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This will take you through to the official home of:
National Novel Writing Month ~ which takes place in November.
Starts on 1st November ......so hurry on dowm!!
Tuesday, 30 October 2007
Why don't you try.......
Interested in writing? Shy of trying? Want to pick up a pen but too scared??
GO ON TRY ................details to follow!!
GO ON TRY ................details to follow!!
There's novel isn't it!!
Students try novel idea: Writing book in 30 days
Kristin Park
Special for The Republic
Nov. 25, 2006 12:00 AM
After reading a newspaper article about a person with amnesia and then letting his imagination wander, Lanis Johnson felt he had the makings of a novel. It was only 10 days later when Johnson typed the last page of his 180-page manuscript.
Johnson and 20 other students, is taking a unique creative-writing class at Phoenix College called 30 Days = Novel. The online course has spanned the month of November to coincide with National Novel Writing Month. With the goal of completing 50,000 words, the length of a short novel, students are drafting a creative work by following daily writing goals and regularly checking in with each other online.
Instructor Trina Belanger encourages the students to focus on meeting a daily word quota by writing every day. She also discourages editing or reworking the words being laid to paper, which is a foreign concept to many writers. advertisement
"If we edit during the process, we will not get anywhere. The inner critic takes over and censors the work and the process," Belanger said.
Johnson, 34, of Buckeye, said he has felt comfortable with the course's writing process and calls himself a "forward writer."
"I don't develop a plot. I really like to write things and let them fall into place without going back over what I've already written. Rewriting makes it more sterile. You strip the emotion and lose that rawness," Johnson said.
A stay-at-home dad and full-time college student, Johnson was not at all intimidated by the feat of drafting a novel. "I find writing fun. It's not work - it was just like getting three free credits. I never dreamed I'd finish in 10 days, though. I also didn't realize how sore my hands and shoulders would be," Johnson said.
Annette Pye is another 30 Days = Novel student juggling responsibilities while aspiring to become a writer. The Tolleson resident has three kids, a full-time job and manages to carry a full-time course load at Phoenix College, where she focuses on business management.
Although Pye, 38, did not complete her novel in record time like Johnson, she is nearing the home stretch and continues to make her daily goals. Hers is a murder/mystery /time travel novel and takes place in 1730 and 2004.
Pye squeezes in her writing time between midnight and 4 a.m. and said that sleeping is a luxury within her hectic lifestyle. "My writing takes me out of the everyday stress."
She refers to Belanger as her cheerleader and appreciates the instructor's daily posts of encouragement and writing tips.
Belanger has no doubt her students will finish. "I don't think the students will allow anyone not to succeed. They bolster each other up all the time. Although writing is a solo sport, taking on something like this has a team mentality. It's working," Belanger said.
Kristin Park
Special for The Republic
Nov. 25, 2006 12:00 AM
After reading a newspaper article about a person with amnesia and then letting his imagination wander, Lanis Johnson felt he had the makings of a novel. It was only 10 days later when Johnson typed the last page of his 180-page manuscript.
Johnson and 20 other students, is taking a unique creative-writing class at Phoenix College called 30 Days = Novel. The online course has spanned the month of November to coincide with National Novel Writing Month. With the goal of completing 50,000 words, the length of a short novel, students are drafting a creative work by following daily writing goals and regularly checking in with each other online.
Instructor Trina Belanger encourages the students to focus on meeting a daily word quota by writing every day. She also discourages editing or reworking the words being laid to paper, which is a foreign concept to many writers. advertisement
"If we edit during the process, we will not get anywhere. The inner critic takes over and censors the work and the process," Belanger said.
Johnson, 34, of Buckeye, said he has felt comfortable with the course's writing process and calls himself a "forward writer."
"I don't develop a plot. I really like to write things and let them fall into place without going back over what I've already written. Rewriting makes it more sterile. You strip the emotion and lose that rawness," Johnson said.
A stay-at-home dad and full-time college student, Johnson was not at all intimidated by the feat of drafting a novel. "I find writing fun. It's not work - it was just like getting three free credits. I never dreamed I'd finish in 10 days, though. I also didn't realize how sore my hands and shoulders would be," Johnson said.
Annette Pye is another 30 Days = Novel student juggling responsibilities while aspiring to become a writer. The Tolleson resident has three kids, a full-time job and manages to carry a full-time course load at Phoenix College, where she focuses on business management.
Although Pye, 38, did not complete her novel in record time like Johnson, she is nearing the home stretch and continues to make her daily goals. Hers is a murder/mystery /time travel novel and takes place in 1730 and 2004.
Pye squeezes in her writing time between midnight and 4 a.m. and said that sleeping is a luxury within her hectic lifestyle. "My writing takes me out of the everyday stress."
She refers to Belanger as her cheerleader and appreciates the instructor's daily posts of encouragement and writing tips.
Belanger has no doubt her students will finish. "I don't think the students will allow anyone not to succeed. They bolster each other up all the time. Although writing is a solo sport, taking on something like this has a team mentality. It's working," Belanger said.
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