Self-Publishing Creative Writing Anthologies At School

As any parent or high school teacher already knows, high school students can be hard to motivate. While it is true that some teens love to write , it's fair to say that most of them would prefer not to. As educators, we know that the only way to become a better writer is to practice writing. The problem with most high school writing assignments is that they lack relevance for students. They are more concerned with getting the right answer than they are about developing their writing skills and pushing themselves to hone their verbal prowess. At the same time, they do seem to show more interest in the work of their peers than they do in the works of literature in their textbooks.

After spending months and months teaching your students the hallmarks of good writing, a great way to spark some interest in writing is to self-publish an anthology of creative writing at your school. As you approach this publication project, there are a few things you should consider.

Some teens love attention and thrive on competition. Others prefer to silently participate. If you structure the publication project correctly, both types of students will be interested in working on the publication. Let students know that everyone who submits their pieces by the early bird deadline will definitely have at least one piece selected for publication. In addition to including all writers who submit early, hold a competition for the best pieces. Offer simple prizes for first, second, and third places in different categories. You can select categories based on the anticipated scope of the publication project. For small schools, choose broad categories such as poetry, prose, etc. For larger schools, you can choose more specific categories such as sonnets, descriptive paragraphs, and the like. You may also want to expand the project to include art. In doing so, you can also likely get the art staff to help you lay out and design the final publication.

Set your deadlines for submission and decide on other critical dates. You should assemble a team of students who can help you type and edit the submissions as they come in. You will want to develop a style guide and train the students to follow it. Establish a directory and a procedure and rules for saving and accessing the typed submissions. The more thought you put into the process at the beginning, the more smoothly your publication will come together later.

As you and your team put together the files and make design decisions, you need to order the supplies required to physically assemble the anthology. Before you order supplies, think about the size of the final document and how many copies you plan to distribute. You should think about offering complimentary copies to winners and to your publications team. Others can buy the publication for a nominal fee. Once you've run the numbers, order the paper, ink or toner, and binding supplies. Depending on how you choose to bind the publication, you will need to order different supplies.

Once you have the document print-ready, it's time to assemble. Again, this is a chance to get students involved. They like to help with office tasks they are not accustomed to doing, so it shouldn't be too hard to get some help. Once the documents are assembled, work with your administration to recognize the winning students. You can put their names on a sign or bulletin board or even recognize them at a school assembly. Once the word gets out, other students and their families will be calling the school to purchase copies of the book.

It's not difficult to self-publish a school anthology if you are organized. Plan ahead and enjoy seeing your students develop a sense of pride in their writing as they share it with their classmates and their families. There is something magical about seeing one's own words preserved in a bound publication like a school anthology. It is an experience they will carry with them throughout their lives.

How to Develop a Career in Creative Writing

If you have an interest in taking up a career that involves creative writing, it is essential that you understand what would be expected of you. All writing can be termed creative, though this is a style which usually refers to a format which goes beyond that used in technical compositions and journalism. Drama, poetry, personal essays, and short stories can all be classified as falling under the category of creative writing.

There is the option of studying this style of composition to an advanced level. Many schools, colleges, and universities run programs that can allow you to learn exactly how to write creatively and to various levels, there is even the option of studying the subject at a master's level. One of the best ways to boost your knowledge of this topic is to read a lot of books. In fact, it is often suggested that to become an accomplished writer, an individual must be extremely well read, and familiar with both classical and modern fiction.

There are numerous avenues which can be explored that result in a writing career, though many people choose to opt for a course of education, this is not necessarily the best approach. Some of the most accomplished writers never took a single class relating to creative writing, though studying the subject can of course be beneficial.

Today, there are plenty of resources available to individuals who have an interest in becoming writers. Thanks to the internet, the potential to self-develop skills and knowledge has been vastly enhanced.

If you are determined to get paid for your compositions, it is essential that you have an excellent command of the English language. Most writers need to have a clear understanding of grammar rules, and have a broad and extensive vocabulary. It should be noted that even the best writers do get work rejected, this is a situation that needs to be taken constructively as opposed to personally.

There are many ways in which writers, be they beginners or professionals, can hone their skills. It can be productive to always carry a notebook, this can be used to write down thoughts and observations which may come in useful at a later date. It is surprising the inspiration that can be had in the most normal of scenes. For instance, the dialogue overheard on public transport or in cafes can be adapted and used in your compositions.

There are certain times of the day when all writers are more creative, this may be early in the morning or late in the evening. Figure out when you are most productive, and use this time constructively. If you live with friends or family, it is useful to let them know when you are at work so that you will not be disturbed.

Creative Essay Writing

History suggests that essay writing activities and drills started in the middle of 1500s due to the efforts of a French philosopher and writer, Montaigne, who laid the foundation of expressing thoughts through writing. When this genre of writing was newly born, it has narrow and strict boundaries. Now that the age of modernism has hit us in every aspect of our lives, this area is also fully exposed and broken into wide pieces to welcome different styles and genre of writing with in it.

One thing that every writer should possess in order to get his work accepted in the society is creativity. Without innovation and originality, no writer can excel in the field. Essay writing is considered to be a good and solid platform for the writers to present their creative ideas and thoughts in front of the literary world.

The most important factor that leads a writer to the paths of creativity is when he starts enjoying his writing. No work can hold the essence of creativity if it is not enjoyable for its workers. Same goes for writing. When you write, it mustn’t bore you. Students that find writing essays a banal activity are observed to come up with over used and dull ideas that are probably copied from some source. The thing is how to make yourself enjoy what you write. Creative writing is one thing that the students hardly experience in their college lives. When an instructor puts forward an essay writing assignment, they try and find alternative sources from where they can get hold of the ready-made essays or information. They don’t try and research about the topic. This activity is extremely common and deeply rooted in all educational institutions. You can’t put the blame on students solely. Instructors and teachers are equally involved in making this issue a bigger mess.

Professional instructors and professors who are well equipped with all types of writing tools and skills should take immediate stand of the situation. They should know how to teach their students in a motivated manner. It is human psychology that things start looking lively and appealing once if they are approached in a unique and unusual way. It is a common practice in almost every educational institute that students are not provided with proper guidance and tools to enhance and polish their writing skills. It will certainly make a big difference to the situation if the instructors arrange innovative and lively class activities for the students that help improve their writing skills.

If a student is asked to write a creative essay on a given topic, professor should push the student to write as much as his mind allows without worrying about the rules and format to be followed. Once student is able to drag out creative words from his mind, he will get used to the pattern and rules of writing an essay accordingly. What most instructors do is that instead of emphasizing importance of writing creatively, they only highlight the importance of following a set pattern and format for the essays. Therefore, the mind of the student gives more importance to the format of essay rather than the writing itself. As a result, writing suffers.

Young students need encouragement and motivation from their instructors instead of harsh criticism as it only serves to de-motivate an individual. However, friendly criticism is some thing that an instructor should do so that a student improves his writing with every written task given.

Creative Conjuring For Your Writing Team

Let us suppose for a moment that you have made the decision to hire a permanent, in-house writing team as opposed to seeking out writers on a more per-contract basis. The advantages of this decision are numerous, of course — for one, you get to grow a team with a focus on your business so they grow more and more aware of it as time goes on, benefiting from long-term exposure to what you have them writing about.

However, now that you've got them, what's the best way to maximize their creativity? Having a dedicated writing staff is a fine thing, to be sure — but in order to get the most out of the investment, you need them to produce solid, creative and reliable content. It doesn't matter if they produce entire reams of articles if the material produced isn't worth reading.

This is something broadly known as a meta-concern. Meta means "alongside" or even "outside." A meta-concern is a matter that isn't immediately related to your primary purpose, but can have significant implications all the same. Time spent helping your writers be creative is time you aren't spending on direct branding efforts. However, it can pay off in solid support and respect for your brand in the long term. To that end, have a look at a handful of techniques that have been demonstrated to help spur productivity and creativity in your writers.

Let them Own the Project

Group brainstorming is creative asphyxiation. Yes, it will result in a quick sampling of several different ideas, but none of them will be particularly well developed. Creativity is an odd little thing. When it's highly personal, as in a project one or two people own to work on specifically, more effort gets invested into it out of a sense of pride and desire. When control (and therefore responsibility) of the matter is spread around, however, there's a sense of disconnect.

The latter comes as a result of two phenomena. First, there's the lack of privacy it causes. Some of the ideas creative types put forward are very personal, representing the best of their own minds. Exposing their best to others is intensely difficult at times, so a group setting can hinder them out of modesty or shame. Second is the shared laziness of a group. In short, when the work is spread around to many people, no one person pulls quite as hard on their share. The work will get done anyway, after all, so what's the point of putting forth more effort?

Instead of forcing intellectual exhibitionism through group sessions, share your particulars with small teams or, even better, with individuals if possible. Give them the parameters, ask them for their input and let them put their effort into the task. Let them own the project, and you will be more likely to get their best work.

Work Individually, Edit Collectively

Very few writers can edit or revise their own work. The best ones can, but there are few who couldn't benefit from a bit of critical advice from another source. When the article or project is done, hand it off to an editor not directly involved with it. Let them help refine what the team has put down. The creative portion being complete, this technical portion allows for more dispassionate, cooperative analysis that can really make a project shine.

Bring in New Blood

There are two ways to go about making sure your team stays fresh creatively, both along the lines of "new blood."

The first is exposure to new ideas. Your writing team is hopefully very widely read. People who study and read in more diverse circles are more likely to come up with the clever and creative ideas you most need from them. Part of this will come from reading their coworkers' projects in the editing process, but make sure they're spending part of their time reading materials and articles of many sorts, be they literary or factual.

The next is exposure to new people. Sometimes a writing team needs an outright boost from a new party. Even if you've hired your permanent, on-staff writing team, consider hiring the occasional project out to freelancers of a certain level of experience. This can have the effect of taking the workload off your standard workers, exposing them to new ideas or serving as an impromptu job interview.

Listen to Them

Writers are a notoriously picky lot. Yes, there is a benefit in making them stick to the grind and show some initiative, but there's also a great value to catering to some of their needs. Make sure to listen when a writer mentions a concern they have. Your input might make all the difference between an acceptable article and an outstanding one.

If you're going to go to the trouble of having a writing team on-staff, you have to make the effort to bring them into the staff proper. The rest of the team might not understand why some people are being paid to just tap keys, and you need to foster the relationship between them so that the crew knows these writers are giving them good press. Connect; listen, network and you'll have the team you need.

Have You Considered Creative Writing?

What does creative mean to you? Well, the definition of creative is: resulting from originality of thought, expression, etc. While there is insufficient room for creativity in a universe of blacklists and misrepresentation, writing mechanically is not the most powerful way to advise readers and conserve their excitement. Remember not to demoralize creativity with imagination: Creativity is usage of the facts that are written considering that imagination is the weaving and maneuvering the facts themselves. Use of exquisite creative techniques can arouse the writing and enhance its readability. Assiduously researching a feature topic should be of the greatest importance, and after becoming an professional on the story's topic, the first step to creating an exclusive story is finding a particular angle.

Irrevocably, through showing as a substitute to telling, including distinct details, and being imaginative, the audience will not only be educated but also experience the topic. Show the reader don't just tell them. Just because it's existent for English teachers to have been pressing it for years, doesn't make it dishonest. Showing not only applies to a creative passage but can back up facts. In lieu of exclusively quoting a source, it can be convenient to characterize body

language if, and only if, fundamentally for further explanation. When desirable, embrace the active voice over the passive voice, and select unique and expressive verbs over depressed, commonplace ones. Always use conscientious journalism

procedure, and cut anything that fabricates. The more pressurized a news article is, the less opportunity for creativity, alongside from mandatory descriptions. But feature stories and less clamorous news leave more leeway for unique angles and creativity.

Using a different angle and the preexistence creative tactics to write an article will more suitably involve and retain the excitement of modern-day readers steadily on the move. Just remember that creative writing is whatever the

purpose is to distinct thoughts, excitability and emotions rather than to commonly transmit information. Creative writing is writing that represents the writer’s introspection and feelings in an imaginative, often special, and melodious way.

There is a mediocre belief that because most of us are educated and smooth-spoken, there is no need to get an education if we want to become a extraordinary word slinger. That’s what individuals think until they try to write their first novel.

They will soon learn that a novel has its own set of specifications, laws of development that have to be learned. Just because individuals read plenty of novels don't mean they can write one, any more than they can make a computer just because they work on them everyday. If you stump up and start chomping your pen and look fixedly at a blank sheet of paper, or glaring at a blank screen for hours, try to motivate your writing with a short exercise to expand your writing muscles. Don’t cease to think too much about it … just progress forward, without worrying about the individuality of the work you compose. Because all writers have to revise and edit their work!

Writing Essays In The First Person

Are you aware that there are also some pieces of writings where the author uses a person as his or her subject in their content? This type of a writing procedure is usually done in a narrative essay writing where the author uses “I” rather than creating an imaginary character for his or her piece.

Although, we usually read some a lot of books and a lot of writings where the author did not use a first person in their content, we are already use of reading it rather than essays in the first person. However, that kind of writing is also acceptable in our human world and if time permits, you might be assigned to write essays in the first person.

So, how will you start writing your essay then? If you have some difficulties for writing it, then here are some solutions for you to apply in your writing experience. You need to focus mainly about this kind of writing since the author is now the main character of the content.

Most people, especially those largely inexperienced in writing, prefer to write essays in the first person. How do you know when you’re doing this? Take a glance at a few of these essays you’ve turned and check how much you’ve used “I” within its pages. If you see yourself writing frequently in that manner, you may want to read through what we have to say about it below.

If your class professor has no issue with students writing in the first person, then by all means do so. However, it isn’t unusual for most school instructors (especially in college) to prefer seeing your essays in another voice instead. Know your professor and get a good idea of how he responds to essays written in this manner and adjust accordingly (i.e. change your writing style if you’ll get a bad grade for it).

Some essays are actually better written speaking from the first person. A film review, for instance, is a take on your personal opinion about a movie, which makes referring to yourself in the text a sensible idea. On a historical essay, on the other hand, it may just end up looking awkward, since the focus of your essay is on factual research.

If you’re unsure about whether a first-person style is good for your essay, try consulting the advice, style or templates section of your all-in-one writing software. Many of them count essay writing among the most important uses of such technology and frequently come with resources you can use towards it. If you can’t find a conclusive answer there, either, just remove it. The rule of “I” is that, if you’re in doubt about its usefulness, just take it out and play it safe.

Whether you are assigned to write essays in the first person or you voluntarily write it for your own freedom in writing, I bet you already know the basic information that guides you to successfully finish your writings with less efforts are being made.

Learning How To Write Essays

Every year ordering custom essays becomes more popular among students. Many potential clients consider using custom writing services because it saves their time, helps them to concentrate on their favorite subjects and offers more opportunities for personal development allowing active involvement in interesting activities besides studies. One of our writers decided to conduct research on different approaches to essay writing. He recorded the story of his friend who shared with him his experience of writing an essay for his English Literature class:

…During my sophomore year at high school I was assigned to write an argumentative essay on any topic. I showed the first draft of the essay to my teacher. He read it carefully and then said, “This essay is not what I want.” I felt disappointed and angry at the same time. What’s wrong with my essay? Why didn’t he explain?

I came home and decided to read it again. The first thing that I noticed was the introduction that didn’t catch attention of the readers. My essay was about gender inequalities and employment. I started with describing historical events related to gender issues and illustrating some facts which did not explain the topic of my essay. Therefore, I revised the introductory paragraph of the essay providing striking statistics about progression of gender inequalities for certain job positions. The introduction became interesting to read because the facts in the introductory part of my essay were taken from sources which were difficult to access and not actively “advertised”. Because of the uniqueness of the introduction readers were easily involved into the process of reading the essay; their desire was driven by their curiosity in further development of my arguments.

However, my introduction was still not perfect. The next element that I had to revise was my thesis statement. Thesis helps a reader to focus on the main point that a writer is going to prove by his/her essay. It may seem easy because before writing an essay you record your central idea immediately and then collect information and build your writing process in accordance with the main idea.

Nevertheless, the thesis statement that you have in your mind may not be persuasive in written form. It is essential to remember that your thesis statement is not a summary of the essay that you were assigned to write. On the contrary, it is your standpoint on the chosen topic. Thus, it should include your own opinion, the opposite point of view and the summary of supportive facts which will be presented further in the essay. The question is how to fit all those elements into one sentence of your thesis statement. It may take quite a long time. However, if you manage to write strong thesis statement you’ll succeed in presenting the complex idea of your essay using simple text. It does not mean using simple vocabulary; it rather means developing more persuasive arguments and making your essay easier to read. The thesis statement in my essay was:

“According to sociological research, in multinational companies women have fewer opportunities than men to be hired for managerial positions.”

I thought it was a perfect thesis statement; however, it was absolutely unacceptable. To begin with, the thesis statement of my essay was biased because it did not reflect the point of view of the opposite party. Besides, the main points which support the idea of the essay were not summarized in the thesis statement. Thus, I revised the thesis sentence and wrote the following:

“Even though some researchers believe that the new perception of the role of women in modern society established equal opportunities for men and women, psychological indicators and sociological findings demonstrate that women have fewer opportunities to be hired for managerial positions in multinational companies.”

At last I finished my work on the thesis statement! The writing process went smoothly. I already had the structure of the essay in my head. First, I recorded the first sentences which explained the central idea of each paragraph in the main body of the essay. Later I reorganized my notes which I took while reading useful literature on my topic and supplied each paragraph with the evidence that supported my arguments.

In the conclusion, I summarized the key points and restated the thesis. I showed the second draft to my teacher and his only comment was, “I’m glad that you learnt how to write an essay.”…

Probably this story will remind you your personal experience of learning how to write essays. The story is interesting because this student discovered himself those mistakes that he made while writing the first draft of his essay. His knowledge came from practice. He was able to write a good essay but he would spend less time on his improvement if he did research and used online guides on writing essays.

How To Write Admission Essays

So, the first thing you should do while writing admission essay is to forget general rules for academic papers’ formats and research to support your essay. This is because admission essay introduces you to an admission committee which does not know anything about you except your admission essay writing. They do not care of your knowledge about academic formats and they do not aim to evaluate your research skills. The only thing which might interest them is your way of thinking, analyzing, ideas and original writing.

The following things will help you to prepare for successful admission essay writing:

Think about your motivation (why do you want to study the subjects you have chosen? Why are you applying this college/university?).

Think of your future skills and knowledge which you are going to gain in order to contribute this area of study (how are you going to develop the main idea of your study purpose? Do you have any plans for your future career? Can you see how you may contribute the college/university during your study?).

Be ready to present your ideas originally; think of how you can start your admission essay in order to keep a reader’s interest to your writing up to the end (leave introduction rules away, do not summarize, start your essay with an original question which will draw attention of the admission committee).

Think of the topics you can develop from your admission essay (do remember you are going to study and research the topics that interest you for a few years; what topics may be interesting for research and can be developed from your ideas presented in admission essay?).

Think of bright and original vocabulary to be used in your essay (you will have to look different if you want to be approved).

While you are thinking about your personal statement development, please do not forget to sketch a preliminary list of topics you would like to research and study. It will help you to present clearer and more perspective personal statement; and it will show the admission committee your idea of considerable contribution into college/university (do remember that a college/university reputation is the primary thing the admission committee care about).

If you have already thought of your original personal statement, perspective ideas, interests, contributions, future research and study topics, outlines and your vocabulary, then you are ready to write.

Types Of An Essays

Essay writing carries interesting history along with it. In every era, essays are classified in different formats according to the demand of every era. In modern times, it is relatively hard to summarize every type of essay in one go. However, there are some major types which are common among essayists and are easy to adopt. The most famous type as reported by many essayists is an argumentative essay. The goal of this essay is to seek for the writer’s opinion regarding the topic. To argue about a phenomenon or scenario is not very easy. It requires total understanding and full concentration into the subject. Apparently, only having an opinion about some thing is not enough. In order to argue about a certain topic, one needs to be sure that he has enough sources to collect relevant information to back up his original opinion with logic. 

One should be able to present his ideas and facts in a way that it sounds convincing to others. Forming assumptions regarding your opinion without authentic facts to support it is not likely to be called as an argument. Next come cause and effect essays. The goal of such an essay is to describe the reason of certain things to happen and then analyze its impact in the surroundings. Comparison essays are the next type. They are considered to be relatively easy to write. These essays contrasts two or more phenomenon and highlight their basic similarities and differences. Some of them only discuss similarities or differences while most of them compare both. Based on such contrast, an essay may prove one phenomenon more suitable or preferred than the other. Such types of essays are an interesting read. There exists Critical type of essays too. 

They support certain statement or action with solid facts collected after a thorough research. Deductive essays are a good tool to test student’s knowledge as it provide him with a certain set of clues and the student is encouraged to reach out for the result based on assumptions. It is a good drill as it helps student understand how to gather results out of assumptions. Definition essays deal in providing literal meanings or concepts of a term. It provides its background and its implementation in the industry. Explanatory essays serve a deeper purpose as they give in-depth understanding of different processes and situations. They require hands-on research and a very many authentic citations. Informal essays provide entertainment to their readers. They can be informative in a way but their sole purpose is to relax the reader’s mind or to point out harsh realities of life in a polite manner. Narrative essays provide the writer with a platform where he can share his personal experiences. 

Life is full of surprising moments and challenging tasks, here, the writer shares his unforgettable memories of life in an expressive way. A research essay deals with the research activity conducted by the writer. It shows any new discovery or strategy to solve a problem. Such kinds of essays capture limited audience, that is, only the people interested in the described research development will give it a read.