Student Engagement Initiative

Thank you to the CWC volunteers for your support this year. Axel and the Student Engagement Team look forward to an even greater 2022-2023 school year.

Want to volunteer for Virtual Office Hours and/or be part of the team that plans and carries out the writing series for the next program year?

Contact Axel

Help Promote Our Student Engagement Efforts!

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7 Tips for Wrting a Good Article Quickly

Bloggers, freelance writers, copywriters, and other content creators are often faced with a seemingly impossible task: producing a great article under a tight deadline. That’s why it’s important to develop writing skills that can help you create great content in a short amount of time.

In the age of the internet, article writers who can generate good content in a short time period are in increasingly high demand. However, writing articles or blogging under tight deadlines should not come at the expense of good writing.

Here are seven tips as outlined by Master Class Writers (https://www.masterclass.com)

1.Keep a list ideas handy. You never know when writers block will hit.

2.Eliminate Distractions.

3.Research efficiently.

4.Keep it simple.

5.Try writing in bullet points.

6.Edit after writing.

7.Set a timer. Practicing against the clock is a great way to become a quicker and more efficent writer.

Give it a Try: Fiction Writing

If you're a content writer, chances are you've considered trying your hand at fiction writing. Whether you’re looking to pen the next Great American Novel or hoping to hang the “ghostwriter for hire” sign in your proverbial yard, you’ll find that fiction writing is a whole different ball game.

The Basics

While rules are arguably made to be broken, beginning fiction writers would do well to pay close attention to some of the key elements of fiction before striking out on their own. You can find a number of quality technique books, but it’s also good to keep in mind that the rules of fiction are not terribly complicated:

• Plot. If you’re interested in writing suspenseful, action driven thrillers, then you’re probably ahead of the game on this one. For those of you looking to write a beautifully rendered literary tale where the protagonist thinks wistfully in a bay window, well, think again. Plot drives story. Give your characters something to do, and you’ll give your reader something to root for. Establish a clear goal early on, then work to throw in complications along the way. You’ll know you’ve reached the climax of your story when your main character reaches the critical moment where they succeed or fail in achieving their goal.

• Character. Think of the great literary characters throughout history: Scarlett O’Hara. Jay Gatsby. These characters are larger than life, and what drives each is crystal clear. Write your characters with distinct features and make sure you understand what motivates them. Fear? Love? Justice? Once you give your reader a sense of what matters to your character, you’ll give them a way to relate and keep reading.

Fundamentals of Songwriting

Learning how to write a good song is an important skill all musicians and songwriters should learn how to do.

Before writing a song, it is important to understand three underlying fundamentals that all music is based upon, and they all work in conjunction with one another. They are:

• melody
• harmony
• rhythm

The great thing about songwriting is that an idea can come from any of these baics; but rhythm is really the key factor because it can change everything at any time.

A melody has its own inherent rhythm, but can sound completely different by simply changing the rhythm of the singing line. Standard chord progressions of harmonic contexts can be made to sound fresh and original just by shifting the rhythm of a strumming pattern on guitar or a note pattern on keyboard or vocal.

There are two main ways to go about songwriting:

1. Write the lyrics first then add instrumentation
2. Write to a pre-made instrumental track or beat for inspiration like a prompt for a free write *but be careful not to copy songs directly. There have been numerous lawsuits in the past few years because song writers have used pre-made instrumental tracks.

Now that you know all the fundamentals all you need is a place to write the lyrics down so you don't forget (beware... they usually come in you sleep), and a subject to write about. No subject, no worries, just write what you feel, the subject will come later.

Questions to ask yourself:

1. Do you have a verse or two?
2. Is there a chorus? (this is the part most listeners remember).
3. Do you have an intro and outro?
4. Is there a bridge?
5. Do you have a drop (used mostly with dance tunes and often comes after the intro).

These are the basics, now have fun writing your song!

"I wish I were one of those people who wrote songs quickly. But I'm not. So it takes me a great deal of time to find out what the song is."

Leonard Cohen

CWC at the Mint on Randolph

On Sunday October 2, 2022

6 to 7:30pm

Book & Author Talk with Therese Anne Fowler

Therese Anne Fowler joins us in the auditorium as we continue our centennial celebration with

a Book & Author Talk.

The author of eight novels; a string of them are New York Times best sellers including Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald that begins in 1920s in the era that CWC was founded--will talk books, writing and life and celebrate her latest project, It All Comes Down to This,

We are working with Park Road Books to include a copy of Fowler's most recent book in the cost of admission to her October 2 talk. Tickets for event will go on sale later this summer so keep your eye on this spot!

The event will be open to the public; CWC members will be able to buy tickets at discounted prices.

Fowler's other best-selling novels include: A Well-Behaved Woman and A Good Neighborhood. Her work is available in multiple languages and in more than twenty countries. Z has been adapted as an original television series for Amazon Studios, starring Christina Ricci; A Well-Behaved Woman is in development with Sony Pictures Television.

She earned a BA in Sociology/Cultural Anthropology and an MFA in Creative Writing, both from NC State University. A proud member of Phi Beta Kappa and PEN America, she lives in Raleigh, NC with her husband, author John Kessel. Learn more at Therese Anne Fowler.

Marketing Indie Published Books

                    Rick Lite

With so many book marketing strategies available to promote your book, it's easy to get overwhelmed and have difficulty determining what to do and when to do it to give your book the best chance. Marketing a book is a complex part of the overall publishing process and takes proper planning. This book marketing timeline for indie authors is designed for the author who is just about to begin writing. However, since al ofl these strategies are important, you can begin to address each one no matter where you are in your publishing process.

With so much information to digest and so many strategies available, it’s best to give yourself plenty of time to set these strategies in motion. To stay organized it’s a good idea to have a marketing calendar specifically for your book marketing. In this post, we're going to examine seven different phases of the book marketing timeline.

Step 1-Before you start writing

• Identify your target audience
• Determine your goals
• Figure your marketing budget
• Determine how you'll evaluate marketing efforts

Step 2-As you begin writing

• Create a unique author brand
• Understand BISAC subject codes ( https://scribemedia.com/bisac-codes/)
• Understand how compensation works
• Create an author website
• Build an email list
• Create social media 

Step 3-While you're waiting to write

• Research book reviewers
• Start a blog
• Create a media kit
• Pre-publishing strategies
• Consider presenting at events
• Apply to book awards

Step 4-While the book is in editing

• Choose the dates for publication
• Consider how to sell your book
• Gather information on book promotion companies
• Create promotional material
• Make a list of book reviewers

Step 5-Two weeks before release

• Check online be sure everything is correct
• Create an author central account on Amazon
• Look for advertising opportunities

Step 6-Release date

• Keep the momentum
• Watch the rankings and book numbers on Amazon
• Update social media and webpages

Step 7-Post release update

• Approach local bookstores about carrying the book
• Follow-up with people you previously reached out to

https://stressfreebookmarketing.com/

“Whatever you may have heard, self-publishing is not a short cut to anything. Except maybe insanity. Self-publishing, like every other kind of publishing, is hard work.

"You are a start-up...The next great business is you!"

Hugh Howey

Stop expecting things to be easy, but always expect them to be worth it.” — Unknown