Creating New Writing Classes

Some creative writing lecturers drift on from year to year with basically the same class full of basically the same people, shedding one or two students from time to time, picking up a couple of new ones. I might be in that position tomorrow night when the enrolment takes place for the course, 'Continuing to Develop in Creative Writing', which is a follow-on class for my last year's Open College of the North West students. Most of them are keen to return, although I'm very pleased that I already know of a few new people with some writing experience who are going to join us.



But today has been the day for forming completely new classes, two brand new classes, both on 'An Introduction to Creative Writing', but one a daytime class, the other an evening class, and in two different centres. It was a fascinating experience to meet so many new students all in the one day and to hear about their reasons for wanting to write and their writing aspirations.



There are the makings of two very nice classes. I hope we manage to recruit a few more students to ensure that the classes will be big enough to run, but we've certainly got a really good core of very interesting people. It's been really useful for me to be able to meet them all and talk to them before the first class so that I will be able to tailor my teaching to their needs and preferences, even at Week 1.



Meanwhile, I've been continuing to market my courses. It's a curious development that institutions can no longer afford to publicise their adult education by sending out a prospectus to every household in the locality - if we tutors want to make sure we have students, we need to be pro-active and do some marketing for ourselves.



I spent part of Monday morning getting my son to help me design a poster using the Word Processor so that I would have something that I could give to libraries and shops to spread the word about my courses. I gave out some of them on Monday and Tuesday to various venues.



I happen to have sent a copy to one of my students, a graphic designer, who very kindly produced a much more professional-looking flyer for me to use, based on the information I'd provided. Thank you, Mark. Your word has been much admired in the Adult Education Department and my boss is now encouraging the other tutors do do their own marketing too! I'm a trend-setter!



So I spent this wet and windy afternoon driving round Huddersfield, exploring parts of Almondbury which I'd never been to before, taking even more of the new, super-duper improved posters to other venues. I hope the flyers will prompt a few more people to enquire about the courses and enrol for them. Time is running out, in that my last enrolment session is tomorrow evening, but it will still be possible to enrol after that by ringing The Manse Adult Education Centre.

I was delighted when one of this morning's new students produced one of my posters from her bag and told me that the librarian at the Central Library had given her it when she asked if there were any creative writing classes available. That one obviously did what it was meant to do - and I'd only handed it in to the library less than 24 hours beforehand!


To all my students, returning and newly enrolled, and to all those of you around the globe who are starting or continuing with writing courses this term, may you have a very happy and rewarding learning experience and develop in your craft!

Writers Just Want to Have Fun!

We writers have been partying! Our severely disabled, but seriously fun-loving class member is 40 today, and we arranged a surprise class party for her last night at the house of one of her fellow students.

She arrived with her carer, who had told her they were going out for a drink at the pub, to find several of us already gathered and the house festooned with banners and balloons. There were sausage rolls, quiches and pizzas heating in the oven, biscuits and traybakes on plates, wine uncorked, and a birthday cake secreted in the kitchen - it had been specially designed for the occasion by another class member who is very talented at cake-making.

Our guest of honour was delighted and we all settled down to eat, drink, chat and laugh uproariously. There were enough funny real-life stories trotted out to fill a dozen magazines, about everything from cats and dogs to how we met our partners and encounters people have had with the college ghost!

We distributed presents and cards, toasted the birthday girl with bubbly, and chatted about class. A good time was had by all.

We await with eager anticipation our next opportunity for a class knees-up! Meanwhile, everyone has gone home with copies of the college prospectus so they can sign up for next term's class. If you live or work in West Yorkshire and would like to come to one of my classes, you can download the adult education prospectus online from www.huddcoll.ac.uk.

You'll be very welcome at any of the three courses I'm teaching next term, especially if you've a big birthday coming up! In between writing fantastic pieces, winning awards, and having work published, writers just want to have fun!