Thursday, May 31, 2012
"Getting unstuck" with SNL Professor Dr. Susan Reed
Do you ever suffer from writer’s block? While getting the right words onto the page can sometimes prove to be very difficult, SNL associate professor Susan Reed has a suggestion that might help – journaling. She describes a time she struggled to write a piece for publication on access to healthcare in Chicago. Frustrated with her lack of writing flow, she opened up a new Word document (her journal) and just began writing to herself informally about the topic, instead of to the academic powers that be.
By first writing to herself in a journal style, Dr. Reed was able to formulate her thoughts more clearly. She wasn’t concerned with “sounding smart” as she puts it, and the words came freely. Even though she wasn’t consciously writing for an academic audience in her journal, Dr. Reed actually found that she was able to cut and paste from her journal into her publication. View her experience with “getting unstuck” below:
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Writing Competition for Full Time Undergraduate Students
The National Council of Teachers of English is partnering with the Muhammad Ali Center and the Norman Mailer Center and Writers Colony to offer an award for college students honoring Muhammad Ali’s legacy of living a life dedicated to high ethical standards.
One winner will be chosen to receive the following prizes:
- $10,000 cash prize
- A week-long writing workshop at the Mailer Center in Provincetown, MA during summer 2013
- Recognition by the Muhammad Ali Center and the Norman Mailer Center at the Norman Mailer Center’s Annual Gala on October 4, 2012
- Travel, lodging, and gala tickets for the winner, courtesy of the Muhammad Ali Center
To learn more about this competition and to apply, please visit: http://www.ncte.org/awards/student/ali. Entries should be a maximum of 10 single-spaced pages and no more than 5,000 words. Authors retain copyright of their work. Deadline for submissions is July 23, 2012, Noon CDT.
One winner will be chosen to receive the following prizes:
- $10,000 cash prize
- A week-long writing workshop at the Mailer Center in Provincetown, MA during summer 2013
- Recognition by the Muhammad Ali Center and the Norman Mailer Center at the Norman Mailer Center’s Annual Gala on October 4, 2012
- Travel, lodging, and gala tickets for the winner, courtesy of the Muhammad Ali Center
To learn more about this competition and to apply, please visit: http://www.ncte.org/awards/student/ali. Entries should be a maximum of 10 single-spaced pages and no more than 5,000 words. Authors retain copyright of their work. Deadline for submissions is July 23, 2012, Noon CDT.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Congratulations to the 2011-2012 SNL Writing Showcase Winners!
SNL Writing is pleased to announce five SNL students as winners of the 2011- 2011 SNL Writing Showcase. The winning entries included a creative writing piece and research papers on a wide variety of topics. View the winning entries below:
Toni M. Bond Leonard, The Struggle for Reproductive and Intellectual Integrity
Toni M. Bond Leonard, The Struggle for Reproductive and Intellectual Integrity
Lisa Freeman, Running for the Train
Brian Leonard, Lost in America: A Reagan Era Comedy and Goldman Sachs’ Bonuses: Justified or Not?
Leonard Musielak, The Corporate Culture Conundrum: Cross Cultural Issues in International Human Resource Management
Kristine Schultz, It’s the End of the World as We Know It
These students will be recognized with a plaque and public congratulations at the Spring Awards Luncheon to be held on June 2nd, 2012.
The SNL Writing Showcase is an annual competition which celebrates the outstanding writing students do for their SNL classes and Independent Learning Projects. SNL Writing is currently accepting applications for the 2012-2013 Showcase. If you are interested in applying, please visit the SNL Writing website to download an application or contact snlwriting@depaul.edu for more information.
These students will be recognized with a plaque and public congratulations at the Spring Awards Luncheon to be held on June 2nd, 2012.
The SNL Writing Showcase is an annual competition which celebrates the outstanding writing students do for their SNL classes and Independent Learning Projects. SNL Writing is currently accepting applications for the 2012-2013 Showcase. If you are interested in applying, please visit the SNL Writing website to download an application or contact snlwriting@depaul.edu for more information.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Writing tips from Sr. Helen Prejean, best selling author
On Thursday, May 17th, DePaul University faculty, staff, and students gathered at the Lincoln Park campus to hear author Sr. Helen Prejean, CSJ speak about her writing process at the facilitated discussion, “A Dialogue on Memoir Writing with Sr. Helen Prejean.” This program was one of several campus talks that Sr. Helen participated in last week to celebrate the donation of her archives to DePaul University. She has authored two books about her experience with inmates on Death Row and her activism to abolish the Death penalty, the best-selling Dead Man Walking and The Death of Innocence. She is currently working on her third book, River of Fire.
When asked “What does it mean to you to be a writer?” by one student participant, Sr. Helen stressed the importance of committing to the craft, “If you’re writing, you’re a writer. If you’re just talking about writing or reading about it, you’re not a writer. You need to keep showing up to the page. You need to get into the habit of writing. It’s about commitment.” She suggested that every writer carry a writing pad with them at all times to jot down ideas. Many of Sr. Helen’s thoughts for Dead Man Walking were penned on her way back and forth from visiting Patrick Sonnier on Death Row.
Another writing tip she shared was that one’s writing should “show, not tell.” She says, “Don’t do a heavy commentary. Let the reader decide for themselves.” One student asked if Sr. Helen viewed her writing as a form of activism, to which Sr. Helen responded yes. She said, “If you can change consciousness, you change culture” and that she believes in the power of the book. Her reasoning is that books bring people to a quiet, deep place for reflection where they don’t have to debate.
At the end of the discussion, Sr. Helen wished the writers in the room luck and urged them to band together to build a community of writers. She said that since writing does not have much cultural support today, it is important that writers support one another. To learn more about Sr. Helen Prejean’s writing and activism, please visit: http://www.prejean.org/. Her archive exhibit, “In Deeds and Words: The Prejean Ministry Against the Death Penalty,” will be open to the public Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Nov. 30 in DePaul’s Special Collections and Archives, Room 314 of the Richardson Library, 2350 N. Kenmore Ave., Chicago.
When asked “What does it mean to you to be a writer?” by one student participant, Sr. Helen stressed the importance of committing to the craft, “If you’re writing, you’re a writer. If you’re just talking about writing or reading about it, you’re not a writer. You need to keep showing up to the page. You need to get into the habit of writing. It’s about commitment.” She suggested that every writer carry a writing pad with them at all times to jot down ideas. Many of Sr. Helen’s thoughts for Dead Man Walking were penned on her way back and forth from visiting Patrick Sonnier on Death Row.
Another writing tip she shared was that one’s writing should “show, not tell.” She says, “Don’t do a heavy commentary. Let the reader decide for themselves.” One student asked if Sr. Helen viewed her writing as a form of activism, to which Sr. Helen responded yes. She said, “If you can change consciousness, you change culture” and that she believes in the power of the book. Her reasoning is that books bring people to a quiet, deep place for reflection where they don’t have to debate.
At the end of the discussion, Sr. Helen wished the writers in the room luck and urged them to band together to build a community of writers. She said that since writing does not have much cultural support today, it is important that writers support one another. To learn more about Sr. Helen Prejean’s writing and activism, please visit: http://www.prejean.org/. Her archive exhibit, “In Deeds and Words: The Prejean Ministry Against the Death Penalty,” will be open to the public Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Nov. 30 in DePaul’s Special Collections and Archives, Room 314 of the Richardson Library, 2350 N. Kenmore Ave., Chicago.
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