A jellyroll pan is a shallow baking pan, like a cookie sheet with sides. Standard is 15″X10″X1″ deep. Remove the cake from the pan when it has cooled. Then make the filling that you will spread onto the cake.

Listen carefully now. Spread the filling onto the cake. This is the point of no return. Up to this point, you still have time to run out to the Kwik Trip and buy a gallon of ice cream and a dozen day old, chocolate-covered doughnuts for Christmas dessert.

Now, roll the cake up into a log shape. That’s the first fun part, because as we all know, a 15x10x1-inch cake with some sort of goopy fruit or cream filling slathered on top of it is so pliable and easy to roll into a tight little log. A two-year-old could do it. (More on two-year-olds later.)

Assuming that task came off without a hitch and you don’t have chunks of filling-covered cake scattered about your counter, which would require you to start over, you are now ready to apply the tree bark to your Yule log. Translation: tree bark is the layer of frosting you apply to make the cake look like a log. Chocolate is a good choice since, like most tree bark, it’s brown. One could digress here and go for a white birch, but if you’re going to this much trouble to frost a cake, it might as well be chocolate, right?

It’s not enough to slather this liquid tree bark on like you would frost a normal cake; the trick is to make that frosting actually look like tree bark. Most bakers tend to go for smoother-barked trees such as young maples. Not me. I went for a scraggly old cottonwood, with deep, roughly parallel grooves. If you’re a trained sculptor, expert in clay, this will only take a few minutes. It takes klutzes like me 15-20 minutes.

By this time, you’ll be ready for a snort, so make sure you’ve got plenty of wine, beer, or tequila shots on hand. Booze does wonders at keeping you calm when you realize you have to leave for your brother’s house in ten minutes and you thought your Yule Log would have been finished two hours ago.

Now it’s time for the branches. These can be mini-pieces of jellyroll cake that you’ve saved from your trimming of the original cake. Or you can think ahead and bake a dozen or so mini-cakes shaped like tree branches. Have I mentioned that entire books have been written on the art of Yule Logging? If not, there should be, if only to scare more people away from trying to make one.

Actually, it’s much easier to show where branches used to be by creating the look of a sawed-off branch only sticking out an inch or so. Two or three of these are enough. Some artistes go so far as to use real branches (twigs actually), which they stick into the cake. This can work well for coniferous trees, adding a nice green color and texture–and aroma if you use fresh pine boughs. Just remember to tell your guests these aren’t edible. Celebrate with another drink.

Once the branches are stuck on and painted/frosted you’re getting close, but remember these small pieces of cake are even more fragile than the whole cake, and your frosting is the consistency of partially-set cement, so it might take a few (dozen?) tries to get several acceptable branches stuck on and frosted. Celebrate with another drink.

If you go with the sawed-off branch theme, you of course have to make lighter-colored icing to put on the stump—tan or caramel color vs. the chocolate-brown of the bark. Adding twenty or thirty age rings on that sawed-off area adds a nice touch of realism, too. Easy enough to do on a one-inch-diameter branch, right? Celebrate with another drink.

Now you look at the Yule Log and think, “That looks pretty good, but something’s missing. Ah ha! I’ve got it … mushrooms! Celebrate with another drink.

NO, I don’t mean psychedelic mushrooms for your consumption because you’re certain that’s the only way you’re going to finish this sucker without killing the cat or punching a hole in your wall. Save those for afterward. They go nice with a glass of port.

So you whip up a batch of meringue mushrooms, let them cool, and place them in strategic locations on the log. Suffice it to say, there are more mushroom shapes than tree bark varieties, so unless you have some serious meringue-sculpting talent, stick with garden-variety button mushrooms. Crank out five or six of those—vary the sizes, of course—and stick those onto the log. Some purists insist on one per serving. I worry more about the visual effect. Is my muse telling me this is a recently downed tree, meaning only a few mushrooms will have taken hold? Or has this sucker been dead for decades, and if not for those freaking age rings, no one in their right mind would suspect this is a log. Celebrate with another drink.

But those mushrooms usually look starkly white against the brown frosting of the bark, which is not natural, so you decide the mushrooms need a touch of dirt on them. Not real dirt of course, but cocoa powder lightly dusted over them. Et Voila, right?

Well-l-l-l, not quite. It’s Christmas after all, so you need to garnish your masterpiece. Get some holly leaves and berries, maybe a few pine sprigs, and nestle those around the edges in an artistic montage of winter’s struggle to defeat beauty and color, and the pine and holly berry’s ultimate prevailing over Old Man Winter. Celebrate with another drink.

Presuming you had the foresight to begin this odyssey at least 24 hours before E.A.T. (Eating Approximation Time); you’ve got just enough time to proudly present this culinary Taj Mahal to your guests before they’ve given up on you and cracked  open the five-gallon pail of caramel corn that Uncle Joe gave to one of the two-year-olds for Christmas. They ooh and ah politely, at which point one of the inevitable Terrible Two Toddlers who are always present at family gatherings spies your creation, says, “MINE!” and proceeds to plunge his grubbly little fist into the cake up to his wrist. I know “grubbly” is a typo, but I like the word. It combines grubby and bubbly—like “happy dirt.”

You choke back bile and venom as you maintain your composure. But you say to yourself, “So this is what goes through a serial killer’s mind just before he fires up the chainsaw!” Of course, the little tyke’s mom apologizes profusely. You shrug it off. “He and the other little darlings can have that section. We grownups will enjoy the three inches of cake that doesn’t have toxic two-year-old germs and spittle all over it.” Celebrate by spiking the kid’s apple juice with Red Hot Peppermint Schnapps.

You slice up what’s left of the cake and serve. Everyone wolfs it down in 30 seconds and makes comments such as, “That was pretty good, Chris, tastes kind of like a Ding Dong. Whatdja call it again, a Euell Gibbons Log?”

You say, “It’s just Yule Log,’” and smile graciously. Everyone makes sure to thank you, mainly for showing up so they can talk to someone else besides their boorish spouses. Your last thought before cracking open the Magnum of Late Bottle Vintage Port that you plan to drink all by yourself (with a generous dose of psychedelic mushrooms) is, “Next year, I’m bringing the salad!”

Care to share any of your own Holiday cooking (mis)adventures?

1)The state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support; condition of being poor.

2)The state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions

3)The state of being extremely poor.

The Federal Government recently revised its formula for calculating the official poverty level in this country. This resulted in an instantaneous increase in the number of people officially classified as poor of some 2.6 million individuals. I hope the Feds sent them all a letter of congratulations on achieving membership in this exclusive club—oh, wait, it’s not so exclusive. The percent of the population who are now poor is 15.1% in 2010. That’s up from 14.3% in 2009.

But wait a second. Haven’t we (the government) been waging the “War on Poverty” since President Johnson declared war in 1964? My first question is what was the poverty level when the war started? According to the Feds, that level was approximately 19%.

So a war that has lasted more than 45 years has resulted in an official net decrease in poverty of 3.9% That computes to 0.087% per year. Wow, at this rate, poverty in the United States will officially be eliminated in the year 2183.

Why hasn’t the poverty rate gone down substantially, or stayed down, or been eliminated, in the last 45 years?

Shouldn’t we be asking that question of our leaders?

I think so, but it never gets asked. And they certainly won’t volunteer an answer, so here’s my answer:

BECAUSE POVERTY IS RELATIVE. It’s a moving target. It’s subjective. One man’s poverty may be another man’s wealth. The definition of poverty keeps expanding to include more and more of us.

In America, we have a relatively great income disparity due to many variables: talent, luck, work ethic, accumulated wealth from previous generations, tax code manipulations and legislation, and random chance in some cases. In the rest of the world, minus a good chunk of Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South America, and South Africa, the vast majority of people (billions) survive on one or two dollars a day.

TWO DOLLARS A DAY.

But we consider those in our lowest income strata to be in that same class—impoverished—if they are making about $60 a day. (Roughly minimum wage). So true poverty in the world is $2 a day, but somehow the government has convinced us that 30 times that amount is the definition of poverty.

Bull****.

We have the richest “poor” people in the history of mankind. How dare we even mention the word poverty when even the poorest of our poor have so much more than average people have in the rest of the world?

Furthermore, why do we only discuss poverty in terms of money? What about poverty of the soul, poverty of the spirit, poverty of morals, poverty of compassion? Maybe we consider our poor to be poverty-stricken not because they have less money but because they are morally and spiritually bankrupt. Does the government foster those beliefs by encouraging this something-for-nothing lifestyle?

Please don’t get me wrong. I know firsthand that many people are truly suffering in this economic climate. Single mothers top the list, but also consider the returned veterans who have fallen through the cracks of the Veterans’ Administration safety net. Then there are drug addicts, those without high school diplomas, those who are unable to work due to disability, ex-convicts, OUR NATIVE AMERICAN POPULATION IN CERTAIN AREAS, such as the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota, where casino income has not provided adequate restitution for those whose culture and lifestyle we have destroyed in our march to dominate this continent.

But our government, in its guilt–as well as its insistence that it can do no wrong so the poverty of its people is not its fault–has decided that it needs to force the rest of us to pay to maintain the wretched lifestyle of those they have impoverished as our leaders gradually establish a nanny state whereby we all become dependent on our rulers for everything. Our poor are just the vanguard of that movement.

Sure, we make sure they have a roof over their heads (subsidized housing), food (food stamps), clothing, as well as TVs, cell phones, cars, air conditioning, computers—all because our government-mandated welfare benefits are extremely generous and “poor people” somehow manage to afford those items that were considered luxuries fifty years ago.

Maybe the reason we have relatively wealthy poor people is because our underground economy, the gray and black markets, provides substantial income for many people whose visible income (reported on tax returns) is only a part of their overall income.

For instance, I have to believe there are a great many drug dealers, prostitutes, pornography peddlers, and those who simply barter for goods and services or keep cash transaction off the books, who hide substantial chunks of income from the government. I don’t fault these people for doing what they deem best for their survival. I fault the government for pretending this income doesn’t exist and insisting that poverty is only determined by the income people pay income taxes on.

Don’t get me wrong again. I have no trouble contributing to charitable organizations that provide necessities for our poor, but I choose to donate to those entities. Government forcibly extracts money from me to subsidize people who I might not otherwise want to help. I don’t believe in subsidizing convicted murderers, child molesters, rapists, fraudsters, those who pull insurance scams or file fraudulent lawsuits to rip off law-abiding businesses and individuals, drug dealers who prey on children, and just plain lazy folks who have bought into the entitlement mentality that our government has spent decades instilling into our psyches. And that goes double for corporate welfare. I have the least desire of all to give money to any corporation that wangles a tax break from the government.

The underlying societal destroyer is the entitlement mentality the government is fostering. They are more than happy to say, “Leave everything to us. We’ll take care of you. Just tell us what you want and we’ll get everyone else to pay for it.”   The great fallacy of that idea is that eventually everyone will climb on board the entitlement bandwagon and there will be no one left to pay for those entitlements.

This is easily seen with Social Security and Medicare. Decades ago, there were four or five workers paying into these programs for every person who received benefits. Now the ratio is more like 2:1 or 3:1. Sooner or later, as our retired population increases exponentially due to advances in health care, there will be more people receiving benefits than there will be people paying for those benefits. Something’s got to give.

The events in Europe concerning the overwhelming debt of Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Ireland are a preview of the coming disaster the U.S. faces if the government insists on becoming the provider of last resort for all its citizens. Much of their troubles stem from promising too much to too many citizens.

My guess is the government will inflate the currency so much that benefits will be reduced to pennies on the dollar in terms of buying power. This will create another huge underclass of people in poverty–old folks, mainly baby boomers–who trusted the government to take care of them. More promises that can’t be delivered will be broken because the government is not the source of unlimited funds. They only want us to believe they are. Every dollar they have has been forcefully taken from you, me, and every other citizen in the form of taxes.

Like the other “wars” we currently fight–the War on Drugs, the War on Terrorism–the War on Poverty can’t be won. You can’t win a war against an invisible opponent. Or, in this case, a war against a subjective concept. It’s time to declare a truce and let Americans take care of themselves, their families, and their friends. We’ll all do a better job of helping each other and waste a lot less money on inefficient, uncaring bureaucracy.

First, a great deal of information was packed into a full day. Attendees had three choices in each time slot, with four time slots scheduled during the day, plus optional (for a fee) small group critique sessions. I signed up for the critique session that lasted two hours and started after Saturday’s workshop sessions concluded in late afternoon. Students had an option of signing up for critique groups either Friday evening, Saturday late afternoon, or Sunday morning. Group size was limited to eight, so every submitter got fifteen minutes of input from the other seven critiquers as well as the group leader.

Emphasis was placed on critters making positive comments, which I thought made sense since no one wants to pay fifty dollars for a critique session and only be told what sucks about his/her work. Since I fancy myself as having thick skin, I would have preferred more pointing out of flaws than telling me what was good, but critters also could leave a marked up copy of a writer’s submission with the writer, and perhaps be a bit more blunt in private. I was positive in my verbal comments, but commented in writing the way I normally do with my online critique group. Honest, but polite, and always with the goal of helping the writer see weaknesses and correct them in order to become a better writer.

The workshop sessions were divided into two tracks: One track was geared toward writers in the early stages of writing a novel, perhaps only with an idea or a concept, or who had perhaps started a novel and were now running into some difficulties. The second track was geared toward writers like me who had perhaps finished a manuscript or were close to finishing and were either looking for agents or wanting to get their manuscripts polished in order to start the querying process.

Second, the staff and instructors at Wisconsin’s continuing education writing department run a tight ship and make any of their workshops or conferences a pleasure to attend. Facilities are excellent for learning, information is well-organized. The presenters are all first-rate speakers and teachers who are passionate about helping any writer improve. No question is ignored, instructors are approachable after sessions, adequate time is given to each workshop topic, and topics are relevant to the author experience.

The titles for the beginner track workshops were: Beginnings; Middles; Reads Like a Movie; Increase the Stakes, Decrease the Rejections; and Trouble and Twists: Making Nice Characters Just Naughty Enough.

Advanced track workshops included: The Concept and the Query Letter; Endings; Why am I Getting All These Rejections?; Metaphor for Novelists; Case Study: The World’s Worst First Novel (wish I had been able to attend that one!); Choosing and Capitalizing on the Inciting Incident; and Diamond-Quality Style and Voice.

The price was very reasonable–$145 for early registration, which included four workshops of my choice (no need to choose beforehand, so I let impulse guide me on a few of the sessions, and no need to stick to one track, students could pick and choose), plus an introductory Q&A session. I felt I received high value for that price.

If you are curious and live in the Midwest, check out their link for upcoming programs and classes:

Writing: Creative writing classes, workshops and conferences through UW-Madison Continuing Studies

If you aren’t in the Midwest, find a college, university, community college, or extension service and get some education. Workshops are also a great way to network, commiserate with other struggling writers, and pick up some valuable tips or ideas that will make your writing shine. So get off your butt and expand your writing mind.

My question to you: Have you attended a class, conference, or workshop that had value to you? Tell me about it.

I hope to be inspired to blog more often, and subsequently be more interesting to read as well as showing more of the real me. What are your thoughts on a writer feeling obligated to blog about writing?