Sunday, February 10, 2013

Keep On Learning

Scientists have discovered our brains are highly plastic, according to Barbara Baig, author of the current "how-to" book I'm reading right now, titled HOW TO BE A WRITER. This means they are capable of lifelong learning and change, that new ideas and insights are on our horizon, no matter our age.

So, guess what? I'm going to have a busy February and March in my pursuit of more knowledge. Beginning February 19 I'll be taking a four-week Leisure Learning class at McNeese with instructor Connie McDonald entitled "Where I'm From: A Workshop Approach to Writing from Life." We'll be mining our memories and life experiences to produce poems, stories, or memoirs.

Beginning February 21 Rachel Rinehart, MFA student at McNeese, will conduct a four-week class on "Writing About Place," in which we'll explore setting as another character in our stories. We will learn craft techniques, do writing exercises, and write our own stories or memoirs about place.

To finish things off Dr. Gabriel Morley, Director of Calcasieu Parish Public Library, will be leading a six-week class beginning March 5 on memoir writing. This will be held at the Central Library on Tuesday nights.

On top of these things I have two contests with a March 1 deadline. Writers League of Texas has a contest for a novel competition with a critique to go along with it. Southern Writers magazine is sponsoring a short story contest. I'd better get busy and quit playing Solitaire on the computer. Also, there's a little matter of revisions on my novel, WILD JUSTICE, to get ready for the Houma conference in April.

To all you wannabe writers out there: Don't wait around for inspiration to strike. Sign up for a class and inspire yourself.