Free Writing Class at StoryStudio Chicago

StoryStudio Chicago is an organization dedicated to providing a supportive community for writers of all levels, and on Wednesday, August 27, StoryStudio is hosting an open house and free class:  

Join us for coffee, tea, and conversation with other writers, and then stay for Your Life As Fiction, a fun, all-levels free class that will explore what happens when you combine personal experience with your imagination.

What: Open House and Free Class

Where: StoryStudio Chicago, 4043 N. Ravenswood, Chicago, IL 60613 

Cost: Free!

Click here for more details and to RSVP.

Upcoming Incomplete Project Boot Camps

Do you have an incomplete grade? A final project that is dragging on? Finish your missing assignments, ILP, or AP through Writing Boot Camp and attend one or more free, faculty-led sessions. 

The program is designed for SNL students who currently have an incomplete grade on their transcript or students working on writing assignments. Sessions are set up to increase the likelihood students will complete necessary courses to obtain a bachelor’s degree and offer a supportive academic environment, writing assistance, and help with library services so that students can get assignments completed.

You are welcome to sign up for more than one session. 

Naperville

Saturday, May 31, 9:00 am-1:00 pm

150 W. Warrenville Rd., Bld. 200

Oak Forest

Saturday, May 31, 9:00 am-1:00 pm

16333 S. Kilbourn Ave.

Loop

Wednesday, June 4, 5:30-9:00 pm

Saturday, June 7, 9:00 am-1:00 pm

14 E. Jackson, Lab 1325

O’Hare

Saturday, June 7, 9:00am-1:00pm 

8770 W. Bryn Mawr Ave.

To Register: Email snlsa@depaul.edu with your desired session(s).

Items to Bring to Session(s):  Please bring a flash drive, your copy of the incomplete contract if applicable, all prior assignment preparation, including research material, assignment instructions, and assignment writing format (APA/MLA). Please let your faculty mentor know you plan to attend if you are working on an assignment for an incomplete grade.

Announcing the 2014 Writing Showcase Winners

SNL Writing is proud to announce the winners of the 2014 SNL Writing Showcase. Please congratulate them on their excellent work! The essays will be posted to the Writing Guide over the next few weeks, and the winners will be honored at the Awards Luncheon in June. 

Katie Reginaldi: "In Support of a Church Garden" and "Adventures in the Community Garden"

Ronnie Malley: "Andalusia: A Journey of Music and Cultural Exchange"

Marc Raffa: "Let's Get Bready, To Give Back!" 

Angelique Guinn: "Fundamentalism and the Modern American Woman"

Sarah Bishara: "An Analysis of Employee Perceptions of Motivational Factors in the Workplace" 

Jason Meyer: "Splice of Life: The Beatles and the Tale of Their Tape"

Need to Write? Head Outside.

In "Training Your Brain for Creativity," writer and fitness specialist James Fell passes along some wisdom that we can finally take advantage of now that one of the worst winters on record is finally coming to an end. A personal observation that his creativity improves while exercising outdoors--he says the bulk of his book was written while either on his bike or running--prompted Fell to talk with Ruth Ann Atchley, chair of the psychology department at the University of Kansas. 

"We've known for a long time that writers get benefit from being active out in nature," she explained. "The environment makes a big difference." And while it's long been established that aerobic exercise improves cognition, it's the combination of activity and the outdoors that's key: "Reading email and checking your phone takes you off task and inhibits creativity for as long as five minutes each time." In contrast, the "natural environment has the ability to seduce and attract your attention system rather than demand it." 

Exercise, outdoors or not, can also enhance your career. Fell cites neurologist Dr. Miguel Alonso-Alonso, who explained that a "fitter person is going to have greater improvements in executive function." Moreover, there may be a correlation between physical and financial health, with Fell reporting economist Vasilios Kosteas's finding that people who exercised at least three times each week increased their earnings: "I found that for men the average was a 6 percent increase on weekly earnings. For women it was more on the order of a 9 to 10 percent increase in weekly earnings," said Kosteas. 

To read the full article and in-depth explanations of the research, click here. 

April Is National Poetry Month

Yesterday marked the beginning of National Poetry Month. The celebration's organizer, the Academy of American Poets, has hundreds of suggestions for ways to celebrate. Here are a few highlights:   

• Sign up for Poem-A-Day to receive a new poem via email each day.      

• Choose an activity from the "30 Ways to Celebrate list," such as Poem in Your Pocket, recording your favorites in a commonplace book, or gathering friends to play the intriguingly named Exquisite Corpse. 

• Browse poems by topic: love, teaching, parenting, and more--including sharks.

• Listen to readings of the site's most popular poems. (Click here to listen to the site's most popular recording, Dylan Thomas's "Do not go gentle into that good night."  

• Explore the rich history of poetry here in Illinois. (Distance students, click here to find information about your state.) On each state-specific site you'll find biographies and the work of local poets, lists of "poetry-friendly bookstores," event calendars, information about local literary organizations and publications, and poems about the state, its cities, and its people. 

  

Writing Showcase Deadline Is Tomorrow!

The Writing Showcase celebrates the outstanding writing of SNL students. If you have received an “A” on a paper or glowing feedback on an Independent Learning Project (ILP), consider submitting your work to the Writing Showcase. You may submit up to three pieces of writing. By submitting your work, you not only share your accomplishment with others, but also provide inspiration to your fellow SNL students as they work on their writing assignments.  Excellent submissions will be recognized at the Spring Awards Luncheon.

Click here to download a submission form. Email your work and the completed submission form as Word documents or PDFs to snlwriting@depaul.edu.

This Month's Incomplete Boot Camps

Do you have an incomplete grade? A final project that is dragging on? Finish your missing assignments, ILP, or AP through Writing Boot Camp and attend one or more free, faculty-led sessions. 

The program is designed for SNL students who currently have an incomplete grade on their transcript or students working on writing assignments. Sessions are set up to increase the likelihood students will complete necessary courses to obtain a bachelor’s degree and offer a supportive academic environment, writing assistance, and help with library services so that students can get assignments completed.

Refreshments will be served. 

Naperville

Saturday, March 8, 9:00 am-1:00 pm

150 W. Warrenville Rd., Bld. 200

Oak Forest

Saturday, March 8, 9:00 am-1:00 pm

16333 S. Kilbourn Ave.

Loop

Wednesday, March 12, 5:30-9:00 pm

Saturday, March 22, 9:00 am-1:00 pm

14 E. Jackson, Lab 1325

O’Hare

Saturday, March 15, 9:00am-1:00pm 

8770 W. Bryn Mawr Ave.

To Register: Email your name, DePaul ID# and the incomplete course title(s) you wish to work on to snlsa@depaul.edu at least 3 days prior to your desired sessions (messages to this email are reviewed by DePaul / SNL college faculty and staff only). 

Items to Bring to Session(s):  Please bring a flash drive, your copy of the incomplete contract, all prior assignment preparation, including research material, assignment instructions, and assignment writing format (APA/MLA). Please let your faculty mentor know you plan to attend.

Dinner on DePaul: Writing & Publishing

Has all the writing you've done at SNL inspired you to continue writing after graduation? On February 11, DePaul students are invited to connect with alumni who have gone on to work in the writing and publishing fields. 

"Dinners on DePaul" provide you with the opportunity to enjoy a free dinner with DePaul graduates and discuss their experience in a featured industry. Whether you already have a set path in mind or are exploring different career fields, Dinners on DePaul are a great way to learn about job possibilities after graduating from DePaul. 

The dinners are free to attend, but registration is required. For more information or to register please email OARstudents@depaul.edu or call (773) 325-8941.

Dinners On DePaul: Writing & Publishing

Tuesday, February 11 at 6:00pm to 12:00am

Lincoln Park Campus, Alumni Center

Incomplete Project Boot Camp: December 18

Sponsored by School for New Learning Student Association (SNLSA) and SNL Writing

Do you have an incomplete grade? A final project that is dragging on?

Finish your missing assignments, ILP or AP through Writing Boot Camp and attend one or more free, faculty-led sessions. The program is designed for SNL students who currently have an incomplete grade on their transcript or students working on writing assignments. Sessions are set up to increase the likelihood students will complete necessary courses to obtain a bachelor’s degree.

Sessions offer a supportive academic environment, writing assistance, and help with library services so that students can get assignments completed.

Refreshments will be served. 

To Register: Email your name, DePaul ID# and the incomplete course title(s) you wish to work on to snlsa@depaul.edu at least 3 days prior to your desired sessions (messages to this email are reviewed by DePaul / SNL college faculty and staff only)

Items to Bring to Session(s):  Please bring a flash drive, your copy of the incomplete contract, all prior assignment preparation, including research material, assignment instructions, and assignment writing format (APA/MLA). Please let your faculty mentor know you plan to attend.

Lessons in Failure

by Kamilah Cummings 

Write 50,000 words in one month. That was the challenge for the SNL Month of Writing (MOW), and I joined the challenge. Although I rarely set goals that I deem unrealistic, I somehow thought that I might be able to climb mount 50,000. I set out on my mission despite the glaring absence of logic in the thought of me accomplishing the lofty MOW goal. In hindsight, or perhaps foresight if I am honest, I was not equipped to embark on this journey at this time in my life. Like so many other lessons that I am currently learning, my failure to write 50,000 words in 31 days is a reminder that life does not always follow the script that I write, no matter how many times I revise it. Needless to say, as it so often does, reality had already penned a different script. 

I registered for the MOW with every hope of writing 50,000 words by Halloween. I convinced myself that a hearty mix of pride, a love for writing, and a desire to succeed would thrust me across the finish line regardless of mounting personal and professional responsibilities. The desire was there but the opportunities to write often eluded me. I found the task of juggling personal and professional responsibilities with the MOW difficult at best. This made me think about students in this writing-intensive program who, regardless of the priority placed on earning a degree or the desire to do well in school, struggle to fit school into their busy lives. A 2013 Public Agenda report titled Is it Worth It for Me? How Adults Without Degrees Think About Going (Back) to School found that a top concern for adult students is balancing “school with work and family obligations” (Hagelskamp, Schleifer and DiStasi). As I struggled to meet my writing goal, I took a harder look at my students last quarter. Several of them started out with earnest desires to do well, but quickly found their school work taking a back seat to unexpected personal and professional situations. 

I have always tried to be an empathetic and supportive teacher. As teachers, we sometimes walk a precarious line between supporting, enabling, and downright handicapping adult students because of an awareness of the constraints associated with returning to college later in life. With that being said, after receiving my personal invitation to sit at the table of unforeseen challenges and requisite demands during the MOW, I have a new found appreciation for my students' challenges. As students spoke with me, emailed or telephoned about issues preventing them from submitting work, I found myself almost commiserating with them. My inability to secure time to write even when I wanted to produced a new layer of empathy. 

My failure to reach my goal also made me think about the psychological impact that teacher expectations have on adult students. The Public Agenda report found that “many also worry whether they will be able to keep up academically” (Hagelskamp, Schleifer and DiStasi). As I plodded along in the writing challenge, I wondered how my students feel when they do not meet course or individual assignment expectations. This led me to create an unofficial survey of students in one of my classes. One of the questions that I asked was what they were most/least proud of regarding their participation. The thing that most disappointed students was not completing assignments. Over the years, I have seen that some adult students are equally disappointed when they do not earn A’s. I admit that as the weekly writing totals were tallied for MOW participants, I felt increasing disappointment at my low numbers in relation to my peers. After sitting with my disappointment for a while, it was easy for me to move past it because my lack of achievement was devoid of ramifications. However, the same cannot be said for students who are financially and emotionally invested in their school work. 

After several weeks of missing my writing goals, I reset my goal to a more realistic 5,000 words. I ultimately met that goal (barely) and felt a sense of satisfaction in doing so. While readjusting my goal, I thought about the Olympics and said to myself, a gold medal would be great, but silver and bronze also make it to the podium. Achieving my 5,000-word goal made me feel like I was on the podium being draped in bronze. I plan to work more on communicating this message to my students. I want them to feel motivated to achieve certain goals, but I do not want them to feel defeated or disappointed if they do not meet “A” expectations. In fact, sometimes just completing an assignment amid a chaotic time might feel like winning gold to a student, and I want to make sure that I acknowledge that. 

It can be difficult to fail at something as seemingly innocuous as a writing challenge. However, this experience reinforced the idea that the failure to achieve a goal is not in itself always a failure. The pursuit of a goal can sometimes yield a more profound result than the attainment of it. It certainly did for me. Despite failing to pen 50,000 words last month, I learned lessons that I think will ultimately improve my teaching. 

Works Cited 

Hagelskamp, Carolin, David Schleifer and Christopher DiStasi. "Is College Worth It For Me? How Adults Without Degrees Think About Going (Back) to School." Study. 2013.

Month of Writing 2013 Wrap-Up

During the month of October, SNL students, faculty, and alumni created over 700,000 words. A special congratulations to Cynthia Stevens, Karen Snyder, and Katie Wozniak, who each met their goal of 50,000 words and created a combined total of over 170,00 words during the Challenge.

Planning for next year's Challenge will begin in August 2014, so check back in with the Digication site next summer for details on how to participate. In the meantime, we now have a full video recording of last month's Craft of Composing panel discussion available, which you can click here to watch. 

Again, congratulations to all the writers, and we hope to see you again in 2014.

Missing Assignments? Working on an ILP or AP?

Just in time for finals, Incomplete Project Boot Camps will be held at all campuses in the next few weeks. Boot camps are free, faculty- and tutor-led sessions during which students can work on assignments and other writing in progress. Refreshments are provided. To RSVP or for more information, email snlsa@depaul.edu.

Loop
November 16, 9AM-1PM
November 26, 5:30PM-9PM

O'Hare
November 16, 9AM-1PM

Naperville
November 23, 10AM-2PM

Oak Forest
November 23, 10AM-2PM

This Thursday: Craft of Composing Panel

Just a reminder that this coming Thursday, October 17, is the SNL Month of Writing's "Craft of Composing" panel discussion. Click here for more information about our accomplished panelists. The event will take place in room 1451 of 14 E. Jackson and begins at 6PM. 

In other news, the first count from the Month of Writing Challenge is in! Writers from throughout the DePaul community produced 147,848 words in the first week of October alone, and the tally is only going up! Click here to visit our Month of Writing site, which is updated weekly.

Month of Writing Challenge Begins & UCWbL Workshop

Today is October 1, which means the start of the SNL Month of Writing Challenge! But it's not too late to join--click here for more information about our challenge to write 50,000 words during the month of October and work toward a collective goal of 1.5 million words. 

The SNL Writing Program has also partnered with the Office of Advancement to help the Month of Writing make a meaningful contribution to the SNL community. I'd like to draw your attention to our new Giving page. Your support will both motivate writers to work toward our collective goal, and, moreover, allow the Dean to award a scholarship to an SNL student thanks to the efforts of our Challenge writers and their friends, family, and colleagues. 

Finally,  the UCWbL's Collaborative for Multilingual Writing and Research is hosting an upcoming workshop on academic writing: "How Do I Cite This?: Incorporating Sources and Understanding Academic Integrity." The workshop will take place on Tuesday, October 8, from 3-4:30pm in the DePaul Center, room 8005. Email the CMWR to reserve a spot. 

Join Us on October 17 for the Craft of Composing Panel Discussion

On October 17, the SNL Month of Writing will host "The Craft of Composing: A Panel of Writers Discuss the Writing Process." Panelists this year include Rochelle George Wooding of the Neighborhood Writing Alliance; SNL faculty member and author Ann Stanford; award-winning author and SNL faculty member Molly Dumbleton; and SNL alum and Writing Showcase winner Megan Stemm-Wade. Click here for more information about our panelists. 

And remember, the Month of Writing Challenge begins on October 1! Click here for more information and to register.  

Details: 
October 17, 2013
6:00 - 7:30PM
Loop Campus
14 E. Jackson
Room 1451

Month of Writing Challenge Website Is Live!

Registration is open for the SNL Month of Writing 2013 Writing Challenge! 

Please visit our new Digication site for more information about signing up, the Challenge itself, upcoming events, and more. 

An Imaginative Reading List for Writers

When BrainPickings.org’s founder Maria Popova was asked by the New York Public Library to curate a selection of books for its bookstore, she decided to create four reading lists: books on NYC, books on pets and animals, books for young readers, and, last but not least, a collection of wisdom on writing. But rather than simply gather books for a tabletop display, Popova partnered with artist Kelli Anderson to construct a papercraft diorama showcasing each title in painstaking detail. The resulting installation is both beautiful and a fantastic resource for anyone looking to be re-inspired before Autumn Quarter begins.

Click here to see Popova’s write-ups of each book and the full list of titles, which includes works by Ray Bradbury, George Orwell, Henry Miller, and Susan Sontag, as well as several edited collections of essays.

So What Are You Working On?

In “Draft No. 4,” a recent piece in The New Yorker, author John McPhee offers sage advice on the writing process, all the way from those first torturous days of dealing with writer’s block through to the final line-by-line edit. “So what are you working on?”, well-meaning friends and family ask. For many writers, even professionals, that can be a terrifying question. 

Lucky for us, McPhee begins with a call to take heart: “if you lack confidence in setting one word after another…if you feel sure that you will never make it and were not cut out to do this…you must be a writer.” “How could anyone ever know that something is good before it exists?” he asks.

By extension, how could we know that something is bad? Why should we let ourselves decide that it’s all a mess, that the project is irredeemable, before we’ve gotten to the final page of that first draft? We all know that the first draft is usually the hardest. McPhee advises writers to simply “blurt out, heave out, babble out something—anything—as a first draft.” His advice echoes that of author Anne Lamott, who famously (and in more colorful language) urges writers to embrace the “shitty first draft.” The SNL Writing Guide agrees, and you can find a number of suggestions for getting through this tough stage in the Drafting section. Be prepared for this stage of writing to take the longest; McPhee estimates that he spends about four times as much time on the first draft as each subsequent draft.

After the “first awful blurting,” McPhee moves on to the issue that guides the rest of his essay: revision. “Revision,” he asserts, is “the essence of the process. The adulating portrait of the perfect writer who never blots a line comes express mail from fairyland.” At this point, he’s still focusing on what you might have heard called “global” revision or “higher order concerns." Ideas are still shifting, paragraphs are being cut or expanded, structure is still being worked out. In fact, it’s not until “Draft No. 4” that McPhee feels ready to move on to his strategies for “local” revision, or “lower order concerns.”

And he starts with boxes: boxes around words or phrases that don’t seem quite right, or words that may present an opportunity. “While the word inside the box may be perfectly O.K.,” he says, “there is likely a better word…a word right smack on the button, and why don’t you try to find it?” At first glance, McPhee seems to be recommending what writing teachers have worked long and hard to communicate: that revision is much more, and much harder, than pulling out a thesaurus. But McPhee is quick to caution us: “thesauruses are useful things...They are also dangerous. They can lead you to choose a polysyllabic and fuzzy word when a simple and clear one is better.” (For more on the value of simple words, read Richard Lederer’s excellent—and appropriately short—essay “The Case for Short Words.”)

McPhee’s essay offers some useful examples of the pitfalls of developing a case of “thesaurusitis.” It’s the dictionary, he believes, that we should be reaching for instead. Thesauruses can be helpful, but “they don’t talk about the words they list.” When we’re presented with a slew of synonyms, it’s hard to decide which is truly the best fit (or, le mot juste). The dictionary, on the other hand, can provide us with not only the denotation of a word—its literal meaning—but also its connotation, or what we can use the word to imply. McPhee describes these subtleties as “hues,” similar to the differences we assign to colors. For example, “gleam” appears in a list of synonyms for “flash.” If we want to describe someone who is angry, we might say, “her eyes flashed,” but we’re unlikely to say “her eyes gleamed,” instead reserving that word for a happier person.  

The trick is making sure you have a good dictionary. DePaul’s library provides access to several comprehensive dictionaries, including the gold standard, the Oxford English Dictionary (which, if you’re truly curious, will provide all of the above plus etymology—how the word developed or was first used).

Finally, McPhee discusses the last step in the writing process: the line-by-line, word-by-word edit. Authors like McPhee have expert copy editors for this task. For the rest of us, there are a number of reference books, such as Garner’s Modern American Usage, Fowler’s Modern English Usage, and the Saint Martin’s Handbook, to help us decide whether our sentences are parallel and our verbs agree, whether we need “constitute” or “comprise,” or whether they’re “Dickens’s novels” or Dickens’ novels.” 

And, at last, when the nerve-wracking first draft has been transformed into the carefully, thoughtfully revised final product, we have the pleasure of starting all over. And once again, friends, family, and colleagues ask, “So what are you working on?”

Upcoming UCWbL Workshops

The UCWbL has planned a busy spring! See the list below for details on a number of upcoming workshops at the LPC and Loop campuses. Topics include citation styles, Digication, and resume and cover letter workshops designed specifically for veterans. 

For more information, contact the Outreach Team at UCWbLOutreach@depaul.edu or visit the UCWbL's website.

Tuesday, May 7, 12-1pm. Loop, Library Instruction Room: 
Library Research Workshop (through Driehaus ACE):

Work with UCWbL tutors and research librarians to familiarize yourself with best practices on how to get started on a research paper. This workshop will focus on research from a business perspective.

Wednesday, May 8, 12:30-2pm. LPC, McGaw 203: 
Chicago Style Workshop:

Work with UCWbL tutors and learn the proper Chicago format for in-text citations and works cited pages. Also, get tips on how to avoid plagiarism. Bring in your current papers and projects!

Tuesday, May 14, 12-1:30pm. Loop, Lewis 1600: 
Cover Letter and Resume Workshop for Veterans:

Work with UCWbL tutors to learn strategies for creating cover letters and resumes specifically for veterans. Bring in your current cover letters and resumes!

Wednesday, May 22, 12-1:30pm. LPC, McGaw 203: 
Cover Letter and Resume Workshop for Veterans:

Work with UCWbL tutors to learn strategies for creating cover letters and resumes specifically for veterans. Bring in your current cover letters and resumes!

Tuesday, May 28, 3-4pm. LPC, McGaw 203: 
APA Workshop:

Work with UCWbL tutors and learn the proper APA format for in-text citations and works cited pages. Also, get tips on how to avoid plagiarism. Bring in your current papers and projects!

Wednesday, May 29, 12:30-2pm. LPC, McGaw 203: 
MLA Workshop:

Work with UCWbL tutors and learn the proper MLA format for in-text citations and reference list pages. Also, get tips on how to avoid plagiarism. Bring in your current papers and projects!

Tuesday, June 4, 12-1:30pm. Loop, Lewis 1600: 
Open Digication Workshop:

Work with UCWbL tutors and continue to develop your Digication ePortfolio! You’ll learn how to create your own banners, use CSS coding, and customize your portfolio. Students should bring their own laptops.

Wednesday, June 5, 12:30-2pm. LPC, McGaw 203: 
Open Digication Workshop:

Work with UCWbL tutors and continue to develop your Digication ePortfolio! You’ll learn how to create your own banners, use CSS coding, and customize your portfolio. Students should bring their own laptops.

See What Shakespeare Has to Say About Your Writing

And not only Shakespeare: you could have Dickens, Poe, Dostoevsky, Nietzsche, and Dickinson weigh in as well. This nifty little tool from Google Docs gives writers the chance to experience, for better or worse, what it would be like to collaborate with the greats. As you type, Google uses its search algorithms to insert edits based on words, phrases, and passages regularly associated with these authors, thus allowing each to leave his or her stamp on your work. Here's one author's test run, in which Poe and Dickens express some strong opinions about an apple seed.