Students will learn:

1. The theory of creating structure within any creative endeavor.
2. The power of basic punctuation in setting a mood, creating a character, and enhancing dialogue.
3. The manner in which your narrator is the bedrock of your writing - and how to create a trustworthy voice in your writing.
4. The method of touching on the physical senses to heighten your reader's sense of engagement.
5. The evils of adverbs.  (Yeah, really.)
6. The pathway to finding your personal writing style.
7. The course from long format writing to novel writing.
8. The bedrock idea: Finding the "one thing" that will carry a story for you, and hopefully for your reader as well.
9. The way to understand your "IA or Ideal Audience."
10. The necessity of reading creative writing in order to produce creative writing.

During my sophomore year in high school, I was dropped into a writing course with a teacher who showed me the power of writing… and I was hooked.  I’ve written since that day, creating worlds of my own, and then seeing how my characters would react when exploring them all.  My first novel, Jury of Peers was well received - at one point achieving the number one ranking on Amazon with over 100,000 individual downloads.  Don't worry, it's not the required text.  The point is... I have an idea of how to stack words and make a few of them stick.

I have more than a decade of teaching experience, the majority of which was spent as an instructor in a lock-down rehabilitation facility for at-risk children (translated: gang kids who were struggling with substance abuse).  This allowed me to teach a wide variety of subjects, from second grade reading to college level physics, often in the same day in order to meet the needs of my students. 

My emphasis throughout was teamwork, discipline, leadership, and problem solving - as these form the braided cord that carries all through our lives.  My formal education is centered around a masters degree in elementary education, and another in special education - with a bachelors in philosophy and a minor in glass art... yes, that's right.  Glass.  Art.  My mother was thrilled when I told her about that one.

This class is designed to be customized to the learner who wishes to participate - I will discuss specific learning needs with each parent prior to class, and identify the proper direction of instruction at that time.