Classes taken, Classes taught

What kinds of classes, programs, or workshops have you taken to hone your skill as a writer? What sorts of exercises did/do you use to improve your craft? Have you ever taught a writing class or workshop?

I wasn't going to write off the prompts when I started this challenge but this one and the first one seemed like good places to start and get back into the groove of writing.

Classes taken, well I took every Creative Writing Class including Script Writing in college that I could, I also took the basic writing comp series plus retook Writing 122 from a favorite Professor just to get a little extra push (she actually pushed me in the second class as I asked her to take it up a notch for me, she expected more than a WR122 level from me which helped a lot). I also attended local workshops in various genres including Romance, Mystery , True Crime, and Memoir writing, although it has been ages since I was able to take a in person class.

Currently I am participating in as many challenges through blogging as I can to exercise my art and connect with people who will at least read and maybe respond to my ramblings. I have done NaNoWriMo 3 years now and am also working toward Camp NaNo this summer in the hopes of getting my focus back.

I have taught a class. I taught a Creative Writing class, actually 2 classes to our local homeschool co-op. The first class was three years ago to a group of high school kids where I am happy to report 3 of the students made huge strides in their craft. This past year I taught a Creative Writing class to my oldest son's co-op class of 3rd graders and let me tell you that was a serious push to my comfort level. 

a piece of chapter 1 I believe it is...

Breianna walked across the dimly lit room. This room was her's for such a long time but now was her parent's guest room and computer room, tonight it served as her escape from reality. Tonight , she pretended the recent past was a distant memory and teh outside world was just that, outside. When she moved out of her parent's house almost 7 months ago everything seemed to fall into place, now it seemed to be falling apart; money was a focus that darkened her mood, she worked 2 jobs, attended classes at the community college 3 days a week and barely made rent. Tonight especially she pondered why she left. She wasn't living on campus  but rooming with a friend from her parent's neighborhood, neither one of them could afford the place alone so it seemed at the time to be a good idea, now though as she struggled to put it all together she began to regret that decision. The landlord had asked the girls if he could do some maintenance on the house (including fixing some serious plumbing issues in the only complete bathroom), so Brei and her roommate returned to their parents' homes for the weekend. As Brei stood staring at the guest bed, her bed she longed to just sleep, but that really wasn't an option tonight her classes had to be her focus, with 2 papers due by the end of the week and a presentation the following Monday sleep would allude her for at least the next day maybe two.

Thankfully, one paper was actually a creative writing project she dearly loved. Her writing became a safe haven where she could escape the mundane details of her life and the stresses that were the ups and downs of her romantic life. Her writing, an outlet for her emotional energy when no one really seemed to understand what she was going through.. She kept journals and jotted down every little bit of chaos she felt, good or bad.  These journals were the expression of anger , of joy, of solace, of resentment toward so many things and people, especially toward Dan and their mess of a relationship.. 

For the last 3 years Breianna and Daniel had been a young couple struggling to keep a dying relationship alive. Childhood friends for what seemed life forever to Brei, now a couple separated with little left to fight for. Recovering from her now broken heart as well as a desolate spirit would take more than time for Breianna. The last two weeks she ached to feel his arms wrapped around her, she wished to hear his words reminding her that they were together, for now though she couldn't even look him in the eyes, she couldn't say his name without first crying then yelling and scream even if it was only in her head.

Author Blog Challenge: How I started writing

Honestly I'm not sure when I started writing. I remember junior high my English teacher thought my poetry was too dark and I was probably suicidal or something, I still laugh about that one.  I remember writing in journals and writing letters to people, but it seems like it has always been a part of who I am. I spent a lot of time in junior high and high school writing, honestly if I had put half as much energy into studying as I put into writing in journals and writing stories I probably would have done a heck of a lot better than I did..  I did the crazy thing in college and took every comp class and creative writing class I could get my hands on, I even took Literature classes so I could read more and try to improve my writing by reading what professors deemed great writers. I continued after college to write and still write. I remember in college a friend and I would have these late night writing sessions where we would spend literately hours working on stories and potential novels. Of course, then I had kids and the writing pretty much got put on hold, until the other night when my husband and I were out on a date and he mentioned that one thing he missed from our early years dating was reading my writing (he use to read my pieces and papers for content), so I was basically given a free pass to write again, so I am sitting here listening to Pandora racking my brain to finish up this post.

Darkness before the Dawn

Sometimes it is hard to see the light through all the darkness surrounding an event or plan.  Brei was feeling the overwhelming darkness in waiting, too many things seemed to be causing delays in this trip. She tried with everything to focus on the good of the journey, but one more delay would drive her to the edge.
"history paper, check. Math chapters done , check. Registration for next term, check. What is left?"
She looked over her lists making sure everything she needed to handle were taken care of. Thankfully she had her notes for the paper due after her trip, so she could work on the paper during her flight and the bus ride.
She was beginning to catch a glimpse of the light.