Writing

Write, Teach, Sleep, Repeat

mrs. bowser
My alter ego – Mrs. Bowser

Many writers find themselves on a path that leads them to the classroom and I am no different. Teaching literature, composition, or creative writing is an excellent way to use your love for the written word to make money and make a difference.

My teacher life started in graduate school where I taught poetry and communication classes to undergrads. Several years later after leaving my full-time job as a newspaper reporter I would return to the classroom, this time as a full-time high school English teacher at my alma mater.

Because of the success I had in the classroom in grad school and because of my deep love for the school at which I was teaching I thought my first year as a full-time teacher would be easy.

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

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Six-Word Memoir

sixwordmemoir

Yesterday was my first day back in the classroom for the 2016-2017 school year. Every August I kick off the year by having my students write and share a six-word memoir.

Once asked to write a full story in six words, legend has it that novelist Ernest Hemingway responded: “For Sale: baby shoes, never worn.

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Create an Inspiring Workspace

workspace graphic

“A woman must have… a room of her own if she is to write.” – Virginia Woolf

I never needed a room of my own to write, but I longed for one anyway.

As a girl when I shared a room with my younger brother I found a way to write my really bad poetry in spite of all the chaos that little brothers can bring. (I love you, C.J.!)

But when I finally got a room of my own at age 12, I felt like a queen reigning over her queendom. My bad poetry got a bit better and I started writing short stories, too.

Fast forward to adulthood and at age 25 I found myself sharing my room again — this time with my husband. I continued to write nonetheless. No longer much of a poet or fiction writer, I was busy writing articles for newspapers and magazines, blog posts for websites, and personal essays for myself.

I could and would write anywhere — at our dining room table, on our sofa, in our bed. But that famous quote from Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own stayed in my head and I kept dreaming of a home office.

Last year, when my husband and I became first-time homeowners and traded in our two-bedroom apartment for a three-bedroom house, my dream came true.

I love my whole house from its high ceilings to its hardwood floors, but my office is the apple of my eye. And the reactions my girlfriends give when they see it for the first time cause me to swell with joy.

“Oh my gosh! Hashtag goals!” one person said.

“This is a YouTube office!” exclaimed another friend.

“Your office is like a Pinterest board come to life,” declared someone else.

But I’m not writing this post just to brag about how dope my office is. I want to offer a few tips to help you create an inspiring workspace of your own.

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Write Like an Olympian

magic city half
Olympians and I have a lot in common, but not because I’ve run a couple half marathons.

I’ve never played organized team sports a day in my life (because all those childhood games of kickball in the parking lot of our Ensley apartment complex don’t count). Nonetheless, I am obsessed with the Olympics. Gymnastics, swimming, soccer — I love it all! I’m even excited about fencing this year thanks to Ibtihaj Muhammad, the first Muslim woman who observes hijab to qualify for the U.S. Olympic team.

So if you see me within the next few weeks and I look exhausted it’s not because my busy schedule of being a writer, teacher, and entrepreneur has caught up with me. It’s because I’ve been staying up all night watching the Olympic games.

Even though I am not a serious athlete I admire them and I relate to them because of their discipline and drive.

We writers and athletes have a lot in common. We both, if we want to be excellent at what we do, must practice. We must practice even when we don’t feel like. We must practice even when life sucks.

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