Sorry! We're Sold Out.

We're so sorry there are no seats left for Write & Sketch in Spain. 

This is the time for us to trot out an old cliche: 

Wish you were here.

Click on over to our Write In Spain website and start to dream about next year. 

Writers, keep writing! In the words of Stephen King...

Writing is magic, as much the water of life 
as any other creative art. 

The water is free. So drink.

How it Happens

So you want to write? 

Step to it. Learn by doing. Learn from others.

Make good things happen with these five steps:  

1. Take Your inspiration from a Nike ad and Just Do It. Move from a writer-wannabe to actually being a writer. Stop wishing. Start doing. Everyday. 
2. Take classes and workshops. Know how painful it is to be critiqued and have your feet held to the fire. If you can handle the critique and learn from it--then write, rewrite, rewrite--your craft will improve.
3. Take time. Steal time to write because the clock won't stop for you. The husband or wife and kids (and probably the dog) will need your attention. The phone will ring. Emails will interrupt. Time will slip away unless you set it aside and honor it. Writing is hard work. So show up. At midnight when everyone's asleep? On Sunday when the children hang out with grandma and grandpa? Or on your lunch hour? Do the math: 4 lunch hours a week X 52 weeks a year = 208 hours of writing. 
4. Take yourself out the door & Schmooze. A writer's life is solitary and isolated when you're actually writing. When not writing, network, interact, schmooze. (Swap social media for real-life socializing.) Ideas are everywhere and so are connections. You'll bump into them accidentally. 
5. Take a big, scary step. Take your writing to a place it's never been. Sign on to this really cool workshop: Write & Sketch in Spain. May 9-10, 2014. Save your place in an international group of 10 writers in Spain's stunning Andalucia region. Make things happen. 

_________________________

This week's POV thanks to #Stephen King:

Writing is magic, 

as much the water of life as any other creative art. 

The water is free. So drink. 

We Forgot To Mention...

We should have said... Sign up to Write & Sketch in Spain and fly into Picasso's hometown and museum in Malaga. Or fly into Gibraltar airport, an easy skip across the sea from London. Malaga and Gibraltar are only a short distance to the workshop site in Spain's stunning Andalucia region. 

The seaside setting is private. It's remote... so perfect for tapping into your creativity and picking up tools and techniques to take your writing to a place it's never been. 

What do you call this workshop? 

• Call it an experience
• Call it an adventure
• Call it inspiring and educational 
• Call it something you deserve to do  

Click on over to writeinspain.info and see what's crammed into a unique two-day workshop. 

Take Your Writing To A Whole New Place

Releasing your creativity when you write is like opening Pandora’s Box--all kinds of horribleness jumps out... but hope jumps out, too. 

In one session at the Write & Sketch in Spain work-shop, you’ll write non-stop and be surprised, amazed and dazzled at what leaps onto the page.

And there’s no need to fret if you see a little horribleness. You’ll fix it with writing tools & techniques you learn at the workshop. 

Begin a long-lasting, productive relationship at the Write & Sketch in Spain workshop. It'll be the stuff that stories are made of. 

Get the scoop at WriteinSpain.info. Save your seat in an international community of 10 writers and take your writing to a place it's never been. 

Just Bragging!

There are a couple of guys in my closet today. They're Google guys installing seriously hi-speed Google Fiber for internet and HDTV. We're the first city (Kansas City) to get this service--and we're bragging. 

But here's the real reason for this post. Excitement is building for our Write & Sketch in Spain workshop, coming up in six months (May 9-10, 2014). Join an international community of ten writers in the stunning Andalucia region of Spain. Call it an experience. Call it an adventure. Call it inspiring and educational. Call it crazy fun. Call it something you deserve to do. 

Here's a small sample of what's crammed into a two-day workshop:
Early on Day I, you'll Unlock the Door to Your Story, then move on to this: 

Who's That Knocking On The Door? 

Meet the people who populate your story. Characters--the angelic to the eccentric (and their rich or rowdy friends)--will clamor to get in and be part of the drama, action and romance. Be forewarned: creating a major character is major work. Who are your characters? Will they be complex, exotic, unconventional or troublesome enough to move your story forward? Yes, they will! You’ll make them so. Or out they go.

Get details at WriteInSpain.info.

Then send us your questions and we'll save your seat: ahplause@gmail.com 

Don't Go To Your Grave Until...

If you go to your grave 

without painting your masterpiece, 

it will not get painted. 

This philosophical tidbit is a wise reminder for painters, yes. For writers, too.  

Soooo. Why wait? It's not too late to do what you might have done. 

Take your writing to a place it's never been. Make it an adventure.

writeinspain!

Sign on with our international group of writers and get to work 

on your family history. Your essay. Your memoir. Your blog. 
Your short story. Your magazine feature. Your novel.

Your masterpiece. 
______________

This Week's POV:

Do not stop thinking of life as an adventure...
live bravely, excitingly, imaginatively.

-- #Eleanor Roosevelt 

___________________________

Click on Over to writeinspain for info

Scroll down to comment. 

Ask a question here: ahplause@gmail.com

How It Happens

So you want to write? 

Step to it. Make good things happen with these five steps:  

1. Take your inspiration from a Nike ad and Just Do It. Move from a writer- wannabe to actually being a writer. Stop wishing. Start working. 
2. Take classes and workshops. Know what it's like to be critiqued and have your feet held to the fire. If you can take the critique and learn from it--then rewrite, rewrite, rewrite--your craft will improve.
3. Take time. Steal time to write because the clock won’t stop for you. The husband or wife and kids (and probably the dog) will need your attention. The phone will ring. Emails will interrupt. Time will slip away unless you set it aside and honor it. Writing is work. So show up. At midnight when everyone’s asleep? Or Sunday when the children hang out with grandma and grandpa? Or on your lunch hour? Do the math: 4 lunch hours a week x 52 weeks a year = 208 hours of writing.
4. Take yourself out the door & Schmooze. A writer’s life is solitary and isolated when you’re actually writing. When not writing, network, interact, schmooze. (Swap social media for real-life socializing.) Ideas are everywhere and so are connections. You’ll bump into them accidentally.
5. Take a big, scary step. Take your writing to a place it's never been.WriteInSpain! Save your place in an international community of ten in Spain's stunning Andalucia region. Make things happen. (Scroll down, way down, for Stephen King's POV)

This happened yesterday: 

I went to an art fair (fabulous music, food and, oh, yeah. Art). When I admired the work of artist Doug Bennett, he told me he’s developing a new concept. He was looking for someone to write the stories and scenes he paints...someone to capture the soul of his work in words. That’s me! I said. I’m all about soul. Next week, we'll flesh out the concept and make it happen.

And then...

A very pleasant woman strolled by. She struck up a conversation and, it turns out, she was an out-of-towner taking in the art fair. We walked, talked, meandered and Voila! She had great stories to tell. We stood on a corner in a fresh September breeze and "shot the breeze" in an impromptu idea exchange--about women entrepreneurs, balanced lifestyles, careers that translate to happiness. And how to make it happen. (OK, since we're women, we also talked about men. You should've heard that conversation!) 

Want to meet her, Caroline? You can. Decorator's Resource.

Want to meet other writers and bright idea people? You can. Good things will happen. Write & Sketch in Spain  

_________________________

This week's POV thanks to Stephen King:

Writing is magic, 

as much the water of life as any other creative art. 

The water is free. So drink. 

 _________________________

Why Write & Sketch In Spain?

Why Not? 

Click on over to WriteInSpain for

details and a little friendly persuasion.

(Logo by Carla Malone Steck atelier-cms)

Counting the months 'till Spain

This Week's POV:

He took everything that made him weird as a kid... and got people to pay money for it as an adult. 

That's been said about a guy named Tim Miles--and what he does (for love and money) is WRITE. We know that you (or the weird kid in you) wants to write, too. That's why you're invited to join our international community of 10 writers on the Southern Tip of Spain (May 9-10, 2014). It's only 8 months 'till then. 

We can't promise people will pay you for what you write--some writers make buckets of money... some make a little... some none at all. But we promise that writing is rewarding in more ways than one. (It's a lot like working out at the gym. Hard to do, but it feels great). 

On his website, The Daily Blur, Tim Miles blogs every morning before breakfast. He starts the day by sharing bright ideas, philosophy and insights. He says what he appreciates most are long-lasting, mutually beneficial relationships. Relationships that work. 

We do, too. So we'll save a seat for you at our Write & Sketch in Spain workshop. Let's begin our long-lasting, mutually beneficial relationship. It'll be the stuff that stories are made of. 

Counting the months 'till Spain

Thanks, Pinterest
Arielle's Astrology

Wooo! It's hot and steamy in the Midwest. But let's be honest. Sometimes, hot and steamy are good things. With that in mind, click on over to our Write In Spain workshop (May 2014). Only 8 months until we meet.

We think the session we added on Day II is nothing short of inspired. We hadn't seen a session like ours-- Turn Up the Heat and Draw the Curtain-- offered in any other workshops. The question is...

When, if ever, should you write steamy love scenes? What lines should you cross (or not cross) when writing about human relationships? Would you... should you... could you... write sexy scenes or build tension by practicing restraint? 

Before then, you'll know your characters so well, you'll decide how far they will (or will not) go. Will they be sticking their feet out the window of an old Buick--or what? You might be surprised.

Check out Day II--well, check out all the sessions. And let us know what you think. ahplause@gmail.com

This Week's Tip or POV

You can't blame a writer for what the characters say.

--Truman Capote

Counting the Months 'till Spain

I counted on my fingers this morning... Only 8 months until our international community of writers gathers 'round with a common purpose... to write... to create a world of your own on the page... a miniature world... or  world that is expansive, epic, romantic, mysterious, clever or grand.

Tim, our terrific design guy, is building the website to give you the whole story. Carla, artist-in-residence landed a teaching job at a famed art institute, but with an eye to the future. So no worries--she'll take time off to lead the sketch sessions for the 2014 Write In Spain Workshop.

This post is a teaser with scant details today... You're invited to click on over to WriteInSpain.info early in September--about one week from now.

Meanwhile, we want to save a seat for you so ask anything. ahplause@gmail.com