More from Russell -- and more class blogs

Hope you are following Russell's blog. It's grim holiday reading but certainly puts in perspective how lucky we are. You'll also find some good photography, including pictures from inside some of the rooms -- a no-no there at Treblinka. Let's hope Russell gets out OK.

Not so grim are other blogs written by class members, which I have been meaning to post all quarter.

Jojo writes with humor about slices of her life and needs encouragement to post more often. Go visit and leave a comment or two.

Subscribe to Dawn's blog and you'll get a new story in your inbox every Sunday. How can you resist? I like the name: peacefulldawn.com.

 Interested in politics? John will give you an interesting viewpoint on his blog. I especially like his take on the death of North Korea's leader this week: "The last bat shit Stalinist dies -- Kim Jong Il." Of course, I would have put a hyphen after "bat.

Book recommendations from your classmates

One of the things I like about teaching the non-fiction writing class is the number of book recommendations that come out of it. Here are some that were either mentioned in our last class session or that I am coming across as I read your final papers.

Anusha and Marta gave high marks to "The Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia." I went looking for it on Amazon and found that it is part of a trilogy by Jean Sasson. Sounds well worth reading.

In her article on tree houses, Caela discussed "The Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder" by Richard Louv. Think your kids might be spending too much time on video games and not enough time in fresh air? Read this one.

Also, Dawn sent me the link for the Scrivener software. It's a program to help you organize and write a book. Both Dawn and Maggie recommended it.

I'll keep reading and passing on recommendations. Congratulations to this class, the first I have taught where all members showed up, did the assignments and successfully completed the class. 

Notice of publication from another grad

This is from Samantha Updegrave, who completed the course last year:

"Another piece I wrote got published!

"This is through Shambhala Publications, and the 35<35 Project. Here's the link. You can also vote / rate the piece, which could possibly help push it toward being selected as one of the 35 for the digital or print book version!  

http://bysamanthaclaire.wordpress.com/2011/12/12/and-also-here-in-falling-at-3535/

Russell is alive and writing in Warsaw
I received an e-mail today from Russell, who is in Poland, and best of all, is writing about his visit there. He has a blog started but says he is a couple days behind:

"Haven't had a chance to cover my experiences and reflections going with a tour guide to important Jewish sites (such as they are) in Warsaw. Nor the trip to Treblinka where 800,000 died. I was the only one at the site on a freezing day. How strange and moving that was, the perfect metaphor for the disappearance of a people."

Congrats to a non-fiction writing grad

Andy Seiple took the non-fiction writing course last year and is now pursing an MFA in nonfiction writing at the Northwest Institute of Literary Arts. He writes on Facebook today: "Bucket list check-off time. First published piece."

You'll find it here.

Looking ahead to Winter Quarter
 Larry Cheek has posted the winter syllabus on the Catalyst Common View page.

Be sure to pick up the two texts (below) at U Bookstore or elsewhere before the first class meeting: "The Touchstone Anthology of Contemporary Creative Nonfiction," and "The Best American Magazine Writing 2011."

We will also continue using the first-quarter text, "Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer" by Roy Peter Clark.

Writing for online, the long and the short of it

This post from Forbes.com takes a look at what works -- as in attracts traffic -- in online writing. And the answer is . . .  they both work.

But you need to adjust your writing to the topic being covered. One writer in this blog post covers the markets and does many short stories throughout the day. The other writer covers the pharmaceutical field and does longer stories to explain complicated procedures. Both draw what Forbes considers big numbers.

Also note how much these writers use other online tools to build their audiences. They Tweet, have blogs and collect Facebook and LinkIn friends. Last of all, note that Forbes contract contributors get paid according to the number of readers they attract.

Study other writers

One of the most-oft repeated pieces of advice for writers wanting to improve is "Read."

For example, Evan Maloney of The Guardian newspaper recently blogged that reading improves vocabulary, books provide examples of how to write and they provide both inspiration and escape. I speak from personal experience when I caution against imbibing too much in the escape aspect... if you want to get any writing done.

While books will probably serve as examples for a while to come, publication of longer nonfiction stories faces more of a challenge
In this era of Twitter-length sound bites and decreasing attention spans and news holes, some worry that long-form writing, such as that found in Esquire, Vanity Fair and the Atlantic, will disappear. But feature stories still have their fans.
"Long-form journalism is definitely a dwindling culture – as the printed press goes online, there is less of a demand for it, and consequently, fewer people who remember the good old days...
My point – Mr Hersey – is that journalism, as well as fiction, can give readers the opportunity to live history – and not just witness it. That’s what feature writing is all about."

Three years ago (already?), John B. Saul posted to this blog, encouraging his writing students to read the Seven Best Stories of 75 Years of Esquire, because they were, obviously, some of the best examples of what to do.

Along those lines, I've recently come across this blog called Longreads that appears to be dedicated to long-form writing. In the past few weeks, Longreads blogger Mark Armstrong has been asking contributors - professional writers from different publications - to submit their recommendations for the five best stories of 2011. While I don't agree with some, the posts present a good cross-section, including blogs, of some of this year's work. Just a few more examples to learn from.

12 Most Rudimentary Ways to Improve Your Writing
Laura, the other main contributor to this blog, brought this one to my attention, saying it might be too rudimentary for my advanced students.

Maybe.

But since it echoes much of what I have said in class I think it must be good stuff.

Some good advice under No. 4: "Concise writing is more effective. Pretend like every word you publish costs you a dollar. Be frugal."

Question for you: Would it be helpful to have a stylebook for this class? It would give you practice working within a certain style, and many of the questions we had last night on capitalization could be answered with a stylebook.

Please consider too whether it would be worth buying another book.

Here's a web site of oft-forgotten lore
As I nodded weak and weary over my volume of "Garner's Modern American Usage," my hands dropped onto the computer keyboard and serendipitously typed in the URL of UsingEnglish.com, which has a great grammar glossary. This is a site for ESL students but it answered several of the questions I had on verb tenses in one of the articles I was editing.

But I'm not saying, "Nevermore," to Bryan A. Garner. His book remains the last word in this class on usage. So if you come rapping, gently tapping or even fling open a shutter with many a flirt and flutter to argue some point of grammar, I will shriek "Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore" and cling to my Garner's.

But that web site sure is handy.

Check out this version of "The Raven:"
 

I got this in a message today, one of those things going around the Internet. A sappy little film, but a simple tale well told. Basically, a homeless guy walking down the street, stopping now and then to do something.

It got me to thinking how you could or would tell this story in writing. Ideas?