POW: Censorship Poetry

Welcome to Poetry On Wednesday! Today I’m going to be self-promoting and share a poem I made by censoring the work of another author — okay, it’s not really censorship, but that sounds more fun than “Selectively-Editing-With-Sharpie Poetry” I took a page from a withdrawn library book, in this case Dragon’s Egg, by Robert L. [...]

Writerly Writing Habits

If you’ve ever obsessed over an unfinished story or spent hours trying to perfect a poem or English class essay, you know how tricky and tedious the writing process can be. To master the craft, many professional writers develop their own quirky working strategies to help them stay productive and keep their ideas flowing.  Readers [...]

The Write Idea: The Ralph Munn Creative Writing Contest and You

“We shall not cease from exploration. And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” – T. S. Eliot Did you ever have a wish to become some famous writer?  You’ve just finished reading a fantastic book that made you just itching [...]

Who are you?

Keeping a journal could help you answer that question. A  journal is a written record of your thoughts, feelings, observations and experiences. “The word journal comes from the French word, jour, meaning ‘the day’.  Similarly, the English word diary is taken from the Latin word for ‘daily’.  Originally, a journey referred to how far a [...]

Ralph Munn Creative Writing Contest: workshop w/ Siobhan Vivian 4/2/11

The Ralph Munn Creative Writing Contest is on! What is it? A chance for Allegheny County High School students to win money for their writing! This Saturday, you can learn a thing or two from local YA author Siobhan Vivian: Creative Writing Workshops Need help getting started? Creative Writing Workshops led by prominent Pittsburgh authors will [...]

What’s your talent?

So what are you really good at? Everyone has something they just RULE at, so what’s your thing? Cooking? Dancing? Eating an entire box of cereal in one sitting? Obviously some of these things might turn into a future career or hobby, while others might lead to a stomach ache.  It doesn’t matter though because [...]

To all the Sassy girls and guys: now is your chance to write

If you are a teenager today, you weren’t around when Sassy magazine was being published.  But you’ve probably felt its influence or heard about it.  In its day, Sassy was the magazine that was an alternative to the same-old, same-old teen magazines like Seventeen or  YM (the latter is also now defunct).  It told you [...]

Graphic Novels: Writing Your Own

During the last few years, CLPTeensburgh has included a lot of reviews and recommendations for fantastic Graphic Novels.  If you really like to read Graphic Novels, have you ever thought about writing one? Here is a short list of “How To” books that you can find at your local library: You Can Do a Graphic [...]

Enter the 2009 Dr. Helen S. Faison Racial Justice Student Essay Contest

Today, people across the world took note of the inauguration of President Barack Obama. In recognition of this historic event, the YWCA Greater Pittsburgh is proud to sponsor the Dr. Helen S. Faison Racial Justice Student Essay Contest. Here’s the information about how you can use Obama’s presidency as a springboard to thinking about your [...]

Martin Luther King, Jr. Writing Awards

Carnegie Mellon University’s creative writing department is sponsoring the Martin Luther King, Jr. Writing Awards, for CMU undergraduates and Pittsburgh-area high school students. This contest seeks writers who can use prose and poetry to respond to or be inspired by the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. Prizes are $100, $75, and $25, with awards [...]