Monday 7 September 2015

Published!

Just in time to uplift you through the first weeks of the new teaching year: the ebook version of Creative Writing: the Matrix, called the Quick Matrix, is now available via all the usual ebook outlets. What's more the paperback was available only for UK distribution, but ebook's selected exercises & ideas for creative writing teachers is worldwide.

On your kindle or ibook or whatever, the 104 exercises and mini-lectures are of course linked right from the table of contents, so it's easy-peasy to come up with content and planning for your classful of eager writers. Enjoy! And please do feedback, review and spread the word.

Have I mentioned yet that I've started a new blogsite in my name on the writing and creative life? Drop in for juice outside your teaching gig. Meanwhile, elsewhere on this site, do scroll down and look at the labels list of previous postings for other teaching support. Class planning, first class and exercises probably most useful to you at this time of year.

Wednesday 26 August 2015

Quick Matrix: Advance Cover Peek

Hot off the cyber-waves, here's the cover of the NEW ebook, coming soon through all the usual ereader sources. As it says on the tin, Creative Writing: the Quick Matrix is exercises and ideas selected from the original print paperback. Watch this space for release date.

Meanwhile, scroll down to the archives to find yet more, on the spot, exercises that are not in either Matrix book. Collected and invented as I went along. Class planning is a good category for this time of year, of course!

Thursday 7 May 2015

Creative writing exercises galore

Published! The Extraordinary Dr Epstein -- check it out here -- but meanwhile, on with the teaching show. Two good newses: Creative Writing: the Matrix, that is this paperback, is now in its 3rd printing!

And it is soon to have an ebook variation:  Creative Writing: the Quick Matrix, Selected Exercises for Creative Writing Teachers. Scout's honour, if you already own the paperback no need to opt for the digital version. That's because I'm culling the print to provide a whizz-bang selection of the goodies so that MORE writer-teachers can access the book at LESS cost. So watch this space for announcement of its publication.

Meanwhile, there are over 112 entries in this teaching creative writing blog's archive. Just go to the list of Labels below. Some of the most useful: Creative Process, Critic Within, Exercises (24 entries), First Class, Lesson Planning (6 entries) etcetera
"geographic, spiritual and psychological... compelling, surprising and carefully researched"
...that's a bit of praise for The Extraordinary Dr Epstein. Hope it tempts you!

Saturday 10 January 2015

Creative juice

There are over 112 entries in this teaching creative writing blog and meanwhile I am deep in the formatting throes of The Extraordinary Dr Epstein -- to be published in 2015. It's the story of my great-grandfather's life -- his many lives, as he reinvented himself so many times: Russian, American, doctor, pastor, Jew, Christian, poet, sailor, scholar, farmer, founder of a university... check him (and me) out here.

I'm also learning the ins and outs of self-publishing, but this term YOU are teaching creative writing. Besides my Creative Writing: the Matrix book -- nearly out of print! -- there are loads of exercises and ideas for your class planning in this blog's archive.

Here's my shortcut to the best of the best for you and your students in the long list of Labels below: CREATIVE PROCESS, CRITIC WITHIN, DIFFICULT STUDENTS, ENDINGS, EXERCISES (24 entries!), FIRST CLASS, LESSON PLANNING (6 entries), START OF TERM, WORKSHOPPING etc etc.

Let the creativity flow!